Sept. 23, 2024

Evening Confession

Evening Confession

Ending a depressing and discouraging day with a time of confession.

Ending a depressing and discouraging day with a time of confession.

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. This is where

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I would say good evening everyone, but I am removing

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the word good from my vocabulary. I think there was

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a broadcast of what the other day where I wouldn't

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say good morning, I would just say morning. Well. I

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don't want to say good evening. I just want to

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say it is well. It is Sunday, September the twenty second,

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twenty twenty four, it is currently nine forty eight pm

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Central time, and I'm coming to you live from the

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Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. How

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are you doing? How was your day?

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How is church?

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Have you had any conversations today about things going on

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in the Christian world? Did you hear any discussion about

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certain things going on in the Christian world? Did you

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have any discussions or hear any thoughts or words or

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things said about a very specific individual who has been

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removed from ministry because of sin? Have you heard about

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that today? In some ways, if you heard no discussion

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about it, if no one mentioned it, maybe in some

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ways that is is that a well? I don't want

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to use the word good. That's a thing it Maybe

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it was a positive I don't know, or maybe it's

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actually a negative. If you didn't hear anything about it,

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if no one is talking about it, if no one

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is mentioning it, is that a good thing or is

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that a bad thing? I'm very conflicted. I just know this.

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This entire day has been one of I just feel depressed.

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I just feel discouraged.

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I just feel.

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I I don't want to be hyperbolic, but there's just

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a point. I just feel like I just want to

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give up. And maybe I just want to give up

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because maybe it says more about me than it does

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anything else.

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I don't know. But if you.

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Listen to my messages this morning, Sunday School and Sunday Morning, right,

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we talked about sin and lordship salvation for Sunday School,

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we talked about Romans chapter two, verse one that therefore

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for the morning worship, And if you listen to all

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of that, you know that there was one major thing

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that was impacting everything I said, and that is well

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the recent development of a very famous pastor being removed

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from ministry. Most are saying he is now permanently disqualified.

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His ministry is forever over because of a specific sin. Now,

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it's kind of interesting since the sin has not really

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been outlined. Since the sin has not been really defined,

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I think everyone is just assuming what the sin is,

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and then everyone is pronouncing their judgment. And as I've

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read all the comments and I have kept up with

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how this is being talked about, I'm just going to

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tell you I've become more and more discouraged and more

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and more depressed. Because basically, you can put the category,

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you can put the comments into a couple of categories,

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and the two main categories is, well, this proves the

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man was never saved. This proved this man committed a sin.

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He was never saved. He's not of the he's not

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one of the real you know, of the regenerate people

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of God. He's he's not saved. And that has just

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been so heartbreaking to see. But the other one is

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even more convoluted and complicated because I saw numerous comments, Well,

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if he would have just asked God for help, if

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he would have just trusted God, God is there to

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give us strength to say no to temptation, and God

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is there to keep us from sin. Well, if God

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is there to keep us from sin, well, then no

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one should sin. So it's it's either the man wasn't

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saved or the man was saved, but he just did

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not turn to God because God will keep us from

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sin as if we can be perfect, which both both

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and and then and then the comments go away all

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over the place. So it's just been sad. Now I'm

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still not going to mention the man's name because I

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have no desire to do that. I just I just

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don't see the value in that, right, because how I

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want to.

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In some ways I could.

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I could mention the name now because it's everywhere right, right,

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So maybe I'm just doing it just for a maybe

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maybe to try to demonstrate something. Maybe I'm trying to

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teach a lesson. Maybe what I'm trying to demonstrate is, yes,

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everyone's talking about it, but just throwing more things upon

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it is not of any value.

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What I'm trying to do.

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Is like, here's the situation. You know about it, I

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know about it. We don't need to dig into all

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of the particulars. What we need to do is what

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can we learn from it? What can we learn about?

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What can we learn? What benefit can we gain from it?

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Because in the reality is it's not about us. It's

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about that individual and all the pain that arises from sin. Look,

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sin always brings pain and destruction. It always does, it

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always does, right, Sin always brings pain and destruction. And

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so right now there's people hurting. Right now, there's people suffering,

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and that's just that's not good, like that should bother us.

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It's like when you read the comments, some people will

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mention some of the suffering, but then they want to

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pick some Well, this person is probably suffering more than

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this person, and it's like everyone's taking side, everyone has,

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you know, they're the you know, they stand on the

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moral high ground.

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They're condemning, and it's just so ugly. It's just all

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it's just it's disgusting.

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It's ugly, and I just want us to find a

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way to take something from this. So I tried to

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talk about it a lot this morning, again from a

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theological perspective, and really challenged us and challenged us. Now

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I did see and you may have a different opinion

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about this. The person who has been removed from ministry,

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he was scheduled to be speaking at a conference. He

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was supposed to be the first speaker at the conference.

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This conference who was being held by, well, the seminary

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that this man was very much connected to and a

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part of, and I think he teaches at or I

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can't remember his specific role, but he's definitely he was

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listed as part of the you know, a part of

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the staff for this particular seminary, right, okay, And so

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so he's very much there. So the people there, the

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people hosting the conference. It's the seminary who's hosting the conference,

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so they all know who this man is.

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This man was scheduled to be there.

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All the people who were there know knows who the

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man was because they were showing up at a conference

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where he was going to be the first speaker. So

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everyone knew exactly what was going on. And so I

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watched their opening statement, and I was somewhat baffled and saddened.

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One they did not mention the man's name. They said, Hey,

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the man who was supposed to speak, right, that man

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has been permanently disqualified from ministry because of sin.

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They wouldn't say his name, which was.

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Kind of bizarre, Like everyone there knows. I mean, like

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when I'm speaking on the microphone, there's people who don't

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have a clue who I'm talking about. So there's no

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point in mentioning the name. But there everyone knew that.

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Everyone knows. Everyone knows, and they just they wouldn't even mention.

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They wouldn't say, our brother, our brother in Christ has fallen,

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our brother in Christ has hurt his family. His family

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is hurting his his I don't know his entire family structure.

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But they didn't even mention. They didn't meant no. They

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just said, he is permanently disqualified and he has basically

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disgraced the name of Christ.

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So they wanted to immediately.

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Establish his disqualification.

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That's what they wanted to establish.

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He's disqualified and he's disgraced the name of They did

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not mention his name. And then immediately after this announcement,

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they pray and they did not even pray for him.

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They didn't pray for his family, they didn't pray for him.

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It was if the man no longer exists. He's just

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the man who's disqualified, and he's the man who disgraced.

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He's not a brother who's fallen.

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He's not someone we're going We're gonna do everything in

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our power to show love, mercy, grace, to bring about restoration.

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There was no speaking of restoration.

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No, no, he's just the man who.

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Is permanently disqualified and who disgraced basically the name of Christ.

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And what we need today is men who are not

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like that, men who will be faithful. Basically was the message.

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Don't be like him, the man with whom we will

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not say.

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And it was so weird to watch. I was like,

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even in your.

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Prayer, you can't pray for him, you can't pray for

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his family, you can't pray for the people who are

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specifically hurt the other person involved in the sin.

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No, we're no, no.

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And I was just kind of like even theer I

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was watching a YouTube video. They were showing the opening

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segment of the conference, and then someone was reviewing it,

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and even the person reviewing it was kind of like that,

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don't mention his name, they don't even pray for him.

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Even they were kind of like it was kind of cold.

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It was kind of.

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There was no grace, there was no mercy, there was

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no love, there was no compassion.

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It was almost like, don't be like him. The end,

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you be different.

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When someone is broken and fallen. Now, I don't know,

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maybe the man's not broken. Maybe the man but I mean, Mike,

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from my understanding, he's the one who acknowledged it. He's

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the one who came forward. So then that would seem

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to admit that he acknowledges it sin And I'm assuming

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there's some brokenness over it. I don't know, but it

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was just weird. If you're going to mention it. There

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was no like, let's pray for everyone involved. You don't

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have to just pray for one, pray for everyone involved.

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And if you don't want to pray for anyone, I mean,

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I don't know.

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It was just so. It just made me so sad. Look,

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I've always been.

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There's two there's.

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I have to be honest.

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Right. On one hand, I could I could think that

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the way I think about this kind of situation or

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any other situation is because I'm just aware of my

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own failure, my own sin, my own unworthiness, my own

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like I'm so aware of my own Maybe that maybe

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that shades my perspective, right, Maybe that impacts my perspective.

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Maybe that somehow, you know, gives me the wrong. Maybe

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maybe you could say you come across too weak, or

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you come across to you. But I don't know, I mean,

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aren't we supposed to is that their love, isn't their compassion?

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Isn't there any hope? Is it? Just like, Okay, here's

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the five sins, and if you commit these five sins,

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you are forever, forever doomed, You are forever ever disqualified.

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Is that the way it is?

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Since the Bible doesn't really I know people will try

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to go to verses, but if you really break it down,

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it it doesn't say hey now, it can't say when

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you're when you're in the middle of it. I can understand,

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and I do believe that maybe in some circumstances that

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you have obviously we could all. I just think every

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situation is unique and different. In every situation has to

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be taken into consideration. I think there has I just

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I know we just like to pronounce dogmatic declarations from

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our throne of infallibility, But I think the reality is,

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can't we all see ourselves as sinners?

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Can't we all?

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I just don't know, And I was so fearful of

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this that this is the way it would go down.

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He's just going to be a footnote in the pages

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of Christian history. I mean, look, how Rabbi Zacharias has

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just wiped off the face.

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Of the earth.

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I mean, basically, not by no means, am I'm justifying

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anything he did. I'm not justifying it, and not I'm pleased,

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I want, I'm not justifying anything.

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People, whenever you.

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Try to offer mercy or grace, it's oh, you're almost

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immediately accused of justifying or excusing. But I just like,

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here's the conference he was supposed to speak at a

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conference that it sounds like he had spoken up year

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after year after year after year after year. This man,

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I mean, the man's a part of the very seminary

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hosting the very conference, and their their approach was, we

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will not say his name. We will just say he's

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permanently disqualified and he disgraced basically the name of Christ,

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and don't be like him. Now, let's pray, all right, guys,

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let's get to the conference. I mean, what wouldn't it

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have been like, haymen, because it was a men's conference. Amen,

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our brother has fallen and he has hurt other people.

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There's people in pain, there's people filled with humility and shame.

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Let's pray for our brother. Now, men, I have no

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idea what's going on in your life? And you have

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no idea what's going on in mind. I don't know

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you struggles. You don't know my struggles. I don't know

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your private failures. You don't know my private failures. I

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know we're here for a conference. How about we set

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aside the beginning of this conference and let's all stand

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and publicly do a public confession of our sin, a

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general confession. Then maybe let's spend about ten or fifteen

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minutes in silence as we cry out to God and

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speak to God about our spiritual weaknesses, our sins, the

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things we're struggling with. Maybe maybe that could have been powerful. Right.

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I'm not saying that my way is the right way.

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I'm not.

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That's the whole thing.

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I just I just it's like if you've ever driven

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through an area where a tornado just happened, right, and

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everything is destroyed, like it's a huge tornado, and you

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and you pull in and you see the people just

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walking through the rubble. Their houses are destroyed, their property

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is scattered all over the place, and you're just kind

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of walking through it. You can see that they're shocked.

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There's pain, there's dismay. All their memories are destroyed, their

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homes are gone. They don't they don't know what to do. Well.

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Sin is kind of it just destroys everything, and the

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people are just hurt. And I know we like to

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stand and point the finger and go oo, or we

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take sides. Well, that person sin, so he hurt that person.

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So I'm on this Maybe the only we should be

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on all of their sides that we want to help,

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we want to comfort, We will not make it worse,

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and we're going to do everything we can to show

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love and compassion, especially when already everyone's already talking about it.

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Now we don't have to add to that.

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That's one of the reasons I've tried not to give

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names or anything, because I don't want to add to it.

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I want but at the same time, I want to.

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Talk about that, all the theology and all the craziness

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that being spoken of.

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So what I want to do tonight.

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Is really this sitting here on my table, we talked

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about this book. I haven't once I've got it, I

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haven't had the opportunity to do much with it. There's

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always so many other things I'm trying to do, or

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I may do one broadcast and not get to the others.

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But the name of the book is Psalms and Thirty

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Days by Trevin Wax from Hallman. It's beautiful, green, hard

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bound book. I love the cover Psalms and Thirty Days.

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And basically what this is is a non Catholic use,

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so basically the concept of the Liturgy of the Hours.

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I'm not going to go all the way back through it,

295
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but I just had it sitting here and I was

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just thinking about the day and this tragedy, this sin,

297
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this failure, the pain, the suffering, thinking about my own failure,

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my own sin, just thinking about, you know, I did

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you know two hours of teaching, did it really matter?

300
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Did I cover it? Was it even helpful? Just you know,

301
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and just really just struggling with the reality of sin.

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Sin is such a reality in the Christian life. I

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said it today that the Christian life is a life

304
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of sin, and I know that goes against everyone's theology,

305
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but facts proved me out here. So I picked up

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the book and I was like, you know, man, I

307
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haven't done anything with this book yet. And so we

308
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opened it up and it has day one morning prayer.

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I'm like, okay, and then it has you know, a

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Day one midday prayer, I'm like, okay, And then I

311
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turned the page and I saw Day one Evening Prayer,

312
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and then I saw Confession of Sin, and I'm like,

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that's what I need. That's what we all need. I've

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said it over and over and over, whenever we hear

315
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of sin and anyone else, we should first look before

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00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:37.480
we even think or want to discuss it. We should

317
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:41.279
look to ourselves and see our own sin. As Christians.

318
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We should be so broken by the law of God

319
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which shows us our sin and our failure to keep

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it no one can keep it or in a perpetual

321
00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.559
state of sin, we should be so humbled by it.

322
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And true humility is almost is the impossible task of

323
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living a lit where you're more aware, more convicted, and

324
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:08.759
more concerned by your own sin. You aren't so worried, concerned,

325
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or bothered by anyone else's because we have our own.

326
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So I'm just going to utilize this book for what

327
00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:23.799
we'll call evening prayer. At this point that would be

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00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.279
probably fast approaching nighttime prayer, but we'll call it evening prayer.

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And it begins with a call to prayer. And that

330
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call to prayer is Mark chapter thirteen. Now it only

331
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:37.799
wants us to read thirty five to thirty six, But

332
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I'm going to read thirty two to thirty seven. Mark

333
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Chapter thirteen thirty two through thirty seven. I'm setting the

334
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book aside because it uses a different translation, and I'm

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just going to use the King James Mark thirteen thirty two.

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But of that day and that hour, no with no man, No,

337
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not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son

338
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but the Father.

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Right the day of.

340
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The return of the Son of Man. Take ye, heed,

341
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:20.200
watch and pray for you know not when the time is. Look,

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00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:22.279
I don't know when the time is. I don't know

343
00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:24.440
when the time is of Christ return. I don't know

344
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the time is of my death. I don't know. You

345
00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.559
don't know. I don't know if I have one more year,

346
00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:35.880
six more months, five more years. All I know is

347
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.759
every passing minute is one minute closer to the end

348
00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:44.160
of my book, to the end of my story. We

349
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all know that. So we need to take heed. We

350
00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.920
need to be paying attention. We watch and pray for

351
00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:55.079
we don't know when the time is for. The Son

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of Man is a man taking a far journey, who

353
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left his house and gave authority to his servants to

354
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every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch watch.

355
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He therefore, for you know, not when the Master of

356
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the house cometh at even or at midnight, or at

357
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the cock crowing, or in the morning, I don't know

358
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which hour. Don't know if it's going to be late

359
00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:14.720
at night, don't know if it's going to be in

360
00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:16.000
the morning, don't know if it's going to be in

361
00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.519
the evening, don't know if it's going to be in

362
00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.640
the afternoon. This is kind of this verse kind of

363
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creates the concept of the hours of prayer. I mean,

364
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the Jews already had them. This is kind of a

365
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New Testament carrying that idea over right in the early Church,

366
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the liturgy of the hours, morning prayer, office of readings,

367
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afternoon prayer, evening prayer, nighttime prayer. Okay, we could go

368
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through all of that. That's what this book on the

369
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Psalms and Thirty Days is based off of. Right, So

370
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this is evening prayer. And why should we be praying

371
00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:52.599
in a sense at morning, afternoon, evening night. Why should

372
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:57.359
we be praying at multiple hours throughout the day? Lest coming,

373
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speaking of Christ, suddenly he find you sleeping. We should

374
00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:04.720
not be found asleep. We should be found with our

375
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focus on him, we should be. But we know how

376
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that works. And what I say unto you, I say

377
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unto all. Watch watch well, I know I don't. I

378
00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.839
know you probably don't. I know we don't pray probably

379
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:24.200
when we should. I know we all fall short. And

380
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that's why right underneath that call to prayer we have

381
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this confession. Now for the confession of sin tonight, they

382
00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.160
borrow it from the Book of Common Prayer, And here

383
00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:45.319
is the confession, Most Merciful God, we confess that we

384
00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:54.200
have sinned against you in thought, word, indeed, by what

385
00:23:54.400 --> 00:24:05.079
we have done, and by what we have left on done. Now,

386
00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:07.440
before I read all of this, I'm going to stop

387
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:16.400
right there. Throughout church history, many worship services begin with

388
00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:20.599
this type of general confession of sin, and many Protestant

389
00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:23.359
churches we don't do that, and many non Catholic churches

390
00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:25.720
we don't do that. We need to get back to

391
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a general confession of sin and every service because philologically,

392
00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:33.400
you know what you're telling the people, you've sinned.

393
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You've sinned you, and.

394
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:39.880
We need to get back as believers every night having

395
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:41.160
a general confession of sin.

396
00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:42.119
You know what it tells me.

397
00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:46.599
It tells me I have sinned because Christianity is on

398
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.920
this never ending like I even saw in comments, well,

399
00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:53.119
a regenerate man would never commit that sin. A regenerate

400
00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:56.000
man commits sin every single day, a regenerate woman, a

401
00:24:56.039 --> 00:25:00.359
regenerate child, a regenerate teenager. We commit sin every single day.

402
00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:01.079
And for some.

403
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.599
Weird reason, Christians have this never ending obsession with this.

404
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.000
Idea that no, no, no, no no.

405
00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:08.160
When I became a Christian, I became a new creation.

406
00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:10.839
The oldest passed away all things that become new, and

407
00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.000
we almost obliterate that and not understand that that's my

408
00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:18.319
position and practice. I sin every day. That's why every day,

409
00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:20.200
at the end of every day, I could do this

410
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:22.279
in the morning, I could do this in the afternoon,

411
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:23.920
I could do this in the evening, and I could

412
00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:29.119
do this at night. Most Merciful God, we not just me,

413
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:31.039
but I am definitely including me.

414
00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:32.880
So let me make this more personal.

415
00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:40.640
Most Merciful God, me me, I Lord, I confess that

416
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:47.720
I have sinned against you, ladies and gentlemen. I send

417
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:54.759
against God today. I will probably sin against God before

418
00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:58.839
I go to sleep. I will sin against.

419
00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:00.200
God in the morning.

420
00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:04.920
I will sin against God tomorrow afternoon. I will sin

421
00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:10.519
against God tomorrow evening. I will sin against God tomorrow night.

422
00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:15.720
And what if for sin I want to say, I'm

423
00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:19.079
going to stop that one. There's still going to be sin.

424
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.400
And how does this sin look? What does my sin

425
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:26.920
look like? Well, I've sinned against God in my thinking

426
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:32.680
and my thoughts. I have sinned against God in my words.

427
00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:36.960
I have sinned against God in my deeds, by what

428
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:44.000
I have done and by what I have left undone.

429
00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:46.960
Now let me read that all together, Most Merciful God,

430
00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:49.279
I confess I'm going to use I'm going to make

431
00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:53.079
it personal. Most Merciful God, I confess that I have

432
00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:56.920
sinned against you and thought word. Indeed, by what I

433
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.799
have done and by what I have left undone, I

434
00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:07.039
have not loved You with my whole heart. I didn't

435
00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:09.319
love God with my whole heart today. I don't love

436
00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:11.720
God with my whole heart right now, speaking to you,

437
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:14.960
I will not be loving God with my whole heart

438
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.359
tomorrow when I do a broadcast. I wasn't loving God

439
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.319
with my whole heart when I was preaching today. I

440
00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:25.359
have never loved God with my whole heart. Because I

441
00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:28.920
still have a sinful nature that loves.

442
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:30.960
Me more than I love God.

443
00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:36.599
Over and over and over and over again, I have

444
00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:45.720
not loved my neighbor as myself. I am truly sorry,

445
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:50.400
and I humbly repent for the sake of your son,

446
00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:59.160
Jesus Christ, Have mercy on me and forgive me. I

447
00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.519
am sorry for all my sin, and I repent in

448
00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:06.160
the sense that I'm acknowledging and changing my mind and

449
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.799
just more acknowledging that it's a sin. Yes.

450
00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:10.440
Do I want to turn from it? Yes?

451
00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.319
But guess what, no matter how many sins I turn from,

452
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.599
I'm going to be confessing tomorrow that, in many cases,

453
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:19.759
the exact same sin. You know why, Because no matter

454
00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:21.559
how much I try to turn from it, I have

455
00:28:21.640 --> 00:28:24.599
a sinful nature that will prevent me from ever getting

456
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:27.079
to perfection or holiness. So therefore I'm always going to

457
00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:32.119
be confessing a sin, because I'm always in sin. Now,

458
00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:34.839
this confession is a little bit more positive than maybe

459
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.279
I would want to be. It says, have mercy and

460
00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:41.039
forgive us that I might delight in your will and

461
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.519
walk in your ways to the glory of your name.

462
00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:45.359
Amen.

463
00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:49.839
Now I wish that I could, you know, start doing that,

464
00:28:49.880 --> 00:28:52.079
But as much as I want to, I'm never going

465
00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:58.359
to even come even close. That's why we confess. We confess.

466
00:29:01.880 --> 00:29:07.119
Then it has this verse. You know it. This is

467
00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:10.680
the first time this verse really meant anything to me.

468
00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:13.759
The first time I really understood this verse, the first

469
00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:16.359
time it really had a profound impact on me, was

470
00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:20.920
the first time I walked into a Lutheran church. This

471
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:23.079
is when the first time I really begin to understand

472
00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:26.920
law and gospel. Even though I kind of abandoned that

473
00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:30.359
understanding for a long time, it still had a profound

474
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.400
impact on me. And I'm going to make it personal again.

475
00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:42.599
If I confess my sins, he is faithful and righteous

476
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:46.599
to forgive me of my sins and declanse me from

477
00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:55.880
all unrighteousness one John one nine. If we will confess

478
00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:58.599
our sins, he is faithful and just, faithful and righteous

479
00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:06.119
to forgive us our sins and decleanse us from all unrighteousness.

480
00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:14.920
Then it has the evening psalms. I won't read them.

481
00:30:15.079 --> 00:30:18.880
It has the Gloria Glory be to God, the Father, God,

482
00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.000
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as it was

483
00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:25.200
in the beginning, is now and will be forever world

484
00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:30.480
without end. Amen. Then it has the Lord's prayer, our

485
00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:33.400
Father in heaven, How will be your name, your kingdom Come.

486
00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:35.519
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

487
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:37.519
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us

488
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.200
our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Lead us

489
00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:42.559
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil from the

490
00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:45.000
evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power

491
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:52.640
and the glory forever. Amen. And then it has this

492
00:30:52.839 --> 00:31:01.720
concluding blessing, The Lord Almighty grant you and me a

493
00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:09.119
peaceful night and a perfect end. Some in history would say,

494
00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:11.359
the Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night.

495
00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:14.599
And a perfect death.

496
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:19.440
Same concept that I don't think they use the word

497
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:23.400
perfect death, but they use the word similar. But the

498
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:29.880
Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen. Now,

499
00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:33.799
why can we have a peaceful night? Why can I

500
00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:40.160
have a perfect end? Because my sins are forgiven in

501
00:31:40.279 --> 00:31:43.960
Christ Jesus. And because when I go to sleep tonight,

502
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:52.119
no matter if I committed a thousand sins, I am

503
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:57.599
declared perfect and righteous because I'm in Christ and I'm

504
00:31:57.640 --> 00:32:11.920
saved by an imputed righteousness. This one pastor who's been

505
00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:19.759
removed He's not the only one who is suffering from

506
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:23.839
sin this evening, all of us are. His situation is

507
00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:28.039
more public, and you know people are dissecting it. But

508
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:34.839
let's just end by saying this, and let's just ask God. Lord, God,

509
00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:40.759
we come before you this evening. I pray for this

510
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:47.039
pastor his family, for everyone involved, for all who are hurting.

511
00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:53.039
We're all feeling pain, are all feeling all the negative feelings.

512
00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:58.640
I just pray somehow peace and your mercy, your grace

513
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.599
can somehow bring peace and healing and restoration to a

514
00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:09.480
very very painful situation. But Lord, there are people everywhere

515
00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:15.559
suffering the consequences of sin, because we all sin. There's pain,

516
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:20.319
there's suffering, there's heartache everywhere throughout the world. Lord, because

517
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:24.319
of sin. Lord, our only hope is in your son.

518
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:30.119
I pray that everyone, whether they were sinned against or

519
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:33.559
whether they the one was doing the sinning, that we

520
00:33:33.559 --> 00:33:38.440
would all find peace and hope in your son and

521
00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.400
his finished work. Because our only hope is what your

522
00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:44.759
son has done for us, not in what we can do,

523
00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:48.759
hope to do, stop doing, or trying to make more

524
00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:51.920
promises that we will do better. All we can do

525
00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:54.720
is run to the foot of the cross of your

526
00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:59.440
son and be covered in his blood, and have his

527
00:33:59.480 --> 00:34:05.920
perfect rife righteousness accredited to our account because of faith alone. Lord,

528
00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:08.800
let someone find peace in this, Let someone find hope

529
00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:13.559
in this, and let this horrible situation where people will

530
00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:19.480
judge condemn, let us use it to focus on our

531
00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:26.119
own sin. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen, God bless