Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Emily. Father, we do thank
you for the revelation that you give to
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us, particularly, Lord, for
the Good News of the Gospel that comes
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to us in Jesus Christ, the
Gospel that promised to it promises to us
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the forgiveness of sins and our justification
before you, through his obedience, I'm
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imputed to us. It's a salvation
that also promises to us, Lord,
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sanctification, US, the hope of
being made more and more like you,
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and one day I'm reigning with Christ
and glorious bodies. That no a sin,
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no more. Lord, we look
forward to that day and I'm until
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then, we ask that you would
help us to persevere, keeping our eyes
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on you are only rock and our
only fortress. We asked that you would
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help us with that. And they
enable us to do do these things and
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to be these kinds of people.
As we come to your word tonight,
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and Ezekiel, bless the reading and
preaching of your word and our hearing of
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it. We pray this in Jesus
name. Then, well, tonight I'm
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going to be reading from Ezekiel Twenty
Six, twenty seven and, yes,
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even the beginning of twenty eight.
So if you're able to remain standing.
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Please do, but if you need
to sit down, that's fine. Actually
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go ahead and be seated. Here's
why. Because before I read this I
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think it would be helpful. What
I want to do tonight is just a
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little bit differently different. Considering the
length of the passage. What I want
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to do is just interduce you to
it first before we read it. I
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think it'll help us to hear it
better. So I'll survey the passage briefly
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and then we'll read it and then
I'll make some some applications at the end.
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For those of you who have been
with us through is Zekiel, you
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know that it is not uncommon for
us to read large portions of this book.
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I want to remind you just a
couple reasons why we do that.
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One reason is that general knowledge of
the Bible is low among many, many
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people. Perhaps not for you,
but there are. There's good reason just
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to get to know more of the
Bible. So that's one reason. Another
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reason, which is more based in
the text, is that much of what
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is Egiel says comes to us in
large units. But I think that's intended
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to be a taken together. When
you see that, both in the way
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he frames things and also in the
imagery he gives, and you'll see that
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here tonight, the the pictures and
the prophecy tonight against the city tire.
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It's full of imagery. It's meant
to make an impression on us. Imagine
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reading a Lord of the Rings,
you know, two or three sentences at
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a time right. It's difficult to
get caught up in the story. It
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would might it would be challenging.
Imagine going through some of the songs or
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some of the battles and in a
grand book like that, just a tiny
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bit at a time. It's not
that that's not useful, but you do
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miss out on some other things.
And so, with various options, a
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good options in front of us,
this is the one I've chosen and I
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hope it's a blessing to you.
I'm so now an overview of these chapters,
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these chapters I'll deal with, these
prophecies against the city of tire.
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You remember that what is happening is
a God has promised destruction upon Jerusalem for
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her disobedience, for her her many, many sins, which Ezekiel has has
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testified to and made very clear.
But now, with the destruction of Jerusalem.
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The Lord is moving to these cities
outside of Jerusalem, unbelieving cities,
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people not a part of the Abrahamic
Covenant, Not Direct Lee, and he's
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bringing condemnation on them. We read
the reason for that in Verse Two of
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Chapter Twenty Six, son of man, because tire said concerning Jerusalem, Aha,
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the gate of the People's is broken, it is swung open to me,
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I shall be replenished. Now that
she has laid waste. Tire,
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the city not a part of Israel, looks at Jerusalem's destruction, says now
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is our chance, this is going
to be great for us, as God's
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judgment comes upon his people, we
have an opportunity to grow even stronger.
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And the Lord does not like this. He hates it and in particular,
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what will see is that he hates
the heart from which that comes. It's
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not only despising of Jerusalem, but
it's a very proud heart that is all
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about wealth, all about her economy, all about having strength in that city.
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So first we have this accusation of
what tire has done. Then in
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verses three through fourteen, we have
a description of what God will do.
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Tire is a seaside city and known
for its merchant and it's true, it's
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economies as seafaring, these kinds of
things. And God uses water imagery to
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describe how tire will be destroyed,
like a big wave or a Suna me
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even rolling in on this city.
He's just going to lay it bare down
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to the rock. Even the soil, he says, will be removed.
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The God's wrath on them will be
will be made manifest against their wealth.
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They're people music and more. Then
after that, in verses fifteen through eighteen,
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we have the response of tires neighbors, which, interestingly, is kind
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of what tire should have done in
the first place, which is humility.
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When we see God pouring out his
wrath on someone our opera, our response
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should not be oh, great,
it's time to get or oh, how
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awesome I am. When we see
someone under discipline, it's an opportunity for
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us took, examine our own hearts
and repent, and we see some of
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that. Then we come to chapter
twenty six and a lamentation is given,
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a song, and you have this. I kind of think of it in
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my mind as the titanic chapter.
The city of tire is portrayed as like
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the titanic, this sort of unsinkable, beautiful, amazing ship that would never
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fail, and down she goes.
And so this is there's really strong imagery
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here in this chapter. Is this
amazing ship is described. We have the
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beauty of the ship, the strength
of the ship, then the sailors on
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the ship and all the great successes
that she has as she goes about her
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business in the world. Then in
verses, Twenty Six through twenty seven,
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comes the sinking of the ship,
and it is the rowers, it says
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the rowers, that bring this about. They take the ship, the people
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of tire take the ship to a
dangerous place. They do not see what
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is coming. What happens is not
an accident. In other words, tire
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has brought herself to this place.
And then in the chat, the next
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thing we have in the last thing
we have in that chapter is the great
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mourning that happens when the works of
man come crashing down or sinking down.
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It is not uncommon for people,
even disconnected with the event, to be
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very, very moved by that.
We know that in the sinking of the
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titanic that the Twin Towers come to
my mind as well. For those of
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us who are around when we saw
those fall. There is this sense of
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greatness just crumbling, a vulnerability,
of of a seeing of great accomplishment coming
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so quickly, so quickly, to
an end, and so we see the
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mourning of these people as they feel
the law us of what has happened.
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Finally, in Chapter Twenty Eight,
verses one through nineteen, the prophet focuses
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on in on the king, a
king who is very proud. He is
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not, his heart is not psalm
sixty two, which is the Lord is
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my strength, the Lord is my
salvation, the Lord is my rock,
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but he is I'm like I mentioned
this morning, in the Tower of Babel,
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or nebuchadnezzar tire. He thinks he's
a God, he thinks he is
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accomplished all of these things, and
in some ways he has. His success
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and his decisions and the things that
have happened in this country are to the
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glory of Man. The problem is
that he's trusted in them and he's will
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put too much faith in himself and
for this God will bring him down in
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a way that that has echoes of
the fall of Satan himself, who is
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strong and beautiful and powerful and yet
falls so greatly because of his pride,
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a reminder to us not to trust
the kings and princes of this world or
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anything in this world that would promise
to be to us God. So that's
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a summary of these these sections.
Let's read them now, and I ask
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that as you read them, as
we read them, as you hear them,
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I'm let the words sink in,
feel the image three in the poetry,
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imagine the descriptions that are given.
UN Let the weight of these words
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fall upon your hearts. So let's
hear God's word. Knell a beginning in
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Ezechiel, Chapter Twenty six, in
the eleventh year, on the first day
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of the month, the word of
the Lord came to me, son of
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man, because Ti are said concerning
Jerusalem. Aha, the gate of the
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People's is broken. It is swung
open to me. I shall be replenished
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now that she has laid waste.
Therefore, thus says the Lord, God
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behold, I am against you,
O tire, and I will bring up
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many nations against you, as the
sea brings up its waves. They shall
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destroy the walls of tire and break
down her towers, and I will scrape
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her soil from her and make her
a bare rock. She shall be in
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the midst of the sea, a
place for the spreading of nets, for
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I have spoken, declares the Lord
God, and she shall become plunder for
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the nations, and her daughters on
the mainland shall be killed by the sword.
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Then they will know that I am
the Lord, for thus says the
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Lord God. Behold, I will
bring against tire from the North Nebuchadnezzar,
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King of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots and with horsemen
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and a host of many soldiers,
he will kill with the sword your daughters
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on the mainland. He will set
up siege wall against you and throw up
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a mound against you and raise a
roof of shields against you. He will
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direct the shock of his battering rams
against your walls and with his axes you
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will break down your towers. His
horses will be so many that their dust
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will cover you. Your walls will
shake at the noise of the horsemen and
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wagons and chariots when he empties your
gates, as men enter a city that
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has been breached, but the hoofs
of his horses he will trample all your
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streets. He will kill your people
with the sword and your mighty pillars will
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fall to the ground. They will
plunder your riches and loo to your Merchantdiz.
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They will break down your walls and
destroy your pleasant houses, your stones
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and timber and soil. They will
cast into the midst of the waters and
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I will stop the music of your
songs and the sound of your liars shall
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be heard no more. I will
make you a bare rock. You shall
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be a place for the spreading of
nets. You shall never be rebuilt,
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for I am the Lord. I
Have Spoken, declares the Lord God.
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Thus says the Lord God to tire. Will not the coast land shake at
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the sound of your fall? When
the wounded grow, when slaughter is made
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in your midst? Then all the
princes of the sea will step down from
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their thrones and remove their robes and
strip off their embroidered garments. They will
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clothe themselves with trembling. They will
sit on the ground and tremble every moment
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and be appalled at you. They
will raise a lamentation over you and say
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how you have pair Urst you who
were inhabited from the seas, Oh city
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renowned, who is mighty on the
sea. She and her inhabitants imposed their
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terror on all the her inhabitants.
Now the coast lands tremble on the day
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of your fall, and the coast
lands that are on the sea are dismayed
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at your passing. For Thus,
as the Lord God, when I make
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you a city laid waste, like
the cities that are not inhabited, when
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I bring up the deep over you, in the great waters cover you,
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then I will make you go down
with those who go down to the pit,
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to the people of old, and
I will make you dwell in the
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world below among ruins from of old
and those who go down to the pit,
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so that you will not be inhabited, but I will set beauty in
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the land of the living. I
will bring you to a dreadful end and
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you shall be no more, though
you be sought, for you will never
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be found again, declares the Lord
God. The word of the Lord came
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to me. Now, you,
son of man, raise a lamentation over
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tire and say to tire, who
dwells at the entrances to the sea,
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merchant of the People's to many coast
lands. Thus, as the Lord God,
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Oh tire, you have said I
am perfect in beauty. Your borders
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are in the heart of the seas. Your builders made perfect your beauty.
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They made all your planks from the
fir trees of Sennier. They took a
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cedar from Lebanon to make a asked
for you of oaks of basin. They
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made your oars. They made your
deck of Pines from the coasts of Cyprus,
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inlaid with ivory. A fine embroidered
linen from Egypt was your sale,
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serving as your banner. Blue and
purple from the coasts of Elshaw was your
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awning. The inhabitants of Sidon and
Arvad, where your rowers, your skilled
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men, oh tire, were in
you. They were they were your pilots.
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The elders of gay ball and her
skilled men were in you, cocking
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her your seams. All the ships
of the sea, with their mariners,
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were in you, know to barter
for your weares. Persia and blood and
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put were in your army, as
your men of war. They hung the
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shield and helmet. In you.
They gave you splendor. Men of our
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Vaud and Helleck were on your walls
all around, and men of Gabbaud where
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in your towers. They hung their
shields, on your walls, all around.
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They made you perfect or they made
perfect your beauty. Tarshash did business
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with you because of your great wealth
of every kind, silver, iron,
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tin and lead. They exchanged for
your wares. Javan to ball and Meshak
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traded with you. They exchanged human
beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
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From Beth torgot Togarma, they exchanged
horses, war horses and Mules for
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your wares. The men of Dadan
traded with you. Many coast lands where
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your own special markets. They brought
you in payment. They brought you in
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payments. It in payment ivory,
tusks and Ebony. Syria did business with
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you because of your abundant goods.
They exchanged for your wars emeralds, purple,
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embroidered work, fine linen, coral
and Ruby. Judah and the land
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of Israel traded with you. They
exchanged for your merchandise of wheat, of
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minith meal, honey, oil and
balm. Damascus did business with you for
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your abundant goods because of your great
wealth of every kind, wine of hell,
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bon and wood from shot are and
casts of wine from us all.
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They exchanged for your wares, raw
iron, CASSIA and Columnus were bartered for
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your merchandise. Deedon traded with you
in saddle cloths for riding. Arabia and
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all the princes of Kate are where
your favored dealers and lambs, rams and
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goats. In these they did business
with you. The Traders of Sheba and
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Rama traded with you. They exchange
for your where's the best of all kinds
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of spices and all precious stones and
gold. Ron Canay, Eden, traders
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of Sheba, Asher and kil mud, and traded with you in your market.
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You traded with you. These traded
with you in choice garments, in
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clothes of blue and embroidered work,
and in carpets of colored material, bound
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with cords and made secure. The
ships of Tarshas traveled for you with your
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Merchandiz. So you were filled and
heavily laden. In the heart of the
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seas, your rowers, I brought
you out into the high seas, the
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East Wind has wrecked you. In
the heart of the seas, your riches,
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your where's, your merchandise, your
mariners and your pilots, your cockers,
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your dealers and merchandise, and all
your men of war who are in
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you with all your crew, that
is in your midst, sink into the
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heart of the seas. On the
day of your fall, at the sound
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of the cry of your pilots,
the countryside shakes and down from their ships
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come all who handle the OAR,
the mariners and all the pilots of the
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sea, stand on the land and
shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly.
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They cast dust on their heads and
wallow and ashes. They make themselves
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bald for you and put sackcloth on
their waist. They weep over you and
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bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. In their wailing, they raise a
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lamentation for you and lament over you, who is like tire, like one
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destroyed in the midst of the sea. When your waves came from the seas,
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you satisfied many people, or when
your wares came from the seas,
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you satisfied many peoples. With your
abundant wealth and merchandise, you enriched the
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kings of the earth. Now you
are wrecked by the seas and the depths
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of the waters. Your merchandise and
all your crew in your midst have sunk
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with you. All the inhabitants of
the coast lands are appalled at you,
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and the hair of their kings bristles
with horror. Their faces are convulsed.
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The merchants among the people's hissing you. You have come to a dreadful end
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and shall be no more forever.
The word of the Lord came to me,
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son of man, say to the
prince of tire. Thus says the
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Lord God, because your heart is
proud and you have said I am a
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God, I sit in the seed
of the Gods, in the heart of
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the seas. Yet you are but
a man and no god, though you
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make your heart like the heart of
a God. You are indeed wiser than
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Daniel. No secret is hidden from
you. By your wisdom and your understanding,
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you have made wealth for yourself and
have gathered gold and silver into your
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treasuries. By your great wisdom and
trade, you have increased your wealth,
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and your heart has become proud in
your wealth. Therefore, thus says the
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Lord God, because you make your
heart like the heart of a God.
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Therefore, behold, I will bring
foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of
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the nation's, and they shall draw
their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
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and defile your splendor. They shall
thrust you down into the pit and you
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shall die the death of the slain
in the heart of the seas. Will
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you still say, I am a
God in the presence of those who kill
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you, though you are but a
man and no god? In the hands
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of those who slay you, you
shall die the death of the uncircumcised,
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by the hand of the foreigners.
For I Have Spoken, declares the Lord
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God. Moreover, the word of
the Lord came to me, son of
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man, raise a lamentation over the
king of tire and say to him thus,
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as the Lord God, you were
the signet of perfection, full of
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wisdom and perfect in beauty. You
were Eden, the Garden of God.
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Every precious stone was your covering.
Sardius, Towpaz and diamond, barrel onyx
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and Jasper, Sapphire, Emerald,
carbuncle and crafted and gold were your settings
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and your engravings. On the day
you were created, they were prepared.
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You were an anointed Guardian Cherub.
I placed you. You are on the
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Holy Mountain of God, in the
midst of the stones of fire. You
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walked. You were blameless in your
ways from the day you were created till
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unrighteousness was found in you in the
abundance of your trade. You were filled
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with violence in your midst and you
sinned. So I cast you as a
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profane thing from the mountain of God
and I destroyed you, O Guardian Cherub
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from the midst of the fought of
the stones of fire. Your heart was
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proud because of your beauty. You
corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your
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splendor. I cast you to the
ground. I exposed you before kings to
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feast their eyes on you by the
multitude of your iniquities. In the unrighteousness
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of your trade, you profaned your
sanctuaries. So I brought fire out from
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your midst. It consumed you and
I turned you to ashes of the Earth,
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or two ashes on the earth,
in the sight of all who saw
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you, all who knew you,
among the People's are appalled at you.
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You have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever. God
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blesses word to us. So you
see what I mean. I talk about
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the greatness of this city, the
greatness of her king. She is pictured,
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he is pictured as even herself,
as an angel, standing in the
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glory of God and in it's true
that God even pronounces a kind of commendation
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on the wisdom and beauty of the
city and of the king, on the
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expression of all these things. They
were not false. She was truly wealthy,
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truly wise, truly powerful, truly
glorious. But this, the wealth
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and the glory and all of these
things led to a heart of pride,
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and this is the main thing I
want to focus on as I conclude this
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this evening, as we let the
scriptures do their work in us, as
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we hear God heard and these many
ways in which he speaks to us,
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I think it's important that we remember
how distracting the glory of Man is to
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us and how enticing and tempting it
is to us. It happened to the
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king of tire and her people,
the people of tire. It happened to
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Nebuchadnezzar, it happened to Solomon and
happened to David. When riches and wealth
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come into our lives, into our
countries, into our communities, there is
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much blessing in it, much good
in it, but there is also temptation
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and danger in it, and we
have to hear passages like this and remember,
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remember, remember, not to trust
it, not to trust in the
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glory and the power of man.
You can see in it, you can
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see it, you can wonder at
it, you can be amazed at it.
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We can look at big towers and
big machiness and new technologies and good
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laws and be artwork and merchants and
the economies and all these things and say
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wow. We can marvel at the
wisdom in which God gives to men,
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how much we can learn when we
go to the ant and become wise.
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But these great marvels, is good
as they are, they never, never,
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never, can replace the true king, the true God and the True
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Kingdom that I spoke about this morning
that he offers to us. And because
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of the sin in us, the
way Jesus talks about wealth and power is
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to be generally deeply suspicious of it. Not that he doesn't use it,
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not that there aren't good ends for
it, not that he hasn't even he
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has placed on people in positions of
wealth and power and who have done much
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good. Think of Joseph, for
example, and others. It's not that
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these things are bad in and of
themselves, but our sin in US often
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makes us go astray and we ought
to be deeply suspicious about ourselves and our
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place in our our hearts when we
come into contact with the glory of Man.
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The other thing that we have to
remember is, as glorious as these
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things are, they don't even begin
to compare to the power of God.
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You can go and look at something
like the Maurenzi mind if somebody, if
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you've been out there, this huge, vast work with giant machines rolling and
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moving through accomplishing amazing things. Or
you can look at this passage and this
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beautiful city. Pictured here is a
ship heavy, laden with riches and work,
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exhibiting on the wealth of the nations
and being a wealth to the nation's
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and then, right at this moment, when she is pictured so in all
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of her glory and all of her
heaviness, it's the very thing that sinks
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her as she goes into the high
waters and as the Lord brings his judgment.
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What's great and powerful to us is
really fleeting our lives. Our wealth,
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our power of fame, celebrity,
all these things, status, education,
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these things that we value, these
things that we strive for. Though
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perhaps some of them good in some
ways into some degree, we cannot think
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that they are permanent or that they
are really all that important compared to knowing
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God and trusting in him above all
things. Money comes and goes, fame
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comes and goes. You think you've
reached one level and there's yet always another
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level to reach. You've probably experienced
this on your own life, and this
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is the unanimous testimony of every single
successful person and kingdom in the history of
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the world. Gaining, achieving,
moving, accomplishing, growing, great families,
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great nations, more followers, more
knowledge, better practices, more beauty,
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all of it can come falling and
crashing down as soon as the Lord
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desires. What the Lord desires is
not the glory of Man. He's not
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impressed. He made the whole world, simply speaking it into existence. He's
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not impressed at are, at the
things that we do. What the Lord
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wants is a broken heart. What
the Lord wants is humility before him.
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What the Lord wants is to know
us and to love US and for us
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to love him in return and to
find all the glory that we could ever
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need and ever want and even imagine
in him and in him alone. The
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things of this world, they they
pass away. Jesus talks about this right.
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Things rest, they get stolen,
they get lost. You get tricked
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out of them. You wouldn't.
You give them to your children and they
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waste them. You waste them.
We make mistakes. This is life.
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We cannot trust in these things,
Jesus says, seek first righteousness and all
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these things will be added to you. Passages like this remind us to be
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humbled, to look at the example
of Jerusalem and now of tire and to
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know, as the Lord says,
that he alone is God. Kings and
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leaders and an who are able to
achieve and do great things are wonderful to
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have around, but they are not
to become our gods. No Man is
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ever to be trusted in as the
one king, no government is ever to
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be trusted in as the one fix, all Salvay, salvific solution for everything
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we need. Because of sin,
the glory of men, the True Glory
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of Man that God does desire for
us, can never be chieved, achieved.
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We always fall short, even of
that, and or of the Scriptures
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put it, the glory of God. The king of tire thinks of himself
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as a God, and God says, will you say this as people are
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killing you? He will not.
The way that we find true success,
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true happiness, true stability and a
kingdom, as I mentioned this morning,
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using Hebrews language, language from the
book of Hebrews, a kingdom that cannot
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be shaken, is, of course, in God alone. God offers to
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us a kingdom that is not achieved
on these frail things, our wisdom,
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our power. He offers us to
a kingdom that is achieved through his work,
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his word, his promise. Jesus
is God. He is not pretending
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to be God, he is not
hoping to be God, he is not
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just sort of making himself out to
be a God. He is God,
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and the Kingdom that he accomplishes is
accomplished not in the proudness of his own
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heart, but in righteousness, in
holiness, a kingdom that is founded on
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obedience and the fulfillment of the law. The God rewards with an inheritance that
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Peter describes is imperishable, undefiled and
unfading, kept in heaven. For us,
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the Kingdom of Jesus will not sink
into the sea, the Kingdom of
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Jesus that will not be overcome by
his enemies, the Kingdom of Jesus is
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not prone to disease or demons or
any difficult thing that we face in this
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life. The Kingdom of Jesus is
forever and it's for sure, and we
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see pictures of it in revelation.
I'm going to turn their now and listen
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to how some of this, this
language, comes back to us and when
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we are reminded of the new Jerusalem
and all of its goodness. Let me
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read just a small passage here revelation
twenty two, or sorry, twenty one,
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on beginning at Verse Fifteen. Think
about this passage. In contrast with
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the sinking city of tire, here
is describing the new Jerusalem, and the
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one who spoke with me had a
measuring rod of gold to measure the city
381
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and its gates and walls. The
city lies for square, its length the
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same as it's with, and he
measured the city with his rod twelve thousand
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Stadia. It's length, with and
height are all are equal. He measured
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00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:24.119
its wall a hundred forty four cubits
by human measurement, which is also an
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angels measurement. The wall was built
of Jasper, while the city was pure
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gold, clear as glass. The
foundations of the wall of the city were
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adorned with every kind of jewel.
The first was Jasper the second Sapphire,
388
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the third agate, the Fourth Emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth Carnelian,
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the seventh Chrysolite, the eighth barrel, the ninth, Topas, the
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ten, ten Chrysoparse Prass, the
eleven jason and the twelve amethyst. And
391
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the twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Each of the gates was made of a
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single Pearl. And the street of
the city was pure gold, transparent is
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glass. And I saw no temple
in the city, for its temple is
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the Lord, God, the Almighty
and the lamb. And the city has
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no need of sun or moon to
shine on it, for the glory of
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God gives it light, and its
lamp as the land lamb, by its
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light will walk, will the nation's
walk, and the Kings of the earth
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will bring their glory into it,
and its gates will never be shut by
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day and there will be no night
there. They will bring into it the
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glory and honor of the nations.
But nothing unclean will ever enter it,
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nor anyone who does what is detestable
or false, but only those whose are
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who are written in the lamb's book
of life. The city that is promised
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to us the city of the Great
King is one that is that exceeds even
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the beauty of the kingdoms of this
world, even in their metaphorical sense.
405
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US, it exceeds beyond our imagination. It is a city that is ruled
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in justice and love, a city
where there is nothing detestable and false,
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whose foundations are forever sure. The
judgment that is pictured and tire, the
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judgment against sin and unrighteousness, is
what Jesus endured on the cross so that
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we would not have to fear judgment
anymore. The city that he brings us
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into, the new Jerusalem, this
heavenly city, is a city that is
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everlasting, and so let us not
be distracted and tempted by the things of
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this world, but instead put our
hope only in the great king, the
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true King and our Lord, Jesus
Christ men, let's pray our father in
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heaven. We thank you that you
have created a world in which we can
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set about and work in and do
amazing things, creating ships and buildings and
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cities, on achieving great, great
feats in art, in agriculture. Lord,
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you allow us to create laws and
societies that are really splendid. You
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help us to know how to navigate
with the stars, how to build computers,
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how to write symphonies and great literature, and these things are wondrous and
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Glorious and we are right to be
amazed at them and to enjoy them and
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taste of the goodness of this labor. But, Lord, please keep us
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from trusting in it and forgetting that
you, and you alone are the giver
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of these things. We are not
God's and no king is our God,
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no government, no power, no
philosophy, no promise, except that which
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comes from you and Jesus Christ,
our Savior. In Him and M him
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alone do we have the glory of
God, something that far surpasses anything that
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we have experienced in this world.
Lord, we look forward not to just
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more wealth or something like that.
We look forward to a new heaven and
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the new earth that you have prepared
for us. We look forward to a
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place where where there is perfect peace
and perfect rule forever and all the nations
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will see your praise and the praise
of the lamb. We asked, Lord,
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that we would not give the glory
of God to any other and that,
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as we have, we come to
enjoy certain amounts of wisdom or health.
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Help us not to trust these things
or be tempted by them. And,
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as we are, Lord, we
ask that you would take them away
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from us, that we would allow
us to suffer, that we might learn
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to trust in you and in you
alone. Lord. We pray also that
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this word, this good word,
of the Kingdom of God and it's King,
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Jesus Christ, would be proclaimed faithfully
here among us and lived out in
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our lives. We ask also that
that message would be proclaimed and lived in
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in other churches throughout our city and
our country and our world. We pray,
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Lord, that the message, in
the goodness of your word, would
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help to undo the false pride that
so many of us have, the false
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00:39:54.320 --> 00:40:00.320
trust we have the things of this
world. And as we learn to trust
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in you, Lord, and as
we grow in your strength, we ask
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also, Lord, that you would
remove anxiety and fear that comes from paying
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too much attention to the things of
this world. Lord, we also ask
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00:40:17.480 --> 00:40:22.159
that your blessing would be upon us
as we go out into our callings this
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week. You have left us here
in the world and have called us to
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go out into it proclaiming this good
news. Being good neighbors, living at
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peace with those around us. Help
us to do these things as citizens of
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Your heavenly kingdom. May Your name
be praised in our lives and all of
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00:40:40.599 --> 00:40:45.559
our various vocations and callings, and
when we struggle and when we don't know
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where to turn, help us to
quickly and always turn back to you.
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We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
