WEBVTT

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You know, there's something about Peter in the

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Word of God that I appreciate so much. Maybe

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it's because he's so human. Maybe it's because

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he had some of the same weaknesses that we all

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have. I always get a little leery of folk who

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talk about their great spiritual strength and

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they are so sick. Cure in themselves, feeling

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that it is impossible for them to display any

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weakness whatsoever. They have reached such spiritual

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pinnacles that, well, it would be impossible

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for them to yield to temptation. Frankly, I've

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never gotten to that place yet. One thing I'm

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dead sure, as long as I'm in this old body of

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flesh and being a part of humanity and... Oh!

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I know that I am susceptible to temptations.

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I know that the enemy of my soul still is in...

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the world, and I can only overcome through Jesus

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Christ, our Lord. Well, for a very few minutes,

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we're going to have a little heart -to -heart

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talk about Peter. And we're going to talk about

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something that means more to me personally than

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I'll be able to express as we... Talk about the

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life of Peter and his relationship to Jesus.

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Before meeting Jesus, this disciple was known

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as Simon. He was the son of a successful fisherman

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named Jonah. That was probably one of the reasons

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that Peter was such a good fisherman, and he

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was. His father was a fisherman before him, and

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he knew all the tricks of the fisherman's business.

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His brother Andrew, a follower of John the Baptist,

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had been present when the evangelist had baptized

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Jesus, and when he had said, Behold the Lamb

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of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

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And Andrew hurried to tell Simon of the event.

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And he said to Simon, We found the Messiah. The

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Messiah is here. We have found the Messiah at

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last, he declared excitedly. And then he took

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Simon Peter to see Jesus. And Jesus immediately

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upon seeing him recognized him. gave him the

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surname by which he was ever afterward to be

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known, Peter. Peter. But remember something.

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Before the resurrection and the ascension, there

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is little doubt that Peter still thought of the

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Messiah as the political figure foretold by the

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Jewish people. I know there were contradictions

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in his makeup, as there are in that of all men.

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But this is one thing that all agreed upon, and

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that was the fact that complete Renunciation

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of the world was not easy for Peter. It was mighty

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hard for Peter to give up the world. Complete

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renunciation of the world. was the hardest thing

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that Peter had to do. He was more or less a politician.

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He would have made a good politician were he

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living today. And when Jesus said, it's easier

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for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle

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than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom

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of God, Peter was a little dismayed. He didn't

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like that kind of talk. Peter's challenge was,

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in fact, the challenge that has faced all men

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in all ages, including our own. He had the same

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weaknesses. He had some of the same strengths.

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But that strength did not come forth until he

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was filled with the Holy Ghost, until he was

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baptized with the Holy Spirit. His strength came

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forth only in the power of his God. Up until

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that time, it seemed that Peter only showed his

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weaknesses. In self -confidence, he cried one

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day, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both into

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prison and to death. And then he turned right

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around and denied that he ever knew the Lord.

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But in the strength of the Holy Ghost, in the

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strength and the power of his God, in the strength

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of Jesus Christ, the great Messiah. He defied

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the Roman emperors and, according to tradition,

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was crucified head downward by Nero in Rome.

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Let's listen to Peter before that great spiritual

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strength came to him. He'd been making some mighty

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str... Strong and bold and extreme boasts about

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his love and his devotion to the Lord. I always

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get a little afraid of folk who's so loud when

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it comes to their consecration. They make such

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great boasts. What they're going to do. Oh, I'll

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die for my Lord. I'll tell you the Lord will

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depend on me and he'll know I'll be standing

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there. And if everybody else fails him, he still

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has me. And it isn't long before they run out

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of gas. Peter was kind of like that. Let me show

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you a portion of the word of God when he was

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standing in the sufficiency. of his own flesh.

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It's recorded, the 22nd chapter of Luke. And

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he said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with

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thee both into prison and to death. What was

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he saying? Lord, you can depend on me if... If

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John fails you, if Luke fails you, if everybody

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else fails you, I want you to know you can rely

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on me. And he started out by making these strong

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and bold and extreme boasts by saying, I'm ready

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to go with the... both into prison. Had he only

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stopped there. But you know, he's going to carry

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it a little further than that. You know, if you

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were there, you would have felt like saying,

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now, Peter, don't carry this too far. After all,

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you know, let's just stop with the prison bit.

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But no, he didn't stop there. Not Peter. He didn't

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do anything halfway. Never. Peter, just stop

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with the prison bit. No, he was going to care

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to go further. And to death. And I don't think

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that he whispered those words either. He was

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loud. He wanted everybody around to hear it,

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you know. You know what Jesus said. very quietly

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without raising his voice i tell thee peter the

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cock shall not crow this day before that thou

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shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me in that

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moment I would like to have known the emotions

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that Peter suffered. I do not believe that he

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answered back. But in himself he's saying he

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doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't

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know what he's talking about. But bless you,

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go with me. There it is in the word of God. What

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happened? And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and

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so did another disciple, and that disciple was

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known unto the high priest. And they went in

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with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

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But Peter stood at the door without, then went

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out at that other disciple, which was known unto

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the high priest. and spake unto her that kept

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the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the

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damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not

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thou also one of this man's disciples? Watch

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the answer. The man who just a few hours before

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had said, Lord, you can depend on me. I'll not

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only go to prison, but I promise you, I'm ready

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to die for you. And he's standing now before

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a little girl, just a young damsel. And when

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she said to him, Art thou not also one of this

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man's disciples? He saith, I am not. I am not.

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Human nature is the same. Just the same today

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as it was then. And I am wondering if... There

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are those today who once declared their love

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for the master. Sure, through blinding tears,

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perhaps with uplifted hands, and you looked up

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and you said to him, I surrender all. Take me,

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body, soul, and spirit, though the whole world

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forsakes thee. Depend on me. But, beloved, the

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waters got deep. Somehow the stars were no longer

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in the sky. The sun began to cease its shining.

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Sorrow came. What are you saying today? I know

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him not. I know him not. But I want you to see

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something. I want you to see something that means

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more to me than I am able to express with just

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a human vocabulary. And I only pray that in this

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moment the Holy Spirit in a divine language,

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in his own way, will open your understanding

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to something that can change your whole life.

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It has mine. It's in that wonderful portion of

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the Word of God, the 22nd chapter of Luke, The

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second verse is the master himself who is speaking.

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I have prayed for thee. To whom is he speaking?

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To Peter. The one to whom the young damsel said,

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You're one of them, aren't you? You're his disciple,

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aren't you? And he turned and said, I am not.

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And yet Jesus, in all tenderness, if you want

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to know what Jesus is really like, if you want

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to know what the compassion, And the love of

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Jesus is really like, if you want to know what

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his personality is really like, hear him as he

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says to Peter, I have prayed for thee that thy

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faith fail not. I'll never forget, never. The

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hour when the Holy Spirit made that portion of

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the word real to my heart. I wept like a baby.

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I began turning back the pages of my own life.

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I wondered how often Since that time, the little

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Methodist church in Concordia, Missouri, when

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I sat that Sunday morning and I had that wonderful

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experience, that new birth experience, that which

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we call conversion. And I've never doubted my

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conversion. I've never doubted my new birth experience

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for one split second from that moment until this

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very hour. To this very day, my conversion is

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as real as when it happened to me when I was

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a 14 year old girl. My call to preach the gospel

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was as real and as definite as my conversion.

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It's something I've got to do. It's something

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I have to do. I can't explain it. It would make

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no difference to me if the whole world and all

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the powers of Satan would confront me and would

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tell me that I had no right, no scriptural right

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to preach. It wouldn't faze me one iota. My call

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was that definite. I wonder. How many times during

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the passing years, how many, many times, Jesus

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has prayed for me that my faith would fail not.

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I go back to that time, 16 years of age, Twin

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Falls, Idaho. I had nothing. I remember that

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bedroom, those old blue painted walls, that old

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blue bed spread on that broken -down brass bed,

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that worn -out carpet I remembered as though

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it was yesterday. I knew nothing except that

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I'd been born again. That's all that I knew.

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I couldn't preach anything else because I didn't

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know anything else. wanted me to preach because

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I couldn't preach. I'd had no experience, nothing,

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nothing but the new birth experience and a call

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from God. I can remember walking the floor, clenching

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my fists until the blood almost came from the

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nails that went into my flesh, and I looked up

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through blinding tears and said, Oh, God, I'll

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be obedient to you. preach it. I'll preach it.

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I'll preach it. I'll preach it. I'm wondering

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if maybe even then Jesus was praying that my

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faith would fail not. I'm wondering. I'm wondering.

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I'm wondering when, perhaps when I came to that

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dead -end street one Saturday late afternoon

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at four o 'clock. I can go to the very spot.

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I can go to that same dead -end street. I know

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the very hour, the very moment, a crisis in my

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life. One of the greatest crises that I've ever

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faced in my whole life. I'm wondering if maybe...

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In that very hour, I'm sure, I'm dead sure, that

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that Saturday afternoon, Jesus was praying for

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me that my faith would fail not. If I only knew

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how many times It's been a long, long way from

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Concordia, Missouri to this very hour as I sit

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before you and talk. It's been a long, long way.

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It hasn't been an easy way or an easy road. But

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every day and every hour of every day and every

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moment, of every hour i have had one who has

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been praying for me that one is in position of

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great high priest seated at the right hand of

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god the father the same one who prayed for peter

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that thy faith fail not is the one who has also

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prayed that my faith shall not fail and he's

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going to take me home. My faith perfected. And

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one day I shall stand in his presence because

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he prayed for me.