First Sunday in Advent Service

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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I'm not sure how many, but I'm sure I'll get to it. After this,

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I need to go to the bathroom. And it was in her hat. She needs to go to the bathroom.

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What do you do after? I don't know. I'm 23 plus 14.

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I'm 23 plus 14. I'm 23 plus 14. I'm 23 plus 14. Yes, you do. You need to go to the bathroom.

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I said I was a 12. I can't go to the bathroom. But you're a 12. I was only 14. I know you said that problem, but I have a huge problem.

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I swear I have a huge problem. 1 ,000 feet. 99 to 1 ,000 feet. Thank you.

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Because I'm pretty sure that the smallest number minus the big number left it. This one's pretty.

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What is that? What? What? What? What?

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What? What? What? What? What? What?

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What? And her car. And she has a hundred dollars. A thousand dollars.

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So, what do you think about that? So, two plus five. I would say one plus five.

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Yes. Okay, so what do you think? A hero. Or a lady.

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Yeah, a lady. That's a mess. I can do lots of things with seven little siblings.

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Plus five, then you add the hundred to one. Minus. So. What's around a thousand?

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One thousand and one. One thousand and one. Next question. We're done.

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A thousand. We can. We've got to go up.

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We've got to go up. Yes. Yes. You're doing good.

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Thanks, Laura. Thank you. Whenever James or Ed or anyone that you're back to the office here, just be grateful

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I'm not the one who's filing a credit card prior to this. You're doing good. I'm just getting it.

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But, he never succeeds, he might have to rethink his phrases in order to get it, that's great.

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And it was literally in her house.

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That's silly. Very interesting, I don't know. How could that happen? Oh, you're going to save it?

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Great. No, she really needs her. Yeah, she does.

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She does, she does. But it doesn't work in her house. She should not go in there. Yeah. Yeah.

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When will you one day become a legend? Just right now. When will you be a legend?

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That is up to me. I'm joking. I like that so much.

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I'm trying to figure it out. I'm asking mom if I can get a pin for you. Go. Hi, Pastor.

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Hey. You have trouble with this guy? Yeah. Oh. You don't believe me?

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No. Oh, yeah? I would like to welcome you all to Congsvinger Lutheran Church.

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Today is a brand new church year. It's the first Sunday in Advent. You'll note that we're going with the traditional colors for the pyramids, and that is violet.

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Blue is kind of a newer thing. We do kind of switch back and forth sometimes. And you'll note the emphasis then is on the fact that this is a penitential season.

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We have switched now over to Divine Service Setting 1, Divine Service Setting 1, which is found in the hymnal on page 151.

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And today for the intruet, we'll be using psalm tone C, psalm tone

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C, as in Calcutta. No, that's with a K. Never mind, it's still psalm tone

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C. If you are physically present here at Congsvinger and you're able, please rise for the opening hymn. Divine Service Setting 1, in the name of the

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

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

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

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

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We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of your

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Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us, forgive us, renew us, and lead us so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways.

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To the glory of your holy name, amen. Almighty God, in his mercy, has given his

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Son to die for you, and for his sake he forgives you all of your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by his authority,

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I therefore forgive you all of your sins, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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Psalm tone C. To you,

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O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust, let me not be put to shame.

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Let not my enemies exult over me.

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Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.

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Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.

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Lead and teach me, for you are the

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God of my salvation. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

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Out of all his troth, to the

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Son, and to the Holy Spirit, he is now and will be forever.

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To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you

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I trust, let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies exult.

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Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.

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

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Lord. For the peace of the whole world, for the well -being of the

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Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the

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Lord. For this

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Holy House, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the

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Lord. Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

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Now we do not have a hymn of praise during this season. We'll say this today.

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The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Stir up your power,

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O Lord, and come that by your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance.

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For you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

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You may be seated. The Old Testament reading for the first Sunday in Advent is taken from the prophet

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Jeremiah 23. Behold, the days are coming, declares the

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Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

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In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called.

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The Lord is our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, as the

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Lord lives, who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but as the Lord lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and out of all the countries where he had driven them, then they shall dwell in their own land.

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

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None who wait for you shall be put to shame. Make me to know your paths,

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O Lord. Our epistle is taken from Romans chapter 13.

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Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

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The night is far gone. The day is at hand. So let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the

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Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify his desires. This is the word of the

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Lord. The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the 21st chapter.

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When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,

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Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied in a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

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If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord needs them, and he will send them at once. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

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Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

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The disciples went as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.

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Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road, and the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting,

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Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

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This is the gospel of the Lord. Sermon hymn is 332.

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

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Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. You may be seated. Ah, what an interesting text to start off the new church year.

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Christ's triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. You'll note that the themes are a little different than Palm Sunday in Lent.

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But all that being said, we're going to do kind of a two -part sermon. Part one is today. Part two will be a year from today.

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I know that seems a little weird, but the idea here is this, is that in the scriptures, there are a couple of notable examples of somebody trying to usurp the throne of David.

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And in one case, they actually get away with it for a long period of time. And then the real king shows up.

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It's kind of the point here. Let me remind you that we are all conceived and born in sin, and we are born under the dominion of darkness.

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Now, Satan is no king. This is for sure. He likes to think of himself as one or think of himself as God himself and aspires through his own self -conceit to be like God.

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And therefore, since he isn't God, he's not kind. He's ruthless. In fact, Satan makes

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Hitler look kind. But the thing is, is that Hitler, as well as others like him, are little children of the devil anyway.

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And so you'll note that when a bad leader arises, horrible things happen.

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And then when they finally die or are removed from office, people generally, kind of under their breath, rejoice or they feel a relief coming upon them.

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So think of it this way. Our gospel text today, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, is designed to signal something, signal that the real king has arrived.

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That's kind of the point. In fact, listen to the first part of our Old Testament lesson. Behold, the days are coming, declares

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Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

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And so everybody in Israel at the time of Christ was waiting for the son of David to show up.

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They knew prophecies like this one from Jeremiah. But I would note they also knew some of the stories that we're going to take a look at, at least the one we'll take a look at today.

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In the book of 1 Kings, chapter 1, King David is old.

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I mean, even older than I am. I mean, now you're talking, that's really old, right? He's so old, he can't even keep himself warm.

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And so they actually got a woman by the name of Abishag the Shunammite, and she was the one to care for King David in his old age and warmed him up with her own body heat.

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Kind of an interesting thing. But he's getting close to death. And we learn then, starting in verse 5, that David's son,

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Adonijah, is just like, well, his brother. His brother tried to usurp the throne and make himself king over Israel.

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Adonijah has waited and bided his time and waited until dad is this close to dying, and he then begins to make his run.

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Here's the issue, is that David, long, long before any of this happened, had promised

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Bathsheba that her son, Solomon, would be the one who would be king after him.

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Well, Adonijah knows this, and he's not thrilled with the idea. I mean, after all, Adonijah is much older than Solomon is.

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Why should Solomon be king? He's kind of the youngest of David's offspring, right?

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So it says in verse 5, Adonijah, the son of Haggath, exalted himself. And there's your problem right there.

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See, when you hear words like this, exalted himself, remember the words of Christ. The one who exalts himself will be humbled.

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The one who humbles himself will be exalted. And same for Christ. You'll note that Christ right now has been exalted, and there is no name given by which we must be saved.

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And there is no name higher than Jesus's name. It's all because he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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So God has exalted him. Well, Adonijah, being the little Satanist that he is, following after the way of Satan, has decided he's going to exalt himself.

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And in the types of shadows, this is kind of interesting. So he said, I will be king.

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And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him.

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Who does this sound like? This sounds just like Absalom, right? You would think he would have learned a lesson from his brother who died for such things.

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And note then, what is the expectation? He's got a chariot. Kings ride in chariots. He has 50 men coming in front of him saying, clear the way, clear the way.

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Here comes the Prince Adonijah, right? And so they got horsemen, chariots, 50 men running before him.

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And here's the issue. David doesn't do anything about it, which is kind of weird.

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This seems to be a problem with David. So his father never at any time displeased

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Adonijah by asking, why have you done thus and so? And so we also learned that Adonijah was very handsome.

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Now, I'm sure he doesn't hold a candle to me, but I mean, a second after that would be Adonijah. Right.

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All right. And so he was born next after Absalom, the text said. And he conferred with Joab, the son of Zoram, and with Abiathar, the priest.

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And they followed Adonijah and helped him. So he's got some people who are part of the official cabinet of King David, part of his counselors.

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And they've got his, you know, he's got their approval and they're backing him up.

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And so it says, but Zadok, the priest, Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei, and Ray, and David's mighty men, they were not with Adonijah.

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And so listen to this next part. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, fatted cattle.

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And this all sounds well and good -ish, except for here's the thing. It's a religious pretense.

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And he's not at the temple. Listen to where it says he sacrificed these animals. By the serpent's stone, which is beside En -Rogel.

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Serpent's stone? I mean, can you come up with a more direct and unambiguous reference to Satan than this?

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I mean, one has to wonder, was he sacrificing to Satan? Did Satan say, worship me and I will make you king?

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One has to wonder. So he sacrificed these animals next to the serpent's stone. And there, En -Rogel, he invited all of his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah.

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But a little bit of an omission on the invite list. He did not invite Nathan, the prophet, or Benaniah, the mighty men, or even

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Solomon, his brother. Of course he didn't. He's doing an end run.

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He wants to make himself king, that to be established before anybody can do anything, which would then basically cause people to have their loyalties divided.

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That's the point. So Nathan gets word of this, and he has to go see

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Bathsheba. Nathan said to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggath, has become king?

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And David, our lord, does not know it. Now therefore, come, let me give you advice that you may save your own life and the life of your son

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Solomon. Go in at once to King David and say to him, Did you not, my lord, the king, swear to your servant, saying,

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Solomon, your son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is

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Adonijah king? Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you, and I will confirm your words.

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So a little bit of intrigue here. Bathsheba goes first, asks the question, Didn't you promise me this?

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Why then is Adonijah king? And if David were to say, What are you talking about? I don't know what you're talking about. Have you been drinking too much,

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Bathsheba? Nathan will come in and confirm the words that she's speaking.

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And I find this all very fascinating, that one of the things that is really not spoken of very much when it comes to Bathsheba is just how forgiving she is.

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I want you to think about this for a second. She was violated by King David. And she was impregnated by King David.

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And King David murdered her husband in cold blood, absolutely murdered him.

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And all of this was exposed by Nathan the prophet. And so Bathsheba knows full well everything that happened.

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And despite all of this, she has found it in her heart to forgive

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David and to be a faithful wife to him and a mother, a good mother to his son

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Solomon. This is a testimony of forgiveness, grace, mercy.

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So says Bathsheba, she went and bowed and paid homage to the king. And the king said,

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What do you desire? And she said to him, My lord, you swore to your servant by Yahweh your

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God, saying Solomon your son shall reign after me. And he shall sit on my throne. And now behold,

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Adonijah is king. Although you, my lord, the king, do not know it. He has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king,

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Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army. But Solomon, your servant, he has not invited. And now, my lord, the king, the eyes of all of Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

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Otherwise, it will come to pass when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers that I and my son

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Solomon will be counted offenders. Which is a polite way of saying when you die, he's going to kill us.

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It's generally how things went in the ancient world, especially with guys who exalt themselves. So while she was still speaking with the king,

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Nathan the prophet came in. And they told the king, Here is Nathan the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

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And Nathan said, My lord, the king, have you said Adonijah shall reign after me and he shall sit on my throne?

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For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest.

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And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, saying, Long live King Adonijah.

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But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaniah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant

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Solomon, he has not invited. Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king?

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And have you not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

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So note that Nathan here is asking questions. But the questions also are making statements.

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But he's being very careful because, I mean, after all, you don't want to presume maybe David had changed his mind.

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And he decided that something else was going to happen. But that's not what's going on. So King David, with all of the bad memories of what happened with Absalom, now running through his mind, he has to spring into action.

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He has to do something. And this is where the contrast starts to show up.

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So he said, Call Bathsheba to me. So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king.

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And the king swore, saying, As Yahweh lives who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity.

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Oh, what a great statement. As Yahweh lives who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity.

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Brothers and sisters, we can say the same. Has not our God redeemed our souls out of every adversity?

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Especially the great one that stood before us because of our sin and our transgression. The adversity of hell itself.

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God has redeemed us from the flames of hell and has delivered us from the dominion of darkness.

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Transferred us into his kingdom of his beloved son. And he has bestowed on us rebels.

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Forgiveness, pardon, and adopted us as his own children. And written us into the will and promised us an inheritance.

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Indeed, God has redeemed all of our souls out of adversity. So David says,

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As Yahweh lives who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity. As I swore to you by Yahweh, the

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God of Israel. Saying, Solomon, your son shall reign after me. He shall sit on my throne in my place.

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Even so will I do this day. So then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said,

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May my lord, the king, David, may he live forever. What a great statement.

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May David, the king, live forever. She knows that he's about this close to dying. But there's the point.

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David will live forever in Christ's kingdom. Because he is a redeemed and forgiven sinner.

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Bathsheba knows full well the sins of David. She was there for it all.

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And yet she says, David, may you live forever. Knowing that God has had mercy on him. That despite the fact that his sins are as scarlet

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Christ, the son of David has forgiven him and given him the robe of righteousness and an inheritance in the kingdom of God.

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And has put away his sins. She heard Nathan, the prophet, say those things. So she can say such things.

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David, may you live forever. And indeed he does. And he will. And so do you. So king

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David said, call to me Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet, Ben and I, the son of Jehoiada. So they came before the king.

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And the king said to them, take with you the servants of your lord and have

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Solomon, my son, listen to the details, ride on my own mule.

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Adonijah's strutting around Jerusalem with a chariot and horsemen and 50 men running before him.

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But Solomon here, and this is an important thing, Solomon in the types and shadows, remember he is the son of David who's going to take the throne of David after his death.

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And it's not a mistake that Solomon's kingdom is punctuated by peace.

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And that all the wealth of the nations comes into Israel during his reign.

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It's a type and shadow of Christ's reign when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead.

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Indeed it is. And so is it not appropriate then that rather than grabbing the king's chariot,

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David grabs his mule and has his son ride on that.

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It's to tell us that Solomon isn't like Adonijah. Adonijah is self -serving, self -exalting.

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And you'll note that Solomon has done nothing up to this point, not a thing.

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He's called and he is the one placed on his father's mule.

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He has done nothing on his own behalf. His mother and Nathan the prophet have sprung into action and Solomon then is humbly exalted to the throne of David.

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It's beautiful when you consider it because it all points to Christ. So he said, let Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel at Gihon and then blow the trumpet and say, long live

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King Solomon. He shall then come up after him and he shall come and sit on my throne for he shall be king in my place.

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And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. And Ben -Aniah the son of Jehoiada answered the king,

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Amen. May Yahweh, the God of my Lord the King say so.

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They recognize something else here. Ben -Aniah and Jehoiada by saying this,

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Amen may Yahweh, the God of my Lord the King say so recognize it is not men who make kings, it is

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God. In fact, that's what also what it says in the book of Romans that every government that exists has been established by Christ.

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He is the king maker. He is the president decider. You might think that we decide who the president is, right?

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I mean, after all, we vote, don't we? But it was Christ who chose the two presidents that we've had in the last succession.

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In fact, all of them for his own purposes, for his own reasons. Keep that in mind. So as Yahweh has been with my

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Lord the King, even so may Yahweh be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my

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Lord King David. So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Ben -Aniah the son of Jehoiada and the

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Karathites and the Pelathites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon.

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There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon and then they blew the trumpet and all the people said, long live

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King Solomon. And all the people went up after him playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy so that the earth was split by their noise.

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Or the words of Monty Python, there was much rejoicing in the land. Yay. Adonijah and all the guests who were with him, they heard it as they finished feasting.

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And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, what does this uproar in the city mean?

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And while he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest came and Adonijah said, come in for you are a worthy man and bring good news.

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Jonathan answered Adonijah, no. For our Lord King David has made Solomon king and the king has sent with him

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Zadok, the priest, Nathan, the prophet, Benaniah, the son of Jehoiada, the

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Carathites and the Pelathites. And they had him ride on the king's mule and Zadok, the priest and Nathan, the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon.

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And they have gone up from there rejoicing so that the city now is in an uproar.

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This is the noise that you have heard. Solomon sits on the royal throne. Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our

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Lord King David saying, may your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours and make his throne greater than your throne.

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And the king bowed himself on the bed. And the king also said, blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.

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But it doesn't get any more official than that, which makes all the people at that particular feast put on by Adonijah sitting there wondering if their necks are going to be at the end of a rope by the end of the day because they've been engaging in rebellion and insurrection.

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So then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose and each went his own way.

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And Adonijah feared Solomon as he should. So he rose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.

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Then it was told Solomon, behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon. For behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar saying, let

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King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. Interesting.

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So first order of business for King Solomon once he is made king is to do what?

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Pardon his enemies. Isn't that exactly what Jesus does? You sit there and go, well, what do you mean?

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I would note that Jesus was crowned the king of Israel by the Roman government. Although what they did, they did in mockery.

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Christ made sure that that was his coronation. He wasn't crowned with gold.

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He was crowned with thorns. And his first act of business as king was to go to the cross, bleed and die for all of his enemies, you and me included, so that we can be forgiven and pardoned.

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So there's Adonijah fearing Solomon as he should. And so he said, let

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King Solomon swear that he will not put his servant to death with the sword, even though he deserves it. So Solomon said, well, if he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.

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So Solomon sent and brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon.

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And Solomon said to him, go to your house. Brothers and sisters, this is in the

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Types and Shadows, and it points directly to Christ in our gospel text today. And I would note the real king has come into Jerusalem.

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That's kind of the point. Our Old Testament text, we've already read the beginning part, but let me reread it here. Behold, the days are coming, declares

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Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

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Indeed, that's exactly what's going on. Our gospel text says this, that when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage, the

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Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, you go into the village in front of you and immediately you'll find not a war horse, not a chariot, not 50 men running before him.

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You'll find a donkey tied with a colt wither. Untie them, bring them to me.

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If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.

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Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you, humble, mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

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Now you can see it. Solomon, Jesus, it's all kind of coming together.

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The disciples, they went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey, the colt, and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.

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Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were sounding,

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Hosanna to the son of David. Oh, those are words charged with kingly importance.

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They may as well be saying, long live King Jesus. But that's kind of the point, isn't it?

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Had they said that, he wasn't long to live. He would die less than a week later on the cross for your sins and mine, for the sins of the people, shouting,

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Hosanna, for the sins of the whole world. That's the kind of king Jesus is, humble.

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He's here to serve you, not serve himself. He does not exalt himself.

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He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord, Hosanna in the highest. The prophet Jeremiah in our Old Testament text says this regarding King Jesus.

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In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.

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And you sit there and go, well, that doesn't apply to us. You're wrong. It only applies to people who believe.

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Everyone who believes the promises of the Messiah, whether they live in the Old Testament or New, they are the true sons of Abraham.

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They are the true Israel. And it says this, and this is the name by which he will be called.

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Yahweh is our righteousness. And indeed, he is. None of us have the righteousness necessary to save ourselves.

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In fact, this is a penitential season, a good time for us to reflect on our lives in light of the

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Ten Commandments and note the supreme lack of righteousness that we have.

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None of us has the requisite amount of righteousness in order to be saved. But King Jesus says, fear not, because I, your

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King, have gifted you with my own righteousness so that you will have more righteousness than is necessary to be saved.

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Because my righteousness is sinless and without measure. So therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares

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Yahweh, when they shall no longer say, as Yahweh lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt, which was the big narrative of the

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Old Testament, isn't it? People in Israel would say, Yahweh brought up this people out of the land of Egypt.

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Well, there's a day coming when the real promised land will then be in sight. You'll see it with your own eyes.

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You'll smell its wonderful, delicious smells with your own nose. Hear its songs with your ears and speak and sing the praises of God with your own mouth in that world to come.

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And so when we get there, we will not say as Yahweh who brought us out of the land of Egypt.

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Instead, we will say this as Yahweh who lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, or as David Ferguson, sorry, my mind just went blank.

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As they say here in Minnesota, in the north country, right?

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As surely as the house of Israel, he led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them and then they shall dwell in their own land.

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The picture is this, God has driven us to be here in American Siberia, Minnesota, right?

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And anyone who says, no, no, no, this isn't American Siberia, I'd say that's right because American Siberia is worse than Siberia, right?

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This is a cold, frigid place. That being the case, God has driven us here. This is where we are hearing the gospel.

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But there will be a day coming when Christ will gather us upon his return and bring us into the new

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Jerusalem and into the new earth and our inheritance will be there and we will dwell on the earth forever.

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And we will say that Yahweh brought us up out of this despised and fallen planet and brought us into the new earth.

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That's the point that's being made. So all of this being true then, this great work of Christ, the true king, our humble king, who's gone to the cross so that you and I don't have to go to hell.

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It says this in our epistle text, that you know that the time and the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.

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You see, Jesus is not merely satisfied to come once, he's coming twice.

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And in his second advent, he doesn't come humble. He comes on a war horse with a sword.

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He doesn't come to bleed and die in his second coming, that's in his first. Today is still the day of salvation.

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Today is the day when Christ still pardons sinners. Today is the day when

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God still, through the preaching of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates people and raises them from the dead and gives them faith in Christ so that they go from being dead and trespasses and sins to being alive in Christ.

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And we, for all of us for whom this has already happened, we are admonished then by the

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Apostle Paul that salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. And you'll note, this was the epistle text a year ago.

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And if Christ tarries, it'll be the epistle text a year from now. And with each hearing, it still rings true.

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Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. So the night, it's far gone.

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The day is at hand. So let us cast off the works of darkness.

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Put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in drunkenness and sexual immorality and sensuality and quarreling and jealousy and fits of anger and rage and nonsense like that.

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But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

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King Jesus is here now to serve us, to forgive us of our sins, feed us with his body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.

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And soon he will return and let us be ready for that by continuing to believe and by the power of the

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Spirit continue to mortify our sinful flesh in that mortal combat that we have against our own sinful

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Adam, not in order to be saved, but because we are. So brothers and sisters, humble

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King Jesus is here. And may King Jesus live forever. In Jesus name,

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Amen. We rise to confess our faith together in the words of the

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Nicene Creed. I believe in one

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God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in all things visible and invisible.

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And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his father before all worlds,

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God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the father by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the

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

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He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the father.

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

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And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the father and the son, who with the father and the son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

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

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Amen. Amen. Remain standing for the prayers of the church. Let us pray for the whole church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

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To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls and in you we put our trust. Do not let us be ashamed of our hope, but come quickly, sustain us by your

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Holy Spirit that we may have joy at the advent of Christ our Savior. Lord, in your mercy.

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Hear our prayer. O Lord, by the ministry of your holy church, prepare the way for your son's return in glory.

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Send forth faithful pastors to proclaim your law and gospel and grant hearers ears to listen and hearts to receive their words in faith.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Gracious God, look favorably on our congregation and especially on our catechumens that we may live sober lives, casting off the deeds of darkness as we wait for the revealing of our

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Savior from heaven. Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. O Lord of love, visit our homes and defend us.

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Clothe us with the armor of light. Preserve the single in holiness and lead husbands and wives to love one another and raise their children in the faith.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. O Lord, our King, righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne and steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

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Watch over the authorities of our land and grant that they govern justly so that we may live in peace as we proclaim your love and faithfulness.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. O Lord God, uphold, we pray,

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Nancy, Annie, Angela, Ivy, Michaela, Rudy, John, Arlen, Luis, Leon, Robin, Roger, Cheryl, Sheila, Jeff, Rachel, David, Gloria, Haley, the

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Hundley family, Anne, Jonathan, Cricket, Miranda, Stephanie, Andrew, Angela, and Norbert.

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We also pray for Heather, Pat, Doug, and Melissa, and Gilman. And we pray for all who suffer in mind or body.

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Give them knowledge of Christ, their Emmanuel, who is with them in their trials.

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Grant them health and healing in accord with your perfect will. Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.

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We pray for those who are persecuted, that you would grant them relief and protect them from their enemies, especially in this regard.

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Do we live before you, Marie? Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. We pray for those who are unbelievers or who are spiritually deceived and still in the dominion of darkness, that you would grant them light, the light of Christ, and to transfer them from Satan's dominion to your own through the preaching of the gospel.

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In this regard, we pray for Karen, Tara, Don, John, Georgette, Robert, Renee, Tamika, Christine, and Monica, as well as Corey and Ryan.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Almighty God, your son humbly rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of Hosanna so that he might give us righteousness and salvation by his death and resurrection.

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Mercifully grant that we would repent of our sins and rejoice in his presence as he visits us with his body and blood in his holy supper this day.

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Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Holy God, you declared that the days were coming when you would accomplish our salvation, and in your time you have caused your son, the righteous branch, to spring up for David.

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By your grace, keep us joined as branches to Christ, that we might bear fruit until the day he returns in glory, for he lives and reigns with you in the

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Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. We continue with the offertory.