Published: June 11, 2023 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: Gospel of Mark - Part 82 | Scripture: Mark 12:28-34
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will be in Mark chapter 12 this morning and for some of you who may have a feeling of deja vu we have we have looked at these verses before and as I said before filling in on a one Sunday
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basis for for Chuck is uh challenging how to bring a word as he's going through especially the
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book like Romans where you intensely study Paul study Paul but here I believe that there is somewhat of a Timeless message from our
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Lord in this section of chapter 12. so I'm going to read from verse 28 down through verse 34 and we'll be concentrating on verse 34 today
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and one of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognizing that he had answered them well asked him what commandment is the foremost of all Jesus answered the foremost is hear o
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Israel the Lord our God is one Lord and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
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your strength your strength the second is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no other commandment greater than these and the Scribe said to him right teacher
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you have truly stated that he is one and there is no one else beside him and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding of all the strength and to love one's neighbor as
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oneself is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices and sacrifices and when Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently he said to him
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you are not far from the kingdom of God and after that no one would venture to ask him any more questions let us pray
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Heights and we and we are those among those who need to learn that in our daily lives Moment by moment we must exalt you
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we must lift you up we must ascribe to you all the glory that is yours but father because of these things as we have just sung because of what you have
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bestowed on us we can exalt we can be joyful we can rejoice in all that you have given us to enjoy
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the peace the strength the even our Salvation we Rejoice day by day so father this morning we ask that you would speak to us by the Holy Spirit you
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would speak this word to our hearts that we might rejoice and we might exalt in you in Christ's name we pray amen
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us in verse 34. and when Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently the language of scripture there there's
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many times as Chuck has said sometimes Jesus answers even when nobody asks a question and here Jesus sees
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when everybody else has just heard Jesus saw that the Scribe had answered intelligently Jesus saw the man obviously
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but at the same time Jesus searched the man's heart man's heart some of your Bibles may say he answered
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discreetly discreetly means that it implies an avoidance if you will of all danger by making a wise cautious
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statement but the word here is stronger than that it's intelligently and it's not just with Native intelligence that this was a smart guy smart guy but with an active exercise of his mind
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as as on the highest of subjects Jesus could tell that what he had heard witnessing this
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witnessing this group of men in leadership in Israel the Pharisees the Sanhedrin the Sadducees sent men the even the herodians sent men
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to inquire of Jesus he was listening to all of these things and Jesus could tell
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that he had a perception of Doctrine that he had understood he was sincerely pondering these things that Jesus had answered he answered intelligently because he
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really had his mind on what Jesus said there there was a sincerity in his heart I think that Jesus saw he was he was
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grasping these Concepts these Concepts it seems that he even realized that that Deuteronomy spoke to him individually it told him of the love
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of God of God and that we ought to love God supremely
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that he ought to love his neighbors he may have even felt deeper that the one bond between God and man is love he appears to have fully discerned the
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spiritual Realm of the law as he says that it's more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices he sees the spirituality
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of the law versus the ritual the tradition the forms the ceremonies he may have even begun to analyze his
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own life searching himself as we've seen Jesus point to some of these other inquirers to see if he measured up
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if he followed through on those thoughts was he convicted of his own sinfulness did he have a recognition of his own failures to love God with all his mind
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heart soul and strength did he realize that by the law
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is the knowledge of sin as Paul says if he followed through with his intellect did he discover his need of a mediator to commend God's love to him
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and was there a kindling of his love for God did he enter the kingdom of God by faith there are some commentators who write in
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this kind of language he arrived at some further place than when the question were put to Jesus
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God comes near the commentator rollinson says that the kingdom of God primarily comes to us
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in scripture as that which comes to us not me moving toward it we read in Psalm 14 no one seeks after
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God and no one wants to know God that's not in the nature of man and what Jesus has done here has not the
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man moved near to the kingdom but the kingdom has moved near to the man
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and the question is has he actually recognized what is before him Jesus says you are not far but it's not his moving it's the kingdom
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being brought being brought and I believe that when we see all of these inquiries what it should show us
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is that it's God who seeks we know that the scriptures tell us no one comes to the father unless the son draws him
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and yet Jesus can say of this man you are not far from the kingdom of God who are those who are not far well all are the kingdom of God is near
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that's how Jesus came preaching and teaching in the beginning of our Gospel of Mark he came preaching the kingdom of God as near to all to the pagans to the
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infidels the criminals the philanthropist the charity worker the ordinary citizens and here was described this man and
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expert in the law of Moses he's near he's near but he's not in
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principles but we don't know whether he follows through on them or not
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does he follow the logic of his own inquiries and the answers that Jesus has given him does he follow them to their logical and intellectual issues and does he deal with those issues
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how does a man come into relationship with God how does one come to this point where he loves God with all his heart mind soul and strength does he follow
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these logical issues to their logical and practical ends does he make them his guide to his life his decisions
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The Scribe I think saw things that the Pharisees and the Sadducees didn't see but we do not know if he was in
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he could be like the Rich Young Ruler remember that man he came to Jesus and he was able to answer many questions and he was obviously showed that he had a zeal for
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God but he could not make up his mind whether to give up all and follow Christ or not and he went away very sad or perhaps he's like the chief rulers that
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we read about in the gospels who love the praise of men more than the praise of God of God intellectually they knew a lot about the moral law they knew a lot about God
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himself and yet they love the praise of men and they were not in the Kingdom
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commentator Alexander McLaren writes how many of us have lying in our heads like disused Furniture in a storeroom what we supposed to be beliefs of ours which only to be followed out to their
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necessary results to refurnish with a new equipment the whole of our religious thinking it's as if these men had stored these beautiful pieces of furniture in a
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storeroom they had looked at them and said these are things worth keeping and worth having but store them in a storeroom and if only they would bring them out and furnish their lives with
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them they would be renewed they would be in the Kingdom they would know the love of God and what it means to love God love God how many people do you know
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who have had convictions about the word of God about who God is and Christ
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and if only they would follow their convictions to the rational outcome and make them complete would make them bow down utterly prostrate themselves practically
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surrendering themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith by love and by
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you would might say they are not far but understand this that not far implies not in
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why are they only not far and not in the promise of the kingdom of God has everything in it
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immediate entrance into the kingdom of a holy God all the gifts of life and godliness every blessing and every gift that the king himself can give
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to his people to everyone who enters in the kingdom of God has no failure the kingdom of God has everything that
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we need we need so what happens why do some remain not far
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the word of God can be snatched away like the like the seed that falls along the path that's snatched away from them by Satan himself the word that falls among the the rocks
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has no root it might spring up but it has no root and when persecution and adversities and troubles come into the life of that
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person you find that they fall away there they weren't really in
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and there are those who seemingly have sprouted and yet and yet the word the word in life gets choked as the scripture
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says choked by worries of the world the deceitfulness of riches desires for other interests
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John tells us plainly he who loves the world has no love for God in him
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far in religion does not equal far in faith and discipleship of Salvation can never rest on intellectual knowledge or educational level or encyclopedic cataloging of
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religious Doctrine religious Doctrine I don't know how many times I've been reading Chuck's notes from his Plum line class and you'll read a quote from some imminent theologian
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imminent theologian or non-eminent Theologian and yet you go wow that statement really hits me that seems to be a gem there
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and then Chuck might tell you later in his lecture but that man's not a believer he's a pagan he studies the scripture and he knows more scripture than many
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Christians do and he sees things and yet it's like that furniture stored in the storeroom which is never brought and is never furnished him with life
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you all know that convictions not acted upon die in their ability to shake us sometimes you may read a section of scripture and there there is where there is a truth and we resist that truth even as
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Believers sometimes you've experienced it the the Israelites had a lot of conviction of what they ought to do and how they ought to live and yet what does
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the scripture say there was a hardness because they didn't act on those convictions truth not followed Fades away it becomes a dim recollection
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we might hear something as truth and it might strike us but but we resist it or we want to kind of catalog it away but it fades and becomes dim
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ensions made upon us once resisted or seldom the same to us you can watch the same movie again and remember boy that scene really got me
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you watch it again it will not have the same effect
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obstacles to Faith become greater over time procrastination seems to strengthen
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and even human philosophy Tim spoke a little bit about that today in Sunday school human philosophy obscures the word and the truth I just finished a biography of Alexander
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Hamilton and I wouldn't call him especially a religious man but I think he understood some things of religion and had an alarm writing about 1800 he he wrote this
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the duty of piety has been ridiculed he's speaking of his day 1800. the duty of piety has been ridiculed the perishable nature of man asserted and
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his hopes bounded to the short span of his Earthly State death has been proclaimed Eternal sleep Eternal sleep see he he knew there was something more
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he was knew that there was a danger here of humanism even though that word wasn't used in 1800 he saw things this people
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had this kind of nihilistic opinion that this world is all there is that death is nothing more than sleep
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but had The Scribe gone further he would have realized that he had not loved God or his neighbor as himself he would have come to realize
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that his sin this sin this sin is against the commands of a holy God you shall love the Lord your God
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he would bow down before God in Repentance see the gospel means more than quote have you accepted Jesus as your savior
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we kind of boil the gospel down to that and there is there is that call and it's sincere to all who call upon the name of Christ the
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the offer is sincere but the words of the Commandment are you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart your heart see we we make it a little decision but
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but it's it's a it's a life renovation Jesus did come as the angel proclaimed to Mary
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to Mary and it is he who shall save his people from their sins he is the savior but Jesus is also Lord and in the context of this passage
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I think Mark puts those two together we won't do it today but sometime in the fall we'll get back to verse 35 and following and Jesus asked them Point
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Blank if if Jesus if David was born way before Christ why does David call Jesus Lord see you shall love the Lord your God
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with all your heart the man may have had that understanding of what Deuteronomy was telling him but
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he did not at least in our reading follow that through to its logical conclusion because Jesus is Lord because I should
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love the Lord my God with all my heart soul mind and strength because God's rule through Jesus is the love and grace that cleanses me from all sin
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again Rawlinson sees that Mark is showing us the real climax of these inquiries of the Pharisees the Sadducees the Sanhedrin the herodians and now the Scribe with respect to the effect
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produced this religious awe the worship that rationally is rendered by rational creatures to their creator
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How great is the need of everyone of the atonement of Jesus Christ of the mediation of Jesus Christ between God and man can anyone can anyone say they
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perfectly love God and their neighbor who is there that can enter before God not guilty plea when Tried by the Royal law
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it is a transitional state either you go on and enter the kingdom or you go further away from the kingdom
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everyone undervalues the gospel even believers even believers the moral law you must be born again is the gospel the gospel the danger is that people see much and
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they know much but they die undecided they die untouched they die never saved and never
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converted but J.C Ryle says quote the man who has the clearest view of the moral law will always be the man who has the highest view of the value of Christ's atoning
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remember unless you are in you are finally shut out we see that in the scriptures and I realize I'm talking to two groups of
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people here people here I'm talking to you who are believers in Christ and I'm talking to some of you who are unbelievers in Christ you are not far
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perhaps or perhaps you are very far
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Jesus says in Luke 14 strive to enter by the narrow door but for many will seek to enter and will not be able to the rich man who kept building his bigger Barns and bigger Barns and bigger
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Barns and praising himself and exalting himself what does he say this very night your soul is required of
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but many resist many refuse many like to stay near but not in
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but to the Believers I would say one do you value the blood do you value the atonement and the mediation and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ above all else because that
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is what allows you allows you to obey the Commandment love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength but also as
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our brother Daniel read this morning from Matthew 9. Jesus is still the lord of the Harvest and the fields are white with Harvest with Harvest pray that the Lord would send out
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laborers into his Harvest I know that many of you have those relatives who are not far not far they may attend church they may talk of spiritual things but you you know
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they're not in because of the way they act or the way that they hold the scriptures pray for them seek them do not refuse to be Salt and Light in their
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but I pray that the Lord would add to the number the number daily those who are being saved those who are coming into the kingdom those who will be those who love the Lord their God with all their heart mind soul
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and strength let us pray Our Father we do we do rejoice
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those that you have drawn into the kingdom Those whom you've given all the gifts of life and godliness and yet father there are times in our
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lives when we are confused or we are afraid for those that we love those of our friends our acquaintances our families
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who are not far but are not in and we ask father that you withdraw them that you would use the word mightily that you would make them good soil to receive the seed of the word
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they would not be uh we would not be as we read in the scriptures not knowing but father we would be rejoicing with them that you have drawn them in
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we ask that you would do these things we ask that you would build your church for your glory for your honor in Christ's name we pray amen would you please rise for the
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since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the Brethren fervently love one another from the heart for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable
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that is through the living and abiding word of God