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 Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

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 If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

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 Thank you for joining us today.

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 So Lord, we thank You for Your goodness, Your graciousness to us, Your understanding

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 love, Your patience, Your long-suffering, because we walk in this flesh. It's not an

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 thankful heart that You still love us. And we acknowledge that tonight. And we ask as

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 we open Your scriptures that You will yet again bring us more clarity of who You are,

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 the character that You represent, because it is so deep. And we thank You that we can be

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 blessed in this land to open freely, to walk in righteousness, and not be persecuted as we

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 see so many people in other nations are once they come to You. So we give You these things

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 in the name of Jesus. And everybody said, Amen. All right. So we are out of sequence

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 tonight. And I'm going to blame this on Alaba, because he took the first, the last four

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 verses of what we always think is a chapter. And he majored on that. And he admitted when

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 he finished, he wrote me a note. He said, boy, he said, I really messed you up, didn't I?

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 Because I usually plan a couple weeks ahead. So I worked it out that Jesse will do chapter

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 seven next week. And we are doing eight this week, because I'm not going to throw away 14

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 PowerPoint presentations pages. I worked too hard on them. So anyway, that's that's where we're at.

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 So you'll have to excuse me. But being out of sequence isn't too bad. It's, again, a way

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 in which if we take chapters on everything, it's not going to conflict. So we're going

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 to talk about the consecration and activities of all priests. And in doing so, we want to

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 note that this chapter discusses the completion of the tabernacle and the decision or the

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 dedication of those who will serve. And if you look at what has transpired in some of these

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 areas of sequence, this is going to be out of sequence, not the chapter that we're in,

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 but the verses that we're in. So the narrative occurred on the first day of the first month of

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 the second year after Israel left Egypt. So that's where we're at tonight. And therefore,

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 the events probably have occurred these events that we're talking about prior to this set of

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 sequences. So the earlier chapters, which began in the second month of the second year, is where

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 we're at. So again, it's a little bit turned around. But again, this really isn't a problem

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 because we kind of unitize everything in chapters. This book never claims to be in

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 chronological order. So we'll just take it as it as it is. Because remember, it's an

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 amalgamation of people that wrote things down. And as God provides that, they just put down what

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 they thought was important. So the order or in this case, disorder of numbers is often

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 considered to be a difficulty for many in interpreting the book. I don't see it that way,

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 but I just make mention to that for you. So let's look at the outline of what we'll be

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 discussing tonight. The chapter focuses on the consecration of the priests. That's where

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 we're at. Remember, we built the tabernacle. We were educated on the use of those instruments

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 within the tabernacle. And now we're going to consecrate the priests to be able to function

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 and do what they have to do. Again, in eight, one through four, it talks about the lighting

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 of the lamp stand. I'm not going to go over that because we did that once already. And

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 the purification and dedication of the Levites is where we're going to major tonight. So

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 the Levites undergo a purification ritual, including washing, shaving, and offering sacrifices.

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 The Israelites lay their hands on the Levites, symbolically transferring their sins. And the

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 Levites, again, are presented as a wave offering before the Lord. And they are then officially

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 taking over the duties of the tabernacle. And that's what we're doing. And this,

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 again, verses 23 through 26, I'll mention it here, but we won't go into it. The Levites

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 began their service at age 25, and they retired at 50. That's not too bad, 25 years of service

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 and you retire. After retirement, they may assist their fellow Levites but cannot perform

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 the direct tabernacle duties. Now, why that was? Because it was a lot of heavy lifting.

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 Remember, the Israelites were designated certain responsibilities and these Levites had to tear

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 the tabernacle down, maintain the tabernacle, and set it up every time we moved throughout

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 the desert experience. So this highlights the importance of, again, mentorship and

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 transition in leadership from one generation to the next. And this chapter really emphasizes

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 them, the obedience, the dedication, and the spiritual cleansing as these Levites prepare

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 to serve God. And again, this is where we're going to major in the area of purification

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 and dedication of the Levites. Now, I want to review something just so we understand where

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 we're at. All priests are Levites, but not all Levites are high priests. So, only Aaron

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 from the title given to him and the lineage of the tribe, he's a Levite, and his descendants

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 had exclusive rights to perform all the sacrifices and enter into the Holy of Holies that once

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 yearly. So the Levites attended and worked on the tabernacle, but they didn't do the

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 service of the tabernacle. So the Levites versus the priests, everyone had their specific

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 duty. They knew what they were supposed to do. Remember, we talked about order and we

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 talked about government. The order is such that he laid down certain unequivocal requirements

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 that they had to go through, and they really lived and they worked around these requirements

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 all their lives. So other Levites, not high priests like the Kohathites and the Jerson

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ites and the Marites were responsible for all tabernacle duties, but they could not perform

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 the priestly functions of sacrifice and going into the Holy of Holies. So there's a delineation

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 as you can begin to see. So the Cathites, they carried most of the sacred objects, ark,

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 lampstand, altar, but they couldn't touch them or even see them until the high priest

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 came and he covered them up because they were holy in blankets, and then they could administrate

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 transportation or whatever. So it was that sacred. And you know, it's interesting to think

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 how sacred things are. You know, it's a lampstand, it's a this and that. Now the covenant was

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 the same thing. They had to, again, go along with what was being done. So the Jersonites,

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 they transported the curtains and the coverings of the tabernacle. That's what they did. If

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 you remember, the pillars were 12 feet high. They had beaver skins. They were stretched

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 out. Was it like a tapestry? That's what they took care of. And then the Marites, they

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 managed the structural components, the frames, the posts, and the bases. So these things

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 were heavy. If you remember some of the stuff that we talked about really early on, just

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 the wood alone. Now give me an example. Some of the wood they had was so dense that it

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 wouldn't rot. I was down in the wood shop today where we live and there was a piece

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 of purple hark wood. It's a wood that is made from wood. It's a wood that is made

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 for, it is grown for boats and different things like that. The block was this big and it was

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 probably like, I'd say about 70 pounds. That's how dense the material was. So you can imagine

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 all these woods that we had gone through, here are these people doing this, that's

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 why you retire out at the age of 50 because after a while, you have back problems like

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 Ken and myself. So you know, we don't want to do that stuff. So consequently, that's

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 what they did. Now, the ways of God we talked about were order and structure, if you remember

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 some of the things we were talking about. Now God has been organizing the Israelites

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 into a structured community. If you remember what we said, they were unstructured, they

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 were war like people, they were different tribes, they had skirmishes and he's bringing

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 and consolidating them to live together. If there are disagreements, they didn't pull

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 out machetes or knives and kill each other. They went to the priest, they ironed it out.

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 Remember we talked about the Uman in the film and the priest would give answers for

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 them, yes or no on those questions. And they were building a society. And you think

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 how difficult that was to start from scratch and build a society of people that get along,

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 that understand what life is, center their passions and their desires around a single

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 God, not many Gods, and not live for themselves but live for the glory of God. I was reading

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 there was a book that Jamie had recommended a longer time ago. It's the period between

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 the Old Testament and the New Testament, the 500 years that are lost. Did anybody ever

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 read that book or have a chance to, that book is amazing, how the wars started and how the

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 differences started. But in there it talked about the differences

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 as the Old Testament as we know it and the tabernacle and the temple started to wane

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 in its importance how people began to be different and begin to oppose one another, the high priest

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 the priest and even the people. And I think that most of us everybody see the chosen so

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 far. Now that's evident because they hated each other. I was thinking of that one decision

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 when they were in the temple and they were talking among themselves and there were so

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 many disagreements and so much hatred and that's not what God wanted but that's what

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 they came to understand as a normal way of life. And we'll be talking a little bit about

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 that, about how did they get down to that level when they were supposed to be glorifying

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 and edifying God. And here they were talking about your sin and me being better and the

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 positioning that I had and I'm better than you and you're not so great yourself and

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 they were accusing one another. But he did want to build a structured community with specific

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 roles and responsibilities what we call today nation building. The sacrificial system was

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 then a way to maintain covenant with that relationship and those people. How did he

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 meet them? He descended into the Holy of Holies and he dwelt there and they knew that.

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 He communed with them and consequently that was an expression of devotion, gratitude and

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 repentance from the people. So the sacrifices pointed to the seriousness of sin and the

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 need for reconciliation with God. I mean sometimes I don't know I'm sinning unless I read the

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 Bible or my wife tells me. You know and that's an honest evaluation in the sense that okay

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 you need an arbitrator in your life to live righteously. And they were now being organized

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 again to travel in orderly manner following God's guidance. Can you imagine picking up

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 disassembling the tabernacle, one million people packing all their stuff and getting

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 up and going and moving and then when the clouds stops down. I think if I was one

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 of the Levi priests I would probably after 40 years get very tired of doing all that.

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 I haven't gotten into how many trips or what mileage they did but for 40 years they went

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 round and round and round and you know I often wonder whether in doing that somebody

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 that was older said oh we passed that mountain 20 years ago. And had difficulty in even

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 living the life as we see it today. So now the question that I ask is what are the

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 outcomes for you when living an orderly and structured life that we're supposed to be

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 doing as Christians. What are these outcomes what's that look like no matter where you

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 were at whatever you had as far as theology perhaps a way of life and now you fast

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 forward into the kingdom you have some degree of maturity. What are the outcomes of living

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 this orderly and structured life. What are what are these attributes that you may have.

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 Certainly a lot of less less stress you're getting you know you're putting the load off

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 on the Lord. Yes great now now let's just do this.

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 What's that say right now and that's what it is burden bearer. Yes he wants that. Exactly.

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 Well you know in my community of ecumenical people they say well God's too busy.

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 He's not too busy. He wants to know and you know I'm still amazed at the traditional church

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 and the beliefs that people have. I'm not disparaging them but I get very disappointed

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 sometimes when you compare what you have as such value what we have here in this assembly

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 as opposed to a formal church and the liturgy in some instances to some people is as meaningful as

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 the worship and the sermon. So again that's kind of difficult for me to kind of get around sometimes

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 but anyway what else. Yes scale. It would also give a different perspective and purpose

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 to your life. Yeah here we are we're purposed to do what build ourselves up feel good about us

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 what's in it for me and then all of a sudden God comes along and says okay

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 that's not you anymore. That does that's what. That's a change of direction along with salvation.

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 It's a change in the way that we approach ourselves approach God. Let's see we'll get rid of this

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 and order provides greater fruitfulness in work relationships with people and the Lord. I mean

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 spending time following the kingdom. Anything else. What's different in your life

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 not BC but as you came to the Lord as you have given up as you relinquished your life

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 as he becomes more apparent to you as you become more involved.

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 Yes. I was gonna say you avoid destruction. I think living like an orderly and structured life

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 it helps you like obey authority better to avoid like mindset such like communism everybody's on

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 the same level we're all the same there's not a difference between a man or a woman or

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 you know a master or servant so now you get to fall in your place and so everything goes a lot

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 better. There's no contention between leadership and you know followers things I sort of yeah.

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 And is there not contention in the world when you take Christianity out of it don't we know

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 that. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Terrible. Anything else. Yes. I'm here. I was going to say maybe

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 relationship. Yeah. I'm not accountable to anybody. It's me right. But when God comes in

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 what. Immediate thing that somebody's watching over you and yet. And you want to be accountable.

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 Correct. Yeah. We want that because that's our safeguard.

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 If somebody is watching you and helping you and walking with you and the Lord

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 that's a safeguard that we have because that's less error for us to go right or to left. Very

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 good. Anything else. All right. So we have this understanding what God wants to do. He's building

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 and the key aspects of the purification process as we look at them is first of all the ritual

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 cleansing that they had to go through the Levites were again purified through the sprinkling of

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 water shaving their bodies. There's always interesting if they are hairy men how would

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 they shave their body. But that's all right. That's a story for another day. I mean you know

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 maybe the beard washing their clothes symbolizes spiritual and physical purity. So that's the first

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 thing they had to do is the external again the sacrificial offerings. They presented sin and

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 burnt offerings to atone for their sins and dedicate themselves to God. So now we're looking

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 at the inside and I'm going to get another lifesaver here before my voice gets too raspy

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 and you and you will hope that John stops talking if I get that way.

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 All right. Five second rule. All right. So now the inside. Now the presentation before the Lord

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 the Israelites laid their hands on the Israelites laid their hands on the Levites

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 symbolically transferring their responsibility for spiritual service to these people. There is a

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 designation okay you take care of the tabernacle and I think that's good in the economies of God

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 because I don't know whether you're ever into a situation where it's is something is everybody's

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 responsibility then it becomes nobody's responsibility. When I had a business I had some 37 people

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 working for me at one time and about 50% of those people were technicians and builders of

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 materials and there was always something that had to be purchased or delivered or whatever so we

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 had two pickup trucks. So one was mine I'd let people use it if the other one was busy

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 and one day I went out and I used the company's pickup truck and I just happened to pull the

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 dipstick. Well guess what there was no oil in the thing because it was everybody's

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 responsibility. I'm not going to check it. Well Ken he's a good mechanic he probably checked it

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 and you know I was I was kind of livid at that point in time.

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 Again so specifically if you're designated to do something that's your responsibility

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 and again the division of labor so we have this so again the age of service

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 now we know why it was 25 to 50 because of the of the labor involved and they could still assist

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 with with the Levites here you know at my age they're probably okay John you lift the curtain

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 over here not not the pillars okay Roger you and me right okay all right so this purification

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 process then emphasized that serving God required preparation purity and commitment

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 to do these things that God asked them to do so now let me ask another question of you

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 how can we we're now on this side of the covenant be purified for the service to God

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 what's that look like okay we got first Roger he had his hand up first I was going to say obedience

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 obedience might be a number one thing okay all right obedience I like what you mentioned before

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 I think the key is preparation because if you study the Bible a lot of the kings that's where they

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 went wrong because they didn't prepare their heart to seek the Lord so then after that they

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 went into idolatry or doing things their own way and then it got punished I think preparation is

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 very key yeah yeah anything else yes Debbie yeah we need to be consecrated by the blood of Christ

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 okay all right that's first and foremost right yeah we don't get any entrance until we pass that

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 okay so you read the notes all right let's take a look the answer to the first one again

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 cleansing by Jesus all these other things are true but first of all through his blood

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 again you equate that to what we talked about with the high priest that was the ritual cleansing

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 for them it is now the cleansing of of of the blood of Jesus in our hearts that cleanses

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 us from all sin so that was one the foundation again that we we lay is a purification that is

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 acceptable to Christ the toning sacrificed his blood removes guilt and makes believers spiritually

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 clean this is not earned but received by faith it is the starting point for all Christian service

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 and we know that anything else that we might think about how about repentance and confession

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 that kind of goes along the line of what you know your preparation that we talked about again

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 that was that sacrificial offering that we talked about in the old and in the the eighth chapter

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 first John 1 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

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 not some but all ongoing purification involves what honest confession and turning away from sin

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 it is our responsibility God cleanses us but we have to make that decision to turn from that sin

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 we must again regularly examine our hearts confess sin and seek God to be pure before him

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 another one that you might think of sanctification by the Holy Spirit

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 that's the what the empowerment coming to us because if you think of it

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 how did the people in the old testament overcome their sins

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 God atoned he took the sacrifice they gave

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 but what beyond that there wasn't anything there wasn't the Holy Spirit to be able to enable them

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 to do what they should do yes i went to the altar yes i brought the goat yes i brought the sheath

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 offering and yes i was cleansed but the power to overcome like we having the Holy Spirit depend

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 upon him to begin to influence us and work in our lives they didn't have that so sanctification

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 by the Holy Spirit first thessalonians 5 23 now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely

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 sanctification is that spirit-led process of being made holy and we talked about that

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 a review for some of you that weren't here when i was teaching about the conscience the Holy Spirit

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 indwells us he speaks to our conscience because our conscience is all over the place look up the word

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 it's about 18 times in the new testament and he brings influence and and strength

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 so the conscience can decide what we should be doing now where does the Holy Spirit get that

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 from the word of God being read and assimilated through the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit speaking to

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 our conscience our conscience then rightly discerning what's good and what is evil learn to

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 make good decisions and live righteous lives so the idea that well if if God wants me to to

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 change he'll change me it doesn't happen sovereignly he comes and clarifies the fact that you're set

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 free and he takes the sin away then what do we do with it what do we do with it do we walk in that

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 or do we do we slide backwards through prayer reading the bible obedience we grow in purity

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 okay continuing on how can we be purified for service cleansing ourselves it says in second

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 timothy 221 if anyone cleanses himself he will be a vessel of honor sanctified and use

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 for the useful for the master so Christians are called to actively stand against sinful

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 habits and influences that's what we have to do taking the armor of God standing declaring

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 and being set free he forgives and he cleanses from all unrighteousness that's found in first

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 John 1 9 and then of course the Holy Spirit empowers us to resist working within us on our

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 conscience so that we can be whole before him and then we lay aside every weight and sin as it says

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 in hebrews 12 1 so it's a combination a relationship that is formed between that which is God speaking

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 through the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit taking the word applying it to us in our conscience

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 and our conscience dictating to our flesh what should be done or what shouldn't be done

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 so again another one is accepting the refining trials that help us mature how many love trials

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 there are no hands on that one are they are they necessary yes how do we grow

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 how do we find dependence if we don't have trials if we don't have challenges whatever

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 you want to call that statement again malachite 3 3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver

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 he just turns the heat up in your life doesn't it feel good

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 yeah all right it's like the lobster in the kettle of hot water yeah it keeps getting hotter

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 and hotter and he doesn't you know it's enjoyable he's there and all of a sudden he just passes from

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 from from being to not being right yeah

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 God often uses hardship to refine character and deepen our faith and we can all say amen to that

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 you know going through my experiences of of life

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 they were extremely difficult in some seasons of my life and some of you know some of my backstory

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 but i would not change that or take or want to take that off of my plate because i've

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 learned so much from that now i was a minister and i i probably in in the height of my career

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 i probably knew every answer that there was because i was a sir i knew it and then when

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 God taken sliced me down and took everything away my business my church it came down to zero

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 i learned so much appreciation for who God is because in those destitute moments with nothing

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 and for those of you who don't know the sheriff went through our house writing down

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 our furniture and there was going to be a share of sale the house was going to be sold and

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 sovereignly things turned around and i won't get into the story but those experiences where i've

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 met God in the barest sense of need where there was nothing left in my life i would value

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 above most everything else that God has put us through as a family so

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 trials are not punishments but purification understand that

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 again it's just for deeper service obedience to God's word

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 John 17 17 sanctify them by the truth and your word is truth and scripture is a cleansing agent

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 sharpening the mind and heart to be able to do what God wants to do regular study and meditation

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 we've been through these things we know that if we don't do it we don't start that how many do

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 their you don't have to answer this i find that i need to do my stuff with God in the morning

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 how many do that in the morning before you get started i yeah i just find that better and i mean

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 that's not judging any one of you i just wonder what the idea it's what it's you know it's quiet

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 around the house with my wife she's still in bed get a cup of coffee and go out into the den

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 and kind of be alone with God and just you know commune with him and just enjoy with him

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 and then when she gets up and we have breakfast we have our devotions together and we pray and

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 there's a lot of intercession that we do but you know it's just nice to know in the morning to

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 start it off with the Lord quietly without any distractions right ken yeah

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 yeah right except sleep yeah remember the markets open at 9 30

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 all right

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 yeah

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 did i not did i put this i did that right yeah i did that all right um let's compare now now that we

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 kind of know the the the groundwork let's compare the levi priests with the high priests

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 so there is a pecking order being established first of all the levi priests or the high priests

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 were ordained or set apart laying on of hands impartation of God and his mercy and calling

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 unto these people and when you were a priest you were cleansed for service we already went through

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 that and the high priests then were ordained and anointed and washed accordingly for their service

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 whereas the priests were sprinkled with water so there was a difference again

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 they were given new garments remember we talked about the ephod we talked about the robes we

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 talked about the shoes we talked about all the stuff that God created for the high priest

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 and again we reviewed that we they washed their clothes so they were cleansed

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 and blood was applied to the priests but blood was waved over them if you were only a priest

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 and it was a lifetime appointment as a high priest you left your office when you died

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 so there was an eternal provision there and again the provision that we've talked about is

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 they retire at 50 because of the rigorous work that was done from 25 they could enter into 50 and

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 they retire so the high priests again acted as intermediaries who facilitated the removal of sin

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 and impurity through divinely ordained rituals so this is what the priest did for the people that

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 was their job does that not sound something like a religion that some of us came from

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 where the priest did intercession for us where we confessed our sins to the priest

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 you know it i can see where the roman catholic church got a lot of the origins of life because

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 this just came forward as centuries past there was a there was a position there and so the priest

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 okay heard your sins you know he supposedly prayed for you and doing whatever they do not

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 not being a catholic i don't know the particulars of that but again the priest did the work for

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 the people hebrews 4 14 through 16 therefore since we have a great high priest who has ascended into

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 heaven Jesus the son of God let us behold firmly let us hold firmly to the faith that we profess

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 so therefore it is Jesus that is the high priest and not anybody in between there is no mediator

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 today between Christ Jesus and man aren't you happy about that you have direct access all the time

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 anytime anywhere it's not that we have to go home or we have to you know when i was traveling i was

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 working for the lehigh university for some years and i most of my education that i was doing was

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 a workforce that was already in the field so i did a lot of traveling but when i used to go back

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 to the university i lived in in uh wet and war sester it was about an hour drive up and back

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 and i tell you what i learned that my car was a sanctuary i mean i just enjoyed it was getting

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 on a lansdale exit entrance going up the the northeast extension over to 20 there wasn't any

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 you know at that point in time i even knew when the shift changed with the with the policeman

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 were about 620 so i could go up there 80 miles an hour and just praise the Lord and thank the

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 i'll admit and then and but but it was enjoyable because that was my that was my time together

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 with the Lord so um as a group now think about this as a group they would sit

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 on the top of the governing structure of israel they were because they interceded they knew they

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 asked questions on behalf of you you had leprosy they came and defined what leprosy was so they were

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 in sense maybe a doctor and they were counseled so do you think then that this power would go

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 to their head as time progressed why or why not yes i would say it did especially when we see in

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 new testaments like the high priest they were so prideful they ended up teaching false doctrine

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 instead of being obedient to God they were like hey forget God we're going to teach our own things

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 and the sadducees who are descendants of the priest of zadok uh they ended up they don't

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 believe in anything spiritual so they're like almost like atheists so we see that that power did get

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 to their head and even just forsook God and did their own thing thinking they're greater than God

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 so yeah power absolutely corrupt you know especially without the Holy Spirit because

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 there wasn't anything there good observation anything else any other points yes this was a

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 pretty good deal i don't think they wanted to give this up no not at all you know i'm surprised i mean

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 i have learned graphically through again i can't say enough about what um the the production of

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 the uh the chosen is done graphically for me to see the arguments and the disagreements and

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 all that and the and the and the pushback that they gave Jesus oh my gosh but so yeah i mean

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 they were they were they were fighting among themselves they were fighting the externals

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 they were fighting Jesus you know ministry on earth i mean it was just chaos as that film shows

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 anything else yes amir i would say did start thinking more like self-righteous like they are

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 better than yeah that's my approach to um

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 reborn again so yeah so if if you come in next Sunday with a phylactery on i know you've gone too

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 far that's the hats they used to wear you know look at me the robes you know it was very

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 interesting to just to see that okay now let's support that in in the concept that you believe

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 that they were susceptible to and like every man i mean power absolutely corrupts well in looking at

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 what they did in spiritual leadership they ensured that properly prepared people worship God that

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 good they even began to educate and taught biblical law the law of moses to the people

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 so they were not only the intermediary they were the teacher okay by teaching the law they made

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 sure people remain faithful to God's commands and of course if you know the jewish religion they

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 have so many do's and don'ts above and beyond what was written in the law that they said okay above

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 that look you you should have two sets of of dishes one for passover one for here you know or

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 or you should be able to do this they can't even cook in the same kitchen so consequently they

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 started to add to that again they pronounced blessings the arionic blessing was the Lord

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 bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you so they

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 did that they ensured that worship practices were conducted properly no don't do that do this okay

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 that's that authority that's not so bad and judicial and administrative roles priests eventually

352
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 served as judges in legal matters not only were they to answer the questions through the woman

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 and the thumb and if they were asked a question that had to be a yes or no they began to adjudicate

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 in the in the lives of people they interpreted the law well you know when you get five people in

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 a room there are a lot of different disagreements to what should be and what should not be so there

356
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 was probably that going on and they applied the law in disputes so if there was a disagreement

357
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 we know that there was scripture for some of that health and welfare they consulted in health related

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 issues healing issues so again there was another thing that they they did they examined diagnosed

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 and handled cases of leprosy along with other impurities so now they become a doctor so they're

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 a lawyer they're a priest they're a doctor they have all this resource they have their authority is

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 there community leadership they became influential leaders again guiding the moral and ethical

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 behavior of the israelites that's not so bad they taught jewish traditions from an economic standpoint

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 they taught money management so you know they were involved in almost everything they kept the

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 tabernacle finances remember the the the gift and giving once a year that you had to give they

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 financially took care of that and they again were supported by the tax which helped them to manage

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 their money and then also guide others so out of all that over the hundreds of years

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 and the inclination that you so aptly said that they that they were feeling more of themselves

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 than they should so again question with all this power i believe they became self-serving and i

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 think that was the word you used was it not self-serving how did all this happen over time

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 yes rager

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 i think it became more legalistic and it became more political yeah it's interesting

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 when the Holy Spirit leaves congregations and i experienced this

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 then legalism to control because you don't have the Holy Spirit is the next thing that comes about

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 and then all of a sudden there's legalists well you know deb i don't think you should do this

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 and now i'm being God to her you know that always happens yeah so i think it also became

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 judgmental which um i was just reading in luke 18 today and he was Jesus was talking about this and

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 the fact that he said it's better that if one of these teachers misleads one of the sheep in the

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 wrong path it's better than a millstone be turned hung around their neck and they're thrown into

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 the sea because they are doing the exact opposite of what God gave them that judicial

380
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 not judicial but that that position for they were there for helping them to restore them in

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 the relationship to God not to prevent them from it and i think even in the the the the graphic was

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 that Jesus even said that you've come to destroy all these people here and he pointed to the crowd

383
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 you know you misled them yes brand team so it's just it's interesting about the self-serving

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 because um if no one's above you if you don't have anyone checking your line of work and the

385
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 buck stops at you then there's always the fact that who's gonna know who's gonna it's like who

386
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 can judge the last person it's like and so they are the tops and and it always results in them

387
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 becoming politically um not just religiously but then gaining political power and it's very

388
00:45:07,980 --> 00:45:15,280
 interesting because that word pontimus maximus was used prior to the catholic church the romans

389
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 even prior to julia siezer there was the priest and he was the pontiff maximus and that is such

390
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 an interesting word because it means pon like in french's bridge and he is the ultimate bridge

391
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 builder and that's literally what that word means and so even the roman we're talking about the

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 needed an ultimate bridge builder to bridge the gap between them and the Gods as they understood

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 the Gods but that's who the pontiffus maximus was and then along that person became so powerful

394
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 that eventually i think it was probably under augustus who then took the title for himself

395
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 and after that the the siezers after that they they became not only the head ruler but the

396
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 okay now i'm God oh my gosh yeah you know and we've seen that in our lifetime with regard to

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 some of the political leaders that have that thought they were God yeah yeah i was just

398
00:46:19,659 --> 00:46:26,860
 gonna say i think kind of historically a lot of the how well this is done dependent upon the king

399
00:46:26,860 --> 00:46:34,719
 that was in charge and how faithful he cared about the nation being because i think um over

400
00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:41,239
 time like you can when you read through the old testament you can see that a lot of times

401
00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:45,860
 people were pretty ignorant and the thing that comes to mind is when they return the

402
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:50,980
 arc you know and they didn't carry a property the right the right people didn't carry it it

403
00:46:50,980 --> 00:46:54,880
 wasn't covered you know all the things that wasn't even done right and david didn't even

404
00:46:54,880 --> 00:47:02,920
 think about it you know so um but like also when the babylonian captivity happened and the and

405
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:11,000
 the temple was destroyed and the people were gone this whole thing was demolished yeah yeah

406
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:17,960
 it just collapsed and then after that like i was reading that what started to happen is this

407
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:26,460
 became a role that was purchased you know and by the time you get to the maccabees it was so

408
00:47:26,460 --> 00:47:35,019
 corrupt that it was beyond repair they had a war against it right right yeah so it's just

409
00:47:35,019 --> 00:47:41,719
 Jesus came at the exact right time all right we're gonna have open um elders come next week

410
00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:46,980
 and whoever bids the highest can be an elder here how about that okay all right what am i

411
00:47:46,980 --> 00:47:57,440
 bid right yeah put your money on the table well i i did along with this i did a uh technical

412
00:47:57,440 --> 00:48:05,519
 transfer to ukraine in the late 90s and i was there for four years for four months for four weeks

413
00:48:05,519 --> 00:48:12,380
 spring four weeks in the late fall and we used to pass the government building and all the blackened

414
00:48:12,380 --> 00:48:17,619
 Mercedes wagons were outside and you knew that they were in session and our translator which

415
00:48:17,619 --> 00:48:22,019
 was a Christian he said John he said you know he said if you have a million dollars you can be

416
00:48:22,019 --> 00:48:26,500
 one of those people i said what do you mean he said no he said all these guys after the after

417
00:48:26,500 --> 00:48:32,360
 the sylvia union fell and the oligarchs took control you could be part of the oligarchs and

418
00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:37,340
 they would disperse things to you because one oligarch when it fell took the phone companies one

419
00:48:37,340 --> 00:48:42,159
 took the water companies and they were all filthy rich and they and they said that you

420
00:48:42,159 --> 00:48:48,539
 know it's open season you know you could be part of not me he parenthetically said but anybody

421
00:48:48,539 --> 00:48:53,440
 that's ukraine with enough money can be part of the parliament you know and you buy that office

422
00:48:53,440 --> 00:49:01,340
 and literally it's just it's it's a travesty to see but that's what happened all right so

423
00:49:02,960 --> 00:49:11,199
 let's look at the failure of the laws of moses the priest ability to minister inward peace

424
00:49:11,199 --> 00:49:18,360
 was very very limited by the structure of the old testament we already know that their duties were

425
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:25,679
 primarily external offering sacrifices maintaining the temple purity performing blessing and you

426
00:49:25,679 --> 00:49:31,699
 know that doesn't as we on the other side of the cross that doesn't go very far our external

427
00:49:31,699 --> 00:49:39,280
 compliance it's what's what God said is in the heart right how Jesus the priest brought inner peace

428
00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:45,179
 the personal relationship with God unlike the old testament which required again intermediary

429
00:49:45,179 --> 00:49:53,320
 priests Jesus made it possible for all people to have direct access to God hallelujah for that

430
00:49:53,320 --> 00:50:01,780
 amen all right forgiveness of sins instead of continual sacrifices Jesus offered himself as the

431
00:50:01,780 --> 00:50:12,719
 final atonement for us providing lasting peace to the conscience hebrews 10 14 again in dwelling

432
00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:19,880
 of the Holy Spirit the dunamos the power was spoken on this past Sunday the dynamite if you

433
00:50:19,880 --> 00:50:26,619
 will the motivation through the new covenant believers receive the Holy Spirit again which

434
00:50:26,619 --> 00:50:35,980
 begins to comfort guide and bring inner renewal John 14 26 and 27 and rest for the soul as we

435
00:50:35,980 --> 00:50:42,519
 talked about right one of your things you know you turmoil goes away Jesus invited people to find

436
00:50:42,519 --> 00:50:49,380
 true rest in him it says come to me all you who are weary and burdened and i will give you rest

437
00:50:49,380 --> 00:51:00,340
 matthew 11 28 so okay while the jewish priests maintain external purity Jesus focused focused

438
00:51:00,340 --> 00:51:06,840
 on transforming the heart and we we have all seen that we've experienced that their fear of losing

439
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:12,119
 influence and power contributed to the rejection of Jesus and we've seen that graphically we

440
00:51:12,119 --> 00:51:20,000
 talked about that and we've all seen that in the the chosen their authority was threatened by

441
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:25,960
 Jesus teaching and his growing popularity among the people was amazing how some of the the priests

442
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:31,000
 well we can't do anything because Jesus is so popular with everybody you know they their their

443
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:37,280
 hands were tied but yet they hated him the priest's unbelief was not merely intellectual but also

444
00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:43,420
 spiritual as they were blinded by their own expectations of what the messiah should be

445
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:49,039
 you know what a carpenter what's he doing teaching in the temple

446
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:56,500
 they anticipated a political deliverer who would free them from the roman rule that they were

447
00:51:56,500 --> 00:52:04,400
 looking for not a suffering servant who would address the deeper issue of sin all right now

448
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:08,000
 why priests failed to transition from the old to the new

449
00:52:09,220 --> 00:52:15,059
 the israelite high priest struggled with this transition from old to new primarily because they

450
00:52:15,059 --> 00:52:21,639
 were deeply rooted in the trans traditions of the levitical priesthood and the mosaic law they

451
00:52:21,639 --> 00:52:27,380
 were stuck because we've all said it it was repetitious it was part of that this is what

452
00:52:27,380 --> 00:52:32,900
 you did this is your position in life in order in order to get a better position you had to be

453
00:52:32,900 --> 00:52:40,619
 again the lineage or the bloodline either high priest priest to in order to do these things and

454
00:52:40,619 --> 00:52:47,599
 you had again service unto the Lord in all of that resistance to Jesus the messiah many high

455
00:52:47,599 --> 00:52:54,900
 priests rejected Jesus because he did not fit what they expected a king to be they expected a warrior

456
00:52:54,900 --> 00:53:03,039
 king freeing freeing them again from the roman rule Jesus challenged their authority calling out

457
00:53:03,039 --> 00:53:10,519
 hypocrisy and the rule over the people matthew 23 and i think that's what you even alluded to gail

458
00:53:11,220 --> 00:53:19,840
 and again clinging to ritual over relationship and that's what i kind of see in the traditional

459
00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:26,940
 church again i'm not casting dispersions please but i see that in the things that we talk about just

460
00:53:26,940 --> 00:53:33,420
 you know uh this morning we had a we had a prayer meeting and it again which tends to be kind of

461
00:53:33,420 --> 00:53:39,159
 ecumenical at different points of time but again the the rituals that people seek and

462
00:53:39,159 --> 00:53:43,420
 you know there was conversation afterward well you know we wish we could do that and it was all

463
00:53:43,420 --> 00:53:50,239
 about ritual you know it wasn't about the presence of God it wasn't about the Holy Spirit you know you

464
00:53:50,239 --> 00:53:55,039
 mentioned the Holy Spirit to some people you know you know and that's a that's a new concept for them

465
00:53:55,039 --> 00:54:01,699
 Jesus introduced a personal relationship with God where salvation came through faith and not works

466
00:54:02,380 --> 00:54:09,460
 okay now again why priests failed in this transition from old to new failure to recognize

467
00:54:09,460 --> 00:54:14,739
 the priesthood of Christ the high priest did not accept that Jesus was the great high priest of the

468
00:54:14,739 --> 00:54:21,320
 new testament or the new covenant unlike levitical priest Jesus was a priest in the order of

469
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:29,840
 malchizedek meaning his priesthood was eternal and not based on lineage or bloodline next week

470
00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:34,740
 since there is a schedule change that i told you because next week

471
00:54:34,769 --> 00:54:45,610
 uh jessie will do chapter seven so we'll get on track then um i think when i come back in

472
00:54:46,289 --> 00:54:52,829
 i'm going to speak to you about the lineage and the bloodline versus what God did for us because

473
00:54:52,829 --> 00:54:59,949
 it's fresh in our mind so i want to kind of i i i did some down the rabbit hole research and it

474
00:54:59,949 --> 00:55:06,150
 was very interesting to to see how God changes things in the economies of scale so we're going to

475
00:55:06,150 --> 00:55:11,269
 talk about that lineage and since it's fresh in our mind between what the priest the high

476
00:55:11,269 --> 00:55:16,809
 priests and now the new covenant is and then opposition to the apostles early teaching you

477
00:55:16,809 --> 00:55:22,949
 know they wanted to kill them and you know they they they eventually did but then after Jesus

478
00:55:22,949 --> 00:55:29,110
 resurrection the high priest persecuted followers trying to again suppress any of this new spread

479
00:55:29,110 --> 00:55:33,969
 Christianity and instead of embracing the fulfillment of prophecy they saw the early

480
00:55:33,969 --> 00:55:40,750
 church as a threat to their power power grab and we see that even in the natural and again

481
00:55:40,750 --> 00:55:48,130
 ignoring prophecies of the new testament the old testament foretold a new covenant where God's

482
00:55:48,130 --> 00:55:54,989
 law would be written on people's hearts but they did not espouse to that and ultimately

483
00:55:55,550 --> 00:56:02,150
 their rigid adherence to tradition and fear of losing control prevented them from embracing the

484
00:56:02,150 --> 00:56:09,349
 new covenant now that's a challenge to us you know again let's let's look at that further downstream

485
00:56:09,349 --> 00:56:15,829
 now so why do pastors today fail in their calling so you can you can apply some of those

486
00:56:15,829 --> 00:56:22,829
 same things while they don't confront with speaking the truth they follow trends

487
00:56:24,230 --> 00:56:30,349
 in second timothy four three it says for a time will be when they will not endure sound doctrine

488
00:56:31,110 --> 00:56:39,789
 but they will sheep up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts tinkling the ears

489
00:56:39,789 --> 00:56:48,789
 that's what a lot of what we see um you know i i never was really into tele-evangelism but

490
00:56:48,789 --> 00:56:55,849
 you know as i looked at that from a study standpoint there was so many false activities

491
00:56:55,849 --> 00:57:03,550
 not that some of them were not good but came as a result of that i mean it just almost makes you

492
00:57:03,550 --> 00:57:10,610
 sick uh they were more interested in keeping you happy by refusing to preach the truth

493
00:57:12,450 --> 00:57:17,769
 this is a snare because it doesn't prepare people for Christ it prepares them for judgment

494
00:57:17,769 --> 00:57:22,550
 i can remember one church that we went to as an interim thing we were there for about

495
00:57:22,550 --> 00:57:30,489
 nine months to a year i think and um the the pastor started to to hand out

496
00:57:31,050 --> 00:57:36,090
 like like when ron gives us the the bulletin they hand out sheets that you were to fill in

497
00:57:36,090 --> 00:57:42,550
 and i i started filling them in and i thought you know where's the cross in all this you know it

498
00:57:42,550 --> 00:57:46,349
 just made me feel good i mean in this natural oh yeah this and this and this and this and this

499
00:57:46,890 --> 00:57:52,070
 you know but but it didn't do anything for my spirit it just made me feel good so again you

500
00:57:52,070 --> 00:57:58,570
 have that again they're focused on preaching self-centered affirmation where people walk away

501
00:57:58,570 --> 00:58:03,750
 feeling better about themselves but not being better they're just they're they're inspired

502
00:58:03,750 --> 00:58:09,409
 but not transformed you know and that that's a travesty i think that's going to be a lot of

503
00:58:09,409 --> 00:58:16,289
 judgment that comes forth in in ministries as we see them these days and when the gospel is diluted

504
00:58:16,289 --> 00:58:23,190
 by personality again we have that the church no longer is being built up only monuments are

505
00:58:23,190 --> 00:58:27,110
 built to man you know some of the churches that um

506
00:58:28,710 --> 00:58:35,329
 well i won't go to names but some of the larger thousands of churches you know people in a in a

507
00:58:35,329 --> 00:58:43,090
 single uh meeting it's just it's amazing what what said on behalf of God and when a man is lifted

508
00:58:43,090 --> 00:58:50,550
 high Christ is pushed low every time so again a true church does not stand on charisma

509
00:58:50,550 --> 00:58:59,610
 but in the cornerstone which is Jesus Christ so galatians 110 for now i do persuade men or God

510
00:58:59,610 --> 00:59:07,130
 or do i speak to please men this was paul speaking for if i yet pleased man i would not be a servant

511
00:59:07,130 --> 00:59:14,969
 of Christ all right now where do we fail in our calling let's bring it home last page

512
00:59:15,690 --> 00:59:22,409
 when we lose sight of the heart of worship and the holiness of our calling remember things were so

513
00:59:22,409 --> 00:59:26,849
 holy that the priest couldn't even see some of these instruments they had to wrap them up they

514
00:59:26,849 --> 00:59:35,469
 were so holy because God dwelt his presence was there and if we don't worship was there ever a

515
00:59:35,469 --> 00:59:39,590
 time in your in your life that you didn't worship i i had a time for a while when i went through

516
00:59:39,590 --> 00:59:45,730
 the transition and i tell you what i you know you get dry after a while you know you you know and

517
00:59:45,730 --> 00:59:51,889
 i'll confess i just even wasn't reading the word nothing nothing very much worked in my life

518
00:59:51,889 --> 00:59:57,789
 malachi two one through nine God rebukes the priests of israel for failing to honor his name

519
00:59:58,390 --> 01:00:03,829
 there again their failure was about corrupted hearts careless teaching and self-serving

520
01:00:03,829 --> 01:00:11,530
 leadership all right so we got the heart neglecting reverence malachi two two if you do not listen and

521
01:00:11,530 --> 01:00:18,409
 if you do not set your heart to honor my name says the Lord almighty i will send a curse upon you

522
01:00:19,309 --> 01:00:27,289
 that's indirectly or directly life situations and when we we treat God casually offering him

523
01:00:27,289 --> 01:00:33,010
 our leftovers okay how many pray every hand goes up how many worship some hands went up

524
01:00:33,010 --> 01:00:38,150
 you just give him a little bit just to satisfy your own ego that you did something toward the Lord

525
01:00:38,150 --> 01:00:46,250
 instead of giving him your best we failed to reflect his glory worship becomes routine and

526
01:00:46,250 --> 01:00:55,070
 not relevant compromising truth malachi two six through eight true instruction was in his mouth

527
01:00:55,070 --> 01:01:02,969
 but you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble and that's

528
01:01:02,969 --> 01:01:08,070
 what we talked about in some of these things imagine the judgment that will be in some

529
01:01:08,070 --> 01:01:15,230
 minister's lives when they come to the throne room and they are judged on what they did or did not do

530
01:01:16,110 --> 01:01:21,969
 failing to uphold and share God's truth faithfully again whether through silence

531
01:01:24,150 --> 01:01:30,389
 distortion or fear of offense well i don't want to witness because i'm afraid i'll offend go ahead

532
01:01:30,389 --> 01:01:36,750
 and offend i mean you know you're there you may have this person that God put you in touch with

533
01:01:36,750 --> 01:01:44,650
 it may be their only chance to hear what you have to say undermines our priestly role as messengers

534
01:01:44,650 --> 01:01:51,610
 of the Lord and living hypocritically when our lives really don't match our message saying one

535
01:01:51,610 --> 01:01:58,309
 thing and doing another we dishonor God and he knows that and he'll let that go on for some period of

536
01:01:58,309 --> 01:02:04,150
 time and he will then expose you how many in the last year and a half how many ministers have you

537
01:02:04,929 --> 01:02:13,150
 things have now percolated to the top sexual sin group participation and unGodly practices and so

538
01:02:13,150 --> 01:02:18,410
 forth and i think there's more men that have left the ministry and have been exposed in the last

539
01:02:18,489 --> 01:02:26,389
 year and a half than the last 10 15 20 years the priestess was meant to model holiness and integrity

540
01:02:27,050 --> 01:02:35,730
 and when we live with hidden sins and spiritual apathy we obscure God's glory and i don't want to

541
01:02:35,730 --> 01:02:43,650
 do that so father we thank you tonight we know that the law says do this and live and do that

542
01:02:43,650 --> 01:02:50,730
 and live but your grace says live because it's already been done and Lord we thank you for your

543
01:02:50,730 --> 01:02:56,969
 grace tonight we thank you for listening ears for participation we thank you Lord that we can

544
01:02:56,969 --> 01:03:02,690
 articulate your love in your word thank you so much for breaking bread with us tonight Lord

545
01:03:02,690 --> 01:03:09,969
 and we bless you in the name of Jesus and everybody said amen yes daddy yes

546
01:03:11,530 --> 01:03:17,670
 i got a question um i'm just curious how do you think the relationship between

547
01:03:18,849 --> 01:03:26,849
 Jesus is a high priest now and we are the royal priesthood so how is we as royal priesthood

548
01:03:26,849 --> 01:03:34,710
 minister unto the Lord through how does that how do we minister to the Lord yeah how is that

549
01:03:35,410 --> 01:03:39,469
 don i mean other than the just the prayer or something i was just interceding for others

550
01:03:39,469 --> 01:03:45,530
 and things but do you have any insight on that okay if i get it how do we as high priests minister

551
01:03:45,530 --> 01:03:55,190
 to the Lord he is a high priest so we uh we're the royal priesthood so as we as believers as a royal

552
01:03:55,190 --> 01:04:01,789
 we're priests unto the Lord what does that look like well that should look like what you

553
01:04:01,789 --> 01:04:08,610
 probably do he wants your heart first of all so how does he get your heart he starts to work on

554
01:04:08,610 --> 01:04:16,670
 you through the Holy Spirit how does that happen you expose yourself to sermons on Sunday teachings

555
01:04:16,670 --> 01:04:22,670
 the word so the word comes through the Holy Spirit he empowers us to change by virtue of our

556
01:04:22,670 --> 01:04:28,530
 conscience those things that were apathy are now real those things that were behavioral issues

557
01:04:28,530 --> 01:04:36,829
 are now done away with and as we begin to be more holy like him we are intimate relationship

558
01:04:36,829 --> 01:04:43,889
 begins to grow deeper and deeper and deeper so it's a matter of process it's not instantaneous

559
01:04:44,590 --> 01:04:49,690
 you mean you know some people well how do you spend time how do you know and i'm i'm going to do

560
01:04:49,690 --> 01:04:57,530
 when i do the uh liturgy thing i'm going to talk about how you discern God and how you begin to

561
01:04:57,530 --> 01:05:02,190
 shear God they're very simple steps that you can go through so i'll be doing some of that

562
01:05:02,190 --> 01:05:07,269
 and and that's the only way that you can become close when you become close you are intimate when

563
01:05:07,269 --> 01:05:12,250
 you are intimate he speaks to you and you have that relationship as one

564
01:05:16,510 --> 01:05:22,769
 and i also think it's um we are ministers of reconciliation so that's part of priesthood

565
01:05:24,450 --> 01:05:30,510
 we reconcile people through our testimony through our life through our behavior

566
01:05:31,009 --> 01:05:36,510
 i mean we we said this before how many people have ever come up to you and said to you

567
01:05:36,510 --> 01:05:39,630
 you know i don't know there's something about you debbie that's different

568
01:05:40,289 --> 01:05:44,510
 you ever have that with people yeah i mean that's that's the aura of the Holy Spirit

569
01:05:45,949 --> 01:05:49,070
 working with us and walking with us as the priest

570
01:05:52,590 --> 01:05:58,989
 of whom we serve it's the Lord you don't get it there's not much latitude

571
01:05:59,630 --> 01:06:05,010
 in in serving God if you don't do certain basic things but when you do those it's a life that's

572
01:06:05,010 --> 01:06:11,489
 full of glory okay i don't want to belabor the issue it's 8 15 we try to stop in one hour chris

573
01:06:11,489 --> 01:06:18,369
 says one hour one hour okay so we did the hour any questions anymore God bless you good to see you

574
01:06:18,369 --> 01:06:19,570
 thank you for your time

575
01:06:20,530 --> 01:06:29,289
 Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss his word

576
01:06:29,289 --> 01:06:35,429
 Don't forget to join us for worship lives Sunday mornings at 10 a.m eastern on YouTube

577
01:06:35,429 --> 01:06:38,570
 Be blessed and have a great day