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Alright, so we're continuing our sermon series, Simply Irresistible, looking at the new way.

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We're looking at the book kind of from a 10,000 foot view.

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The writer of Hebrews is making these claims about Jesus that Jesus is the preeminent one.

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Now that's not a term we use a lot, but that Christ is preeminent.

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He is the center of everything, he is the best, nothing else can even match him.

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Nothing will ever be on his level.

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And the reasons why, as we're giving, he's better than the angels, right?

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He is better than Moses, he is the second Adam.

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He is the better way.

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Though there were beliefs of different messiahs and different ways that the Israelites were

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going to be united, both in the United Kingdom, divided kingdom throughout the entirety of

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the Old Testament and now new, that we can see in 2023, that Jesus is the best way.

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We brought up that Jesus is the priest of priests.

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He is the king of kings.

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He is the prophet of prophets.

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He is the Lord of lords, which again, this sermon series is going to lead right into

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a pretty, I really love the season of Advent, right?

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We're going to end this sermon series, go right into Advent, where we're going to talk

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about and sing about the king of kings, the Lord of lords.

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And so today, it's kind of a, not a plateau because it's still building, but it's kind

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of a checkpoint to have us understand that one of the things we can draw from the first

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eight chapters is why Jesus is the best, why Jesus is preeminent, but also why we would

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be foolish to worship anything else but Him.

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And part of that is the promises that He makes to us, the promises that He makes in light

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of who you are and who I am, in light of the things and areas that we mess up because the

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promises are not brand new today, though they are, they were put in place hundreds, thousands

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of years ago.

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The promises made, and I think about it now, I don't know how many times, the last time

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you guys thought about China or Asia, that area, the Philippines or any of that area,

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but now the covenant is over there too.

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We see pictures of small group leaders and pastors excited about the gospel, starting

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churches bringing people in to the best way, the Jesus way, just like we're talking about

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today.

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But I asked a question in the beginning of the service about the different covenants

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that we have made in our lives.

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Now the covenant of marriage, that's the easy one, and that's the one where we actually

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talk about it as a covenant because there are, it's one of the boxes I have to check

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after doing a wedding.

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Did I perform a religious or a civil ceremony?

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Now the laws used to be that only ordained clergy can mark a religious ceremony.

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Unfortunately today, any, you can get ordained on the internet in 36 hours.

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I believe one of them is the Church of Bacon, which honestly is, in my mind, disrespectful,

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but because that took time and effort to go through that and a calling, but there's still

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a distinguish, I wonder how long it's going to be until there isn't one, but there still

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is on that, that this understanding of covenant is different than a contract.

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We've talked about that somewhat at Nausium.

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I've always used the idea of cutting grass or washing cars, that a contract and a covenant

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is different.

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So for lunch and a conversation with Pastor Jim, who can define the difference between

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a covenant and a contract?

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Feels good.

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Yeah.

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I've done that, we've done this guys, at least five times the difference between a covenant

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and a contract.

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So I'll wait.

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Okay Ron, we're in the car together, but you've got to go more than that.

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Covenant should be forever, that's good, right?

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It's kind of like saying Jesus as a Sunday school answer, go deeper Ron.

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Nope, he's good, just sitting in the car.

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A covenant is a promise, contract is a, oh Sherry you got coffee, you don't have food

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yet.

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Yep, you got coffee, good cup, we'll go to Starbucks, I don't care, but you don't have

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food yet.

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Contract is a piece of paper, a covenant is forever, yes.

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Payment, I already feed you, you don't get it, but that was kind of, I'm looking at my

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good friend Garrett Wierenga, and I know he doesn't like when I bring his name up, but

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on the lawyer side, what would you think is the difference between covenant and contract?

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Absolutely, did you guys hear that?

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That a covenant is a one way, that I promise to do this, the contract, it's kind of a quid

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pro quo, if you do this, I do this.

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Garrett's a lawyer, awesome, you'll pay for lunch.

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And so understand that there is a difference between those, we see that fleshed out through

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the scriptures, because one of the things that we have to recognize and we have to understand

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is that when it's given to us to step up to fulfill our side of the quote unquote covenant

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or contract, throughout it, we see it with Adam and Eve, we see it with Abraham, Isaac

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and Jacob, we see it with Noah, we see it with all of the prophets, we see it with everybody

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in the scriptures, and as I look out today, I see it with each and every one of us.

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We will never fulfill it, we will never meet the standard.

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And I know that that soup, that could be seen as super discouraging, why bother, why even

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be a Christian if all I'm going to do is mess things up, because there is a better way,

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because there is a better understanding.

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And that is why when we go through chapter eight, we have to understand that Jesus is

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the better covenant.

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Now understand that the covenants of the Old Testament, do they still apply?

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In some ways, yes, they somewhat build on each other.

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But Jesus ultimately is the better way.

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Jesus is ultimately the better covenant.

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He himself is the covenant.

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And so understanding that, helping us walk through all of that, is this breakdown as

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to why, what makes it different, what makes it better.

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And so the first section is going to be Hebrews 8, 1-2.

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We're going to look at Hebrews 8, and I've titled this from holes to holy.

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We're going to see this kind of contrast between the two, this understanding of why Jesus is

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better from what was.

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The covenant of the Old Testament, or the different covenants, they were good.

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And it defined the Jewish people.

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It defined how they worshiped.

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It defined how they lived their lives.

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It's something they could always go back to.

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One of the things that we try to do with our boys is when we make a plan, we stick to the

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plan, that the boys are not allowed to change the plan without asking mom and dad.

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The same thing with the Israelites.

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Dad put the, Yahweh the father, created these covenants, and it gave definition to how the

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Israelites were supposed to live, how they were supposed to treat others, how they were

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supposed to worship God.

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And for some of us, that might feel uncomfortable, right?

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That might be like, well, why do we need all of that?

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And I love you, but if you're asking that question, it's because you have pride in you

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that thinks you don't have to answer to anyone.

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God, why do you have to define every aspect of my life?

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Because I think that's the way it's supposed to go.

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Because I love all of you, and I say this first to me, that if I was able to define

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everything, it would be about what Jim wants.

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And I guarantee you, the salvation of the world is not in my top five.

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Much like my death and non-resurrection, because I wouldn't be able to, would mean nothing.

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That's why these covenants all pointed to the person of Jesus, Hebrews 8, 1 through

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2.

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Now, the point in what we are saying is this.

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We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty

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in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not

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man.

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But the true tent, right, going from the journey of the tabernacle and how they set that up,

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the tent of meeting, going all the way back to Moses, that they had set up this place

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and wherever they encamped, they would set up the tabernacle.

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That this tabernacle was seen, and again, we're going to do a whole sermon series in

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two years about the differences of the tabernacle, because it's wild and it's actually really

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beautiful how the specifics, right, some of you, the way you've set up your house, you

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have very specific things, right.

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I don't know, how many of you grew up with a room that for some reason you were never

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allowed to step into?

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Okay, it might not be all that Dutch.

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We call it white hair grandma, but it was grandma Holland owner.

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There was a room, you walked right into her house, and it was white everything.

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It was white carpet, it was white leather chairs, it was like racist white, it was just

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blinding white, right, when it came to, and it was always immaculate because no one ever

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could go in there.

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And I, being a Holland owner, right, I once asked like grandma, why?

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And she's like, what?

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I said, why can't we go in there?

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She smacked me in the mouth just for asking.

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Like you weren't even allowed to think about it.

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I don't know if she ever went in there.

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I mean, obviously the dust, right, you know, but I don't know if she had to wear like a

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protective suit, I have no idea, right.

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But we have these rules, we have these kind of things that we create.

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God had set up all of these, the outer court, the inner court, all the veil, the holiest

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of holies.

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And that was really the thing, that God's presence was in that tent.

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And the tabernacle was made of fine materials, gold and ivory, velvet and all of these things,

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right.

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But it was all manmade.

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They followed what the Lord said, how to construct it, and then if you see kind of all the iterations

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of the tabernacle or the temple, we see it under King Solomon, this gorgeous, right,

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if you've ever seen pictures of what they thought it looked like, it was beautiful.

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It was, it was, it was, I can't even describe, it was, it's just, it was holy, right, it

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was reverent.

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Now, you go into a lot of churches, especially in Europe, and you're in awe of just how beautiful

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it is.

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People come into the sanctuary, right, and they look at just the reverence, because this

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looks, this really doesn't look like it could be anything else, if you think about it, right.

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You come into the sanctuary and you go, oh yeah, it's a church.

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Why?

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What catches your eye first?

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Why is this a church building?

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You can be obvious with it, that's fine.

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Thank you.

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Yep, you have a cross, but you put, you take that cross down, right, and you tell Chuck

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Skable it's only for a, it's just for a test.

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We'll put it right back up, right, but you take the cross down and you walk into this

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church, or you still, or you walk into this room, you still think it's a church?

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Tall architecture, okay, that's shortest, but okay, that's fine, right, tall architecture,

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okay.

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Why else?

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Because of us?

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Oh, that's interesting.

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Doesn't look like a movie theater.

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That's really the only two places you see a bunch of seats facing one way, right.

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Now as I describe it, it actually makes me really uncomfortable, but understand that

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you come in and there's things.

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No one mentioned the stained glass, right.

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How many of your houses have stained glass?

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Exactly.

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Like, they're stained, you know, just the way that it all points to something, same

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thing with the tabernacle, same thing with the temple, but that's all manmade.

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Friends, there are holes to this.

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How do I know?

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Because the basement still leaks.

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How do I know?

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Because that's black for some reason.

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I still don't know why.

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That, that one window is black.

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It's five years, it still freaks me out.

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Why that, like what are they, what is building grounds hiding behind there?

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I have no idea.

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And I'm too afraid to ask.

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Did someone say the sun?

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Is that really why?

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Well, but I see, like, I see Joyce, you had the sun right in your face.

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Why don't we paint those?

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We're not having this conversation.

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Okay, so clearly there are holes, right, to this.

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And one of the things that covenants point to is going from the holes to the holy.

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That what was once manmade is now going to be forever created by God in the person of

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Jesus Christ.

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That Jesus is not only the great Hyperes, not only the great minister, but He is the

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dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

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That's why when He died, the curtain torn in two, representing that through Christ we

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now not only have an audience with God, but not only have a restored relationship with

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God, but that in Christ we can sit with God.

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He sits at the right hand of God, the Father, the Trinity, the Godhead.

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Because of Christ, we can have that relationship.

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And so what was built by sinful man's hands, even though it was the Levites, right, even

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though it was the priesthood, even though it was all the, they were still fallible men.

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Aaron wasn't perfect, the Levites weren't perfect, fallible men.

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And what do fallible men do?

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They build fallible things.

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They have fallible relationships.

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They make mistakes.

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So let's jump on to the next section, starting with verse 3.

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For every eyed priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.

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Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.

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Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who

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offer gifts according to the law.

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They serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things.

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For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, see that

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you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.

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So Jesus did not need to be shown that.

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Jesus was that.

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That the order of the priests were given the plans, much like Noah was given the plans

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to build the ark, and they set it up according to what they were told.

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And they saw that as worship.

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They saw that as working, excuse me, quote unquote, for God.

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They saw that as walking out their faith.

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But Jesus being that, right?

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Jesus being that takes the shadow of the things that were to the things that were to come,

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the substance of Christ.

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How many of you growing up were scared of the dark?

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It's okay, it's okay.

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You're safe, you're around friends.

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How many of you are still afraid of the dark?

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Okay, still some hands.

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How many of you have overactive imaginations?

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A lot more people, good.

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Okay, so I'm speaking, I'm in like, how many of you when you were little, staring into

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the void that maybe was your closet or a dark part of your room, knew that, I haven't even

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asked the questions yet.

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What's going on at Tulip Tree Gardens?

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Do we need to talk about that?

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Wow.

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How many of you knew that you knew that you knew you saw something in the darkness?

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Yeah.

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The boogeyman, Michael Myers, the vacuum, whatever it was, right?

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You saw something, you knew, you sold yourself that you saw Lucifer himself hanging in your

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closet, that it was just your clothes, but you knew the shadows can play with that, right?

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That there are these things that the Israelites did as they were kind of marching along in

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the Old Testament, creating these things that obviously Satan was alive and active and created

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shadows of the things because he wanted to confuse them, right?

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We see, just, I think about the call of Saul.

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The reason why Saul got called as king, we talked about this two years ago, or a year

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and a half ago in Three Kings, is because they wanted a human ruler.

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They had Yahweh.

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They had Yahweh doing incredible things.

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Yet they go, oh, we see the Babylonians, they have a ruler, and this group over here has

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a ruler, and the Maribites, they have that.

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Where's our human king?

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They were trying to see something in the shadows, something that was not there yet because they

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were going to get a human king.

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That human king was going to be Jesus, the human king going to fulfill the Davidic covenant,

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but God said, I see you, I'm going to meet you where you are, Saul, David.

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We see kings high and low, good kings, bad kings, holy kings, evil kings.

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The shadow of what was to come is now the substance that is Christ, that Christ was

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and always will be the king of kings, the Lord of lords.

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We see this depicted not only in the Old Testament, we see this depicted in the New Testament.

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We see this, Jesus verbalizing, I'm going to tear down the temple.

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I'm going to rebuild it in three days.

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One of the final straws for the Pharisees and the Sadducees who had made the temple

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pretty much like the TV show Ozarks and were doing all the money laundering for Yahweh

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that they could.

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It wasn't for Jesus.

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They were making it a shadow of what it was.

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Not only does Jesus go in to cleanse it, to try to correct it, to teach it, to rebuke

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it, he's like, I'm tearing it down.

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Something new, something holy, something perfect is coming.

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They're thinking it's the physical.

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He knows that it's the heavenly and the holy, that he was going to be the better way.

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He was going to be the new temple of the Lord.

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There lies the last messianic covenant look that we're going to look at.

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Let's jump, and I believe this is verses six and seven, but as it is, Christ has obtained

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a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is

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better since it is enacted on better promises.

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For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for the

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second.

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Keep that up there.

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That last verse, that last sentence.

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For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look

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for a second.

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One of the things that we need to look at, the first covenant, why was it faultless?

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This is going to sting, but I'm looking in the mirror first because he called all of

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us to help keep it.

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Much like Gerrit said, these covenants were one way.

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It wasn't the Davidic contract.

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We went through the covenants.

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They weren't contracts.

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They were covenants.

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The Lord, and it wasn't like the Lord's like, no, kid, I gave you a shot and you messed

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it up.

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No, the plan was always this.

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But what God was trying to get us to understand always is that his way is best.

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And then you look, I look at the entire New Testament in a whole different light now and

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go, wow.

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And this goes more than just don't eat the apple.

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Like a snake's talking to you, like call that out.

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But since sin has entered the world, and this is something we need to hear today, there's

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always going to be something, someone against you that wants to see you fail.

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Even if it's my boys trying to be distracting on a Sunday morning, Joey, go sit over there.

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Whatever it is that Satan is going to try to distract you from the recognition that

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God is better.

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And here's the thing, Satan knows it.

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Satan knows his time is coming.

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Satan knows he's going to lose.

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That's why he's not like, oh, Mike, I want a relationship with you.

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You know, oh, Roger, I want a relationship with you.

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Or, oh, Bev, I want a relationship with you.

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No, Satan doesn't care about you enough to have a relationship with you.

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He just wants you to doubt the better way.

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He just wants to put that little nugget of doubt and go, did God really say?

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There's nothing new under the sun, friends.

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He doesn't, he just gets more clever.

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That's why Jesus said, it is on me.

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Christ has obtained the ministry for himself.

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He is the ministry.

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Now, we should receive that and go, oh, thank you, because I felt condemned.

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And under the old covenant, there was still condemnation.

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There was still going to be an atoning sacrifice for the sins that were, the sins that continue

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to be, and the sins that are right now.

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There was always going to be a sacrifice.

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Yeah, and there's a good question in there, and I've got it even from some of you.

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Why didn't Christ just come?

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Right?

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Okay, you see, the first group, they really messed it up.

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Promised land, just put Jesus there.

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I'm just going to say, back off that question, friend.

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Who are you to question that?

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Right?

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One of the things I love about the Advent season that we're going to turn to in about

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a month is that the time, the place, the person, the way that it happened, the entire birth

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narrative, all has been prophesied about.

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It's unbelievable.

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It's like, you know, I don't know, it's like Mary Simpkins, right, saying today she's going

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to call the presidential election in 20, I don't know, don't get me wrong if it's the

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wrong date, I don't care, but in 70 years from now, she's not only going to call the

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president, she's going to call where they were from, who they were born to, the type

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of economic status they had, the job that they were going to do, that she was going

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to call it.

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Mary, are you prepared to do that today?

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Sure.

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Okay.

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Careful.

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But yeah, I mean that's, it's amazing.

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Friends, nothing can be better than that because when we long for the holes, when we long for

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the shadows, ultimately we long for condemnation.

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We long for the understanding that we actually like when we had a say.

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So let's jump to the last set.

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Hebrews 8, 8 through 12.

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For he finds fault with them when he says, behold, the days are coming, declares the

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Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house

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of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them

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by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

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For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares

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the Lord.

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For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

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declares the Lord.

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I will put my law into their minds, write them on their hearts.

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I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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And they shall not teach each other his neighbor and each one his brother, say, know the Lord,

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for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

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I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

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Friends, yet we still long for the shadows.

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We still long for the holes.

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We still long for all of those things because we still want to have a say.

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If you find yourself in that place today, I don't know what else to tell you.

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Jesus' way not only has been designed, created, thought of with the foreknowledge of God,

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the sovereignty of God, the love of God, the grace of God is for you.

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Be still and receive it.

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Be still and know that I am God.

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And for those of you this morning that know that, that have professed that, that are living

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in the better way, the way of Jesus, and some of you know where I'm going to go with this.

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What about that or how are you living out that better way?

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And here's just an easy thing as I close.

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The better way of Jesus takes us from the I have to's to the I get to's.

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Back in the Old Testament, I have to keep the law.

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I have to do the sacrifices.

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I have to pray the prayers.

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I have to do all of these things.

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There was obedience in that, and though you may not like it, it was a good thing.

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And now in the grace and freedom we have in Christ, your I have to's should now be the

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I get to's.

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I am excited about.

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And I look out and there's some rolling of the eyes and I get it.

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Again going back a couple weeks, you may be tired of living out life as a believer.

401
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Friend, keep going.

402
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,720
If you need to get re-engaged and re-excited, this is what I give anybody that comes through

403
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:49,880
my office, is get yourself out there and serve.

404
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,940
When we can get in a me, me, me understanding, right?

405
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When it's oh, I'm not feeling it.

406
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I don't like this anymore.

407
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:05,040
We start to nitpick either our church or the denomination or just kind of faith in general.

408
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:09,080
You're getting really selfish.

409
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,000
Your faith has never been about you.

410
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:18,480
It's never been based on you, but it was for you to go walk it out to bring other people

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00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,040
into it.

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You want to see God at work in your life, evangelize.

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Some of you are like, well, that's going to make me uncomfortable.

414
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,080
Yep.

415
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I can't disagree with you.

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But the more you do it, the more you're going to want to do it, the more God's going to

417
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:42,520
develop these eyes, these ears, this mindset, this encouragement, and yes, even for you

418
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:48,360
introverts, the voice to go do it.

419
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And I guarantee you it's easier for, and this is just the gospel according to Jim, it's

420
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,160
more powerful coming from the introverts.

421
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I've said this before.

422
00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:58,160
I'll say it again.

423
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:03,320
I'll say a thousand things in a day, probably more than that.

424
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You didn't have to laugh.

425
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Five of them mean something.

426
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My wife will say ten things a day, and five of them will mean something.

427
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It's not fair, but it is where we are.

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And it's a beautiful thing how the Lord says, you are a part of the body, you have purpose,

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get to work.

430
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This part is not more important than that part.

431
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,440
This part is not more important than that part.

432
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We are the body of Christ.

433
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If you're feeling in a spiritual dry zone, get out and serve.

434
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Find a Bible study.

435
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,360
Then, BSF, Monday nights, great way to do it.

436
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,840
We have about a handful of Munster guys that are loving it.

437
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,640
Get involved.

438
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,360
Because when you get in that dry zone, when you're thinking, my way might be better than

439
00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:02,200
Jesus' way, understand that's sin, and that's not going to bear fruit.

440
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:09,360
And if it does, it's going to be fruit that is moldy and yucky.

441
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This isn't about what was.

442
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This has always been about Jesus.

443
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This has always been about the way forward.

444
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Next week, the writer of Hebrews is going to double down on it in a pretty cool way.

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Let's pray.