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I like what I've experienced with you today,

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and I think the Holy Spirit lives in your church family.

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So you can see there about 20 years of pastoring churches

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and another 22 years of pastoring hospitals.

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And we live in Calhoun, and so we're neighbors of yours.

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So what about that scripture,

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the story Jesus told about the farmer?

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Was the farmer fair?

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Sure.

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Thank you.

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Anybody think he wasn't fair?

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I'll give you some stats, current stats,

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and the last we have for annual average income

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in the United States go back to April of 2022.

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The average annual pay in the US,

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that's the most current stat we have,

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is $77,338 a year.

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And that averages down to $37 an hour.

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And that's what Jesus would,

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if he was telling this story today,

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instead of a denarius a day,

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that was the average pay for a day's work,

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when he told the story, he would say $37 an hour.

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Is that fair?

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Well, if you make $1,000 an hour,

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you may not think it's that great,

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but $37 is pretty good for when I used to earn hourly wage.

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Real good.

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I started at 50 cents an hour.

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I don't have any hair left,

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so you know that was a long time ago.

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I'm going to weigh in on this question.

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Was the farmer fair?

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No.

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No.

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He was way, way, way, way, way, way, way more than fair.

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Way more to fair.

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And God is way, way, way, way, way more than fair to sinners.

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If God was only fair, where would Eve be?

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She's one that sold out the human race,

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went to work for the enemy.

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She abandoned God to trust Satan.

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But God was way, way more than fair to her.

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He gave her hundreds of years of life,

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forgiving, transforming her,

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and she told generations of children

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about the God of hope and the savior that would be born.

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She had an idea that she might be the mother of the savior.

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It didn't work out that way,

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but God used her to prophesy ahead of time.

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If God was only fair, where would Lot be?

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An incestuous binge drinker.

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God was way, way more than fair to Lot,

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made him a prime example of the lengths God would go to

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to spare indecisive sinners

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caught between the love of God and the love of the world.

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He was way more than fair to Lot.

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If God was only fair, where would Abraham be?

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He twice lied to kings for his own protection

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and let his wife be at risk for an immoral monarch.

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Turned out to be more moral than the husband

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who didn't tell the truth.

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God was way, way more than fair to a lying husband.

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Abraham, like that, became the greatest biblical example

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of faith in God,

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willing to put his own son on the altar.

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Abraham's forever symbolic of the love of God the Father

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to give Jesus to save mankind, you and me.

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Is God fair?

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Uh-uh.

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Way, way, way, way more than fair.

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If God was only fair, where would Jacob be?

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Deceptive thief, tricky Jake.

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He put his own status, his finances,

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his success before God and his family.

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Repenting, forgiven, matured out of his weak instincts,

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God was way, way more than fair to Jacob.

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He became Israel, the namesake of God's chosen people,

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the Old Testament.

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If God was only fair,

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where would woman chasers David and Samson be?

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And murderers Moses and double-centered David,

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who was both a woman chaser and a murderer.

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Where would they be?

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If God was only fair,

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where would ruthless, ambitious John

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and belligerent Peter be?

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If God was only fair,

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where would violently fanatical Paul be?

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And if God was only fair,

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where would you and I be?

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We'd all be fairly judged and doomed.

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Mighty bad sinners.

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But the heart of God is transforming.

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It's way, way, way, way, way more than fair.

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It reaches, it forgives, it makes us into world changers.

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Yes, heaven's greatest treasure

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is a sinner ripe for repentance.

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We need to face who we are.

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So I've prepared a short survey.

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It's really serious business,

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and I need Bruce and your helpers at this point.

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This is an exercise that may be a bit stunning to us.

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I'll keep one.

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Probably children don't need to have this one.

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It'll be an experience they'll be part of,

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but they won't need to fill it out.

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We have pens for you to fill it out.

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I'm hoping our whole survey can take about five, six minutes

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and we can go on and analyze it

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after we've faced our own situation.

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There are 14 questions on here,

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and I'm not going to read each one.

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I'm gonna let you read it silently

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and just mark it as truthfully and honestly as you can.

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But don't put your name on this paper

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because someone else is going to have it in their hands

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within about 10 minutes.

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And we're going to see in a visible way

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our true condition and our situation.

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If you have misgivings about participating in this,

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it's all right.

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I think it's a moving exercise.

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I've done this with a whole camp meeting

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and it was remarkable in that most conservative section

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of our conference when we really faced who we are.

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We're taking some pains to safeguard

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the anonymous nature of your survey response.

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But we'll see how even a good church

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has been under attack through the years of our lives.

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And it helps us see really where we are.

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We're gonna move from this place emotionally quickly

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as soon as we hear and see the responses

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and go to the fabulous reassurance

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of the nature of Jesus Christ our Savior.

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What we're going to do now

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as soon as they get these in your hands

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is you're going to take someone else's survey result.

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And when I read the item on the survey,

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if the person who marked the survey you hold in your hands

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marked that one, then we're going to ask you to stand.

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There'll be some up and down here.

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So I'm sorry if that's hard on someone.

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If you have to, just raise your hand, that's okay,

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but it'll be more of an emphatic impact on you if we stand.

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Number one, this is not you we're talking about.

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This is the person who filled out your survey,

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but we'll have you stand representing

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the fact that we're under attack

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even in committed Christian environment and family.

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Number one, have you ever struggled with depression?

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If the person in your survey marked it, please stand, okay?

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Thank you, thank you, you may be seated.

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Number two, have you ever struggled with fear or anxiety?

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If you can stand, go ahead.

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Stand if you can stand and raise your hand if you can't.

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All right, now number three,

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do you have anything in your life you regret?

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Thank you.

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Number four, have you ever been physically abused

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or abusive?

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You ever been the abuser or been abused yourself?

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Thank you.

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That's a pretty big percentage for a small group.

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I don't know if you saw how many there were there.

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There were nearly 10 out of 60.

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All right, number six, have you ever thought about

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or attempted suicide?

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Number seven, have you ever cut

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or intentionally harmed yourself?

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That's good.

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Number eight, ever been sexually active outside of marriage?

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Thank you.

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Number 10, do you have any unshared secrets?

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Thank you.

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Number 11, have you ever abused drugs, alcohol or food?

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Thank you.

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Do you struggle with attractions, temptations

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or thoughts outside God's will?

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Thank you.

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Let's just stand right, stay there for a minute.

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You know, this is a painful exercise

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and I want you to, you're concentrating on standing

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and sitting at the right time, but from up here,

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and I'm hoping you're getting some of it too.

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Those in the back can see those in front of them.

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There's a lot of suffering that's gone on.

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There's a lot of devil attack that goes on.

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Thank you.

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Let's look at number 13.

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Have you ever lied to hide your actions?

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Thank you.

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Thanks.

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Thank you.

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And number 14, do you doubt that God is pleased with you?

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That's a sad one.

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Thank you.

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Thank you all for participating

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in something quite unusual for church.

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It's to prepare us for the tremendously good news

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the rest of this message will have.

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Now we know who we are.

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Let's move out of this sad place as quickly as we can.

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To stay in an emotional space like this very long,

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it is not a reliable measure of our life.

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We got a quick step out of here, move forward,

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only pausing long enough to benefit from this brief stay.

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I wanna take you to London, England,

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and there's Sir Winston Churchill at the dinner table.

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He was a statesman, a leader of the free world,

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and they had guests that night.

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He was called away for some

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dutiful call, a telegram or a phone call he had to take.

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And so he stepped away from the dinner table

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and the guest asked Lady Churchill,

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what was Sir Winston doing when he made this gesture

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around the linen tablecloth

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near your place at the dinner table?

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And she said, oh, that was Sir Winston telling me

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he'd walk the world over on his knees

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to have my forgiveness for the argument

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that they'd had just before dinner.

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He was willing to admit he was wrong.

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It's probably a major factor in what made him

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one of history's great statesmen.

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Being able to admit when you've had weakness,

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when you've been wrong, is the only way you get

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to the mercy of a heavenly father with all that grace

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he's waiting to give.

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The last shall be first, but only the last.

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Only those willing to admit where they are

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and where they've been can receive that generous

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outpouring and overflowing of God's mercy.

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Have you admitted that you were wrong lately?

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Have you asked for forgiveness recently?

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Have you had to reap the rewards of your deeds sometime?

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Have you had to throw yourself on the mercy

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of somebody else?

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Have you had to face it, I'm last?

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It's the only way to become first with God.

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All the 12-step programs, AA, narcotics anonymous,

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overeaters anonymous, they find victory

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in recognizing themselves as forever an alcoholic,

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forever an addict, forever a glutton,

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forever in need of the higher power,

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but not as a person who is in need of the higher power.

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But not active in it anymore, not terrorized

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by the handcuffs to that addiction and habit,

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but always vulnerable.

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In truth, the closer and the longer you walk

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with the one who freed you, the less you are addicted,

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the less you are an alcoholic,

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the less you are a narcotics addict,

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the less you are an overeater,

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but recognizing your dependence on the one who freed you

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is essential to staying free.

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All right, let's get out of here.

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Let's quit thinking about us.

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Let's turn and think about the Savior.

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There are 89 chapters in the Gospels.

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And out of all those verses,

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in the 89 chapters of the biblical text,

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there's only one place in the four Gospels

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where Jesus tells us about his own heart.

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Perhaps it's the most wonderful words

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ever uttered by a paralipse.

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It's in Matthew 11, 28 and 29.

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I'm reading from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Come to me, all you that are weary

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and are carrying heavy burdens.

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There's been some burden bearing in this congregation.

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Do you see how we stood?

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So many.

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Come to me and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

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And here he is.

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He's unbuttoning his shirt.

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He's letting you see down through the T-shirt

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through the skin, past the rib cage,

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to the very pulsing heart, the heart of Christ,

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what motivates and makes him work.

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He says, I am gentle and humble in heart.

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I actually like the good old King James Version

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a little bit touch better here.

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For I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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And ye shall find rest until your souls.

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Gentle and lowly.

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The Bible doesn't say, I am austere and demanding in heart.

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We're not told, I am exalted and dignified in heart.

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We're not even told that Jesus is joyful and generous in heart.

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When he himself gave definitive phrases

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about his own nature, he says,

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I am gentle and lowly in heart.

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Jesus isn't harsh.

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He isn't reactionary.

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He isn't easily exasperated.

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He's the most understanding person in the universe.

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This would be a good place for a congregation wide amen.

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Amen.

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That's what he's like.

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The posture that's most natural for Jesus is not this.

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It's this.

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That's gentle and lowly Jesus.

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We project onto Jesus our skewed instincts

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of how the world works where we live.

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We think the wealthier a person is,

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the more they tend to look down on people that don't have as much.

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That's not Jesus.

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We tend to think that the more beautiful a person is,

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that the less they have any sense of interest in somebody

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who's not attractive or downright ugly.

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That's not Jesus.

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That's not Jesus.

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We quietly assume that one so high and so exalted

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can't stand to draw near to despicable and unclean me.

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That's not Jesus.

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That's not Jesus.

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We really mess it up when we think like that.

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We think that when Jesus comes close to us, he does this.

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We think it's like the little boy who first touched a slug.

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You know, there it is.

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Sure looks slimy.

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Do I want to touch this thing?

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Ah!

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That's not Jesus.

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That's not gentle and lowly Jesus.

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That's not gentle and lowly Jesus.

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Our very fallenness is most irresistibly attractive to him.

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I know that's hard to believe, but it's the truth.

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And gentle and lowly, he was telling you how he feels about you

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with the history we've displayed here.

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The same one that reached out to touch lepers,

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puts his arm around our messy souls

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to answer our half-hearted pleas for mercy.

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He puts his arms around oozing sore lepers and people

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who've come through messy things in our lives.

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As deep as our sinfulness runs, ever deeper runs his gentleness.

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When we sin, the very heart of Christ is drawn out to us.

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He doesn't turn his back and say,

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I died on Calvary for them.

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No, he comes near to us when we sin,

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and his heart is broken for us.

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The sins of those who belong to God open the floodgates

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of his heart of compassion to us.

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And then the dam breaks because he sees us at our worst.

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That's what draws the heart of Christ.

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That's what pulls out of him his deepest love.

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The things about yourself which make you cringe

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are what makes God hug the hardest.

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He's gentle and lowly of heart, and we shall find rest unto our souls.

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Jesus said it himself, the last shall be first.

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Now we read in John 20 the story of Mary Magdalene.

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I love how you have a reflection that kind of hides the time in your clock back there.

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But I'm going to shortcut and not read the long passage,

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but it is John 20 and verse 11 through 18.

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It's the resurrection of Jesus. It's Mary coming to the tomb.

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This is Mary. Two other Gospel writers say that she had seven devils cast out of her.

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But here she is at the tomb Sunday morning.

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She's there because the love response for the forgiveness

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that's been freely poured all over her sin life draws her automatically in a response.

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She has to be there. She has to be there.

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Mary had been last. Simon the Pharisee publicly berated her.

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What manner of woman is this? She's a sinner. He was right.

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When she fell, she fell all the way to last.

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She sinned grievously over and over and over.

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At first she was duped by someone who said, I love you, because she needed it so badly.

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She became last, perpetual in her wasteful sin, her sin controlled her.

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She had to leave Bethany and she moved way up north to Magdala

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and became the disgrace when they said Mary Magdalena.

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The people of Magdala said, oh, what a fame to have.

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We don't want her name even heard and associated with our town.

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When they dragged her from the very bed of her sin, had she grabbed the sheet or even a pillow slip?

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Her guilt was obvious.

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He wrote the accuser's sins in the sand, that savior who forgave her.

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He must see our sin for what it really is too.

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Only the last shall be first, but he didn't write Mary's sin in the sand.

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She was already sorry. She was already broken with her guilt.

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She was already to hear him say, neither do I condemn you.

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Go and sin no more.

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I didn't say that strong enough.

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Neither do I condemn you.

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Go and sin no more because it hurts you.

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It doesn't change my love for you.

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It changes whether you can be with me forever.

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I can't bear the idea you wouldn't be.

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And so she who had been last in sin was first whom he greeted in the morning of his resurrection.

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She remembered the soft-shouldered forgiver.

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She remembered his words when she saw them take his body down.

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She remembered how he didn't condemn her when their tears fell into his wounds

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as they savved his body for the embalming.

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She saw them bring the body down.

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She knew she'd been last in sin and she was last to leave the tomb of her savior.

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She who had been last in sin was first whom he greeted in the garden.

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On Friday, the separation from his father was literally tearing the sinews of his myocardium muscle in his chest, his heart muscle.

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When he cried out, why hast thou forsaken me?

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It was her sin, our sins that was tearing the muscle apart in his chest.

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But on Sunday morning, he did not immediately ascend to the Father.

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He couldn't stand the separation on Friday afternoon.

401
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You've forsaken me, but on Sunday morning, he didn't fly immediately, transported to heaven to be in the Father's arm.

402
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What was it that would take a separation that was so painful it broke his heart?

403
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And yet he stayed in the garden lingering with a sniveling, crying, last but forgiven.

404
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And now first before the Father, forgiven sinner.

405
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The thing that heaven treasures more than anything in the universe is a sinner ripe for repentance.

406
00:31:20,300 --> 00:31:36,300
In Hebrews 12, there's a picture of something that I didn't have in my theological agenda until several quarters back now, a couple of years back.

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We were studying the book of Hebrews and it described the second largest celebration in celestial history.

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A celestial celebration in heaven where all the angels that are up there and overflowing out into the unfallen universe celebrating the second biggest celebration in heaven.

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It's the enthronement of the Son of God with Father God in glory after the crucifixion.

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It's the inauguration of the new covenant that saves mankind.

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I see some of you wanting to turn there. It's Hebrews 12, 22 and 23.

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It goes like this.

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You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn.

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Who's that? That's Jesus, firstborn from the dead.

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Most importantly born. Most important one to be freed from a sepulcher.

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It says, whose names have been written in heaven. God spoke to the Son, your throne, O God is forever and ever and the scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of justice.

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They were ready for the ceremony in heaven. The enthronement of Jesus after the crucifixion.

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The heavenly event manager was very anxious.

419
00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:17,300
The capital of the cosmos was about to explode in celebration.

420
00:33:17,300 --> 00:33:27,300
All was in readiness, but Jesus had not yet departed the garden where he had just emerged from his tomb.

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Why was the celebration delayed?

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He knew that groping in the shadows of the garden was a woman weeping because she loved.

423
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She who'd been last would now come first.

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The gates of paradise were wide open for the risen Christ.

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The angel choirs, 10,000 times 10,000 had been practicing for the triumphal return.

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With a drop of a downbeat, the choral director of all of those multi-parted voices was about to start the anthem of glory.

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Who is this king of glory?

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The Lord strong and mighty.

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There was to be an antiphonal response where the angel chariot that was to carry Jesus back to the presence of the Father.

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They would sing and those at the gate in heaven would sing and it would come echoing back and forth, but it was delayed.

431
00:34:38,300 --> 00:34:44,300
The guard of honor was lining the shining path through space.

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The Father longed for the reunion with his son.

433
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From a long way off, he was ready to run and throw his arms like the prodigal's father and greet his return.

434
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His joyous cry was about to ring through the universe.

435
00:35:01,300 --> 00:35:08,300
This my son was dead and now he is alive.

436
00:35:08,300 --> 00:35:13,300
He who knew no sin became sin for those who sinned.

437
00:35:13,300 --> 00:35:18,300
He who never strayed was lost for those who were lost.

438
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And now he's coming back.

439
00:35:21,300 --> 00:35:25,300
But the Father waited.

440
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:29,300
The choir director waited.

441
00:35:29,300 --> 00:35:34,300
The guard of honor waited.

442
00:35:34,300 --> 00:35:38,300
The 24 elders waited.

443
00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:42,300
The heavenly throng waited.

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All this because a stumbling, sobbing, sinful, but cleansed.

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Once lost, now first sinner still knew her need of Jesus.

446
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When Jesus travels the corridor to heaven next time,

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00:36:11,300 --> 00:36:21,300
it will be to take the saved from earth with him back for the greatest celebration of all.

448
00:36:21,300 --> 00:36:27,300
He'll be taking the saved of the earth with him.

449
00:36:27,300 --> 00:36:38,300
He waits today for more who will admit their last so he can make them first.

450
00:36:38,300 --> 00:36:47,300
Can you admit your need of Jesus today?

451
00:36:47,300 --> 00:36:56,300
Are you willing to humble yourself this Sabbath for the one who can't stand the idea

452
00:36:56,300 --> 00:37:06,300
that his beloved sinner now cleansed and forgiven would not spend eternity with him?

453
00:37:06,300 --> 00:37:10,300
Let's tell Jesus.

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00:37:10,300 --> 00:37:17,300
I submit weak sinfulness to my gentle and lowly Savior.

455
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I am last and give you permission to make me first.

456
00:37:24,300 --> 00:37:26,300
Would you like to tell him that?

457
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I invite you to rise.

458
00:37:39,300 --> 00:37:49,300
So, dear Lord, maybe we haven't been publicly exposed adulterer,

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but maybe we've harbored evil in some other corner where the human heart can do it.

460
00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:10,300
And we say to you, cleanse me, O Savior.

461
00:38:10,300 --> 00:38:16,300
Let me go home from church this Sabbath without a question

462
00:38:16,300 --> 00:38:28,300
because you are the one who's tender and lowly in heart, and we give you ourselves.

463
00:38:28,300 --> 00:38:56,300
Amen.