WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. Glory

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forever. We're wearing red today because today

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is the feast day of the unmercenary saints, the

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great healers. Who healed unmercenary means they

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did not take money. No silver, it says. Most

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of them were martyrs, and red is the color of

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martyrdom. We have such a riches of themes to

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speak of, but let us turn our attention to the

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gospel, the first gospel we heard from Luke chapter

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8, 26. We heard it recently, I guess it was back

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in July, we heard St. Matthew's version of this

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same account, and I spoke of the demons there.

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and of their powerlessness over us because Christ

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is risen and he has destroyed the power of death,

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the power of sin, and the demons are about as

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useless as a $100 bill on the table sitting there

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by itself. It can't do a thing. But of course,

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the demons can tempt two men to fight over it

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and one kill the other. But that's the power

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that's there. But I want you to imagine a scene.

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From the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 32, which

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I heard a teaching on the other day, and I'm

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excited about it, and I want to share that with

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you too. Because I learned something new that

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I didn't know. There's so much. This is why I

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keep reading. Deuteronomy 32 tells us this. When

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the Most High, so God, the Most High God, not

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an angel, not some other kind of spirit, The

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Old Testament calls some of these things gods,

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lowercase g. The Most High God is the one who

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created heaven and earth and all things. When

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the Most High God apportioned the nations, when

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he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries

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of the peoples according to the number of the

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gods, that is, the angels. Fix that in your mind,

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that every nation has an angel. But we know,

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if we read the Old Testament, if we have paid

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attention to the gospel we just heard, there

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were many angels who fell away. And they demanded

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worship as if they were God. So, listen to this

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Psalm verse, Psalm 81. God stood in the congregation

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of the gods, and in the midst he shall judge

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them. Who is God judging here? God is standing,

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he's coming to this, what should be an angelic

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council, what should be kind. discerning, loving,

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protective angels for the nations and for people,

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but they have fallen away and they have rebelled

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against God. And God is now standing in their

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midst. This is what the psalm says, Psalm 81.

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God stood in the congregation of the gods and

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he shall judge them. And the psalm continues.

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How long will you judge unrighteously? God says

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to them. And accept the sinners. He says to them,

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judge for the orphan and the poor man. He says,

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do justice to the humble and the pauper. Rescue

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the poor man and the needy. From the hand of

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the evil one, deliver that person. And this is

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what he then says to these fallen angels as he

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stands before them. They have not known nor understood

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they walk in darkness. Let the foundations of

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the earth be shaken. The story we just heard

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of Christ coming to this land of the gatherings

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where people were tending pigs. They were pagans.

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They were Roman pagans. They used pigs for their

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sacrifices. This was a sacrificial meal. That

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man that was possessed by a legion, five, ten,

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whoever knows, of demons, said to Jesus what?

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Jesus, thou son of the most high God, don't send

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us into the abyss before the time. Is it the

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time of judgment? They knew this verse. They

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saw it coming, but they didn't know exactly what

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was going to happen. Psalm 81, are you starting

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to recognize this song? We sing it on Holy Saturday.

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Let all the foundations of the earth be shaken.

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I said, ye are gods, false gods, fallen angels,

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and all of you sons of the Most High, but like

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men, ye die, and like one of the rulers, do ye

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fall. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou

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shalt have an inheritance among all the nations.

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You recognize that now. Arise, I could ask these

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guys to sing it for us maybe. On Holy Saturday,

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we sing this prophecy of what Christ will do.

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Jesus the Savior, the true God, the light of

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light. Are you come, says the legion of demons

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to Christ. Are you come to punish us before the

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time? That is, after God will judge. They know

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that God will bring justice and truth and new

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life. Do justice to the humble. Judge for the

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orphan and the poor man. Rescue the pauper and

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the needy. This is what Christ has done. Arise,

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O God, and judge the earth. Rise up, Lord. Having

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risen from the dead, then... Jesus stands in

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the midst of these demons to judge them. St.

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Paul tells us very clearly, for our struggle

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is not against flesh and blood, other people,

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but against the rulers. These entities, these

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spirits, against the authorities, against the

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powers of the dark world, and against the spiritual

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forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Let God

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arise and let his enemies be scattered, we sing

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at Pascha. The enemy is not people. It's not

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the opposing political party or presidential

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candidate. It's not the Muslims who are killing

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Christians. It's not whatever enemy you might

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decide. It's these powers that inflict temptation

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and evil upon God's world. It's not communists

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or anarchists or sinners, those who are different.

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And we were all, before our baptism, enslaved.

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Through death on the cross, Jesus destroyed him

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that had the power of death, says St. Paul in

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Hebrews. that is, the devil, and delivered those

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who all their life were subject to bondage through

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fear of death. Jesus says the thief comes to

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steal and to kill and to destroy. And the devil

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is a thief and a liar from the beginning. But

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Jesus says, I am come that you might have life

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and have it. more abundantly. He is our shepherd.

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He is our protector. He is our guide. He is our

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enlightener. He is the one who loves us, who

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knows what we need. Some things we don't want

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to bring to Christ, do we? We kind of divide

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them off. We don't allow him to change us, to

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sanctify us. Like the people in this village

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who said, go away. They were afraid of him. This

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man, this possessed man, was serving as an oracle

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with demonic powers speaking through him. Let's

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not imagine, however, that Christ is going to

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steal something from you or from me. He doesn't

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look for slaves. He says, you are my friends.

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If we think he wants to take something away from

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us besides sin and death and evil and ultimately

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suffering in the life of the age to come, then

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we misunderstand. Total obedience to Christ never

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leads to regrets. It leads to freedom from sin

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because we confess it and we're free of that

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stain. which divides us from ourself and from

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God and from one another. We are free from death

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because he was crucified and died and rose from

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the dead, and he promises us resurrection. And

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we taste it every time we go to communion. And

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he promises freedom from ourself, our constant

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stream of confusion, like legion. Life and more

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abundantly doesn't mean... I get the nicest car,

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I'm going to live forever, I'll die a peaceful

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death, everything's going to be great in my life.

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No, it means God's life, which we partake of

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most perfectly when we receive Holy Communion.

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Let me just summarize here. In terms of our core

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beliefs, The beliefs that shape the way a person

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reacts emotionally and how we behave? What would

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it mean to believe with all one's heart and with

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all one's soul and with all one's might that

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Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the one who stood

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in the midst of these evil beings and judged

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them? What does it mean that he is one essence

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with the Heavenly Father, with power over things

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visible and invisible? What does it mean? To

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believe that, what it means is that we look at

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the world, we look at ourself, we look at our

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neighbor, and the person who might consider themselves

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our enemy, through the lens of Christ's compassion

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and his humility and his love. One writer says

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this, a quote, this would mean striving to respond

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as Christ would and rejoicing with the heavenly

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joy every time his grace, by his grace, every

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time we can. We would walk the extra mile and

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that would help us to participate in the light

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of light. And being called by Christ's name would

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be honor beyond all honor. bestowing not just

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human dignity and worth, but divine worth upon

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us as a vessel of clay. It is not I who live,

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but Christ who lives in me. And the life that

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I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the

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Son of God who gave himself and was delivered

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up for me. We would believe that our soul would

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always be oriented towards Christ as the ultimate

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direction of our life and none other. What is

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shaping our life, he is saying here? What is

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the ultimate meaning of our existence? And what

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is the ultimate goal of our time in this sorrowful

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world? It was created by the Son of God, and

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he is saving it and rescuing it. Believing all

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this would change everything about our life.

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This is what it means. as I keep saying week

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after week, to be Christian on purpose. To our

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Lord, the destroyer of sin and death and the

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evil one, be glory now and ever to ages of ages.