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once again in mark chapter 12. chapter 12. if you've if you've been in the church for any time at all you know that we do not follow a Liturgical Calendar
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Liturgical Calendar and therefore and therefore I do not uh prepare a an Easter sermon but try to follow the scripture that
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where we are and yet I don't know why but I still am always amazed at the sovereignty of God we have an Easter message in the passage Where We Are
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I'm going to read from Mark chapter 12 verses 1 through 12. and he began to speak to them in Parables a man planted a Vineyard and
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put a wall around it and dug a vat under the wine press and built the Tower and rented it out to the vine Growers and went on a journey and at the Harvest time he sent a slave
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to the vine growers in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine Growers and they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed and again he sent
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them another slave and they wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully and he sent another and that one they killed and so with many others beating some and killing others
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he had one more to send a beloved Son he sent him last of all to them saying they will respect my son but those Vine Growers said to one
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another this is the heir come let us kill him and The Inheritance will be ours and they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard what will the owner of the vineyard do
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he will come and destroy the vine Growers and will give the vineyard to others have you not even read this scripture the stone which the builders rejected
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this became the Chief Cornerstone this came about from the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes and they were seeking to seize him and yet they feared the multitude for they
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understood that he spoke the parable against them and so they left him and went away went away let us pray
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our heavenly father we do ask again that you would help us to meditate on these scriptures help us to see the words of Jesus that by the Holy Spirit you would
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put them in our hearts our minds our understanding that we might have a heart of not only wisdom and understanding but about a heart of heart of of rejoicing a heart
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that understands what you have done in Christ and so he asked father that you would use these things to build your church use these things to exalt your holy name
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King number because Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream in this dream was an enormous statue it had a head of gold
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chest and arms of silver a belly of and thighs of bronze legs of iron feet partly of clay and partly of iron
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the dream was interpreted to him not only the interpretation of the dream but told the dream by the young Hebrew man named Daniel named Daniel and he explained that the four different
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elements represented elements represented the four successive World kingdoms Babylon was smashed by the medo-persians
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medo-persia was overrun by Greece and Greece was supplanted by Rome as the Supreme ancient empire
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and then Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone a stone cut without hands and it came and it smashed the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them
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and then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold were all crushed the scripture says like chaff blowing in the wind
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the wind and the stone that crushed the statue became a great Mountain and filled the whole Earth
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and Daniel said to the king and in the days of those kings the god of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that Kingdom will not be left for another people it
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will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms but it will itself endure forever the stone is imagery
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that God used to show his righteous judgment upon all the nations of the Earth but the stone is not just
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an inanimate power the stone is a person The Sovereign head of God's Kingdom
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the one who embodies the kingdom in himself and supersedes all other kings and rulers and Lords of all the nations
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and this is not just my interpretation this is the interpretation of Isaiah this is the interpretation of Matthew Mark Luke Jesus himself Peter uses
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this imagery of the man who was the stone and through the scriptures we see what this stone is and what this stone is
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like and what this Stone would do and this is the imagery that Jesus brings to us in the ending of this Parable haven't you not read these
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things in Scripture the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner in Isaiah 28 we read about this Stone
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listen to these words therefore this is what the Lord God says behold I am laying a stone in Zion a tested Stone a precious Cornerstone
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for the foundation firmly placed the one who believes in it will not be disturbed I will make Justice the measuring line and righteousness the level then hail
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Will sweep away the Refuge of lies and the waters will overflow the secret place your Covenant will that with death will be canceled and you're packed with sheol will not stand when the gushing
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flood passes through then you will become its trampoline ground he says behold I lay in zy in a stone a precious stone a precious Cornerstone
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it's a foundation stone Ephesians 2 Paul tells us this Stone was that on which the apostles and the
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prophets built prophets built the manifestation of Jehovah's righteousness in and through the temple it has this spiritual aspect to it that
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this Cornerstone the Cornerstone is where two walls met at a corner and where they they're they were set at right angles to one another
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and one would rest against the other and they would be bonded together there it wasn't just the foundation itself but it was a strategic Cornerstone
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and I think we see that imagery in the New Testament in the joining of what I call the twos in Galatians 3 we we see the twos that by faith in Christ we know
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that there's no longer Jew and Greek but they've been joined together as one there's no longer slave and free but joined together as one there's no longer
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male or female but joined together as one in Christ that we see the adjourning of the twos in Ephesians 2 again out of out of this
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taking away the dividing wall he says Paul says that he might make two into one thus establishing peace that's what
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the Cornerstone represents is that joining together joining together but Isaiah goes on to explain what this means what this idea of the
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Cornerstone everything is built from that corner everything is either leveled leveled or plumbed from that corner he describes it as I will make Justice
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the measuring line and righteousness the level just this the the plum line making sure that it is straight and right there there is a idea
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in the scripture of a norm in engineering we talk about normals something that is perpendicular to another surface here it is there there's
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a rightness an Orthodoxy to it if you will the Lord will judge to an exact rule as a builder judges according to his his
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design it represents the standard by which the faithful need to live it's a measure by which the Divine judgment is gauged
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but it is the Lord's doing the Lord is I believe laying our judgments on his level I don't know that it it yes it is the
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Justice of the Lord but I think he's looking at our judgments he's looking at how we think how we do things Charles Spurgeon puts it better than I
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could he wrote quote he makes a deliberate trial of our confidences Compares our hopes with our conduct our beliefs with the truth and our
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expectations with the facts of the case so he's laying it all on the level how do you measure up you say you believe this but this is how you act are they in
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accord you say that you follow the truth but what do your actions say he's laying our judgments on his line
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our righteousness he sets next to his Plum line are we straight are we right are we upright but again it's not our standard the Lord
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sets the standard he he doesn't negotiate with his laws and he doesn't change with the changing standards of culture
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or as one writer wrote quote he's not subject to the opinions and frustrations of the workers some of you in business some of you in building
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know that I don't want to build it like that because it's too hard or I don't want to do that because I don't want to do the work but God sets that standard
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he's not into negotiation with us and in the context of Isaiah 28 he was declaring an end
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to their crooked ways in Isaiah 28. God tells Isaiah tells Isaiah not to sorry Isaiah 8 which also refers
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to this he says the Lord spoke to me with Mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the ways of this people see they were crooked they they were
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calling things calling things good that were actually bad they were actually trying to make friends with God's enemies
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but this Stone according to Isaiah in chapter 28 is a tried Stone it's a stone of proving
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and I believe that this idea of the tried Stone admits of two possibilities and perhaps they are simultaneously
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attained literally it's a stone of proof one which stands every test it's a proven Stone and it's a self-proving stone
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self-proving stone and as a Cornerstone it is the most valuable stone it's valuable in itself it affords the strongest possible foundation on which to build so there's
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this insurance of security that that you're building that you build upon it will be good it will be solid it will
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and again the context indicates that Jehovah himself establish it behold I lay in Zion a Cornerstone a precious stone a tried Stone
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When God says I will do it do we believe it's as good as accomplished God is as good as his word I will lay that stone in Zion and it
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will become the head of the corner so it is a stone of proof in itself in itself but I think it's also the Hebrew says
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that it is a stone of proving it's a stone which tries those who come in contact with it the words used and I don't know that I
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understand all the depths of the Hebrew but the idea here is that he's speaking of people who who make a refuge for themselves or the word we would use is
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Asylum that they're trying to find a place where they're Justified and the idea of the proven stone is that it will find out it's a stone of
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Isaiah says the people have said to themselves within their own Hearts we have made falsehood our refuge and concealed ourselves with deception and we see that that God has made this
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Stone a stone of proving he's checking you on the level he's checking you on the plum but the result is he becomes a stone of stumbling
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becomes a stone where that decision and the vision of the person's heart and mind is made known
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and so he is a stone of proving but for many people he has become that stone of stumbling and that's in Isaiah chapter 8. again listen to the prophet
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it is the Lord of armies whom you are to regard as holy and he shall be your fear and he shall be your dread then he will become a sanctuary
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but to both houses of Israel he will be in a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem
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many will stumble over him and they will fall and be broken they will be snared and caught and caught bind up the testimony seal the law among my disciples and I will wait for the
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Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob I will wait eagerly for him the temple was to be a place of shelter
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it was a place of blessing a place of of Grace a pace of peace and all who sanctify the Lord as the
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Lord he surrounded with security these These Walls represented security without the tribulation from without
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and in that gracious Temple of Fellowship God says you will be my people and I will be your God he guarded them he fed them he comforted them
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but here in Isaiah 8 he's speaking to both houses of Israel both to Israel and to Judah to Judah and they did not fear him that did not
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reference him reference him and there there is one of the authors says these things that we read their their synonyms that are heaped on one another
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to show us how drastic this is but to both houses he says he will be a stone of stubbling a rock of offense a snare and a trap
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he's got all of these things and the idea is that he's trying to create for them a fearful impression in their hearts to shake them to the bottom of their feet
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of the death in many forms because they do not count him as holy
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that stone I would submit is still a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense and a snare and a trap for many what are the charges against these Builders what are the charges against
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these rulers in Israel that are and Judah that are teaching the people to not honor God to go After idols
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it was a Defiance they were just defying his warnings we see that in the parable he sent to them profit after profit they beat some they wounded others they
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killed others more and more and more they were making friends with God's enemies the Isaiah even says they were going to the dead to seek how to teach the living
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and the idea the stone which the builders rejected builders rejected isn't just that they said no we'll put this somewhere else it's not like a builder we watch they're building a house behind my house and we
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watch them and sometimes I would see him pick up a block and for whatever reason they would just put it aside and use it later that's not the idea here that stone
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which the builders rejected they counted as utterly worthless it's not fit to go anywhere in our house
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they said and obviously the parable as Jesus has shown them was speaking of
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[Music] he did not fit with their idea of a Theocratic Nation Theocratic Nation they could not bear him being the
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coroner of their building it's almost as if no we don't want to be joined to anyone we do not want you to be that
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Cornerstone that level in that Plum we want to be a singular wall by ourselves we want to stand alone we're not going to be joined to those
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Gentiles and Sinners and Sumerians that you have gathered around you
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head he's not going to see life the way we want him to see it and I believe he was laying judgment on his leveling line
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and the question is in what in what do people even today seek for refuge for their Asylum
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for their hopes for their dreams which get which get tested on this level
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many claim a moral goodness I'm not a bad person I should pass the test many look at well I've had a religious
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experience I I've had something that really touched my heart some are itching ever more and more for novel doctrines
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going as the scriptures say having those itching ears itching ears chasing every wind of Doctrine see I'm searching I'm seeking
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and some sit Pat sit Pat sit still sit still on past experiences well I was taught that as a child that's that's good enough I believe what
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they said and some cling to this notion and I I don't know where this comes from I guess someday I'll have to study it so I'm clinging to a notion of well everything
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is just fate those judgments those refuges those asylums will be laid on the level
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of the Stone compared to his leveling line and his Plumb line
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I don't know if this is the answer to what our brothers prayed this morning but here's my question and what awaits those who live this way
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but as you get the picture in Isaiah 28 hail Will sweep away the Refuge of Lies and Waters will overflow the secret places there will be utter ruin
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Matthew goes even further in the words of Jesus in Matthew 21. and the one who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces
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and on whomever it falls it will crush him this is not just some little illusion about a little pebble
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about some small power some picture that's oh you know Old Testament the stone which the builders rejected
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will become the head of the corner but this stone is not just the stone made without hands it's not just the
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stone approving it's not just the stone of stumbling but this stone is our Rock
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the Lord lays out I think through Isaiah he lays out this is what the people of God should look like this is what the people of God how they should live this is how the people of God should sound
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not walking with those who do not fear God that's what he warned Isaiah he said don't walk with them but you are to fear God you are to remember that it's God's
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power and God's strength by which you live see I think Isaiah even he he prays not only for himself but for us in this
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passage he he says sorry in Isaiah not 28 but eight I get it mixed up I'm sorry but but here it is
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he says he says and many will stumble over them and they will fall and be broken they will even be stared and caught that's what Matthew picks up on but this is Isaiah's prayer
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this is not the Lord speaking to him I think this is Isaiah speaking to the Lord bind up the testimony seal the law among my disciples see he's saying here
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it is this is something when when you bind something it's because you want to keep it together you you don't want it to be separated he's asking God find
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this thing that you have just taught us about the stone bind it together that we may keep it and then he says seal this to my disciples when you seal something
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it's because you want it to stay secret you you want it to keep it close you you don't want it to be seen except by those who are qualified to see it
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that's what he prays for him himself and his disciples I think a prayer for us it's what we ought to pray for one another buying these things to us O Lord seal
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them to us wait for the Lord and trust in him the prophet sees faithful individuals standing in the midst of a worshiping
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people of God and it's a people of God who have a commitment to his word listen again to what he says to the law and to the
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testimony this is the only safeguide this is the only way you're going to measure your conduct your thoughts your belief is by his measuring line you have
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to know his measuring line you have to know his Plumb line you have to know his precepts
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there will be Trust there will be righteousness and peace this is what again what Isaiah says
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a precious Cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed the one who believes believes in it will not be
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literally the one who believes in it will not make haste he will not be in a hurry what is the imagery there he won't be upset be upset he he won't be just going bonkers
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because of life because of the things around him the things that come to him he will not be in a hurry because he will be at peace there will be a trust
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there will be a peace and righteousness I really appreciated this phrase from the pan of Matthew Henry with all the
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things that Martha and I and our family has gone through over the last couple weeks trying to decide this is what Matthew Henry says the right effect of faith in Christ
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is to quiet and calm the soul till events shall be timed by him who has has all times in his own hand
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and Power and Power he who believes in this Stone will not be disturbed he will not be in a hurry he will not be shaken
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so when God lays our judgments our refuge our asylums the things that we want to do on his leveling line if our hope is sound
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then our hope is Holy our hope is sanctified Our Hope purges us from sin and breathes in us that which is true and good and
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God says behold I lay in Zion a stone a precious stone where is Zion is it Jerusalem it's that picture of the city on the hill
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beautiful in elevation Joy of all the Earth the scripture says and even today when you go there and I may I maybe have
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this wrong but do they not call that must that they they have built there on that City the Dome of the Rock
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it was a rock Zion was that hill where the stone would be he would be that precious Cornerstone that would be seen
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they've got the imagery right the stone the stone has become The Rock but they do not know that what they see there on that Hill is a shadow
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it's it's a type do you not see how large and mighty the rock that stone has become
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the mountains are going to Quake the waters are going to rise as Isaiah prophesies here
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but on Christ the solid rock we stand when all the other buildings of the Nations all their imaginations on what they ought to build and how it ought to look and how big it ought to be and glorious it ought to be when all of
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those are Swept Away God's Building will remain
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the builders tried to put away the precious Cornerstone precious Cornerstone they they they they arrested him arrested him they they falsely accused him
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they mocked him they put a crown of thorns on his head they marched him through the streets out to the hill called Golgotha
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and then they tried to shut him away with their own Stone made with hands
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and on that first Easter morning the women came to the tomb and wondered who will roll the stone away
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and the angel said to the women do not be afraid be afraid for thy know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified he is not here for he has risen
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just as he said the stone which the builders rejected had become the precious Cornerstone
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this came about from the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes let us pray
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Our Father again please again please help us to meditate on these words that we may continue to day by day to
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Marvel at what you have done that this Stone made without hands has become a great
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a great and glorious building the people of God we thank you we praise you we give all the glory to you in Christ's name
