Sermon
Remembering The Redeemer's Words
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Our Bible reading is taken from Luke's Gospel chapter 24 and
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we're going to read the first 12 verses.
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Luke chapter 24 verses one through to 12.
Luke 24 chapter mention
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Let's hear the Word of God. The words will come up and
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scream for those online. Now upon the first day of the
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week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre,
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bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others
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with them. And they found the stone rolled
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away from the sepulchre, and they entered in, and found not
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the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they
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were much perplexed thereabout, behold, 2 men stood by them in
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shining garments. And as they were afraid, and
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bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why
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seek ye the living among the dead?
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He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He speak unto you
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when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be
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delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified.
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And the third day rise again. And they remembered his words,
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and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto
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the 11 and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and
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Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were
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with them, which told these things unto the apostles, and
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their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed
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them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto
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the sepulchre, and stooping down, he beheld the linen
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clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself
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at that which was come to pass. Amen.
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We know the Lord will stamp with His own approval and blessing
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this reading of His own precious and infallible Word.
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Now this is Remembrance Sunday 2025 and this morning, along
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with 10s of thousands of other churches throughout the United
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Kingdom, we have observed a period of silence and honour and
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memory of all who have fought and died in two world wars and
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other conflicts since we have stood in silence, we've stood in
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solidarity to remember the bravery and sacrifice of those
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who've served. We've mentioned the Royal Navy,
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the British Army, the Royal Air Force and all the reserve
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forces, especially those who fought and died to preserve our
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cherished freedoms that we all enjoy today.
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We've also remembered the members of the Royal Ulster
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Constabulary, all 319 of them, members of the UDR, the PSNI and
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all the emergency support staff, and all other innocent victims
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of terrorism who paid the supreme sacrifice in the causes
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of our freedom, in the cause of truth and righteousness.
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Truly they gave their day for our tomorrow and it is right and
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proper that we remember them. We have said we will remember
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them. Do you know that it is biblical
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to remember? The word remember is used 210
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times in the Bible. Genesis 8 and one is the first
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reference. Revelation 18 and five is the
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last The theme of remembrance is used 51 times in the Bible.
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Exodus 17 and 14, Revelation 16 and 19.
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We can think of the words of the Lord Jesus that the Lord's
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Supper this do in remembrance of me.
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Now every year on Remembrance Sunday, we have taken up this
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theme of remembering. We have called upon you to
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remember something. Now, therefore, my text today is
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found on the same theme. If you look with me at Luke
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chapter 24 verse 8, it says this and they remembered His words.
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Here's a short verse, only 5 words, and they remembered His
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words. Now our theme today I've
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entitled is remembering the Redeemer's words.
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Let's remember the context. Devout women coming very early
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in the morning to anoint the dead body of the Lord Jesus.
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Three days earlier they had witnessed the awful death of
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Christ by crucifixion, a most horrible death.
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Now upon their rival at the empty tomb, they discovered that
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the stone was rolled away. The removal of the stone was
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something that was on their lips as they drew near the garden
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town and with the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb,
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they went and looked inside. They discovered the tomb was
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empty, the body was not there. They were confused, they were
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perplexed, they were troubled. And in that moment 2 angels and
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shining garments stood by them. And the angels asked this
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question in the midst of their fear, as they bowed their heads
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to the earth. Why seek ye the living among the
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dead? He said in verse 6, He is not
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here, he is risen. And then they added, Remember
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how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee?
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And here's the words, verse 7, saying the Son of Man must be
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delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified.
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And the third day, rise again. Now link it into verse 8.
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What do we read? What followed?
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And they remembered his words. What clarity, what tremendous
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comfort and joy flowed and followed when we read and they
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remembered his words. And it was a words about the
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facts of the Gospel, a simple, yet supernatural and yet
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sovereign message. A word about his arrest, his
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unjust trial and horrible death by crucifixion, and a word about
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his resurrection on the third day.
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From the day you see, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
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Christ is a glorious truth. It's the bedrock of the
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Christian faith. It's really the Waterloo of all
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the modernism, liberalism and rationalism of our day.
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This is one of the great fundamental doctrines of Bible
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belief in Christianity. And here, our holy woman, they
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come to that tomb, and they haven't anticipated or thought
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about the doctor of the resurrection.
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And they come to that tomb in a spirit of mourning, and they're
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sad in their heart, and they come with their spaces to anoint
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a dead body. And now they're told He is not
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here, He has risen. Remember how He speak unto you
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when He was yet in Galilee. And when they heard what He
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said, we read, and they remembered His words.
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I want you to think about that. And they remembered His words.
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Think with me of the problem that was experienced under
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underline the word remembered. We'll ask the question, what was
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the common problem of these dear holy woman that they experience
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in their heart and mind? The common problem was this they
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were prone to forget the words of the Lord Jesus.
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Now picture the sea woman come with her spices to anoint a dead
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body. Woman filled with a sense of
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mourning, a spirit of weeping. They've got heavy hearts.
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They're sad, They're full of doubt.
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They're filled with a sense of tragedy that has unfolded
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outside the city of Jerusalem. They're on a journey, a literal
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journey. And on that journey, their
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hearts and minds are not filled with the words of the Lord
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Jesus. On this journey they have not
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anticipated or expected the resurrection of Jesus Christ
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from the dead. And when their discovered the
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tomb is empty, they're directed to what?
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By the angels? And what does the Angel say?
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Remember how he speak unto you when he was yet in Galilee.
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In other words, the angels directed the woman to the words
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of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Word of God.
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Can you get the picture? These women, upon entering the
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tomb, were perplexed. They thought the body had been
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stolen. They were not thinking, that
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they were not concluding. In their mind, He has risen.
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They're asked a question. Why seek ye the living among the
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dead? He is not here, but has risen.
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Remember how He speak unto you. This group of women, some of
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them has identified here, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, etcetera,
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etcetera. They're full of doubt.
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They're full of worry and fear. They're not thinking of the
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words of Christ. And what does the angels do?
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Directs them to the words of the Saviour.
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It's as if the angels are saying, hear ye the word of the
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Lord, that message about Christ's arrest and unjust trial
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and cruel death by crucifixion. But he's alive now.
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He has risen bodily from the dead.
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And what are we told? And they remembered his words.
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They they recalled them to mind. They got insight and light.
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You see, faith in Christ is the only true and only basis for a
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right relationship with God. Faith in Christ is the basis for
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all the help that we need in the midst of all our grief and all
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our distresses and all the darkness of our soul.
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It's faith in the sayings of the Saviour or faith in the words of
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Christ. A great comfort.
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What tremendous clarity. Notice it wasn't the angels
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themselves that was the focus of their attention.
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It wasn't the angel's vision or the angel's voice.
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The Angel said, remember how he speak unto you when he was yet
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with you in galley, and they remembered his words.
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Let me ask a question this morning.
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Maybe you're here in the House of God in this Remembrance Day
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service and you're full of worry, you're full of pain and
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woe. Maybe you're away from the Lord
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and you're thinking, how do I get back to the Lord?
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I, I, I want to have a place of power and victory, a place where
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I can enjoy the Lord, a place where I can know and love and
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serve them. How can you spiritually journey
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from a place of doubt and tragedy to a place of delight
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and triumph? A place where you experience
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darkness in your soul to a place of light in your soul?
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And the answer lies here. And they remembered his words.
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See, we're all prone to this now.
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We're all prone and apartment to forget His words.
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We're all prone and apartment to forget even the Gospel in its
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simplicity, in its supernaturalness, in its
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supremacy and superiority, that was a failure.
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The problem that they experienced was a failure to
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recall to mind his words when he was yet with them about his
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arrest, his crucifixion, death and resurrection.
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So I'm asking this, is that a picture of you this morning?
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You're here. You're not in victory.
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You feel your life is empty. Maybe in your heart and mind
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you're full of doubt, fear. Maybe you're at the point of
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despair. You're living on uncertainty.
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You're filling your heart and mind with what?
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Here's the answer to your problem.
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Get back to the book. Come back to the words of
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Christ. Think of this phrase.
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Remember how they speak unto you. 6 words and link it up with
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verse 8. Five more words and they
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remembered His words. The Christian needs to remember
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God's word. Remember what we read in
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Revelation chapter 1 and verse 3.
Revelation 1 chapter mention
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Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this
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prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for
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the time is at hand. Three things, reading, hearing
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and keeping all linked together. And as Christians, we need to
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remember, there's a need to read and to hear and to keep the
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words of the prophecy of this book.
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And as Christians we need to remember especially the doctrine
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of the resurrection. As I've said, it's one of the
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fundamental doctrines of the faith.
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They, they think with me here are two angels.
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They could have used heavenly language to convince them of the
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truth of the resurrection. They didn't.
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They could have talked about, now you've seen a vision of two
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angels and you've heard our voice.
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They didn't. They pointed the woman to the
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word of God. Imagine meeting not one, but 2
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angels from heaven, and you're having a conversation with them
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and you're telling it to something.
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And you've been asked, well, what did the angels say?
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And remember, in the context, they're full of doubt and fear
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and discourage, full of despair. Things are going badly for them.
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And now you meet an Angel. And what would you expect the
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Angel to say? At the heart of what these
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angels said was nothing about themselves, Not where they'd
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come from, not what they were doing in heaven, not about their
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shiny garments, not even about their voice.
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No, at the heart of all they say, they direct you to the word
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of God. They declare unto you the word
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of God. They're not pointing you to a
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vision. They're not pointing you to a
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strange ecstatic utterance. They're not pointing you to some
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weird dream. No, they direct these women.
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They direct us to the word of the Lord.
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They think of it pondering. I know I'm labouring the point,
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but I want you to get the point. The angels took these sorrowing
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woman full of doubt and fear and trouble.
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They took them to the word of God.
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It's as if they were saying take the words and recall them to
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mind. Be not faithless but believing.
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Remember how they left the anti tomb full of joy and delight
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Back to the 11. Back to the rest of the apostles
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to teach and tell them what the Lord is resonating.
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These women were convinced by the word of God because they
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remembered his words. You know the apostle Peter who
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was one of these. 12 Remember what he said in Second Peter
2 Peter 1 chapter mention
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chapter 1. He said this in verse 16.
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Second Peter chapter one, verse 16.
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For we have not followed cunnally devised fables, when we
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made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus,
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but for eyewitnesses of His Majesty.
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For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when
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there came such a voice to him from the action.
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Glory. This was my beloved Son, in whom
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I'm well pleased. And this voice which came from
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heaven, verse 18, we heard when we were with them in the holy
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mind. Now listen to verse 19.
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We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
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They ponder that. Peter says we're not engaging in
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silly stories. Our message is not based in myth
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and legend. It's not the stuff of folklore.
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No, it's it's based on the word of God, which is true.
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Young people, the Bible's not a meaningless book.
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It's not a book full of vian empty stories.
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Peter was an eyewitness. Peter heard the voice of the
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Father. This is my beloved son in whom I
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am well pleased. He was an eyewitness, he said We
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saw, He could say, we heard, he could testify.
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We were an eyewitness. And yet, Despite that, he said,
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we also have a more sure word of prophecy, not fables, not idle
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tales, a more sure word of prophecy, a more sure word than
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even an eyewitness. So we'll ask this question.
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How did the angels get through to the woman?
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How did the angels get them? From a mindset of tragedy to
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triumph, a mindset of despair to delight, a mind of gloom to
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gladness. Remember how He speak unto you,
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and they remembered His word. And I tell you this morning, the
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battle for the Christian life is here.
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You face temptation. You face trials and troubles.
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You battle inordinate lust, peer pressure.
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You have many tears and afflictions in life's journey.
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You fight worries. How do we fight them?
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Not with fables, not with idle tales, not a good yarn, not the
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stuff of folklore, but back to the living Word of God, back to
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the Bible. And in fact, if you read Luke
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24, and I encourage you to do it, get a coffee and read Luke
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24. Even the Lord Jesus directed the
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two in the road to Emmaus back to the Bible.
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He required them to listen, to, read, and to keep the Scripture.
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Luke chapter 24, verses 25 to 27.
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Read it for yourself. Remember, they were heartbroken,
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they had gotten away from the Lord, they were ready to quit,
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they were sad, and they had given up.
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And a stranger comes to talk to them.
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And the stranger expounded to them and all the scriptures the
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things concerning himself. The same example like the holy
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angels. He did the same with His
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disciples in the upper room when He met them later in Luke 24,
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verse 44 and 45. Listen to what it says.
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And He said unto them, These are the words which I speak unto
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you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be
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fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the
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prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me.
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And you see, we're prone to forget.
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The problem the woman experienced was they forgot His
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words and we're prone to do the same.
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We're prone to forget that we're sinners in the sight of God and
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we've got a mortal soul. We're prone to forget that we
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need to be saved and repent of that sin and trust in Christ.
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We were prone to forget that we're loved by God from eternity
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past. We we're prone to forget that we
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were forgiven on the ground of the blood.
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We were prone to forget that God's our heavenly Father and
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Christ as our Saviour. We're prone to forget many
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things. Let me move on very quickly.
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Not only the problem that they experienced, but the precepts
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that were expounded. If you look again at the text
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that says in Luke chapter 24 verse 8 and they remembered his
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words. Underline the word words the
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Angel said, Remember how he speak unto you.
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Link it up verse 6 and they remembered his words.
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You see, the heart of the gospel centres in the veracity of the
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Redeemer's words. His words are true.
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There's no words like the words that fell from the lips of the
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Lord Jesus, of Him. It has written, Never man speak
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like this man. All that he said were words of
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truth. All He ever said was true.
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He never told a lie when he spoke of Adam and Eve in the
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beginning, when he spoke of Noah and the flood, when he spoke of
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Daniel, when he spoke of that Moses wrote of me.
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When he talked about the beginning, all that he said was
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true. He spoke of Himself, His birth,
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His sin, this life, His atoning death, His arrest, His trial,
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His death on the cross, His bodily resurrection.
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You see, He alone could say in John 17, verse 17, Thy word is
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truth, because He could say, I am the truth.
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The veracity of the Redeemer's words.
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Quickly think about the value of the Redeemer's words.
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One of the most precious verses is SAB 119 verse 105.
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Thy word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.
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What does a lamp do? There's a little lamp sitting
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out there underneath the uniform of a member of the Royal Ulster
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Constabulary. It's a miner's lamp for the
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railway. What does a lamp do?
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It gives illumination, and the word of God shows us our
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sinfulness. It teaches what sin is it.
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It cheques us in our sin. It reveals to us also God's
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remedy from human sinfulness centred in the personal work of
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Christ. First, John one and seven, the
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blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
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The power of the precious blood and the lamp also gives us
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direction. It gains our feet in the right
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path. We're prone to slip.
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We're prone to go our own way all we like.
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Sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to His own
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way. That's what we're like.
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And yet the Word of God don't engage our feet, but guards our
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feet. Our steps are ordered.
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Psalm 119, verse 133. They're ordered in Thy word.
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You see, we can all walk up right before the Lord.
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We can walk righteously. Why?
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Because the lamp of God's Word gives us direction, it also
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gives us restoration. Do you know the last thing at
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night the shepherd did when he come to the sheepfold was count
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the sheep then? And if one was missing, he left
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Porter in charge, took his light.
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He's called the shepherd's lamp, and he went into the night and
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he called for his sheep. Remember what we read in John 15
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and in the verse 3. The Saviour said this in John 15
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and verse 3. Now you're clean through the
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Word, which I have spoken unto you.
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The word has a saving, sanctifying effect upon our
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hearts and upon our lives. John Westerly said I'm a Bible
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Becket. Think only of the veracity and
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the value of the Redeemer's. Think of the victory of the
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redeemer's words. You see the lamp that's lit in
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the darkness speaks of jubilation in the darkness.
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You can say I've got a light. Now let me ask you this.
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Maybe you're here this morning and you're suffering mentally in
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your mind, and you've no peace and you're full of worry and
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fear about yourself and your family and about the future.
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Maybe you've even seen a loved one, a friend put to death,
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brutally murdered. You're here today and remember
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on Sunday, and you can remember the horrors of war.
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And here's these women and they had seen and could remember the
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horror of the crucifixion and they can't get the scene out of
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their mind. And it's not easy when you're
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suffering mentally. And yet, here's the answer.
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Fill your heart and mind with the Word of God.
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We live in a day when many pay scant attention to the Word of
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God, but God's people cannot be indifferent.
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We have got the words of Christ. Christ's word is the final word
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on every subject, and it's the word of Christ that drives away
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our fear. It's the word of Christ that
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establishes our heart and mind with a firm grip in relation to
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assurance. It's the word of Christ that
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judges our life, even our sin. It's the word of Christ that
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guides our steps. Young people have said this is
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not a meaningless book. This is not a an ancient
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doctrine that this is not a book of fables.
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No, this is the living, true word of God.
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And it's this book, as we read and here and keeping our hearts
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and minds that convicts us of our sin and converts us to the
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side of the Saviour and comforts us with God's salvation.
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There's no book like it. It's not like a book in other
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literature. There's a book out there, you
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can look at it. It's called Lost Lives.
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It's a record of those that were murdered during the killing
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times here in Ulster. But this book is unlike any
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other book because this book is the living God, braved Word of
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the living God. It's not like secular or even
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religious books. Read to understand.
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Read to hear. Faith cometh by hearing and
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hearing by the word of God. Read to embrace.
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Read to receive all that he has to say.
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Read to keep remember Job said in Job 23 verse 12, I've
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esteemed thy word more than my necessary food.
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If we receive this book into our hearts and minds, we can recall
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things and we can rejoice over things because the word of
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Christ is most suitable to us. As I've said, it cheques our
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sin, comforts us in our in love it it it it conquers our fear.
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It consoles us in our trials. It challenges us to live a life
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of holiness and faith unto God. Let us treasure the word of
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Christ. Let us meditate on His words.
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Here's the precepts that were expounded.
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Let's love these words. Let's be much in prayer over
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them. Let's walk by them.
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If He has given His ears to hear, let's remember what He did
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say in John 14 and 23. If a man love me, He will keep
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my words, and my Father will love Him, and we will come unto
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him. And they got abode with Him.
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One final thing, You've been very patient.
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The person that was exalted, notice the word His, and they
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remembered His words. What did the angels say unto
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them in chapter 24 and verse 6? They said this.
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He is not here, but as recent. Remember how He speak unto you
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when He was yet in Galilee? The emphasis is on He.
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And then it says, and they remembered his words time and
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time again. When you read the New Testament,
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we discover that the Lord Jesus told his disciples, I'm going to
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be arrested, I'm going to be tried, I'm going to be put to
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death, I'm going to rise again from the dead.
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Remember in Matthew 1621 when he told that Peter, Peter says not
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so Lord, it's not going to happen.
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The Lord Jesus rebuked him and said get thee behind me Satan,
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for thy saver is not the things of God, but the things that be
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of man. Matthew 16 and 23.
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Peter was not listening. Peter was not listening, and
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therefore Peter didn't receive his words.
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Peter couldn't recall them to mind even after they were told
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about the resurrection. Peter was dull of listening,
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dull of understanding, dull of thinking, dull of applying.
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See, everyone today has an opinion.
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Everyone today has a word. Everyone today is speaking, but
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very few are listening to God. Very if you're listening to the
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word of God. But God is speaking and speaking
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to us out of His Word. And the question is, are we
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connected? Sometimes we have no signal on
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the television. Sometimes we have no signal for
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the Internet. Sometimes there's no signal for
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the radio. Even in the car, you maybe had a
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dead spot, but it's still been broadcast on the television,
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it's still been broadcast on the radio.
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It's still the Internet connection still there.
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It's just you've had a dead spot.
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And what is true, literally, it's also true spiritually.
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You could be listening to a service.
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You could enjoy the 1st 10. You could be saying Amen to the
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prayer and you could be begin to listen to the preaching and then
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all of a sudden it cuts out. It's not that the service has
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stopped, it's just you've had a dead spot and you've missed out
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in that piece of information. How many are missing out in
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Christ because they're in a dead spot spiritually and they
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haven't received all that he has spoken and they can't recall all
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that he has spoken because they haven't received it and
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therefore they can't rejoice in the word of Christ?
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I want you to understand this as we finish.
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Christ was arrested. Christ was the man of sorrows.
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Think of him being being beaten up.
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And what the soldiers did to Christ was terrible, was
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unjustifiable. They, they, they, they tried him
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like a common criminal. And then he died, that horrible
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death of crucifixion naked on the tree.
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And you can imagine the tears and the sadness and the anguish
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of the heart and mind of his disciples.
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And yet we're told Christ has risen.
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Christ is alive. Christ was born for sinners,
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lived a sinless life for sinners, died for sinners, rose
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again for sinners. And if we were to ponder this
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morning, the majesty of His Person, the Son of God who loved
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me and gave Himself for me, pondered the meaning of His
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passion. He did it all for me.
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Think of the mercy of His provision, the the grace of
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Christ that reaches us, the blood that was shed.
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Think of the majesty of His power.
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He has risen bodily from the dead, and He is able to
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resurrect us in Christ. Think of the mystery of His
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Person. He meets with us day and daily.
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He speaks to us day and daily. He feeds us day and daily.
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He strengthens our stay and daily with His word.
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It's a word of revelation. Are you satisfied with Christ
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and his Word, His message, His merit, His mercy, His mind?
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It's it's all here. The person that they exalted in
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their minds was he, It was his word.
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So I leave this thought with you today and this resurrection
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theme on this Remembrance Sunday.
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And they remembered his words.