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everyone we continue in our regular reading of the early prophets judges 18 I'm going to start a little further back this is one one story that sort of unfortunately got divided and almost makes it seem like it might be two and
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right take note also of the commentary given uh by the writer uh it is of utmost importance for understanding why these things are given to us beginning a little further up there
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was a man in the Hill Country of Ephraim whose name was mikah and he said to his mother the 1100 pieces of silver that were taken from you about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my
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ears behold the silver is with me I took it and his mother said Blessed Be My Son by Yahweh and He restored the 1100
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pieces of silver to his mother and his mother said I dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son to make a carved image and a metal image now
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therefore I will restore it to you so when he restored the money to his mother his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silver smith who made it into a carved image and a metal image
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and it was in the house of mikah and the man mikah had a shrine and he made an EOD and household gods and ordained one of his sons who became his
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priest in those days there was no king in Israel everyone did what was right in his own his own eyes now there was a man a young man of Bethlehem of in Judah of the family of
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Judah who was a levite and he soj there and the man departed from the town of Bethlehem and Judah to sojourn where he could find a place and as he journeyed
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he came to the Hill Country of Ephraim to the house of mikah and mikah said to him where do you come from and he said to him I am a levite of Bethlehem and Judah and I am going to sojourn where I
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may find a place and mikah said to him stay with me and be to me a father and a priest and I will give you 10 pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living
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your living and the levite went in and the levite was content to dwell with the man and the young man became to like him excuse me became to him like one of his sons
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and mikah ordained the levite and the young man became his priest and was in the house of mikah then mikah said now I know that Yahweh will prosper me because I have a levite as a
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priest in those days there was no king in Israel and in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in for until
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then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them so the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe from Zorra and
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from ishta to spy out the land and to explore it and they said to them go and explore the land they came then to the Hill Country of epim to the house of mikah
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and lodged there when they were by the house of mikah they recognized the voice of the young levite and they turned aside and said to him who brought you here what are you doing in this place
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what's your business here and he said to them this is how mikah dealt with me he has hired me and I have become his priest and they said to him inquire of
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God please that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed and the priest said to them go in peace the journey on which you go is under the eye of Yahweh
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then the five men departed and came to Lish and saw the people who were there how they lived in security after the manner of the sidonians quiet and
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unsuspecting lacking nothing that is in the Earth and possessing wealth and how they were far from the sidonians and had no dealings with anyone and when they came to their brothers at zor and Ash their brothers
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said to them what do you report and they said arise let us go up against them for we have seen the land and behold it is very good and will you do nothing do not
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be slow to go to enter in and to possess that land as soon as you go you will come to an unsuspecting people the land is spacious for God has given it into our
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hands a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth so 600 men of the tribe of Dan armed with weapons of war set out from
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Zorra and Ash and went up and encamped at kirat yarim in Judah on this account that place is called mahanan to this day behold it is west of kirot
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yarim and they passed on from there to the Hill Country of Ephraim and came to the house of mikah then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Lish said to
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their brothers do you know that in these houses there is an fod household Gods a carved image and a metal image now therefore consider what we will do
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and they turned aside there and came to the house of the young levite at the home of Mah and asked him about his welfare now the 600 men of the danites armed with their weapons of war stood by
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the entrance of the gate and the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image the EOD the household gods and the
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metal image while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 armed men with weapons of war and when these went into miki's house
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and took the carved image the eold the household gods and the metal image the priest said to them what are you doing and they said to him keep quiet put your hand on your mouth and come with us and
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be to us a father and a priest it's better for you to be priest is it better for you to be the priest to the house of one man or to be priest to a tribe and a clan in Israel and the priest heart was
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glad he took the EOD and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people people so they turned and departed putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of
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them when they had gone a distance from the home of mikah the men who were in the houses near Mika's house were called out and they overtook the people of Dan and they shouted to the people of Dan
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who turned around and said to mikah what's the matter with you that you come out with such a company and he said you take my gods that I made and the priest
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and go away and what have I have left and now you you ask me what's the matter with you and the people of Dan said to him do not let your voice be heard Among Us
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lest angry fellows fall upon you and you lose your life with the lives of your household then the people of Dan went their way and when mikah saw that they were
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too strong for him he turned and went back to his home but the people of Dan took what mikah had made and the priest who had belonged to him and they came to
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to a people quiet and unsuspecting and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned their city with fire and there was no deliverer for them because it was far from sidon and they had no
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dealings with anyone it was in the valley that belongs to bet raob they then rebuilt the city and lived in it and they named the city Dan
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after the name of Dan their ancestor who was born to Israel but the name of the city was Lish at the first and the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves and Jonathan the son of
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gon the son of Moses and his sons were priests to the tribe of danites until the time of the Captivity of the land so they set up Mah's carved image
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that he had made as long as the house of God was at Shilo in those days there was no king in
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[Music] God you are my rightous to me be gracious my prayer you me in
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dist how long will you son of men my glory turn to
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shame how long will you love vanity and make dece
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your the Lord will hear me when I call no this with
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certainty the Lord has claim The Godly one is very own to me when you are by your
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anger be careful not to S instead be silent on your B and
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meditate Within meditate Within present a rightous saice and make the Lord your
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trust since many say who shows us good your face Lord shine on
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us you f my heart with joy beond with wine and Gra
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Inc since you alone Lord keep me sa I'll go to sleep in
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How Deep The Father's Love For Us how vast beyond all meure that he should give his only son
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to make a Tre how great the pain ofing L the father turns his face
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it's at this time that we go before God In Prayer together U any who are in Christ may offer prayers and after a time I'll conclude let us pray father we do boast alone in Jesus Christ his cross his
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resurrection his session at your right hand we glorify you and praise you for this great salvation that you have brought knowing that in US dwells no
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good thing and that all our righteousness is his filthy rags father we thank you for both humbling us and exalting us in
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Christ showing us the end of our way that we have no merit and nothing to bring before you that would enable us to stand before your holy
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presence you have washed Us in the blood of Jesus Christ you have clothed for his righteousness you have adopted us as Sons and Daughters into your
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family and you bid us to come to you boldly crying out ABA father the lord of the universe is our father for this we give you all glory
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and praise through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen
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gracious and glorious Heavenly Father you alone are are worthy to be praised we we so thankful that we can be here this morning to worship you father we we thank you that you've granted us all sa
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proud mer to be here for those cannot be here today Father to you
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pray father we we just take such great joy in knowing that our Salvation is sure and true because of you
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most shed blood Lord and Jesus Christ his willing sacrifice for us beyond our
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beyond our comprehension but we pray that you would work within us power ofly Spirit help us dra closer to you that we would have
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even better understanding appreciation all you have done for us pray that you continue to draw not
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only close to you that our walk bring hon and glory to you father we know that your word is a lamp unto our feet God
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our father as we search your word we in thinking of what was read in all of our hearing this morning we thank you for giving us those
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things which at that time the people of Israel in their sin lacked that you have provided us a king
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who lives and your spirit within us to order our ways according to what you believe is right and what is right in your eyes and what is right in ours that you have given us a priest we
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are not are not without and that that priest and King is near to us whenever we call upon him not far away not inconvenient but
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inconvenient but near that your wisdom is Contin ually available especially in this time that we have ready access to your word to read in its Pages your your love
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for us the wisdom that only you can give with which you founded the
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universe we ask that you would give us ready ears to hear the continued preaching of your word give us ready Hearts to lift up to you as our sacrifice of praise As we
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be looking at one verse this morning in 1 Peter
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three things that Peter says come from his great Mercy to participles and then a concluding very powerful verse that wraps those up but uh I was not able
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to put those all together in a single sermon without feeling like I was giving short shrift to one of those three great things and so we'll look at verse
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three today and look at the others in following weeks but I'm going to read in 1 Peter chapter 1 I'm going to read the first five
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first five verses Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout ponus galatia capadia Asia and bethenia who are chosen according to
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the for knowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the spirit that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood May Grace and
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peace be yours in fullest measure blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great Mercy has caused us to be born
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again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imper perishable and undefiled and will
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not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are
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ready father these words of the Apostle Peter are a joy and a gladness to us the things that he rejoiced in he calls us
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to rejoice in as well and so we ask father that we would learn with Peter to to bless you to give you honor and glory and to understand what these things mean
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for our identity who we are in Christ and so we ask that you would do these things that you would truly build your church in Christ's name we pray
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Peter says when I began to look at these things I thought well I wonder what the secular mind thinks that hope
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is when I did my search one of the first things that popped up was an article from Psychology from Psychology today by a professor Dr Uriel abula a visiting psychology professor professor
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at Cornell and he wrote an article in 2023 entitled what should we hope for and in it he tries to Define hope he
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says quote hope is not optimism a belief that things will somehow turn right the equation of Hope is more complex hope equals
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aspiration plus good plus uncertainty Plus uncertainty Plus efficacy we hope when we Aspire for an uncertain good which we believe can
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Aid Peter the Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ does not Resort and write anything like that
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gibberish whose aspiration us or somebody else's and how do you find Define the word good do we have to hope for things that
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are uncertain and is the efficacy that he hopes will be there is it our own ability or is it someone
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else's Peter begins his letter what's many people just call the opening the opening the Preamble with joy and glad nness and
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certainty even though these people that he's speaking of in verses one and two speaking two sorry they are chosen Exiles they are Exiles because they have
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been chosen in Christ their faith brings them into conflict with the values and the priorities of the society in which they
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live as one author says they're disenfranchised disrespected and
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mistreated but Peter's Preamble which by the way has the rhetorical significance of what's called an exordium and verses 3 through 12 those
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10 verses and we we've seen it in Paul in Ephesians 1 runon sentences in Peter versus 3- 12 or a single sentence he would not pass his
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sixth grade grammar class probably but he packs all these things in there which is one of the difficulties of how do you unpack all that he's put into this but
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notice that it follows his prayer his benediction from verse two May Grace and peace be yours in fullest measure he he
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doesn't start from from a hope he he starts from a a certainty they do have some measure of Grace and peace and he does get him in the right order Grace
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and peace because as Matthew Henry says in his commentary and this is coming from a from a Puritan peace without Grace is
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stupidity there are those we read in the Old Testament peace peace where there is no peace and he says Grace and peace but be multiplied to you in fullest measure and so Peter is starting with with joy
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and gladness because he's saying I'm going to tell you what your identity is I'm going to help you remember that and I'm going to show you
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by the description of these things what your situation really is and Peter in this opening these 10 verses here he does not include explicit
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exhortations there there's nothing where he's saying this is what you need to do he's trying to get them to understand who you are or as we learned last week who's
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they are but the exordium is to make them ready for instruction to prepare them and there is a bit of psychology here trying to get them to one relax do
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not be defensive even though I am an apostle of Jesus Christ I am his messenger what I say to you is is full of joy and and you ought to rejoice in
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it and so it helps put them at ease but it also helps them to understand who you are and Peter encourages them I
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think telling them some of these things at least you are already living in you are already living consistent L with the expectations for example in verse 6 he
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says in this you greatly Rejoice the things that he's going to tell them about God who God is and what he has done he's saying in this you're greatly rejoice and in verse 8 he tells them
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that though you have not seen him Jesus Christ you love him and though you did not see him now but believe in him these are some of the things that you are
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already doing some of the things that are already part of your life and he is trying to submit them in his their
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minds but don't get the idea that Peter is giving them a false hope or that he is somehow trying to uh what would you say prop them up or to try to just kind of now now you can you can do this kind
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of thing because what he gives them is a hope that is grounded on who God is is and what he has done in verse three he says blessed be
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the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the word there and I don't I'm not trying to sound audite when I say
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Blessed Be and I'm not trying to sound what would you say Old Testament blessed be God the the word is
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eulogy so we heard this week about a lot of eulogies for our 39th president it is it means that somebody is worthy of Praise
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someone is is worthy of of being boasted about and it is Apostolic language Paul uses these same kind of things blessed
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be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ but I I emphasize the blessed because it's a different word
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used for God than it is when Jesus gives us the Beatitudes in Matthew blessed are the poor in spirit
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for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are those who mourn blessed are the meek it's a different word in the Greek and I guess as I see it it reminds
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but we can and we should and we should often speak well of him he is worthy of Praise he is worthy of contemplation as Daniel doriani says in
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his commentary God gives us his Blessing but we declare God is the blessed one and that's why I read Psalm
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103 David is is speaking to his own soul speaking to his own Spirit when he says bless the Lord oh my soul and all that
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is within me bless His holy name David calls upon himself and I think by extension in the scriptures by the Holy Spirit he calls on all of us to
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do something that we don't do often enough and that is to Simply take time to contemplate
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God and he says it to his soul that it ought to be a heartfelt soulfell reminder to ourselves of who God is specifically he speaks of God's mercy and of that madeup word in English that
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we can't quite wrap our minds around but encapsulates what we think his loving kindness not forgetting all his benefits David
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said don't don't forget the benefits that you that you have and don't forget his righteous Deeds toward those who are
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oppressed a reminder that God is compassionate and he's gracious in his pardoning of us acknowledging that God does not reward us according to our
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iniquities and yet as David Avid reminds himself he is still Sovereign over all that he has made in Psalm 92 it's
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almost as if the psalmist there has taken this and he's realized in verse one of Psalm 982 it is good to give thanks to the Lord and to
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sing praises to your name oh most high to declare your loving kindness in the morning and your faithfulness by night
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he says we bless God by declaring who he is in all of his deeds but guess what it's good for us it's good for us to do that
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to contemplate God and to give him praise and I think Peter would have again in the context of speaking to these chosen
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these chosen Exiles that no condition no circumstance is going to be so bad that we have reason to not praise
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God for who he is the god and father of our Lord Jesus Christ one author
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said it's a concentrated confession that the confession of the Christian faith is right here here is the god and father of our
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Lord Jesus Christ he is Jesus God in his Humanity but in his deity God is his
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father and for us he is our Lord and by extension and because we are Christ we are in
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God the author Richard lensy writes unless our Lord is true God and true man man no salvation remains for which to glorify God he came as 100% God 100% man
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and so in our prayers we address the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ because in him and through him we are accepted in the
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Beloved but God brings us us this Hope by his Mercy he says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great Mercy has caused us to be born
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again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead God has caused us to be born again
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but it's according to his great Mercy he's already told us that a Christian's election is issues from God's forn knowledge in verse two according to the
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forn knowledge of God by the sanctifying work of the spirit that is our election but a Christian's existence issues from God's
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mercy God is the one and the emphasis here is on God the Father Who according to his great Mercy has caused us to be
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born again I think we could say it better by saying God who fed us in keeping with his abundant
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Mercy the emphasis is not on God as Creator creating men and women but it's on God who begat us
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again God chose to express his Mercy To Us by giving us New Birth so here's the theological basis for our identity in
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Christ Our identity as the chosen people of God God has fathered us and Peter's words yes they do
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Echo Jesus words to Nicodemus in John 3 what does he say to him you must be born again but as the Irish Theologian F and
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I his name is Fenton but apparently he goes by fja hortz speaking of Peter's idea of the new birth says this quote the entrance
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it is the entrance into a new order of existence but combines it with that of divine parentage it is
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regeneration we do have new motives we do have new thoughts we do do have a new
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will but the greatness the greatness of God's mercy appears when we consider what we were by natural birth and the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2 but God being rich
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in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins made us alive to together with
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Christ God begat us to a living hope he begot us to a living hope not an empty hope not a false hope not an optimism not a confidence not a
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presumption not a deceptive hope of human aspirations and uncertainty and some kind of good and maybe ability but the focus is on God's initiative in
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begetting us begetting us you cannot take credit for your natural birth you you
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can't but you cannot either take credit for your new birth for your being born again and I think the focus of Peter here yes we have newness of life but he's speaking of God
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he's glorifying God who begat us God who fathered us again lensy writes writes hope is not living because it is bright and active
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but because God guarantees and produces its fulfillment it's because of the means of the means of doing this mean means of
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showing us this mercy and producing this mercy and where is it he gives us the answer here through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead do you get
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that where does life come from it comes from someone who rose from the
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dead the father and we've sang about it why should I gain from his reward re wward I don't have the answer we say but this I know with all my heart his pain became my
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Ransom the father accepts his death as the acceptable
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Ransom and to grant us new life and freedom so our our prayers our very best prayers should praise God God for his
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Mercy this is the Living Hope This Is The Living Hope that should stir our souls that should stir our minds and our
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hearts to hearts to endure to patience to fortitude Christ's Resurrection secur es
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Our Hope several of the authors that I read refer to the Jewish tradition and it's uncertain when that tradition began some authors think that
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it was as long ago as Moses some believe that it came to more fruition about Peter's time but it's called simply the
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18 it's 18 benedictions of the name remember the Jews will not pronounce the name God even when they write it it's g
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with an underline D they will not say it they will not write it but it's benedictions of the name and I don't know who whether it's just Orthodox Jews
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and where they are I'd never seen this or heard this before three times a day morning afternoon and evening they recite all recite all 18 except one article I was reading
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saying well it's really 19 but the name in Hebrew is 18 and those prayers are to remind them he is the Holy One and it's the
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middle eastern Blessed Be he but there's something missing in those prayers and I came across one of those prayers I won't read all 19 but this is one of the
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prayers speedily cause us The Offspring of David thy servant to flourish and let his horn be exalted by thy salvation because we wait for thy
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salvation all the day now before I comment on that think about the day that Peter thought his
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hope had died he wasn't there with John and Mary standing in front of the Cross he had fled from the
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garden but he knew that they had crucified the man he called his Lord and
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Christ but then there was that great getting up getting up morning in Mark chapter 16 the angel tells the women but
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women but go tell his disciples and Peter he is going ahead of you to Galilee and there you will see him just just as he told you and after Peter heard from the women
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that the tomb was empty he had to go and see for himself did he not and he outran John and he looked into the tomb and saw the empty tomb and later Jesus appeared
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to Peter and the sight of his living lord gave him renewed
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hope and now we know why Peter In this passage rejoices from the very beginning he knows that The Offspring of David has brought
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salvation he doesn't have the plaintive really the lament of the 18 benedictions of the of the name please because we wait for thy
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salvation Peter says my salvation has come he knows that The Offspring of David has come and that he has conquered
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death and he has risen to sit at the right hand of God and in thinking of our new birth that we are born again that we have been
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brought from Death To Life remember that it is by the
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resurrection further in chapter one Peter writes these words about being born again in verses 23 to 25 he writes for you have been born again not of seed
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which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring word of God and this is the word which was preached to
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you but Peter got it right because Peter mentions and points to the resurrection first and then to
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the word of that resurrection that was brought to them and to us Edmund Clowney says it this way better than I can he says quote the
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means of our new birth is not first the message of the Resurrection it is the fact of the Resurrection that is the anchor of Our
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Hope Our Hope in the past our hope in the present Our Hope in in the future in the past Jesus rose and Paul tells us and we rose with
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him in the present Jesus lives and because he lives we live and in the future Jesus is coming back again and we say come Lord Jesus
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come quickly let us pray our Heavenly Father Again and we ask that we would
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be people who bless you people who give you the honor the glory the praise that you you are due because you are God
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because of what you have done and so we ask father that you would build us in that way and that we would encourage one another to continue to
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praise you and look to you and father this anchor that we have the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ may we never forget may we not ever ever
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leave him on the cross but know that he lives we ask that you would do this for us again us again because you want to build your church
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for your glory and honor in Christ's name we pray amen you please rise for the
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benediction the time from the ironic benediction from Numbers Chapter 6 and the scriptures explain to us why this was given to us the Lord bless you and keep you the
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Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace and then he adds so they shall
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invoke my name on the sons of Israel and I then will bless them amen
