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Triumph Of Faith, A Close Look At Hebrews 11: 32 -40
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Feb 19, 2025
Welcome back to our study of the book of Hebrews, today we'll zero in on Hebrews 11:32-40 and close this chapter. Our main focus will be the triumph of faith whether in life or in death
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hello and uh welcome back to our study
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of the book of hebrews today we're going
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to conclude chapter 11 as we zero in on
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verses 11 to 40. and today's title is on
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the triumph of faith now last week we
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talked about contending uh the faith the
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faith that we have is a faith that
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contained and christians are not like
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this polite nice and and kind of like
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passive people that you know oftentimes
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people preach them to be because in the
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scripture we see that those people of
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old they were warriors and when i say
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warriors i'm not talking about fighting
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blows for blows i'm talking about people
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that were willing to give up their lives
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because they believed in the truth the
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truth of the gospel because that was the
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actual truth that is this is true truth
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so they were willing to resist evil in
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all any way shape or form and we
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mentioned moses's mother in the book of
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genesis and the book of exodus how she
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resisted pharaoh because pharaoh had
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issued an edict and he wanted all the
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hebrew male-born
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boys to be killed and moses's mom
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resisted the edict and she did not allow
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the fear to dominate her so she was able
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to resist because the spirit of god gave
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her the boldness to resist and we also
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mentioned moses himself who resisted
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pharaoh at the time and we also talked
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about rahab the prostitute we talked
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about the people of um israel going
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through the the red sea and resisting
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pharaoh
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so and that chapter was really about
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contending and being strong in our faith
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and we talked about how
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this is not something that we can
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manufacture because faith as we said in
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romans 1 17 comes by hearing and hearing
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by the word of god so the faith that we
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have is not built on our own
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manipulation it's not something that we
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can master up it is
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um dependent on god's word because faith
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comes by hearing and hearing by the word
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of god so it is god himself who works in
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us through his word to will and act
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according to his good purpose so that's
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what we talked about last week so
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the faith that we have is a faith that
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contained for that which is right that
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which is right in the eyes of god so
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today we're going to conclude and we're
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going to talk about the triumph of faith
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so we're going to look at chapter
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chapter 11 verses 32 until 40. so i'm
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going to read the verses so you can
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follow on the screen and then we're
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going to try and unpack what this all
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means to us today
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so let's go to hebrews 11 verse 32 to
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40. the scripture says
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and what more shall i say
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for time who failed me to tell of gideon
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barack samson jephthah
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of david and samuel and the prophets who
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through faith conquered kingdoms and
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forced justice
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obtained promises stopped the mass of
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lions quenched the power of fire escaped
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the edge of the sword were made strong
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out of weakness became mighty in war
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put foreign armies to flight
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women received back their dead by
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resurrection some were tortured refusing
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to accept release so that they might
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rise again to a better life
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others suffered mocking and flogging and
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even change and imprisonment they were
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stoned they were sown in two they were
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killed with a sword they went about in
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skins of sheep and goats destitute
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afflicted mistreated of whom the world
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was not worthy wandering about in
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deserts and mountains and in danes and
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caves of the earth
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and all of these
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though commended through their faith did
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not received what was promised
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since god had provided something better
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for us that apart from us they should
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not be made perfect i mean this is
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incredible so
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now let's try to understand what the
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writer is trying to say to his readers
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and to us today so in verses 32 and 34
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we read
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and what more shall i say
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for time will fail me to tell of gideon
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barack samson jephthah of david and
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samuel and the prophet
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who
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through faith conquered kingdoms and
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forced justice
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obtained promises stopped the mouths of
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lions quenched the power of fire escaped
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the edge of the sword were made strong
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out of weakness became mighty war and
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put foreign armies to flight now a lot
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of these examples you probably heard
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about you heard about the story of david
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and samuel samson those are like pretty
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popular figures of the old testament a
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lot of people don't know much about
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gideon
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or jephthah but those are things in
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barack so those are stories that uh the
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writer brings up in this passage to
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prove his point again we were talking
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about the contention of faith how faith
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contains
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so now the thing is this like
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we don't our faith that we we have in
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god is a faith that eventually we
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triumph over evil and the forces of
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darkness because god is the author of
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our faith and jesus said somewhere
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because i overcame you also overcome he
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overcame death all right so in verse 32
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to 34
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the writer is gonna mention like several
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like familiar faces
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of on the faith we talked about barack
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and gideon samson jefftha david and
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samuel okay so if you look at all these
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characters very carefully you'll find
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out that they really triumphed through
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their life okay so i'm gonna start with
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gideon
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so gideon's called and victorious defeat
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of the media night is recorded in judges
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six
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and all the way through chapter seven
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verse 25 i'm not gonna read the entire
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story because of time
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but at that time at the time of gideon
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the people of god were living in very
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precarious times they were afraid they
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were hiding in caves and stuff like that
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and then the angel of the lord appears
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to get in
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and if you look at chapter six
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especially verses 15 to 16 listen to
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what the angel of the lord says to
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gideon if you go to verse 15 and 16 of
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chapter 6 he says and he said to him
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please lord how can i save israel behold
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my clan is the weakest in manasseh and i
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am the least in my father's house and
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the lord said to him but i will be with
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you and you shall strike the midianites
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as one man so the angel of the lord
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appears to to get in and tells them oh
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mighty warriors go and save israel and
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so gideon turns around he goes hold on a
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second i can't do this
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and the angel of the lord tells him hey
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i will be with you and you shall you
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shall strike the media knight as one man
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see gideon didn't have an exalted view
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of himself that is humility and that's
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where we all need to start and he knew
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that there was no way he could defeat
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the midianite but the lord told him
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but i will be with you and you shall
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strike the media knight as one man see
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even after those reassuring words
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gideon didn't respond like positive
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positively right away
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he still wanted to test what he was
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hearing because he wanted to make sure
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that the individual who he had
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encountered was actually the angel of
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the lord he wasn't just account of it
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see the angel of the lord was patient
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with gideon and he granted uh gideon
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request and gideon grew to trust in the
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lord
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so he he eventually defeated the media
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knight
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and he only used like 300 men according
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to the word of god and he gave glory to
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the lord by what he did see what can we
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learn from gideon see there is a
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difference between testing in unbelief
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and testing for confirmation see when
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gideon tested he said hey make make uh i
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want to make sure this is the lord
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speaking to me so he went on to
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ask the lord to confirm that this was
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actually god speaking and god uh the
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angel of the lord actually confirmed it
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i don't want to read the entire account
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but you know about gideon so when gideon
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was asking he was asking for
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confirmation he wasn't testing god
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because we are told in scripture do not
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test the lord so he didn't test the
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angel of the lord in unbelief but he
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tested for confirmation so that's
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something that we need to learn from
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there
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okay so gideon was weak on his own this
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is just the truth he couldn't defeat the
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media knight they were too weak
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but he triumphed with god
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working in him let me say that again
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gideon triumphed because god was working
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in him and through him to accomplish
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god's own purpose so for the initial
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heroes of this uh story
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i wonder how they responded like to
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gideon's account
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they were being persecuted and just like
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the people in gideon's time
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like they were wondering are we ever
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going to be rescued now i don't know how
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that rescue would look like for people
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like like like those people at the time
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of uh of the book of hebrews i don't
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know how the rescue came about
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but the story is here to remind us that
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even in the midst of difficult times
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god is still sovereign and in gideon's
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time they obtained victory because
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eventually the people of israel defeated
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the media knights well we're going to
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find out what happens next
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i don't want to spoil the entire passage
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because i want to go to the end so we
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can get a good conclusion so let's go to
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the next person so the next one is
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mentioned is barack or barack
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so the account is recorded in georges 4
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verse 1 all the way to chapter 5 verse
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31. so barack won a resounding victory
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over sisera and shisera was another
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general but barack needed the help of
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deborah she was a prophetess to help him
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to to reassure him because he was afraid
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to go
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and then the next person was the uh
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samson so the account of samsung is
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familiar like to a lot of us like if you
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go to judges 13 and 16 through 16 the
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whole account is given to us so we know
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about samsung he was given supernatural
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abilities and he misused them on several
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occasions
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and most of us wouldn't call like
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samsung and godly man because he yielded
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to his fleshly appetites
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too often he loved women and he loved
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like sexual
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uh appetite and stuff like that but sam
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samson was supposed to be a nazirite
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different from nazarene which is the
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people that live in nazareth so a
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nazarite which meant he was dedicated to
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god and was never to cut his hair or
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drink fermented drinks so that was the
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nazarite vow so samson was not supposed
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to do that but he often
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gave into the pressures around him
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so he failed to restrain his flesh and
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that we know he gave into lust for the
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most part and god eventually humbled him
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toward the end of his life and he
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eventually repented of his sinful
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lifestyle and gave his life to defeat
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the enemies of god the philistines at
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the time so he actually went into the
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temple because they they gouged his eyes
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out so he went into the temple and
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eventually he was sitting in the pillar
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the temple of the philistines and he
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asked the lord for one time to give him
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strength and to he repented and
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eventually he pulled down the pillars
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and his strength was given back to him
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and he killed more people in his death
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than he had killed when he was alive so
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samson eventually
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triumphed in death
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he eventually repented however we must
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not conclude that believers today can
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lead like a double life and accept
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expect uh to be like samsung that's not
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what we're supposed to do so we can't
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expect to leave like a double life and
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enjoy god's blessing and if you go to
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chapter 12 you're going to find out
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quickly that god will discipline you so
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we're going to get to that next uh maybe
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in a couple of weeks
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now jeff the story is also fascinating
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so he's in george 11 and he begins it
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begins with the following verse the
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scripture says now jephthah the
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gileadite was a mighty warrior but he
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was the son of a prostitute
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so again there's a reason why the
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scripture tells us that
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gilead was the father of jephthah so
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jephthah was probably called the bastard
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they probably used all kind of names on
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him and he was a reject of the society
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that he lived in and was banned by his
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own half brothers
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because they didn't see him as being
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born from a legitimate relationship
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so he had everything going against him
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yet this is the man that god used to
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deliver his people from the oppressors
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so again the ammonites at the time so
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god used gideon
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gideon he used samson he used barack he
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used um
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jefftha and all these things are here to
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to to remind us of the triumph of faith
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but we're going to see something
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interesting
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now
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we can't like explore all these people
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because there's a lot of stories given
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to us we know about like david and
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samuels david david killed goliath we
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know about the story okay and in
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daniel's case he was in a den and the he
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was put in the den of lions and the
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lions and eat him so we also know that
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story is very familiar and then that
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daniel also had three friends shadrach
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meshach and abednego and they overcame a
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fiery furnace
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and then we also know the story of the
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two women's in the book of kings the
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first one whose son died and and she was
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again uh she was a widow and she was not
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she was a gentile widow and then elijah
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came into her house to live there and he
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had her son died and he brought him back
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to life and then another story is given
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to us in the book of
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second kings verse 4 chapter 4 verse 18
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to 37. there's another woman there whose
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son dies and then elijah brings him back
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to life so there's all these examples of
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the triumph of faith in in in it says
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that in faith when you have faith and
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this type of faith that they displayed
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they were they were triumphant victories
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those are like beautiful stories those
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are like triumphs that are spectacular
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so
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the thing is this like from all these
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examples we see miraculous triumphs of
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faith and this can be very attractive
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to people who are caught up in miracles
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signs and wonders
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you see there's a group of people
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now in our day and age that are
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attracted to this kind of stuff where
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they they claim where god is going to
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give you victory you maybe you have
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cancer you have a terminal illness and
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they say well god say that he will heal
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you by the stripe of christ we are
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healed and they claim these promises and
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sometimes maybe god is speaking to them
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or through them but sometimes he may
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just be wishful thinking because
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sometimes people are not delivered from
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their diseases they die
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so what do we say do we say that they
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didn't have enough faith the thing is we
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if we have a misunderstanding or we
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don't have a good grasp of what faith
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means in those cases
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we can
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like we can pretty much spread a false
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message see everyone wants to be a hero
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like david and defeat a giant like alive
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everybody loves that kind of story and
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i'm sure like the initial like readers
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of the author were also looking to
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triumph over their persecutors in a
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similar manner
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and i believe that the writer
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anticipated that he knew listen i'm
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giving them like stories of miraculous
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escapes and miraculous victories and all
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these tribes of people dying and was
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being resurrected david killing goliath
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samuel and his whole entire thing where
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he defeated the philistines and then uh
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shadrach meshach and abednego and then
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and being thrown into the fire and not
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burning and then uh daniel being thrown
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into the lion's den and not not being
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dead so these kind of stuff are
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attracting attractive to people even i
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like those things because i wanna i
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wanna i wanna experience that kind of
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stuff
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and the writer knows listen i want to
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make sure they understand something
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because there's a dichotomy there's like
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a difference because sometimes god
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delivers but sometimes he doesn't does
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that mean that we have failed or does
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that mean that we don't have enough
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faith this is why we died or this is why
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our diseases are not healed he he knew
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that the writer knew that because these
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people were being persecuted so he
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wanted to make sure his message was
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complete so let's listen to what he says
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as he shift gear in chapter in verse 35
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to 38 listen to what he says in verse 35
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women
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received back their death by
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resurrection and then he shifts gear
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here he goes
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somewhere tortured
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refusing to accept release so that they
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might rise again to a better life
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others suffered mocking and flogging and
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even chains and imprisonment
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imprisonment they were stoned they were
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sawn in two they were killed with a
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sword they went about in skins of ships
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and goods destitute afflicted mistreated
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of whom the world was not worthy
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wandering about in deserts and mountains
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and in dance and caves of the earth see
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what can we take away from these verses
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not
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all men and women of faith experience
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miraculous deliverance
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it's not going to happen to everybody
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see some experience signs and wonders
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and supernatural rescue from the lord
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while others were killed they suffered
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they were mocked they were flogged they
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were chained they were imprisoned okay
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so this is a pattern that the writers
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are has
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like established earlier in in in this
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chapter
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because you mentioned the account of
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able and and and him being killed for
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his faith but in the same token enoch
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did not even experience death so there's
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always that difference there because the
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writer like of the book of hebrews he
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recalls the fact that many unknown men
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and women of faith were not delivered
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from difficult circumstances why
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it doesn't mean that just because you
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believe in god and you believe in jesus
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you're going to be delivered according
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to what you think it should be see
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god was still pleased with these people
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the same way god said that he was
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pleased with abel but this is why he
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accepted abel's sacrifice but abel still
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died and the scripture tells us that
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even though he died
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through faith he still speaks
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in the sense that you can be killed
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because of persecution but that doesn't
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mean that god has abandoned you or you
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don't have faith or that doesn't mean
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that your faith did not triumph because
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if you think about stephen the first
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martyr he was stoned to death
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james the brother of john was
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his throat got slit by herod
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and then john the baptist got
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decapitated
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and our lord jesus himself
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in his humanity
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suffered death but eventually what
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triumphed over death and that's the key
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point see in daniel 3 verse 16 to 18 we
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read the following account
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from shadrach meshach and abednego the
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scripture says
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o
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nebuchadnezzar we have no need to answer
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you in this matter if this be so our god
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whom we serve is able to deliver us from
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the burning fiery furnace and he will
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deliver our evil he will deliver us out
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of your hand or king but if not
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listen to that if not
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be known to you o kingdom we will not
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serve your gods or worship the golden
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image that you have set up so basically
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this is what they are saying to
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nebuchadnezzar they knew that god was
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able to deliver them
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but god prompted them to add another
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powerful word to their testimony
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and they said in verse 18
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but if not
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in other words even if god does not does
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not deliver us even if god permits that
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we perish in this fiery furnace
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understand that we will not relinquish
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and abandon our worship of him
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they are basically telling tell
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nebuchadnezzar yes god is able to rescue
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us god is sovereign
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and he will deliver us but we want you
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to know something nebuchadnezzar even if
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it doesn't deliver let it be known to
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you that we will not relinquish or
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abandon what we believe in because we
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know that this is the truth and why do
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they say that
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it's because there is something greater
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than the immediate see if before you go
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on and think that you can do this on
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your own like you can be like uh
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shadrach meshach and abednego let me
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stop you for a second because the only
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way
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shadrach meshach and abednego were able
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to make such a bold statement is by
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faith in a sense that god himself
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enabled them to be not afraid
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okay and scripture tells us that it is
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god who does what who works in us both
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to will and act according to his purpose
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so in your mind what do you think the
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writer is trying to teach
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his readers and us today
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that's what we need to figure out see
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everything has to do with the glory of
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the lord
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let me say that again
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everything has to do with the glory of
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the lord if god
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is glorified by delivering his people
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then he will and if he's if he sees it
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fit to be glorified by not delivering
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his people then he will do that in a
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sense that if if he fits his purpose to
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deliver you from whatever you're going
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through he will and if he fits his
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purpose not to deliver you
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then and if that glorifies him then
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that's what god is going to do
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and it says that it is god's glory
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that's at stake if god is glorified by
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your deliverance and he will deliver but
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if he's glorified by your death and my
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death am i suffering then that's what's
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going to happen so it's not up to me but
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the good news is that in either cases
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god
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never
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abandons his people
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no matter what happened
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god never
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ever abandons his people
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he is with his saint whether in life or
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in death and as mentioned in verse 38
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the scripture says of whom the world was
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not worthy so we must leave like abraham
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isaac jacob who are doing what they were
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looking forward to the city of god
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see while we are on earth our chief
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purpose is to what to glorify god in our
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lives and then god will be glorified how
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he sees fit in our lives it is sometimes
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it is through our suffering and other
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times through our deliverance from
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suffering so basically it is not up to
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me it is not up to you it is up to god
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who decides how he sees it fit in our
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lives so just because god doesn't
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deliver somebody from a certain uh
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situation it doesn't mean that god has
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abandoned or they've they've been
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defeated now because at that moment it
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meant that it was better for god if it
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was better for them to suffer or to die
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because that glorified got better and if
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you look at the scriptures we know the
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emperor nero what did he do to
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christians he lit them as torches in his
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garden in his in his yard and some of
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them he had
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animal skins put over them and they went
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people were hunting shooting them with
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with uh um
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arrows and stuff like that and they were
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basically
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used as human torches but god was
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glorified because guess what
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when they were suffering a lot of people
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went through other cities and the gospel
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was spread
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so the grace of god and the glory the
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glory of god cannot be changed even in
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our sufferings there is still glory
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so i'm not saying i'm gonna go look for
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proud problems i want to be persecuted
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because god is going to be glorified
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through my persecution but if that's the
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way it's going to be then i can't stop
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it so god gives us the strength to
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sustain to be sustained through our
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whatever we go through because he says
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that he will not let us be tempted
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beyond our ability be on the ability to
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bear but with every temptation he'll
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make a fear of escape that you may be
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bearable so
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my prayer is that
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i'm praying that god gives me the
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strength for whatever he's preparing me
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for
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there's been tough times in my life and
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i'm sure there's been tough times in
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your life but if you look close enough
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god was faithful even in those times
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because he was he was being glorified
23:30
through your suffering the scripture
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tells us that
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it is god who works in us again both to
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will and act according to his good
23:37
purpose and we are like jaws of clay
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and the jaws of clay have to be broken
23:41
for what so that the light that's under
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the light that stains concealed may be
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revealed so through our suffering
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through through the squeezing of our
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lives the glory of god is revealed
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so this is how it happens we have to be
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pressed
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and in verse verses 39 to 40 we read the
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following and all these though commanded
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through their faith did not received
24:03
what was promised since god had provided
24:05
something better for us that apart from
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us they should not be made perfect
24:09
so basically we have to remember
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who the writer was primarily addressing
24:14
in his letter see in their wariness they
24:17
were attempted to shrink back to the old
24:19
ways right and one fundamental truth the
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writer has presented in this chapter is
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the sovereignty of god
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see he's able to deliver to deliver us
24:28
from any circumstances because he's all
24:30
powerful there's none like god so in the
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case of the readers they were still
24:34
being persecuted and could have doubted
24:36
the power of god and the promises of god
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but faith
24:41
looks to the future
24:42
for that is where the greatest rewards
24:44
are found again faith looks to the
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future for that is where the greatest
24:49
reward are found
24:51
see our ultimate destination is the city
24:54
of god and as mentioned in our previous
24:57
presentations the antidote to seeking
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comfort on the side of eternity is
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looking what forward to the city of god
25:04
like the saints of old like abraham
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isaac and jacob the scripture tells us
25:08
that they were looking forward to the
25:09
city of god so what are you looking
25:10
forward to what am i looking forward to
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again if you go to colossians three
25:15
verses one to four we'll
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we read the following if then listen if
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then you have been raised with christ
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seek the things that are above where
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christ is seated at the right hand of
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god set your minds on things that are
25:30
above not on things that are on earth
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for you have died and your life is
25:35
hidden with christ and god when christ
25:37
lose your life appears
25:39
then you will also appear with him in
25:42
glory
25:43
and this is what the word of god tells
25:44
us
25:45
so where are you
25:48
fixing your gaze are you fixing your
25:49
gaze on the immediate
25:51
the comfort now or are you fixing your
25:53
gaze on the things that are above where
25:55
your life is where christ is seated at
25:56
the right hand of god where your real
25:59
life is hidden see right now we're still
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living in in this uh old nature and
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there's still a struggle with the sinful
26:05
nature and the spiritual nature the new
26:08
nature the new self
26:09
right there's still a struggle every day
26:11
we struggle through it because the
26:13
scripture tells us in galatians that the
26:15
things of the flesh are warning against
26:17
the things of the spirit and there's
26:19
that that that constant clash to keep us
26:21
from doing what we want
26:23
like sometimes i get up and all i want
26:25
to do is just do my own thing but the
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scripture tells us that i have died and
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i no longer believe what christ lives in
26:31
me so the life that i live now i live by
26:34
what faith in the son of god will give
26:36
himself up for me
26:37
not so that i live my life again for
26:39
myself but i live for him
26:41
so meaning i am dead the old nature is
26:45
gone but that old nature doesn't go away
26:47
without a fight
26:48
so therefore we read in romans 7 that is
26:51
still that clash between the old nature
26:53
and the new nature but eventually when
26:56
christ come back if i die before he
26:58
comes back or when he comes if i'm alive
27:00
when he comes back
27:01
our bodies will be transformed and from
27:03
then on everything that i'm going to
27:05
want to do is serve god with my whole
27:07
life because that's what we read in
27:09
deuteronomy 6 you shall love the lord
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your god with all your heart all your
27:13
mind all your soul this is the kind of
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dedication this is the kind of life that
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god wants us to live and no one can do
27:17
that
27:18
because of the sinful nature so
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god demands ultimate perfection
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and this is why there's none
27:26
righteous no no one
27:28
none righteous
27:30
and thanks be to god
27:32
so faithful triumph eventually and and
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this is all the message in chapter 11.
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so in chapter 12 we're going to begin
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with the discipline of the lord because
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he's been talking about faith now for
27:42
for faith to be actual for faith to be
27:44
strength uh strong in our lives god has
27:46
to disciplines us he has to discipline
27:48
us so we're going to read and we're
27:50
going to see how god disciplines his
27:51
people all right so have a wonderful day
27:54
and i'll see you next time thank you
#Religion & Belief