WEBVTT

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I've got three things that I want to share this

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morning. And the first one is a word for maybe

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one or two people here. But the Lord put this

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on my heart last night as I was praying for the

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service. And I want to share this with you. Your

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season of laughter is coming. Will you receive

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that? Your season of laughter is coming. Now

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I want to read some verses from Genesis chapter

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21. Verse 1. Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah

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as he had said. And the Lord did for Sarah what

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he had promised. And I want to remind you, and

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you can remind the person sitting next to you

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right now, God will do what he said he would

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do. God will do what he said he would do. Amen?

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So just tell that to the person next to you right

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now. God will do what he said he would do. Sarah

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became pregnant. and bore a son to Abraham in

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his old age. At the very time God had promised

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him, there it is again, Abraham gave him the

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name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. And when

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his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised

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him as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred

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years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

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And listen to what Sarah said. Sarah said, God

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has brought me laughter. And everyone who hears

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about this will laugh with me. Hallelujah. Now

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you need to understand something, that this was

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after a lifetime of grieving. She had been married

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to Abraham for a long time. They had the promise

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that God had given to Abraham for 25 years when

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she was 65. And so she was living, believing

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for a long time. And now she's 90. Her womb is

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dead. But God woke up her womb. so that she could

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receive and bear a miracle son. Hallelujah. Now,

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the year before, when the men came sent from

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God to bear that message, Sarah laughed. Do you

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remember when Sarah laughed? You can read the

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story, Genesis 17, 18, right in there. And Sarah

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laughed because she was doubting. And she was

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embarrassed that she laughed. In fact, Abraham

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asked her, why did you laugh? And she lied. And

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she said, I did not laugh. And you see, the first

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laughter that was connected to this miracle was

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the laughter of doubt. But God is faithful even

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when we are not oftentimes, amen? And he was

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faithful to Sarah. And Sarah, bore a child, and

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God turned her laughter of doubt into the laughter

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of abundance. Hallelujah. And she freely, before

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she lied about it and she said, no, I didn't

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laugh. No, I didn't doubt. No, I didn't do any

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of those things. But now she has been given a

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son. The promise has come to her. And she is

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freely laughing in front of everybody. And she's

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saying that the God that made me laugh is going

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to make everybody else laugh when they hear my

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story. Hallelujah. Now, some of you have been

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standing, believing God for a long time. And

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God says this morning, your season of laughter

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is coming. Hallelujah. And so I want to pray

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over you right now. I want to pray over you because

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there's a couple of people in this room that

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that went into. And you say, I'm latching on

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to that word. If that's you, lift up your hand

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right now. You're latching on to that word. Hands

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up all over this room. Father, in the name of

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Jesus, I thank you for the hands that are up

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right now just representing the promise of God

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being fulfilled in their lives. They're believing

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you. They're standing. And for some of them,

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it has been a long, long season. God, I'm asking

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right now all over this room. that the season

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of laughter will come forth in the name of Jesus.

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You say, how Lord can it be done? How Lord can

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it be done? But we join with Mary and say with

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God, all things are possible. Lord, when Elizabeth

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gave birth to John, the Bible says that everyone

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rejoiced with her. Hallelujah. And God, I thank

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you for the miracles that are coming to these

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hands that are lifting up right now in Jesus'

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name. I thank you for the breakthroughs that

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are coming. I thank you for the answered prayer

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that is coming in the name of Jesus. I thank

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you for the healing that is coming in the name

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of Jesus. And I ask, Father, that the season

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of laughter will come in Jesus' name. Hallelujah.

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Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Okay, you can

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tell I haven't preached in a while. Sermon number

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two. Sermon number two is in Joshua chapter 24.

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And these are for some people to strengthen their

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hand in their family. To strengthen their hand

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in what God has called you in your family. And

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you remember Joshua had just, he had won all

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the battles. The land was being settled. And

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he was giving a victory speech to the Israelites

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before they split up and all went their way.

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And he was warning them about serving other gods.

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And he said in verse 14 of Joshua 24, 24 -14,

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Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness.

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Everybody say, all faithfulness. Throw away the

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gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the Euphrates

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River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if

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serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then

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choose for yourselves this day whom you will

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serve, whether the gods of your ancestors, they

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serve beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the

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Amorites in whose land you are living. But as

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for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

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Hallelujah. And that's a declaration I felt the

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Lord put in my heart. This is all aside from

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my ever -shortening sermon that's about to come

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up. I believe that that word was to be released

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this morning over somebody here to have... courage

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to stand up for your household and say, as for

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me and my house, we're not going to go the way

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the world. We're not going to do the things that

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the world does. We're not going to operate the

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way the world operates. We're not going to be

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in love with the things that the world is in

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love with. We're not going to spend our money

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the way the world spends its money because as

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for me and my house, we're serving God. Hallelujah.

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Hallelujah. How many of you will with a fresh

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declaration today? Whether you are single, living

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by yourself, that is your household. Or whether

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you are a grandparent and all of your kids are

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gone and you're there by yourself now, that is

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your household. Amen? Or whether you have kids

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in your home, whether you're a full family in

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your home right now, man of God, woman of God,

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will you stand up in the Spirit? And will you

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say, as for me and my house, we will serve the

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Lord. Hallelujah. The spirit of Joshua come upon

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you in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. If that's you,

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lift up your hand before the Lord right now.

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God, all over this room, people standing up saying,

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as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

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God, we declare that with our whole heart. God,

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we just embrace the declaration Joshua made.

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Joshua knew that others would go the other direction.

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And there might be people at work or even our

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friends that have gone the wrong direction. But

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we declare with something fresh in our hearts

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at the beginning of this summer, God, we declare

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that as for me and my house, we will serve the

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Lord. We declare that in the name of Jesus. Ooh,

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hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, just in the midst

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of this, we declare our, we just recognize that

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we're imperfect, that we are being made holy.

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We are holy and we're being made holy. We are

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sanctified, but we're also being made sanctified.

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That you are working in our lives. We ask for

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your help in this, your grace. God, it's not

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just about following rules better because we

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fall short. It is about leaning into Jesus and

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the power of the Holy Spirit and trusting God

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day by day to be our strength. We declare, as

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for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

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Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Isn't that good? Praise

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God. Praise God. And then finally, this morning,

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in 1 Peter 1, if you would turn there with me.

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1 Peter 1. And we're going to be celebrating

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with baptisms right after this time. I want to

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talk for a moment about the refiner's fire. And

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I want to ask you, is the refiner's fire burning

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in your heart? The refiner's fire. And we're

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in 1 Peter chapter 1, and I want to read from

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verses 6 through 9. In all this you greatly rejoice,

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though now for a little while you may have had

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to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. so that

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the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater

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worth than gold, which perishes even though refined

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by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor

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when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have

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not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you

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do not see him now, you believe in him and are

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filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy

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for you are receiving the end result of your

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faith, the salvation of your soul. Hallelujah.

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Give God praise for that. That's powerful. The

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refiner's fire. And Peter alludes to the refining

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of gold the same way that God tests your faith.

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Refiner's fire. Let me read to you some verses

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that you can write down if you're taking notes.

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Proverbs 17, 3. The crucible for silver and the

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furnace for gold. But the Lord tests the heart.

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The Lord tests the heart. So you and I, and this

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obviously is not your physical heart. This is

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the heart of your faith. The internal spiritual

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heart, God tests. He does not test it so that

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you will fail. He tests it so that you will pass.

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He's not a cruel teacher that wants most of his

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students to fail, like my freshman English teacher.

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I barely passed. Oh, God wants you to pass the

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test. And so the fire that you have been in,

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the trial, is to... increase your faith in Christ.

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Amen? And so there are different ways that the

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Lord tests us. Let me just walk through a couple

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of them quickly. Here's another proverb, Proverbs

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27, 21. The crucible for silver and the furnace

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for gold, but people are tested by their praise.

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Wow. Did you know that? When people tell you,

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you did a great job, guess what's happening in

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that moment? Your heart is being tested. What's

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in your heart often comes out when people praise

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you. Whether you have a woe is me attitude, Which

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God wants to burn out of you because sometimes

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when people praise you or give you a compliment,

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you have so much woe is me -ism in you that you

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can't even receive what they're trying to say.

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And you just outright reject what people are

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saying to you. Or whether you are inflated with

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pride. And so you have... pride that grips your

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heart when you are praised and when somebody

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compliments you and pride just swells up and

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you go, oh no, that's all God, but inside you're

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saying, oh yeah, that's me. Praise tests your

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heart. It's a fire. Here's what you ought to

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do when somebody praises you. you ought to first

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say, thank you. That's encouraging. Right? In

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fact, let's all say that together. Thank you.

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That's encouraging. That's a great thing to say.

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And then do you know what you do? You give glory

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to the Lord. You give that praise to God because

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you know and I know that if I do something well

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and somebody says thank you or that was a great

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job, Darren, you know and I know that that only

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happens because of the goodness of God in my

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life. And the same is true for you. It happens

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because of the goodness of God. operating in

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your life. And so you and I cannot take the glory

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for that praise. You and I cannot take the accolades

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for that praise. We can't do it. We've got to

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give glory to God. We've got to give glory where

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glory is due. Because it is only Him working

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in my life that I am what I am. Amen? And so

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we say thank you, that's encouraging. And then

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we give God the glory for that thing in our lives.

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Amen? We give Him glory. We are tested when we

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are praised. How do you respond when people praise

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you? If you have a woe is me attitude, you need

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to repent of that in Jesus' name. Because that

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is the opposite side of pride. And it is the

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constant putting down of yourself which God does

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not do. And you need to stop it in the name of

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Jesus. And you need to say, God, thank you. I

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recognize the giftings and the good things that

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you've done in my life. I recognize those things.

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I don't have to deny them to be humble. I can

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recognize what God has done in my life, and I

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can give Him praise for that. Amen? That's good

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stuff. Praise the Lord. The second thing that

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God refines us with, which we've already touched

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on, is affliction. affliction. It's difficulty

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in life. And Jesus said, in this world you will

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have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome

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the world. And the psalmist said in Psalm 66

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10, for you God tested us, you refined us like

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silver. You refined us like silver. You brought

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us into prison. Now this was because of Their

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lack of repenting. They would not repent. You

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brought us into prison and you laid burdens on

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our back. You let people ride over our heads.

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We went through fire and water. But you brought

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us to a place of abundance. I want to read that

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again because that was exciting to me. If it

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was exciting to nobody else. Verse 12. This is

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Psalm 66, 12. You let people ride over our heads.

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We went through the fire and water, but you brought

00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:50.259
us to a place of abundance. You see, the refining

00:19:50.259 --> 00:19:53.640
and the testing is not to get you to fail and

00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:57.400
fall and be destroyed. It is ultimately to bless

00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.900
you and bring you into the place of abundance.

00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:05.640
But they had to say yes to the time. of trial.

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That's Psalm 66 10. Isaiah 48 10. God says through

00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:16.799
Isaiah, see I have refined you, though not as

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silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:27.390
Wow. Zechariah 13, 8 and 9. In the whole land,

00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:30.009
declares the Lord, two -thirds will be struck

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down and perish. This is a prophecy. Yet one

00:20:33.289 --> 00:20:37.329
-third will be left in it. Verse 9. This third

00:20:37.329 --> 00:20:41.130
I will put into the fire. I will refine them

00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:44.789
like silver and test them like gold. They will

00:20:44.789 --> 00:20:48.369
carry on my name and I will answer them. I will

00:20:48.369 --> 00:20:52.029
say they are my people and they will say the

00:20:52.029 --> 00:20:58.259
Lord is. our God. You see, when silver and gold

00:20:58.259 --> 00:21:01.759
is refined, if you've ever watched the process,

00:21:01.819 --> 00:21:04.579
you can watch it on YouTube. As it heats up,

00:21:04.619 --> 00:21:07.480
what happens is all the impurities in it come

00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:12.599
to the surface. And the gold is so hot that when

00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:17.119
the impurities hit the surface, and they come

00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:21.619
in contact with oxygen, then they burst into

00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:26.220
flame and they are burned up. And this is what

00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:30.000
God wants to do with the dross in our lives.

00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:33.759
It's called dross. The dross comes up to the

00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:38.079
surface and it burns up so that what is left

00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:44.119
in your life... In that bowl is pure silver and

00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:47.920
pure gold and is not mixed with anything else.

00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:50.740
Now that's a simplified version of the purification

00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:55.579
process. But what does it take? Heat. It takes

00:21:55.579 --> 00:21:59.880
heat. And so you go through things in life. And

00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:02.519
you know what it does? It puts heat underneath

00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:10.119
you so that the impurities draw out. Amen? The

00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:13.619
impurities are drawn out. You hit your thumb

00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:19.339
with a hammer. And guess what? The impurities

00:22:19.339 --> 00:22:27.339
can come out. I'm just telling you. And you might

00:22:27.339 --> 00:22:32.279
discover there's more I need to repent of. You're

00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:36.299
laughing because you know it's true. Frustrating

00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:43.869
things happen. no matter how saved you are, frustrating

00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:50.170
things will still happen. And why do they happen?

00:22:50.750 --> 00:22:56.789
Because God is purifying our hearts. So do you

00:22:56.789 --> 00:23:01.309
know what the solution is? To surrender to the

00:23:01.309 --> 00:23:05.559
refiner's fire. The Holy Spirit has not just

00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.900
been given you to empower you so that you always

00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:14.980
live on cloud nine. He has come so that you can

00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:19.019
be a strong witness for the kingdom of God. But

00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:21.940
one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to

00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:28.339
burn like a fire so that you and I walk refined

00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:35.950
before Him. Refiner's fire. And so as I close

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here, the psalmist learned to pray. And so if

00:23:46.309 --> 00:23:49.230
you can, turn to Psalm 139 with me, and we're

00:23:49.230 --> 00:23:53.589
going to close with this prayer in Psalm 139.

00:23:56.529 --> 00:23:59.230
There's actually multiple places in the Bible

00:23:59.230 --> 00:24:02.099
where people pray something similar, but... I'm

00:24:02.099 --> 00:24:04.700
just going to read this one as I close this morning.

00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:16.599
In verse 23, the psalmist says, Search me, God,

00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:25.039
and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious

00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:30.640
thoughts. See if there is any offensive way.

00:24:31.630 --> 00:24:39.049
in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Isn't

00:24:39.049 --> 00:24:41.890
this a great prayer? Do you know what this is?

00:24:41.950 --> 00:24:45.569
This is a surrendering to the refiner's fire.

00:24:46.829 --> 00:24:50.009
God, I recognize that there's places in my life

00:24:50.009 --> 00:24:56.049
that I can't even see. I have blind spots that

00:24:56.049 --> 00:24:59.130
others can see often, but even some, God, that

00:24:59.130 --> 00:25:05.019
only you see. And the psalmist says, God, here's

00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:09.539
what I want you to do. I want you to burn the

00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:14.700
dross off of my life. I want to be pleasing to

00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:21.680
you in your sight. Search me, O God, and know

00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:28.019
my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

00:25:29.450 --> 00:25:33.109
What he's praying here is not just that they

00:25:33.109 --> 00:25:38.509
would be exposed, but that they would be transformed

00:25:38.509 --> 00:25:44.690
and changed. And what the psalmist did not have

00:25:44.690 --> 00:25:47.049
revelation of that you and I have revelation

00:25:47.049 --> 00:25:52.450
of is the cross of Calvary. That you and I can

00:25:52.450 --> 00:25:57.049
pray this, and as we pray this, we... can come

00:25:57.049 --> 00:26:01.150
to the cross. Hallelujah. We can come to the

00:26:01.150 --> 00:26:04.750
cross where Jesus shed His blood. And we can

00:26:04.750 --> 00:26:09.250
say, God, search me. Know me. Try my anxious

00:26:09.250 --> 00:26:14.710
thoughts. I bring them to the cross for You to

00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:20.509
deliver me and set me free. Hallelujah. And God

00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:23.829
will do that. What is that vice that has you?

00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:27.160
That perhaps you were once freed from, but you

00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:31.700
went back to it. What is that internal thought

00:26:31.700 --> 00:26:34.480
that you constantly have that you know is not

00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:38.099
from God? What is that thing that you struggle

00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:42.000
with that you know that God needs to burn out

00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:47.240
of your life? Holy Spirit, search my heart. Know

00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:52.380
me. God, my desire is that if there is any offensive

00:26:52.380 --> 00:27:00.349
way in me, That God, it be out of my life. And

00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:05.990
that I walk in the way everlasting. I want to

00:27:05.990 --> 00:27:10.569
bring you pleasure, God. I want to bring you

00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:15.210
pleasure. And so before we move to the baptisms

00:27:15.210 --> 00:27:20.000
this morning. I just want to respond. And you

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.660
might want to come down to the altar. You might

00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:25.480
build an altar right there where you are. You

00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:29.259
might just close your eyes. But I want to respond

00:27:29.259 --> 00:27:36.380
with a song that just says, Refiners fire, have

00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:44.619
your way in me. Have your way in my life. Refiners

00:27:44.619 --> 00:27:49.619
fire. Move in me. Thank you, Jesus.