The Study of Malachi | Lesson 5

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Each time I do my questions or study to teach on Malachi, I'm amazed at the patience of our God. When you're studying and you see a truth, you just have to sit there for a minute and think, "Why is he so patient all the time?" Have you ever had anybody tell you, "Why are you so patient with everything?" Nobody's ever told me that.

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There's just not much good to report on the remnant of Judah. When you read this about those people, we could set ourselves up on a little pedestal and think, "They are really bad. We're not quite that bad."

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The ones who were captured and punished by the Babylonians and then returned by Almighty God to their homeland to rebuild the temple and to rebuild Jerusalem, the holy city.

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Last week we saw how Satan had deceived God's chosen people.

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They were full of sin and they literally cheated God with every chance they had.

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They truly believed that there was not a sinner among them. Of course, we're looking at the priest, but the priest, they felt they were perfect.

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They truly believed that there was not any of them that had sin.

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Malachi tells us that this remnant of God's chosen people have wearied him.

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They wearied him because they are continually disobedient. They continually bring to God these sacrifices that are not pure.

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The saddest part of this drama is that the very ones who weary God are the leaders of his people. They're the priests.

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They were the leaders. They're the ones he chose because he wanted them to be the teacher, to be the one that would physically walk among them and help them live the right way.

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Malachi 2, 17, that's our first verse for this week. You have wearied the Lord with your words, but you say, "How have we wearied him?"

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By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord," and he delights in them, or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?"

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Those priests wearied God over and over again. Now, I'm not sure, but I stand up here and I look and I see a lot of folks that are either moms or Grammys or aunts or women who have special young people or family members to take care of.

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We might be able to identify with this word, "wearied."

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When it comes to disobedient children and disobedient people that we care about and that we love, we are to pray for them, to call them by name before the throne of God. Think about it. God was wearied by the priest.

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Sometimes we are wearied by our people, so we can kind of identify with him about this weariness.

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Even after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples and the women who followed Jesus gathered together in the upper room. They went to that upper room for one thing. What was it? They went there to go pray, right?

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It is interesting to read that they were all together and they were praying in one accord.

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Luke, possibly the author of the book of Acts, and he recorded their prayer.

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After all, Jesus had just ascended into heaven and no one was too sure what was coming next.

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I have some very precious ones in my life who I'm not sure what's coming next for them.

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That day, those scared, frightened, new believers did what they could do. They prayed.

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Before we get more into the weariness of the Lord, I just wonder if maybe now would be a good time for us to stop and pray as a group of women of faith, of women who have given their hearts to Jesus Christ.

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Maybe we should just join together at our table, silently pray or just softly to yourself. Pray for those people in your life that weary you today.

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Let's just pray for that.

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All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Joseph and his brothers.

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And they prayed.

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Holy Father, thank you for hearing our prayers.

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You understand about weariness when it comes to folks not doing exactly what they're supposed to do.

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So I thank you for that. I thank you that you hear our prayers, Lord.

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We love you. We honor you and we thank you that you always listen for us.

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We are always the women of faith who can lift up people before you and you never not listen.

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I thank you for that this morning. In Jesus name, amen.

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Okay so why was God wearied with his children?

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The priest did not even recognize their sinfulness. They didn't even know they were sinners.

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They had failed God and just couldn't see their sin.

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Did they ever know anybody in your life that just can't see where they're going wrong? That they just can't see their sin?

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Even their words brought grief to God's heart and they still questioned him. This is what they would say, but you say, how have we wearied him? How do we weary you, God?

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But these leaders had sinned so often and so much that they could no longer distinguish sin in their own lives.

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Their hearts had become hard toward God.

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Just like remember the Pharaoh?

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Remember Pharaoh in Egypt? How his hearts just got harder and harder and harder?

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His hardened heart during the time of the plagues?

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The priests of Malachi's day were doing the very same thing.

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They were blinded by their own unbelief and they could not see the truth because of their own self-righteousness. Oh me. Malachi tried to get their attention, but all they could do was question God and call him unjust.

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But Malachi continues, and this is what he says in chapter three. "Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts." He's going to send his messenger.

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The New Testament clearly identifies the Lord's messenger as who? John the Baptist.

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God sent his messenger to prepare a way for his son and John identified himself so no one would be confused. You know, I like John the Baptist and this is just another reason. It was like he never even wanted his name. He didn't name himself. He didn't say, "I'm John the Baptist. I'm come to tell you who he is." He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said."

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He was just a voice. He didn't even have a name.

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He was all about announcing the Lord Jesus.

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And then he said, "I'm not the Christ, but I'm the one to tell you about him."

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Two messengers, John the Baptist and the messenger of the covenant. Now we think about that. Who's the messenger of the covenant?

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Our Lord Jesus Christ.

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"In whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts." So that first messenger is John the Baptist. The messenger of the covenant is Jesus.

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Jay Vernon says this.

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The messenger of the covenant is never quoted anywhere in the gospels. And the reason is obvious.

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The messenger of the covenant is the Lord Jesus. But this passage hasn't anything to do with his first coming.

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This is his coming not in grace, not as a redeemer, but as a judge, as the one who will establish his kingdom and put down the rebellion that is on this earth. He, Jesus, hasn't yet come to judge. Remember, he was there. He didn't come to judge them. He came to save them. He came to show them that he was the son of God who would take away the sins of the world.

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He came the first time to save. He came to bring grace, not government. He came as the one who is the savior, not the sovereign.

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That is the Lord Jesus that we crawl up next to. That is the Lord Jesus.

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For the son of man who came to seek and to save the lost. And we were so lost and we needed to be sought and we needed to be saved. Praise the God. Praise God. God the Father will send Jesus the second time for an entirely different purpose. His messenger, Jesus Christ, will come to prepare the way for God's judgment.

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So I want us to look at these verses and see if we can understand more about this. The refiner's fire. I want us to look closely at the refiner's fire.

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Who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap.

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The refiner's fire will purify. It's so hot, it will purify. The fuller soap will wash us clean. It's got like tons of Clorox in it. It's going to take away the stains. That's the way I thought about that.

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The refiner's fire will remove impurity or unwanted elements from a substance.

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What a refiner's fire does for metal or precious stones is what the Lord Jesus does with our heart, y'all.

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So we have a little video, and I'm not sure how it's going to be, but if you want to punch that button.

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So that kind of just gives you an idea. It has to get really, really, really hot. It has to melt down and they pour off the bad stuff off the top.

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A refiner's fire melts down a metal, maybe gold or silver, to purify the end results. It is a blazing fire, we saw that, so very hot that the metal literally becomes a boiling liquid.

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In this melted down state, the dross, that's a mass of solid impurities floating on molten metal or literally waste matter. It's what is no good and it comes up, rises to the top and is then removed from the metal before it cools. When this dross is drawn off, the metal is finally made pure.

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Then the word talks about the fuller soap.

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The fuller soap will wash off the stain of thin. This is strong soap that bleaches stain. It will bleach out the worst or impure and clean away the filth. See, y'all, that's what the Lord has done for you and for me.

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He refines us.

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As the refiner's fire purifies and the fuller soap washes clean, that's exactly what God's redemptive work looks like for each one of us.

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Sometimes I wonder if we need to be refined more than once.

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Maybe we need to go under that Clorox white one more time.

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Mr. McArthur says, "The fire will burn off the dross of iniquity. The soap will wash out all the stain of thin."

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Y'all think about that.

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Your sins and my sins, the stains they left, they're gone.

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They are gone because Jesus covered them.

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The Lord's Jesus' coming will be one in which He removes all impurities.

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No one will escape His cleansing.

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He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. They will bring offerings and righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and in former years.

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After we have gone through that cleansing, ladies, after we have recognized that we are dirty and that we need a savior, that we need a refining fire, that we need something to purify us, that we need that fuller soap, that is what the Lord Jesus' blood has done for us.

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It sets us apart and makes us different.

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Refined for the Lord.

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Think about that. We are refined for the ministry that God has you in this place for. He refines you. He refines you so that you can sit with that woman who is struggling or help somebody with a whiny baby or run errands for somebody. This is our service and we are refined to do that. He's not going to let just anybody go out and do those things. He wants to know the woman that goes and tends to the other.

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He wants us to be like him, to be like that goal that came out of that refining, the purity of it.

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Let's look at that verse again. He will purify the sons of Levi.

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Who are the sons of Levi?

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What's the Levitical priest who led the nation of Israel astray? That's a sad scenario.

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He will refine them and they will bring the pure offerings to the Lord as an example to all God's people. God will accept what Judah and Jerusalem will bring to him and God will be delighted in the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem. It will be like as in the days of old and as in former years.

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As in the time of Solomon before he went cuckoo. That's what it will be like. As in the time of Solomon, there was a period in which Israel served God in such a way that they witnessed to the entire world.

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What do you think about the class of Malachi leaving this place and witnessing to the entire world or maybe witnessing to your next door neighbor?

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Or you know the grumpy lady at Kroger who's in line before you, that grumpy lady?

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I don't know, maybe just a hug or maybe just a word of encouragement. Maybe that's one of the things he's refined us for.

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It is important to see how these verses speak to each of us.

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The refiner's fire and the fuller soap are meant for each of us.

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We are children of the righteous father and he looks to find in each of us obedience and a love for him that trumps everything else in our life.

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Do you ever think about him looking at us that way?

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Refined, all washed up, clean, ready to go.

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He looks at us, see if we're obedient.

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Three, five, he's still talking to those priests.

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Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the idolaters, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says the Lord. We think how does Israel and the priest, how do they get to Israel? How do they get in such a pickle? How do they get in such a way as that? They are so far off the course. How does that happen?

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God will come to the children of Israel again and he's going to come in judgment.

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He will still see their sinfulness, the sorcery, the adultery, marrying those pagan women who worship idols, oppression of the hired workers, the widows and the orphans.

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There was no witness for God as if he didn't even exist for the people of Israel.

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There's a great mystery as to why Israel had turned away from the God of their fathers.

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But I think we see the answer right here. Look at the very last part of Malachi 3.5. "They do not fear me," says the Lord of Hosts.

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They no longer revere him.

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They don't adore him.

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They don't come in subjection to him.

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They do not fear me, says the Lord of Hosts. God is a God of love. He was a God of love for them. He's a God of love for us today. We come to him in love and obedience.

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When we come to him in love and obedience, that shows our fear, our respect, our reverence.

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The fear of God in a woman's life, a Christian's life, it's a must.

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We can't look at him as the daddy who gives us whatever we want because we're so cute when we're three years old.

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The fear of the Lord, their respect, their reverence of God, that's what the priest lost, y'all. That's what Malachi's writing about. They lost that reverence. They lost that fear. They lost that plain adoration for God.

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There's lots of verses. It is the Lord your God you shall fear.

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Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

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It is the Lord your God you shall fear, respect, revere.

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Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

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The fear of the Lord is clean and enduring forever. I like this one. The fear of the Lord is what?

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The beginning of knowledge.

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We have to understand that reverence before we can hear him speak to us. We have to understand that we have to come to him with a great respect, like a respect that you have for nobody else.

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He'll teach us. That's when our knowledge begins.

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The end of the matter all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man and woman.

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And then these that we like, that we like to cuddle up with. Fear not for I am with you.

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I will bring your offspring from the east and from the west. I will gather you.

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This one might be my favorite. Fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

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Y'all know that. We will be in heaven with him.

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We will be joint heirs with Jesus Christ to the very throne of God.

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And he says, y'all don't be afraid.

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Not of the world, but revere me. Fear me, but don't be afraid of the world.

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In 1 John 4, 18 through 19.

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There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.

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We fear him because he first loved us.

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How have you been perfected? Think about that.

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How have you been perfected?

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The cleansing blood of Jesus, the lamb of God.

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What does John say? What does John the Baptist say when he's walking down the hill? When Jesus is coming at him. Behold what? Hold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

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Since last week when we met together, those seven days between our time together, we've seen lots of sadness in our world, lots of sadness in our nation, and so much evil.

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There's only one way that we can navigate through this fallen world, y'all. We can't even try, don't even attempt to do it another way.

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We can't even take a baby step if we do it another way.

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We can only live here in the security of Jesus Christ.

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It is only in God that we can trust.

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He will deliver, he will protect, he will save us, he will watch over us, he will deliver us from evil.

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John wrote these words.

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If there's somebody in here who's troubled, if there's somebody who's heart's breaking,

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maybe this is just especially for you.

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Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

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My father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, what I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where

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you are. You are a great, awesome, and holy father.

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There is not enough worship. There is not enough praise that can ever come close to filling up the goodness you are to each of us.

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Today you've brought us together as women of faith to teach us and show us, to help us understand about refining, to be refined for you, to be cleansed for you, to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to walk the road like Jesus did, to love like Jesus did.

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Oh, Father God, I ask you to help us. I ask you to help us strengthen each other in times of need, in times of sadness, or in times of sickness, Lord. Help us to come along beside our sisters and hold one another up, Lord.

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Let us be mindful always that we belong to you, that we are daughters of the King of Kings.

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Thank you, Lord, for loving us. Thank you for your word. Thank you for bringing us together. Bless these sweet women for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.