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It's good to be with you today here in Ringgold.

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Something else I was very excited about.

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I got to sleep in my own bed last night.

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Now, you may take that for granted,

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but last Sabbath ended 11 days of being gone.

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And so last Sabbath I was down in Peachtree Hills,

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so I was looking at my calendar, I was like, sweet, next week I get to sleep in my bed

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all week long. So I was very excited about that,

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but it is good to be here with you all today.

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And I was trying to think the last time I was in this church,

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I believe I came up here, I've come up here a couple of times for meetings during the week.

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But were any of you members in this church back in the late 90s?

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Anybody here? Okay, we've got a few.

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The last time I was here for a church service was when I was,

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it was either when I was a junior or senior at Southern.

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And we came over here, the theology majors came over here and got to do a church service here

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and had a great time. And I remember this, you fed us afterwards.

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And for those of you who know Southern students, you know food is very important.

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So you all gave a lasting good impression in my mind, but it is good to be here.

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I also bring you greetings from Georgia Cumberland Conference.

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You know, around the conference as we looked at our numbers last year,

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we had a lot to be thankful for.

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Last year we had 886 baptisms in Georgia Cumberland Conference.

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Can you say amen?

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We had 272 professions of faith.

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And we ended up with a membership of 44,701 members

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spread throughout Georgia, Eastern Tennessee, and a little bit of North Carolina.

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Well, I want to thank Pastor Aaron for inviting me to be here with you today.

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And today we are going to talk about a benediction.

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But before we do that, let's pray.

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Father, it is so awesome to be together as the family of God.

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Father, it is great to be able to open Your Word

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without fear of someone coming through those back doors

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threatening us that we need to close it.

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Father, and right now, my prayer is that the words not be mined,

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but may they come from Your throne room on high as we get in to the Word of God.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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When you hear the word benediction, what comes to your mind?

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If you look in your bulletin, after I speak,

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there is a closing song and then a benediction.

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Now, as a kid, I'm just going to be honest,

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that word brightened my life because it meant something was over.

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It meant there was food coming.

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It meant that I was perhaps going to my friend's house,

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my best friend Chris.

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I would go over to Chris' house.

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I found out there's another Chris here I've become friends with today.

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And my best friend Chris, we would go over,

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and his parents had a lot of acres, and we would go play in the woods.

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And so I never really focused much on this word benediction

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other than thinking things are about over.

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It's time to go.

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I remember a school program, Madison Campus Elementary, third grade.

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We were doing a school program entitled Down by the Creek Bank.

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There used to be a record that was Down by the Creek Bank,

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and our kids did it.

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And I remember we had to do this twice.

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And I remember standing up there in the stage in the middle of the program,

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and one of the little boys in my class made a mistake.

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And I remember us standing there and all of us saying,

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I can't wait for this to be over.

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And we knew when our teacher stood up to have the closing prayer,

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the benediction, that program was going to be over.

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So this week I've been looking at something.

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And I got into it more this week, but this really came up in my mind

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about a month and a half ago in studying something else that we'll get to in a bit.

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And so this week I decided I'm going to look at what does this word benediction mean.

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When you see it here in your bulletin, that's typically where we see it,

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it means this, the utterance or bestowing of a blessing.

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Huh. Interesting.

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So the benediction is really, we might even change the title to say blessing.

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You know, we bless our food.

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But a lot of times how many times do we think about the last thing in the program being the blessing?

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Scripture is filled with powerful blessings, aka benedictions.

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You can go to Ecclesiastes 12, 13, 14, Psalms 150 verse 6.

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David ends the Psalms by saying, let everything that has breath praise the Lord, praise the Lord.

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Acts 28, 31 ends with preaching the kingdom of God,

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teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding Him.

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Paul loved to use benedictions in his letters.

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Read through them. Over and over he says, here's Romans 16,

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to God alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

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Here's one that he fills with a lot of them.

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Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Ephesians, Hebrews, grace be with y'all. Amen.

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James 5. Now this is an interesting one.

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Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back,

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let him know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sin.

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That's the benediction in James.

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And then we have the benediction in Scripture.

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Revelation 22.

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What are the last books in the Bible? The benediction that God leaves for us.

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Surely I am coming quickly.

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Even so, come Lord Jesus.

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So today we're going to look at something and remember this word benediction with me.

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If you would, take out your Bibles.

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If you don't have your Bibles, but you have some technology device that you have your Bible on,

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take that out and turn with me to Matthew chapter 5.

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Matthew chapter 5 and these three chapters, 5, 6, and 7, are an interesting story.

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A little background.

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Alone upon a mountain near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus prior to Matthew chapter 5 had spent all night in prayer

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for his chosen disciples.

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At dawn he called them to him and with words of prayer and instruction laid his hands upon their heads in benediction.

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Setting them apart for the gospel work, just like we did here today.

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This ordination of Anthony, the prayer we had was really a benediction.

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It was a blessing.

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Then Jesus repaired with them to the seaside where in the early morning a great multitude had already begun to assemble.

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So what happened leading up to Matthew chapter 5?

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Jesus spent the night in prayer.

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Prior to that he had just officially chosen the disciples and that next morning he calls the disciples

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and has a special blessing for them.

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And then the multitude begins to show up.

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They were from all over.

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They came asking for healing.

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There Jesus was and he was on the beach at first.

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But the beach didn't afford standing room and so he led them back to the mountainside.

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Reaching a level space that afforded a pleasant gathering.

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He seated himself upon the grass and his disciples and the multitude followed his example.

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I've been to the place in Israel where they feel this could have happened.

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It's a beautiful hillside there in Galilee.

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And as you sit there and you imagine, it's so neat to be the places where Jesus was.

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And as you sit there and imagine Jesus talking to the multitude.

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If Jesus was down below them, down the mountain a little bit, which naturally was a bull.

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How many of you have been to Cahudah Springs?

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Okay, Cahudah Springs our youth camp, not far from here.

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Cahudah Springs, the end of April we're going to have a big Pathfinder Camperee.

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There's going to be over a thousand Pathfinders there.

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And there is a bull area there at Cahudah Springs that you can sit as a Pathfinder.

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And you can see the speaker, but behind the speaker you see the Life Center.

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You see the lake and then you see some of the mountain right behind.

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Well there at the multitude that we're talking about here in this story.

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A person listening could look out and see the Sea of Galilee.

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A sea that I dare say many of them had been on sometime in their life.

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And as the crowd gathered they had a feeling that something more than usual might happen.

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The disciples had pressed their master.

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What's going to happen?

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And with the events that happened this morning, where he had this special blessing

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or benediction on them, they were pretty sure that an announcement was coming.

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In fact, the announcement they thought was coming was an announcement in regards to his kingdom.

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They fondly hoped he would soon establish that kingdom.

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And that feeling also pervaded the multitude that were there.

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As they sat upon the green hillside awaiting the words of the Divine Teacher,

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their hearts were filled with thoughts of future glory.

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There were scribes and Pharisees who looked forward to the day

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when they should have dominion over the hated Romans.

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The poor peasants and fishermen hoped to hear the assurance that their wretched hovels

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and scanty food, life of toil and fear of want were to be exchanged for mansions

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of plenty and days of ease.

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In place of one coarse garment, they dreamed that one day soon they were going to see,

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receive a rich article of clothing.

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Everybody gathered there that day on that hillside had hope that Israel was soon going

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to be honored among the nations.

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And Jesus had led them there.

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He was seated.

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They were seated and they were waiting what was going to happen.

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But before we get to what was going to happen,

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the story that happened that day doesn't begin there in Matthew chapter 5.

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Instead, it begins earlier.

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In the book of Deuteronomy.

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Deuteronomy was Moses' last reminder to the children of Israel.

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It's almost his opportunity to write the highlights

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of what Israel really needed to remember from their journey.

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You'll remember Deuteronomy 5, 10 commandments are mentioned again.

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So Moses goes through this review.

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It's almost like, you know, it's almost like my kids.

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Whenever I take my kids to school, there's last reminders

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that I'll sometimes shout to them as they're going inside.

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You know, drink your water.

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I have to tell one of my children, drink your water.

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Every time I drop her off at GCA, so those of you

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that know my kids know which one that is.

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Ava, drink your water.

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Another one, I have to tell, remember to listen to your teacher.

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Don't talk all day.

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Let your teacher do the talking.

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There's those last reminders and Moses gives this last reminder

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and there's an interesting story there in Deuteronomy chapters 10 and 11.

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So now that you already had your Bible opened

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and you thought we were going there, put your hand in Matthew 5,

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but go back with me to Deuteronomy chapters 10 and 11.

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Now we're going to jump through this fast

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because we don't have a lot of time here today.

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But in Deuteronomy chapter 10, we find this chapter beginning here

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where Moses says at that time, verse 1,

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the Lord said to me, hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first,

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and come up to me in the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood.

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And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets,

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which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.

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You remember the story?

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The first tablets of stone, Moses had come down the mountain.

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He saw what the children of Israel were doing with the golden calf

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and he promptly breaks the Ten Commandments.

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Kids, that's a question my dad used to ask me.

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He used to like to ask me trick questions.

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Who is the only person in the Bible that broke all Ten Commandments?

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The answer?

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Moses.

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So there we go.

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You can go ask your friends that this next week at school.

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Moses.

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So Moses goes and meets with God and then in verses 12 and 13 of chapter 10,

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it says this.

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God is saying, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you

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but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways,

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to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,

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and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes,

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which I command you today for your good.

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This section here, we might term in my Bible, it has verses 12 through 22,

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they're in Deuteronomy 10, the essence of the law.

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There's some describers of what the Ten Commandments are.

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Then we go to chapter 11 and I want to just look at a few verses here

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real fast before we talk about them.

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Verse 1, Deuteronomy 11 verse 1.

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Therefore you shall love the Lord your God and keep his charge,

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his statutes, his judgments, and his commandments always.

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Verse 8, jump down there to verse 8.

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Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today,

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that you may be strong and go in and possess the land you cross over to possess

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and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers,

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to them, to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

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Notice now what the children of Israel are instructed to do with the word of God.

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Verses 18 through 21.

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When I was in Israel, I saw some of this.

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Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart, in your soul,

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bind them as a sign in your hand, where do they keep scripture?

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And they shall be as frontlets between your eyes,

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where do you see that over there sometimes?

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You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house,

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when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up.

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You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.

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Why?

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That your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land

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of which the Lord swore to your fathers,

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to give them like the days of the heavens above the earth.

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So why do we read this all today?

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Jump with me to verses 26 through 28.

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Behold, I set before you today a what?

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A blessing and a curse.

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The blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,

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which I command you today, and the curse,

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if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God,

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but turn aside from the way which I command you today,

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to go after other gods which you have not known.

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So here we have God giving a blessing and a curse to the children of Israel.

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The background of these verses that we look at today,

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not only in here in Deuteronomy, but when we jump back to Matthew, is this.

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God has always given man a choice.

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Very important.

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There are individuals out there in the world that do not believe God gives us a choice.

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God has always given man a choice.

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God commands, but man is free to choose whether he will obey the invitation God gives.

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And number two, God had a mountain of blessing.

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Look at verse 29.

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Now it shall be, this is Deuteronomy 11, 29,

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when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess,

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that you shall what?

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That you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

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Now it's interesting that Mount Gerizim was a mountain in Canaan

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that was known for its fertile soil.

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And just across the valley there was Mount Ebal,

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which was not known for having fertile soil.

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So God sits there and tells the children of Israel,

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you're going to get the promised land.

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And when you go into the promised land,

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you're going to have right in front of you reminders,

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amount of blessing and amount of curse.

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You can remember what I have promised you as you look at these two mountains.

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Now we know that Israel didn't do a good job remembering what God talked about.

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And we also know that it isn't to Mount Gerizim that we look or think

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when we think of Mount of Blessing.

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Rather it is an unnamed mountain beside the Sea of Galilee

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where Jesus was about ready to speak,

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that we think about today when we think about Mounts of Blessing.

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You see, Israel had forgotten the first benediction that God had tried to give them.

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They had overlooked it.

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So here was Jesus on this mountain ready to share something with the crowd.

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It's interesting.

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In the book, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing,

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if you haven't read that book, I encourage you to pick it up.

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If you have read it, pick it up again.

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We're studying that book at the office every Monday.

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I have worship at the conference office every Monday for our staff.

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So we started that book this year.

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There's a very interesting quote that really got my mind thinking.

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I went, my ADD kicked in.

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I went all over the places when I saw this first line.

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This first quote in the preface says this.

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Now listen to this, the sermon on the mount is heaven's benediction to the world.

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Think about that.

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The sermon on the mount is heaven's benediction to the world.

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A voice from the throne of God.

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00:23:22,300 --> 00:23:26,100
Notice that she doesn't begin the book by saying,

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we're going to discuss something that's really neat.

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You should read it.

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00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:38,900
She's saying if heaven was going to leave you and me with final words,

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it would be what we're about ready to read in Matthew 5 through 7.

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It's what Jesus was about ready to say there to the crowd

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that gathered there that day.

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This is what the verses in Matthew are all about.

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So now if you'll turn back with me to Matthew,

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we're going to look at this for a little bit.

301
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We are not going to look at Jesus' sermon.

302
00:24:10,700 --> 00:24:15,900
We don't have time to look at these three chapters,

303
00:24:15,900 --> 00:24:18,700
but we are going to do this.

304
00:24:18,700 --> 00:24:27,900
It's interesting that Jesus starts out this sermon with the blessings.

305
00:24:27,900 --> 00:24:33,700
He starts out this sermon with the benedictions.

306
00:24:33,700 --> 00:24:36,300
Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn,

307
00:24:36,300 --> 00:24:39,900
blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

308
00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:45,100
blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers,

309
00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:50,700
blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.

310
00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:55,900
And after he starts out with the blessings, he then gives this invitation.

311
00:24:55,900 --> 00:25:00,900
Again, just like he did back to the children of Israel through Moses,

312
00:25:00,900 --> 00:25:09,500
he gives an invitation, are you going to be salt and are you going to be light?

313
00:25:09,500 --> 00:25:10,100
It's a choice.

314
00:25:10,100 --> 00:25:13,100
He doesn't say, well, you know what, you have to be salt.

315
00:25:13,100 --> 00:25:14,700
You have to be light.

316
00:25:14,700 --> 00:25:17,500
He says, no, you have a choice.

317
00:25:17,500 --> 00:25:21,900
And then as you read through the rest of Matthew 5,

318
00:25:21,900 --> 00:25:27,100
most of almost all of Matthew 6 and the beginning of Matthew 7,

319
00:25:27,100 --> 00:25:30,700
we find life instructions.

320
00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:35,900
It's amazing to me how many of these instructions are rooted in the Ten Commandments.

321
00:25:35,900 --> 00:25:36,700
Read them for yourself.

322
00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:43,500
I read them last night again as I was reviewing for this.

323
00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:51,900
And then we come to Christ's final statements.

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00:25:51,900 --> 00:25:55,300
Matthew 7 verse 13.

325
00:25:55,300 --> 00:25:58,700
Matthew 7 verse 13.

326
00:25:58,700 --> 00:26:02,700
Notice what it says.

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00:26:02,700 --> 00:26:09,300
Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.

328
00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:11,900
And there are many who go in by it.

329
00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:16,700
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.

330
00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:21,100
And there are few who find it.

331
00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:23,000
Two choices.

332
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,900
Which gate are we going to choose?

333
00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:30,700
Notice he doesn't say, well, you know, I'm going to force you to take a certain gate.

334
00:26:30,700 --> 00:26:34,700
He didn't force the children of Israel to do things.

335
00:26:34,700 --> 00:26:37,600
They made their own choices and we can read through scripture.

336
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:43,500
They didn't do a great job many times.

337
00:26:43,500 --> 00:26:48,600
Then we come to Matthew 7, 15 through 20.

338
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You will know them by their fruits.

339
00:26:54,500 --> 00:26:58,000
True and false teaching.

340
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,500
Again, a choice.

341
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:01,900
A choice that we all have.

342
00:27:01,900 --> 00:27:05,500
Are we going to follow what's in here?

343
00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:09,700
Or are we going to follow what may be more convenient?

344
00:27:09,700 --> 00:27:13,900
Or what we like?

345
00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:19,900
Then we come to verses 21 to 23.

346
00:27:19,900 --> 00:27:32,100
And we're not going to read this, but what this is, is this is a way to and a way not to enter heaven.

347
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:38,100
Friends, really what Jesus is trying to say, what heaven is trying to say to us is listen,

348
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:41,700
I want to bless you.

349
00:27:41,700 --> 00:27:47,200
I want to bless every member of the Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jesus is saying.

350
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:48,800
Heaven is saying, you know what?

351
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:58,100
I want to bless every single individual here in Ringgold, but I'm not going to force it on them.

352
00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:05,500
That's really what heaven is trying to say here as Jesus speaks to those gathered on the mountain.

353
00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:09,200
Because what did they want Jesus to do?

354
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,800
They wanted Jesus to use force.

355
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:19,100
They wanted Jesus to destroy the Romans then and there and give them no choice.

356
00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:20,200
Do not pass go.

357
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,200
Do not collect $200.

358
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,500
Romans, you're dead.

359
00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:26,700
Israel, you're now in charge.

360
00:28:26,700 --> 00:28:32,700
You're the glorified nation that we think you should be.

361
00:28:32,700 --> 00:28:42,700
And it's interesting the benediction here in this book, in this sermon I mean.

362
00:28:42,700 --> 00:28:53,100
The benediction is found in Matthew 7 verses 24 through 27.

363
00:28:53,100 --> 00:29:00,800
The story about two builders, the story that applies to you and me.

364
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:06,100
Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them,

365
00:29:06,100 --> 00:29:13,100
I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

366
00:29:13,100 --> 00:29:18,800
And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house.

367
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,800
And it did not fall.

368
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,500
For it was founded on the rock.

369
00:29:24,500 --> 00:29:33,700
But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

370
00:29:33,700 --> 00:29:39,000
And the rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house.

371
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:47,100
And it fell and great was its fall.

372
00:29:47,100 --> 00:29:53,100
There is the benediction of the sermon.

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Two choices.

374
00:29:55,300 --> 00:30:01,300
Where are we going to build our house?

375
00:30:01,300 --> 00:30:06,200
On the original Mount of Blessing, God gave him an opportunity.

376
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,800
I'm giving you the land of Canaan.

377
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,100
Choose how you're going to build your house.

378
00:30:13,100 --> 00:30:16,800
Are you going to build it according to this mountain, the Mount of Blessing?

379
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,600
Are you going to do it more with the Mount of Curse than we find through their history?

380
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,400
They chose the other.

381
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:35,000
But the question still rings true for you and me today is how are we going to build the house?

382
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,300
Are we going to build it on the rock, Jesus Christ?

383
00:30:38,300 --> 00:30:49,900
Or are we going to build it on whatever else might be out there that is currently tempting us today?

384
00:30:49,900 --> 00:30:59,300
Jesus wanted those listening to him that day to realize the blessings of following him.

385
00:30:59,300 --> 00:31:04,600
But he also wasn't going to force.

386
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:14,900
You know what I think too often, you know, Laodicea, too often times we want to sort of jump between the two mountains.

387
00:31:14,900 --> 00:31:19,100
Or we want to jump between the two different kinds of houses.

388
00:31:19,100 --> 00:31:22,600
The words of Eleanor Roosevelt ring true.

389
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,700
One's philosophy is not best expressed in words.

390
00:31:26,700 --> 00:31:31,000
It is expressed in the choices that one makes.

391
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:36,100
In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves.

392
00:31:36,100 --> 00:31:39,200
The process never ends until we die.

393
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:46,800
And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.

394
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:52,000
We each have a choice to make.

395
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:56,000
That's what Jesus was trying to say.

396
00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:01,200
A few weeks ago, my son brought home a stack of papers.

397
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,200
And his papers are, you know, his graded papers, his math papers, his spelling papers.

398
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:13,500
And my wife was going through these papers at home and she came across a paper that was a letter.

399
00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:19,500
So she started reading this letter and she called Heath over and she said, Heath, come here.

400
00:32:19,500 --> 00:32:23,300
Can you tell me what this letter is all about?

401
00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:30,100
And she said, I wasn't at home at the time, she said when she called him, his eyes got real big.

402
00:32:30,100 --> 00:32:34,900
Because he knew what letter she was talking about.

403
00:32:34,900 --> 00:32:42,000
And so she called him over and she said, well Heath, can you tell me what happened here?

404
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:47,100
He said, well, I had to write a letter because I got in trouble today.

405
00:32:47,100 --> 00:32:49,500
And she goes, oh, well, I can obviously that.

406
00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:52,400
Well, what did you do?

407
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:58,400
He said, well, I was standing on top of my desk.

408
00:32:58,400 --> 00:32:59,600
I can't get too mad at him.

409
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,200
He takes after his father sometimes at that age.

410
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,700
And she looked at him and she goes, oh, you were standing on your desk.

411
00:33:07,700 --> 00:33:09,600
Why were you standing on your desk?

412
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:14,300
Well, because I wanted to, I don't know.

413
00:33:14,300 --> 00:33:21,600
And so she said, well, were you the only one standing on your desk?

414
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:25,000
No. Okay.

415
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,400
Well, who was standing on their desk?

416
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,900
And she said, he thought about it for a little bit.

417
00:33:31,900 --> 00:33:39,800
And then he said, well, it would be easier if I told you who was not standing on their desk.

418
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:41,200
She goes, okay, well, who was that?

419
00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:43,400
And he thought about it a little bit more.

420
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,800
And she said, who was not standing on the desk?

421
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:52,800
And he finally looked at her and he said, the girls.

422
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,100
Which if you know his class, it's not shocking.

423
00:33:56,100 --> 00:34:01,700
And so she said, well, Heath, why did you get up on the desk?

424
00:34:01,700 --> 00:34:06,800
He said, well, everybody else did.

425
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:11,700
And so she had a little conversation with him about choice.

426
00:34:11,700 --> 00:34:19,000
Unfortunately, listening more to the story, I'm afraid it was him and a couple of his other

427
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:24,000
best friends in the class that may have started this charge to the top of the desk.

428
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,200
But we talked about him about the importance of choice.

429
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:37,000
We each have to make our own choice.

430
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,500
When I was a boy, Paul Verratti relates.

431
00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:52,200
My father was a baker and he introduced me to the wonders of music, of song specifically.

432
00:34:52,200 --> 00:35:00,000
He urged me, Verratti said, to work very hard to develop my voice.

433
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:06,600
Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown in Italy, took me as a pupil.

434
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:12,200
I also enrolled in a teacher's college on graduating.

435
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:23,300
Pavarotti went to his father and he said this father, shall I be a teacher or a singer?

436
00:35:23,300 --> 00:35:32,700
My son, his father replied, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them.

437
00:35:32,700 --> 00:35:38,700
For life, you must choose one chair.

438
00:35:38,700 --> 00:35:45,800
Pavarotti paused and then he said, I chose one chair.

439
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:53,000
It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance.

440
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,000
It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera.

441
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:03,300
And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book or for whatever we choose,

442
00:36:03,300 --> 00:36:08,200
we should give ourselves to it. Commitment.

443
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:12,300
That's the key, he said, and then he ended this way.

444
00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:17,000
Choose one chair.

445
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:23,400
That's what Jesus was trying to say to the people there that day gathered on this mountain.

446
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:27,200
Choose one path.

447
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,500
I'm going to tell you about my path.

448
00:36:29,500 --> 00:36:31,600
The blessings are immense.

449
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,700
The reward is eternal.

450
00:36:33,700 --> 00:36:38,100
But it is your choice.

451
00:36:38,100 --> 00:36:45,400
And then he ends with this story of the two builders.

452
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:52,600
A story that we sing about as kids.

453
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:57,500
The wise man built his house upon a rock.

454
00:36:57,500 --> 00:37:01,300
Do any of my kiddos here today know that song?

455
00:37:01,300 --> 00:37:05,900
Do any kids know that song here today? I know there's some kids that know this song.

456
00:37:05,900 --> 00:37:10,100
We're going to do something today and we're going to make the adults join us, kids.

457
00:37:10,100 --> 00:37:15,000
We're going to sing this song with the hand gestures.

458
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,100
With the hand gestures.

459
00:37:17,100 --> 00:37:18,700
So here we go.

460
00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:22,300
You don't usually like me leading music, but kiddos, I want to see you.

461
00:37:22,300 --> 00:37:24,500
You can stand up and you can sing this song.

462
00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:25,400
Let's go.

463
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:29,900
The wise man built his house upon the rock.

464
00:37:29,900 --> 00:37:34,600
The wise man built his house upon the rock.

465
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,700
The wise man built his house upon the rock.

466
00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:43,200
And the rain came tumbling down.

467
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,800
The rain came down and the floods came up.

468
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:52,200
The rain came down and the floods came up.

469
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:56,200
The rain came down and the floods came up.

470
00:37:56,200 --> 00:38:00,900
And the house on the rock stood firm.

471
00:38:00,900 --> 00:38:05,500
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

472
00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:10,100
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

473
00:38:10,100 --> 00:38:14,300
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

474
00:38:14,300 --> 00:38:18,800
And the rains came tumbling down.

475
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:23,400
The rains came down and the floods came up.

476
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:27,900
The rains came down and the floods came up.

477
00:38:27,900 --> 00:38:32,000
The rains came down and the floods came up.

478
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:37,900
And the house on the sand fell flat.

479
00:38:37,900 --> 00:38:43,700
That story is all about the Sermon on the Mount.

480
00:38:43,700 --> 00:38:45,400
A choice.

481
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:51,700
That should remind us that there's something better promised.

482
00:38:51,700 --> 00:38:56,600
Jesus has made it available and that's why we can be excited.

483
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:04,700
And that's why we should be excited when we go out to share that with the world.

484
00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:08,700
That's why Ellen White can write,

485
00:39:08,700 --> 00:39:18,500
The Sermon on the Mount is Heaven's benediction, Heaven's blessing to the world.