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I did not specifically ask you visitors to fill out a visitor's card, so let me do that

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in case you may fail to do that.

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We would appreciate your filling out the card so that we can get to know you a little bit,

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and if you just leave it right there in the pew, we'll collect them after the service.

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Our ushers will come by and get them.

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Thanks for helping us out.

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Well, Christmas is long awaited and too quickly over, isn't it?

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Time marches on very, very quickly, and we are brought to the awareness of that in a

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lot of ways in our lives.

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We're brought to that by physical changes.

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All we have to do is get up and look in the mirror, as we occasionally have to do, and

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we're aware of the fact that time is marching on, and we're not getting any younger.

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The appearance of wrinkles.

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As somebody has said, where once there were waves, now there's only beach.

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Another fellow said, I used to have a crew cut, but then the crew bailed out.

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When we come to the beginning of a new year, it's another one of those times that we are

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naturally reminded that time is moving forward unceasingly.

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Somebody has said, so valuable is time that God gives only a moment of it at once, and

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He gives that moment but once in all of eternity.

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New Year's is a natural time for us to do some reevaluating in our lives.

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I think even the secular world understands this.

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People talk about New Year's resolutions.

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Socrates, the philosopher of the world, said, the unexamined life is not worth living, and

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God says similar things in His word.

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In Haggai, for example, it says, Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your

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ways.

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In 1 Corinthians, let a man examine himself, for if we examine ourselves, we should not

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be judged.

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In Psalms, I thought on my ways and turned my feet to thy testimonies.

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Jeremiah said, Let us search and test our ways and turn again to the Lord.

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Again, the psalmist said, Examine me, O Lord, and prove me.

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Test my heart and my mind.

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And that's what I'd like to ask God to do for us today.

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Let's bow together in prayer once again.

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Father, we thank you for the periodic reminders that you give us of life's short and fleeting

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day.

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As we approach the threshold of a new year, it's another one of those times when we're

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reminded.

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And I pray that today, as we consider the word of God, that you would test our ways.

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Testify us and wherein we need to turn our feet according to your testimony.

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Then give us the faith and the courage and the conviction to do it today.

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I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

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Will you take your bible and turn with me, please, to Exodus chapter 12, verses 1 and

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2.

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This is one of those days when we have a diving board text, we're going to begin here and

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then look at many other texts as we swim through the message together.

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Exodus chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.

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The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, This month is to be for you the first month,

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the first month of your year.

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It seems that we have a most remarkable thing, for in our text today that we're beginning

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with, God establishes a new calendar.

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I don't know of any place else before this in which God carefully prescribed a calendar

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for His people, the beginning of a year.

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But it does say here that God caused this particular month to be the first month of

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the year of the Israelites.

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This is the beginning of months to them.

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It was called in their tongue Abib, or after their captivity they named it Nisan.

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This was their religious calendar.

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They went by another calendar for their civil affairs, the affairs of government.

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The first month then began in the fall, but here is the spring.

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This month, Abib, does not correspond clearly with the months as we observe them.

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The months in that day were aligned with the moon, whereas we are on a solar calendar.

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But roughly, the month of Abib, or the first month for the Jews religiously, began sometime

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in our middle March and runs through our middle April.

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That was the first month of the year for the Jews.

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The name Abib means an ear of corn, or green ears.

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The reason for that particular name is that this was the time of the barley harvest in

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Israel.

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Thus, they picked that name, Abib, or the green ears, or the ear of corn, to indicate

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this is the beginning, this is the first month of a new year.

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The beginning of the new year was important to the Jewish nation.

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It accomplished several purposes.

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These purposes were served by their observance of the feasts of Passover and unleavened bread.

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The Jews had seven feasts that they observed throughout their calendar year.

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And let me just stick in a word here that has nothing to do with the message, but it

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reminds me to say to you that during the month of January, beginning with the second Wednesday

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night, whatever that is, we are going to have Dr. Earl Warner here on five successive Wednesday

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nights to teach us from the Word of God about the feasts of Jehovah.

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Dr. Warner is the head of the Midwest Hebrew Mission, and is a man who is a tremendous

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teacher and knows the Old Testament and the typology, the symbols of the Old Testament,

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so very well.

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And he will be here to teach to us about all seven of those feasts of Jehovah.

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Now the first two of those feasts were Passover and unleavened bread.

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They were observed in the month of Abib, the first month, the first month of the religious

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year that the Jews observed.

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God ordered that those feasts should be in the first month because there were several

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things that he wanted to accomplish.

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Now as I've said, our year does not correspond to the Jewish year.

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We do not observe the feast of Passover.

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Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us.

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We do not observe the feast of unleavened bread because now spiritually we feed on

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Christ who is our unleavened bread.

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He is our spiritual nourishment.

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But as we begin a new year, I would like to draw a parallel with that event in our lives

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to the beginning of a new year in the life of ancient Israel.

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God intended for the new year to do several things for them and I believe that he would

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have the new year to do several things for us.

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He would have it to be a time of remembrance, a time of recognition, and finally a time

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of renewal.

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Now let me show you what I mean.

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We will compare Israel to ourselves.

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In the book of Exodus, look in chapter 13, just down the page or the next page in your

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Bible, and look in verse 9.

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Again, God is commanding them concerning the first of the year and the commemoration of

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these feasts and he says, this observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and

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a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips, for the Lord

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brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.

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The first of the year for ancient Israel brought with it the feasts of Passover and unleavened

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bread.

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Those feasts were an annual reminder of God's mighty workings in their nation.

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It was to be a reminder of them of three specific things.

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It was to be first of all a reminder to them of their bondage in Egypt.

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Every year as they began the month of the bead, as they observed these feasts of Passover

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and unleavened bread, it was a reminder to them that there was a Pharaoh who rose who

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knew not Joseph and who hundreds of years before had begun to subject their people to

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slavery in Egypt.

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It was to be an annual reminder to them that at one time they were slaves in bondage in

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Egypt.

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Secondly, it was to be a reminder of them that God had delivered them from that bondage

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by the blood of the Passover lamb.

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We do not have time to recount nor is it necessary for you probably the story of the Passover

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lamb, the great tenth plague that came upon Egypt.

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But every year as they observed the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, it was

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a reminder to them of that night when God brought death to all the first born.

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The blood of the lamb though protected the first born of those homes that shed the blood

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and applied it as God had prescribed it to be applied.

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And then that night they feasted there in Egypt upon the body of the lamb that was left

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over.

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Their feast of Passover and unleavened bread continually brought them back to that point

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of remembering the blood, remembering the deliverance of God, remembering the protection

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of God that night that they were brought out of bondage from Egypt.

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But then those feasts also at the beginning of their year were to be reminders of the

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blessings of God as they journeyed in the wilderness.

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God supplied for them food, he supplied water for them, he supplied protection, he supplied

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direction for them.

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All that they needed during that time God cared for.

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And every year as they began the observance of these feasts it was a reminder to them

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not only of the bondage of Egypt and the blood of the lamb but of the blessings of God upon

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them.

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May I suggest to you that as we come to 1982, should the Lord tarry until Friday, that the

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coming of a new year should be a reminder for us as well.

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A reminder of similar things as Israel remembered.

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A reminder first of all of the bondage of sin that you and I once knew before we trusted

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Jesus Christ.

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It is good for us to periodically consider where we might be today but for the saving

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grace of God.

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It is impossible for us to know of course where we might be but occasionally it's good

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for us to sit back and think of what direction our life might have taken if it hadn't been

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for the deliverance of God from the bondage of sin in our own experience.

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Surely we would not be in this place today nor would we know the joy and the peace in

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our hearts that we have today if it had not been for that day whenever it was for you

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months or years ago when you were delivered from your bondage of sin.

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In the New Testament in the book of Colossians it says that he has rescued us from the dominion

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of darkness.

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It is easy for us to forget the dominion that darkness has over unsaved people.

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The control of satanic powers over those that are lost either consciously or unconsciously.

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They are imprisoned and chained to the powers of darkness.

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When you and I trusted Jesus Christ we were gloriously delivered, saved and rescued from

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the powers and the bondage of darkness.

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It furthermore says in Revelation he has freed us from our sins.

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How many of you have seen the film Pilgrim's Progress?

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Would you lift your hand?

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Well a number of you.

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We thought about getting that for New Year's Eve.

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We will get that again some other time.

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I think it's a very fine film.

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I believe it did win some awards in fact the year that it was produced.

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There is one scene in the film among a number that stand out to me.

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It is the scene of Pilgrim when he comes to the cross and receives Christ.

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At the moment that he is spiritually brought to salvation the heavy pack that was upon

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his back until that point in the film suddenly snaps away from him and rolls down the hill

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and away from him.

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It pictures beautifully what Bunyan wrote in that classic several hundred years ago.

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Dear friend, when you trust Jesus Christ as Savior that is what happens to your sin.

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It's removed from you.

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You are no longer bearing the load of guilt and condemnation that you had.

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We are freed from the bondage of sin.

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As we come to a new year it's time to say to the Lord thank you for that.

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Then we can thank God too for the blood of the Lamb for us because of that blood that

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we have forgiven us.

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In Ephesians it says, In whom we have redemption through his blood.

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We are not redeemed by silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

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As we begin a new year it's good for us in our minds to go back to the cross and there

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to think again concerning the price that had to be paid for our free salvation.

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For while it was very free to us and given by grace, it was very, very costly to God.

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It required the death of his only begotten Son, the shedding of his blood in the most

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vicious and cruel manner.

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A death that he willingly underwent that we might be saved as we begin a new year.

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It's a time of remembrance for the blood of the Lamb.

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And then too it is a time of remembrance for us of the blessings of our Father along our

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pilgrim pathway.

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For God has not saved us and then said to us, Goodbye, we'll see you in heaven someday.

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The moment he saved us he came to be with us, to indwell us in the person of his Spirit.

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And he walks with us through our pilgrimage.

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You and I have right now, not just in heaven, but right now, every spiritual blessing in

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Jesus Christ as the psalmist said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

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because of that.

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We need to enumerate our blessings to think back through 1980, 1981, and all the things

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that God has done for us in the last year or two or five or all of our lives.

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And then as we face 1982, do it with a heart of gratitude.

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All of us have burdens.

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We have sorrows and heartaches.

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And yet surely the blessings of God far outnumber and far outweigh those little things that

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cause us to weep occasionally.

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Therefore let us remember the blessings of our Father.

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The time of the first of the year for Israel was a time of remembrance.

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God planned their calendar so the first of every year they would remember some things.

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It's good for us to remember some things too as we come to January 1.

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And then the time of the first of the year was for Israel a time of recognition.

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God intended for the month of Abib, and the feasts observed during that month, to be a

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time when his people recognized him again as their only God.

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The people of Israel were much like us.

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They easily forgot.

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Too easily they strayed after foreign gods and allowed the devotion of their heart that

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belonged to God alone to be stolen by some false God or some idol in the life.

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So God intended for the first of the year to be a time when they recognized afresh and

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anew that the Lord, he is God.

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Come with me to Exodus chapter 34 as we see an example of this.

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Exodus chapter 34 verse 10.

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The Lord said, I am making a covenant with you before all your people I will do wonders

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never before done in any nation in all the world.

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The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I the Lord will do for you.

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Obey what I command you today.

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I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Parasites,

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the Hibites, and Jebusites.

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Why was God going to drive them out?

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Because they were all parasites in the land of Canaan that he had given to his people.

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And he says, be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you

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are going or they will be a snare among you.

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Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and cut down their ashram poles.

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Do not worship any other God for the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God.

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Be careful not to make any treaty with those who live in the land for when they prostitute

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themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat

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their sacrifices.

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And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters

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prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

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Do not make caste idols.

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Create the feast of unleavened bread.

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For seven days eat bread made without yeast as I commanded you.

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Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of

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Egypt.

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Now why is God commanding all of this, of his people?

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Because in the month of Abib he wants them to remember when they get to the land that

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he is the God who brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

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And in that month not only did they remember what he had done, but they remembered him,

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that he is the Lord, and as he says in verse 14 that his name is Jealous.

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You see God is jealous for our affection.

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Rightfully he is jealous of our devotion.

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When you and I today allow ourselves to worship at the shrine of some other idol, then God

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is not pleased with that.

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What kind of idols can we have?

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Well there can be the idol of money.

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Our Lord warned us about that.

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Twice in the epistles covetousness, which is greed for money and things, is called idolatry.

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We can go after the idol of impure thoughts.

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We can seek the idol of popularity on our campus.

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We can seek the idol of attainment in our work.

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Now those things in their proper perspective may not be wrong, but if those things become

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priorities in our lives and altars at which we worship, then they become false gods to

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us.

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Do you know so serious was this kind of thing in ancient Israel that God commanded in the

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book of Deuteronomy that those people who worship false idols should be put to death?

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Did you know that?

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Not only those who committed some grievous crime against society, but in chapter 7 of

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Deuteronomy, God commands that those who apostatize, those who worship some other god, should be

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put to death.

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And he says the people who witness against them are to throw the first stones.

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And he says if your sons or your daughters or your wives or your husbands worship false

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gods, they are to be put to death and you are to throw the first stones.

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Now that was God's law to ancient Israel.

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That is not God's law to us today, but it does say something to us, doesn't it?

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It tells us how terribly God hates idolatry and how jealous God is for the devotion and

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worship of our hearts.

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As we come to a new year, it should be a time of recognition for us that the Lord deserves

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to be the Lord in our lives.

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In the book of Acts, we have an illustration of Lordship in the life of Paul.

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When Paul met Jesus on the Damascus road, his statement was, Lord, what should I do?

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What would you have me to do?

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You see, that's what Lordship is.

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Lordship is not saying, Lord, show me what you want me to do and then I'll make up my

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mind.

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It's simply saying, Lord, what do you want me to do?

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It is a commitment to follow through with whatever he says.

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Is he Lord in your life today or are there other gods that have usurped his place?

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The first of the year for ancient Israel was not only a time of remembrance and a time

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of recognition, but it was a time also of renewal.

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It was to be a time of renewal in the nation in two important ways.

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It was to be a reminder to them that they were a people God had called out to be different,

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a separated people.

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And it was to be a time when they were to be unified as a nation.

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We see this in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 16.

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I invite your attention there.

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Deuteronomy, chapter 16.

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Three of the feasts are mentioned in this chapter.

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The first one is the feast of Passover.

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In verse 1 of Deuteronomy 16, it says, observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover

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of the Lord your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.

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Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the

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place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name.

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Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the

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bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste, so that all the days of your life

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you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.

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Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days.

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Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until

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morning.

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You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you, except in

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the place he will choose as a dwelling for his name.

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There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening when the sun goes down on the anniversary

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of your departure from Egypt.

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Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose.

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Then in the morning return to your tents.

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What is God saying here to the people?

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Well, he is telling them again how they are to observe this feast in the month of Abib.

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And what seems to be the emphasis in our text here?

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It is the fact that they are to be a separated people, that as they eat the unleavened bread

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it is to remind them that they are to be without the admixture of sin.

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He has called them out of Egypt.

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He has separated them from Egypt in order to be his own people.

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And every year as they began the new calendar it was a reminder to them as a nation that

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they were to renew themselves as a separated people that God had called out.

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We see this in a number of places.

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We read Exodus 34 and there again God said, don't make covenant with the people of the

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land.

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Be separate from them.

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If you compromise with them then you will begin to worship their gods.

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I have called you to be different.

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And then in verse 16 of this chapter God says, three times a year all your men must appear

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before the Lord your God at the place he will choose.

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And these are the three times.

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At the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles.

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No man should appear before the Lord empty handed.

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Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

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Three times a year all the men of the land were together in the place that God would

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appoint.

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The one time was in the spring, the feast of unleavened bread.

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Passover is included with that.

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And then some 50 days later they were together again for the feast of weeks.

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And then in the fall they were together for the feast of tabernacles.

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Three times.

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Why did God want all the men to come together three times a year?

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Because he wanted them to be renewed in their unity.

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You see they would naturally that day be scattered.

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There were very poor means of communication.

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Consequently his people living all over the land that he would give them would naturally

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separate from one another.

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And so God said three times a year all of you are to come back to Jerusalem, the place

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I will appoint, and there be unified, be reminded, be renewed in your unity as a nation.

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I'd like to suggest to you that we can apply this to ourselves as we come to the first

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of the year in a very practical way.

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There's a time for you and me to check our own separation from the world.

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There's a time for us to consider whether or not we have in fact compromised the way

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that we live in order to accommodate a pagan society.

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If we have, then we are displeasing the Lord.

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Every first of the year God wanted his people in these feasts to be reminded that he had

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called them to be different.

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God has called us to be different too.

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In fact very similar words are used of us as we're used of Israel.

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Of us it says in Peter, he has called you a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a

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holy nation that is a separated, sanctified nation, a people of his own.

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God does not intend for us to live like the rest of the world lives.

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God wants us to be different in our lifestyle.

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The first of the year is a good time for you and for me to reevaluate and see if we in

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fact have compromised somewhere along the way.

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It's also a time for us to renew our commitment to one another.

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Although we have a lot of communication these days and we're together every week, once,

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twice, or even three times, it is easy for us in our hearts to slowly grow distant from

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other believers, just to kind of drift away in our spirit, in our fervency, in our commitment

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to each other.

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And so as we come to the first of the year it's good for us too to be reminded that God

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has called us as one body and that we have a commitment to one another.

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God intends for us to be unified.

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That's why he says in Hebrews, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the

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manner of some is.

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You see even in that day in the very first generation after our Lord, the manner of some

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was to forsake the assembling of believers.

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But he says admonish one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

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What day is that?

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The day of his return.

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And surely as we come to 1982 all of us must be aware that our Lord's coming is nearer

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than ever before and we believe very soon.

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The month of January as we name it is named after a Roman god.

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Did you know that?

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In fact the calendar that we observe is basically a pagan calendar in its roots.

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The month of January is named after the Roman god Janus.

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This pagan deity of the Romans was depicted as a man who had two faces.

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One face looked backward and on his face showed sorrow, disappointment and fear.

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The other face looked forward with hope, satisfaction and confidence.

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And we can obviously see where they get that because as we approach the first of January

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there is a sense in which we look backward at the last year with some disappointment

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and sorrow.

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And yet as children of God we also look at the last year I trust as a year in which we

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have walked with God and we have seen God's hand in an unusual way in our lives.

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And then as we look forward to the next year should the Lord tarry it too can be with hope

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and with trust in the promises of God, confidence that God will not fail us.

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The same God who has brought us thus far will not leave us here.

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This is the beginning of months to us as we number the calendar.

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Could it be for us too a time of remembrance, a time of recognition, the Lordship of Christ,

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and a time of renewal and commitment to the principles of separation and of unity to which

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God has called us.

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Charles Lamb said no one ever regarded the first of January with indifference.

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How do you regard it this year?

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More than a hundred years ago, Frances Ridley Havergl considered the beginning of 1874.

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Her name is not well known to us today but in her day she was one of the best known Christians

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who was alive.

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She was in chronic poor health and she lived in a time when there was a limited educational

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opportunity for women and yet she became a noted linguist, author, musician, and soul

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winner.

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As she faced 1874 she penned these words as a prayer.

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Another year is dawning.

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Dear Father, let it be in working or in waiting another year with Thee.

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Another year of progress.

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Another year of praise.

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Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

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Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace.

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Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face.

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Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast.

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Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

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Another year of service, of witness for Thy love.

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Another year of training for holier work above.

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Another year is dawning.

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Dear Father, let it be on earth or else in heaven another year for Thee.

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1982 could see some of us ushered into the presence of the Lord in heaven.

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As we enter a new year let it be with the same remembrance, recognition, and renewal

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that Israel knew as she began the first of her years as well.

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Let's bow together in prayer.

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Dear Father, we cannot approach the beginning of another year with indifference.

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You have told us that we are to redeem the time, to take account of it.

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We believe that the day is fast approaching which will see our Savior return, and there

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is much to be done.

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Much to be done in our lives.

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Much to be done in the world in which we live.

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I pray that this year will be for us all that it should be.

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With our heads bowed and as we wait upon God I wonder if there is some person here who

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today would say, Pastor Cole, as I look at the past year and the past years of my life,

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they're a mess.

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I've never trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and my life today is without root.

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I am driven, tossed to and fro.

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I have no direction.

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I am so unhappy and dissatisfied with my life.

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I know that Jesus Christ has died for me, has died that my sins could be forgiven.

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Today I want to trust Him as my Savior so that I can have forgiveness of sins, so that

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I can have purpose and meaning to life and abundant life.

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Pray for me in closing of the service that I'll do what I should do in trusting Christ.

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Would you lift your hand and then put it back down?

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If that's your heart attitude today.

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I need Christ.

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Pray for me.

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God bless you.

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Anyone else?

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I know I need to be saved.

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Pray that I'll do the right thing and trust the Lord today.

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Now my fellow believer, let me speak to you a moment.

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As you consider this next year, are you walking with God faithfully?

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Are you where you ought to be in your spiritual walk?

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Or have you compromised?

456
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:33,600
Are there other gods that have usurped His place in your life?

457
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:37,520
Would you say by the uplifted hand, Pastor, pray for me?

458
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:42,120
Because God knows as I face the new year, there need to be some changes made in my life.

459
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,800
I can't go on the way I am.

460
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,040
I feel convicted and I'm miserable.

461
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:56,600
And I want to recognize the Lord as the King of my life.

462
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:02,840
I want to live a separated life, a pure life.

463
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:03,840
God bless you.

464
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:04,840
Anyone else?

465
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:05,840
Yes.

466
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:12,160
A number of hands.

467
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,440
Very quickly, anyone else before I pray?

468
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,280
Yes.

469
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:23,400
Dear Father, you have seen our hands lifted today.

470
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:30,640
I pray for these, my brothers and sisters, who have lifted the hand that you will minister

471
00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:38,280
today with great power in their lives and will affect the change in their lifestyle,

472
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:46,360
in their attitudes that will bring them into harmony with your will for their lives.

473
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,520
I pray for this dear friend who has lifted the hand saying, I'm lost.

474
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:58,880
Oh God, I pray that that one today would trust the Lord Jesus and be saved.

475
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:04,480
I pray that you will accomplish all of this in our lives for your glory.

476
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:22,680
Amen.