This week we are listening to a class from a series called “The Power of His Presence” by Brother Darren Tappouras, this is the final class, which was also titled “The Power of His Presence”.

Here is the link to the YouTube video of the class.

We hope this strengthens your Faith and brightens your day!

Thank you for listening, God bless, and talk to you next week.

Send talk suggestions or comments to: [email protected]

For Show Notes, visit our website: GoodChristadelphianTalks.com

Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

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Welcome to good Chris Selfian
talks.

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I’m Levi.
And I’m Chris, and I’m Brian.

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Thank you for joining us this
week.

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On this podcast, we select one
talk a week to help us get the

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Bible in our Daily News feed.
We posted an episode at the

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start of each week.
With a short intro beforehand to

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kind of set the stage for the
talk you’re about to listen to.

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And now let’s talk more about
this week’s talk.

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Welcome to the good Chris
Adelphian Talks podcast.

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This is Brother Brian.
This week’s talk is the last

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class in a series by brother
Darren Tapores that was given

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earlier this spring at the
Riverward Ecclesia in Australia.

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The title of the series and the
class itself is called The Power

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of His Presence, and this was
recommended to us multiple times

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and I can see why.
The four classes take a deep

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dive into all the encompassing
aspects of how the presence of

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God is described, experienced,
and how we are meant to benefit

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from it now in our relationship.
By faith.

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Brother Darren touches on the
implications of the Lord’s Name,

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His Holy Spirit, and the depth
of what it means to be under the

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New Covenant through Christ.
None of this is easy listening.

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I found each class to be very
layered.

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There’ll be things that you’ll
definitely want to view the

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slides for, so we’ll link them
to the YouTube videos as well,

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which I would highly recommend.
This is 1 where I listen to each

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class four to five times each
just to get my head around what

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he was connecting.
I personally love Brother

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Darren’s study and speaking
style, and I’m convinced that we

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need to get him over to a Bible
school here in the States ASAP.

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But this was a series that I
think could be summed up by the

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thought provoking question.
Could we possibly be missing out

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on the reality that God is
actually much closer to us in

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everything we do than we give
ourselves credit for?

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So using the Acts 17 preaching
model from the Apostle Paul when

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he was connecting the dots about
what they assumed of the unknown

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God, he builds his focus from
the very end.

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Verse where Paul had written
that they should seek God and

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perhaps feel their way toward
him and find him.

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Yet he’s actually not far from
each one of us, for we are his

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offspring.
So there’s a lot more that I’d

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like to chat about, but for the
sake of the intro, I’ll just let

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you listen for yourself.
As always, we do hope that this

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strengthens your faith and
brightens your day.

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Brother Darren Toporus, the
power of his presence.

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Good evening, my dear brothers
and sisters in the Lord Jesus

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Christ, our dear young people.
It’s lovely to be back with you

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again, to continue our thoughts
on the presence of God.

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Tonight we want to change gears
a little bit.

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We’re going to probably be a
little bit more reflective on

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some of the things we’re going
to talk about and think about,

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but there’s a couple of loose
ends I want to tie up first.

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So if we can have a couple of
minutes just to bring the

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expositional part of our studies
to a conclusion.

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If you want to turn with me to
Hebrews Chapter 10, if that’s OK

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and we’ll just make a few
closing comments.

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On some of the and bring some of
the threads that we’ve been

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following through together.
Remember how we began our

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series, looking at the concept
of the presence and trying to

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define it as best we could.
And we thought the word

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closeness, the English word
close.

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It’s captured the idea of the
presence, of what presence

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really is.
And we thought about the fact

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that closeness has a number of
dimensions to it, so you can be.

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Physically close or spatially
close to someone and you can

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also be relationally close to
someone.

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And as we follow the presence of
God through Scripture, we find

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those two dimensions coming
together in and they come

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together in the temple concept
of God dwelling with his people.

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So the relational closeness of
God is really.

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Emphasize and comes into
existence by something called

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the New covenant.
We spent a fair bit of time

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looking at the New covenant, the
concept of the New Covenant that

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really allows God in his
righteousness and allows us to

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have this, this closeness, this
presence in our life.

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And so in chapter 10, the
references there in verse 16 to

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the New Covenant, we’ve talked
about it already.

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So I don’t want to.
Go over all the elements of the

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New Covenant, but it’s really
spelled out clearly there in

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verse 16.
This is the covenant, the new

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covenant I will make with them
after those days.

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It’s talking about believers
now, says the Lord.

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I will put my laws in their
hearts and their minds, and I’ll

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write them on their hearts and
their minds and their sins and

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iniquities.
I’ll remember no more.

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So this is the new covenant we
are under.

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We remember every Sunday, of
course, as we take.

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The wine, this is the blood of
the new covenant, very powerful

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symbol that reminds us of the
way that we can have this

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relationship with God.
And also here in Hebrews 10,

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we’ve got the spatial closeness
to God that’s also emphasized.

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So if you drop down to verse 20,
we’re told the the, the results

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here and what happens because of
that relationship we have.

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It says, therefore, brether, we
have boldness to enter into the

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holiest.
Into the very presence of God,

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does that idea of holiness
depicts the holiness by a new

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and living way?
Again, it’s new just as the the

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covenant was new.
So this access to the presence

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of God is something new.
It’s this new and alive or Zoey

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way, this new and living way.
Through that the Christ has

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consecrated it, says they’re in
the AV.

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It really means inaugurated.
He opened up and started it and

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and inaugurated this whole new
and living way as depicted there

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symbolically as entering through
the veil into the very presence

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of God.
So we are there with him in a

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sense.
So we’ve got these two

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dimensions that are caught up
here in the in the results of

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what we have in Christ.
We have this relationship

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through the New Covenant.
Which is just so beneficial SO1

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sided and I and I hope we got
that that reality across in our

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in our thoughts on it.
And also we are in the very

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presence of God.
We’re connected to God in a very

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unique way very incredible way.
We thought about believers under

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the old covenant.
Did they have access to the the

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holiest?
Did they have access to the

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presence of God?
Did they have access beyond the

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veil?
Well, they didn’t, in fact.

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The presence of God was very
restricted.

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If you remember, Psalm 15 says,
Who will ascend into my

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mountain, into the into the
mountain of the Lord?

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And who can stand in his holy
place and remember who could,

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Who could?
What were the conditions that

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Psalm 15 says, Well, you had to
walk uprightly, you had to.

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All your works were had to be
works of righteousness.

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You had to speak truth.
You had to be honest.

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You had to be someone who put
yourself out for others and

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didn’t misuse your power.
There’s a whole lot of

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conditions.
You had to be righteous to

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ascend that hill.
Anyone want to read the

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conditions there in Psalm 15 and
put their hand up and say they

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could have?
They could have walked up the

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hill into the presence of God?
I couldn’t.

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I don’t think any of us could.
Psalm 24 says exactly the same

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things, Same thing.
Who can ascend the hill of the

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Lord?
Who can stand in his presence?

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You had to have clean hands.
You had to have a pure heart.

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There had to be no vanity in
you.

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No, you had to have a person of
absolute truth without any hint

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of a lie or or or or subterfuge
in your life.

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When you Add all these
characteristics together of who

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could walk into the presence of
God under the Old Covenant, no

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one could, of course.
And if you Add all those

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conditions and all those
qualities together, you have

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something which we may.
Call perfection.

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So to enter into the presence of
God required perfection.

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Only one person in history has
been able to walk to that hill

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and stand in the presence of God
in that way and meet those

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conditions, of course, and
that’s our Lord Jesus Christ.

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But as a result of that, Hebrew
says he’s opened up this new and

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living way through the New
covenant that all of us can live

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in the presence of God, even
though we’re not.

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Perfect as described in that in
those conditional Psalms.

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Now what’s the result then of
this ability for us to be able

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to stand in the very presence of
God, to have this amazing

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relationship with God as
depicted by the New covenant and

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the New and living way?
Well, this nineteen starts with

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these words having therefore.
This is where this is the this

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is the final verse we want to
think about brothers and sisters

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having therefore.
So these two strands have come

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together, these two temple
strands of God’s presence, His

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relational connection to His
people, and the the spatial

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connection that He’s with his
people through his spirit.

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These two things have come
together.

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What does it all mean?
What’s the take away?

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And the writer of Hebrews is now
going to tell us having

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therefore.
That word therefore, in the

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Greek it’s it’s this word on
which is one of these logic

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words like a a progressive word.
And therefore it’s it’s the

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result, it it’s now the the
objects being met, having

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therefore what the right of
Hebrew says, the number of

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things we have a number of
things because of the new

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covenant, because of the new and
living way, something we have in

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Christ.
We have something called

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boldness.
Just think about that.

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What does that mean?
Boldness.

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If you look up Strong’s
concordance, the definitions

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there are outspokenness.
You can It’s something to be

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outspoken, to be frank, to be
blunt, there’s something we have

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with God.
Because of the new covenant

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father child relationship and
the fact that God is in our life

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present with us, we can have
boldness.

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I know some of the new
translations have confidence

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there, but I think I think the
the King James has got the right

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nuance.
This word really is it has an

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external element to it.
Rather than confidence you can

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be confident.
It’s just an internal composure.

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But boldness is something even
more boisterous, more out there.

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And here it’s saying because of
their relationship with God,

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because under the law the blood
of bulls and goats couldn’t make

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you perfect, but the blood of
Christ.

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Can make us perfect, can allow
us to walk up the holy hill of

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the Lord and stand in his most
holy place.

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It gives us something called
boldness, and I want us to think

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about that.
It’s hard for me to define what

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that means in all our individual
lives, but there’s something

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about our connection to God that
we have boldness, which is

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something we may shrink away
from in a sense, because it’s

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the dead opposite of how we may
feel sometimes.

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It’s the opposite to how Adam
and Eve felt when they sinned

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and they felt the shame and the
and the and the horrible

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conscience effect that sin had.
And they hid themselves from the

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presence, from the the presence
of God.

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And and mankind lost that
connection to God.

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And now in Christ it’s been
rectified.

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Man is now perfect, or those in
Christ are now made perfect.

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They’re able to be in the
presence of God.

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They’re able to have boldness.
And I try and think of a

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relationship that captures that
the the child parent

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relationship I think is the best
way to try and think about

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boldness a child has.
There’s a level of boldness that

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a child has with their parent,
even if their parent is the

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president of the United States
or the king.

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The child has boldness in the
presence of that August person.

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And I know with my own father, I
know, I know there’s a sense of.

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I have a sense of boldness when
I talk to Dad because we

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whenever we get together, we
talk about the Scripture.

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He’s got a lot of crazy ideas
and I have boldness to go back

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00:13:30,910 –> 00:13:34,630
at him and say that’s rubbish.
So there’s a sense of but we do

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00:13:34,630 –> 00:13:35,830
it in love.
Of course there’s a sense of

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00:13:35,830 –> 00:13:38,110
boldness to have my own father
because I know he loves me and I

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00:13:38,110 –> 00:13:42,550
know regardless of our
interactions, we’re the United

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together in a way that can never
be separated.

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So there’s a sense of boldness
there.

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How we translate that to God is
something to think about, isn’t

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00:13:50,270 –> 00:13:50,910
it?
But.

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It’s nothing.
I haven’t made this word up.

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00:13:53,220 –> 00:13:56,860
Brothers and sisters, this is
inspired words, inspired word

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00:13:56,860 –> 00:14:00,420
that’s been given to us and it
means what it says.

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00:14:00,420 –> 00:14:06,460
And it’s a very strong word.
We’re also told, therefore, as a

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result of this relationship with
God, we can draw near this this

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word prashikomai, which is used
seven times in the book of

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00:14:15,340 –> 00:14:17,340
Hebrews.
And I have an exhortation that

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just runs through those seven
times, because that’s a really

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00:14:19,820 –> 00:14:23,270
powerful thing.
The idea of drawing near to God

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00:14:23,670 –> 00:14:25,750
and it’s it’s the theme in
Hebrews.

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You could say it’s something
about the blood of Christ and

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00:14:29,230 –> 00:14:33,350
our relationship through the New
covenant allows us to draw near.

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When under the old covenant,
they’ll often pushed away,

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00:14:38,590 –> 00:14:41,950
rightly so, in the sense that
that God could not, could not

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00:14:43,830 –> 00:14:47,110
tolerate their wickedness, of
course and and and that that is.

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00:14:47,780 –> 00:14:50,260
That was the appropriate thing.
But something has changed.

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00:14:50,260 –> 00:14:54,620
Under the new covenant allows
even sinners to draw near.

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00:14:56,620 –> 00:15:01,540
And there’s this other word too.
Therefore, as a result of our

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00:15:01,540 –> 00:15:06,180
relationship, we can have
something called full assurance.

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In Greek, it’s this word
plerothoria plero, which means

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00:15:10,700 –> 00:15:12,860
full.
It’s a pretty common New

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00:15:12,860 –> 00:15:15,380
Testament word.
But this other word, foria, it’s

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00:15:15,380 –> 00:15:19,730
it’s a.
Incredible word and building to

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00:15:19,730 –> 00:15:24,010
the word is a metaphor.
The idea of of fullness, the

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00:15:24,010 –> 00:15:26,250
idea of weight is caught up in
this word.

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00:15:26,610 –> 00:15:31,050
And the metaphor that is
depicted in this word is a ship

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00:15:31,730 –> 00:15:34,570
that has its sails absolutely
full of wind.

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00:15:34,570 –> 00:15:37,170
It’s like it it’s caught in a
Gale and it’s just been

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00:15:37,170 –> 00:15:40,130
propelled across the ocean and
nothing can stop it.

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00:15:40,130 –> 00:15:44,490
It’s just full pelt across the
ocean, smashing through waves

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00:15:44,490 –> 00:15:48,840
and spray everywhere.
It’s it’s unstoppable.

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00:15:49,280 –> 00:15:54,280
It’s full and it’s compelled and
motivated and moved.

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00:15:55,280 –> 00:15:57,160
And so because of this
relationship, brothers and

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00:15:57,160 –> 00:16:02,160
sisters, I I hope it’s not just
been all verses that we’ve

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00:16:02,160 –> 00:16:04,920
looked up and and just read and
thought about it.

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00:16:04,920 –> 00:16:08,320
Theoretically, there’s something
powerful that comes through from

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00:16:08,320 –> 00:16:11,160
all this.
We have something called Full

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00:16:11,400 –> 00:16:15,750
Assurance Plerothoria.
Even connected to the word

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00:16:15,750 –> 00:16:18,190
euphoria, in a sense, there’s
something powerful and

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00:16:19,390 –> 00:16:22,910
compelling about what we have in
Christ boldness with our

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00:16:22,910 –> 00:16:26,310
Heavenly Father.
The ability to draw near and

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00:16:26,310 –> 00:16:31,030
this full assurance in Christ.
It’s it’s a it’s an emotional

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00:16:31,110 –> 00:16:34,430
feast, isn’t it?
It’s so powerful and and I hope

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00:16:34,790 –> 00:16:36,990
in a little way I’ve been able
to try and get some of that

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00:16:37,430 –> 00:16:39,790
across and it’s not been based
upon.

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00:16:40,610 –> 00:16:44,050
Good feelings or nice ideas.
It’s been it’s very much

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00:16:44,050 –> 00:16:49,850
anchored and and and cemented
down by the inspired word of God

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00:16:49,850 –> 00:16:53,610
and the concepts that have been
revealed to God by God, to us.

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00:16:55,410 –> 00:16:58,370
So as I said that hopefully that
brings together the the concept

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00:16:58,370 –> 00:17:00,610
of God’s presence from an
expositional point of view.

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00:17:01,050 –> 00:17:03,490
And as I said, we wanted to
change gears a little bit and be

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00:17:03,490 –> 00:17:09,410
a bit more reflective and think
about how this all works and and

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00:17:09,410 –> 00:17:13,300
what what.
What what we can take from it

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00:17:13,300 –> 00:17:18,819
personally, we’ve been talking
about presence as a

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00:17:18,819 –> 00:17:21,099
relationship.
There’s a relationship with God

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00:17:21,099 –> 00:17:23,060
and that’s at the very heart of
the presence of God.

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00:17:23,060 –> 00:17:26,540
And when there’s any
relationship, there’s there’s

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00:17:26,540 –> 00:17:28,339
two parties to a relationship,
isn’t there?

283
00:17:28,339 –> 00:17:32,700
And we want to think about both
parties in this relationship.

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00:17:33,500 –> 00:17:37,100
And so in this particular
relationship, there is God.

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00:17:37,940 –> 00:17:40,420
And there is his creation, There
is man.

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00:17:40,500 –> 00:17:44,500
We want to talk about how those
two are connected, how they are

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00:17:44,500 –> 00:17:47,340
linked together, because that’s
really at the very heart of all

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00:17:47,340 –> 00:17:50,180
this.
And maybe there’s a bit of bit

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00:17:50,180 –> 00:17:55,020
of time to recalibrate maybe our
thinking when it comes to God

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00:17:55,020 –> 00:17:59,780
and man and and how God sees his
creation and see if our thinking

291
00:17:59,780 –> 00:18:06,900
is is exactly biblical or not.
Sometimes our perception, how we

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00:18:06,900 –> 00:18:10,380
see things mentally and how we
think about things can have a

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00:18:11,340 –> 00:18:14,460
practical outworking or a
behavioral outworking in our

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00:18:14,460 –> 00:18:16,700
life.
And so it’s good to challenge

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00:18:16,700 –> 00:18:20,420
some of our perceptions and to
see how biblically sound they

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00:18:20,420 –> 00:18:23,260
are in some ways, because our
behavior follows some of those

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00:18:23,260 –> 00:18:28,180
mental perceptions we have.
Here’s an example, the one

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00:18:28,180 –> 00:18:30,540
talent servant in the parable of
the talents.

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00:18:30,540 –> 00:18:33,700
Remember the words he said when
he’s confronted by the Lord.

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00:18:35,130 –> 00:18:37,410
And asked what he’s done with
that talent in the Lord’s

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00:18:37,410 –> 00:18:39,650
absence.
And he says, Lord, I knew you

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00:18:40,490 –> 00:18:43,570
and I knew that you I knew.
So he’s not saying I thought I

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00:18:43,570 –> 00:18:48,250
knew or I had this impression or
I I had this idea that someone

304
00:18:48,250 –> 00:18:50,170
had.
I knew he was very confident.

305
00:18:50,170 –> 00:18:54,570
I knew you to be a hard man,
reaping where you did not sew

306
00:18:54,570 –> 00:18:58,210
and gathering where you where
you did not cede, and look at

307
00:18:58,210 –> 00:19:00,490
the the practical result that
had on him.

308
00:19:01,200 –> 00:19:05,400
As a result of his socalled
knowledge of the Lord, he says,

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00:19:05,400 –> 00:19:09,400
I was afraid and I went and hid
your talent in the ground.

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00:19:09,800 –> 00:19:13,520
There was a paralysis that came
about because of this

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00:19:14,200 –> 00:19:16,440
misconception of the Lord that
he had.

312
00:19:17,080 –> 00:19:20,480
And so you can see this
overwhelming fear of his Lord

313
00:19:20,760 –> 00:19:23,680
led to this inability to even
serve his Lord.

314
00:19:24,080 –> 00:19:25,800
There was something wrong in the
relationship.

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00:19:25,800 –> 00:19:30,120
There was a misconception coming
from coming from the human end.

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00:19:30,910 –> 00:19:34,190
And we just want to think about
this a little bit tonight and

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00:19:34,190 –> 00:19:37,590
see if our calibration needs a
little bit of tuning there.

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00:19:38,630 –> 00:19:41,390
Let’s first think about man.
That’s that’s us, of course, and

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00:19:41,390 –> 00:19:45,830
how how God sees us and how God
views us.

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00:19:47,070 –> 00:19:51,750
Because in our language there
can be sometimes a very negative

321
00:19:51,750 –> 00:19:54,710
perception of humans and humans
are evil.

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00:19:54,710 –> 00:19:57,150
There’s no doubt about that.
And and there’s many verses in

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00:19:57,150 –> 00:19:58,830
the Bible that talk about the
human heart.

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00:20:00,150 –> 00:20:03,390
But we sometimes get this
picture that humans are just

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00:20:03,390 –> 00:20:05,430
this wretched creature of the
dust.

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00:20:05,430 –> 00:20:09,550
That’s the term we use, and
there’s an appropriate place to

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00:20:09,550 –> 00:20:12,030
use that language.
But we’re going to see is that,

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00:20:12,070 –> 00:20:15,190
is that really the whole picture
is are humans just this

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00:20:15,190 –> 00:20:21,430
depraved, wretched, horrible
thing that is so offensive to

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00:20:21,430 –> 00:20:22,790
God?
Is that is that really what what

331
00:20:22,790 –> 00:20:29,810
a human is.
There are places in the Bible

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00:20:29,810 –> 00:20:32,770
that compare us to say,
grasshoppers in God’s sight and

333
00:20:32,770 –> 00:20:34,730
that we’re we’re nothing in
God’s sight.

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00:20:34,810 –> 00:20:38,610
God’s so great above us and our
thoughts are not his thoughts

335
00:20:38,610 –> 00:20:41,810
and they are appropriate
comparisons because God is so

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00:20:41,810 –> 00:20:46,410
great and so holy.
But sometimes you can extract

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00:20:46,410 –> 00:20:50,450
from that this this idea that
man is absolutely nothing man.

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00:20:50,450 –> 00:20:56,260
Man’s a disgusting, horrible
thing that that that has no no

339
00:20:56,260 –> 00:20:59,700
way is is man connected to the
presence of God or is there any

340
00:20:59,700 –> 00:21:02,940
connection to God whatsoever.
But let’s think about man for a

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00:21:02,940 –> 00:21:06,660
moment.
In in the big picture, God of

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00:21:06,660 –> 00:21:11,780
course created man.
In the creation record, of

343
00:21:11,780 –> 00:21:15,900
course there’s this word good.
When God observes his creation

344
00:21:15,900 –> 00:21:18,380
as it progresses through the
days and God sees something, he

345
00:21:18,380 –> 00:21:21,340
says it was it was good and he
said and beholder it was was

346
00:21:21,340 –> 00:21:24,130
good.
It’s not until man is created

347
00:21:24,130 –> 00:21:27,770
that God looks at the whole of
creation and says it was very

348
00:21:27,770 –> 00:21:30,850
good.
There was something about man

349
00:21:30,850 –> 00:21:33,570
that was the pinnacle of God’s
creation.

350
00:21:33,570 –> 00:21:35,690
It was something that God was
working towards.

351
00:21:36,090 –> 00:21:40,290
And all the other platforms and
elements that were part of the

352
00:21:40,290 –> 00:21:45,690
creation were were coming
together to provide a place

353
00:21:45,690 –> 00:21:50,100
where God could put this thing
called man, this this this

354
00:21:50,100 –> 00:21:52,740
creation that he calls man.
And there’s something very

355
00:21:52,740 –> 00:21:56,780
special and unique about man.
And we’re told in Genesis 127.

356
00:21:56,780 –> 00:21:59,980
These of course are very well
known, very well known words

357
00:22:00,700 –> 00:22:04,780
that man was made after the
image of God and the image and

358
00:22:04,780 –> 00:22:06,940
likeness of God after his own
image.

359
00:22:07,460 –> 00:22:11,380
God created man.
It’s hard to really define the

360
00:22:11,380 –> 00:22:13,660
idea of image it’s got.
There’s lots of different

361
00:22:13,660 –> 00:22:17,980
commentators and experts talk
about what it may mean and we

362
00:22:17,980 –> 00:22:20,740
talk about the fact that we
might reflect that we’ve got

363
00:22:20,820 –> 00:22:24,220
human consciousness is a unique
and unexplainable phenomenon

364
00:22:24,220 –> 00:22:28,220
that no one can really explain.
How this software got into our

365
00:22:28,660 –> 00:22:31,820
physical being that that allows
us to have self-awareness and

366
00:22:31,820 –> 00:22:35,260
and and maybe that is how we are
in the image of God.

367
00:22:36,140 –> 00:22:39,980
The capacities we have for for
rational thought and worship and

368
00:22:39,980 –> 00:22:44,580
thinking, intelligence, the
ability to make moral choices.

369
00:22:44,580 –> 00:22:48,790
All these things are no doubt
part and parcel of what it means

370
00:22:48,790 –> 00:22:54,150
to be in the image of God.
But ultimately the image of God

371
00:22:54,990 –> 00:23:00,190
is a family thing.
Ultimately, it’s saying we are

372
00:23:01,350 –> 00:23:04,230
God’s offspring.
We are God’s children.

373
00:23:04,750 –> 00:23:09,150
Humans are not an animal.
They are not part of the animal

374
00:23:09,150 –> 00:23:10,910
world.
In that sense, there’s something

375
00:23:10,910 –> 00:23:12,230
different.
Although there’s a lot of

376
00:23:12,230 –> 00:23:15,370
features in common with the
animals and we eat similar food

377
00:23:15,370 –> 00:23:19,370
to the animals and have similar
morphological and and and

378
00:23:20,130 –> 00:23:24,370
biological processes, there’s
something different and unique

379
00:23:24,370 –> 00:23:27,530
about humans.
And here’s this quote in Genesis

380
00:23:27,530 –> 00:23:30,850
5 three that I’m sure many of us
know, but it shows with this

381
00:23:30,850 –> 00:23:35,010
word, with this concept of
likeness is used in connection

382
00:23:35,010 –> 00:23:38,530
with a with a human child.
So Adam lives 130 years.

383
00:23:38,850 –> 00:23:42,770
He has a son in his own likeness
and after his own image and

384
00:23:42,770 –> 00:23:47,370
calls him Seth was cause Seth
was a little Adam.

385
00:23:47,770 –> 00:23:51,850
Seth came from Adam.
He was in his image and likeness

386
00:23:52,330 –> 00:23:57,050
and if we wind that back then
Adam is made in the image and

387
00:23:57,050 –> 00:23:59,330
likeness of God.
We are God’s children.

388
00:24:00,570 –> 00:24:03,690
There’s something very
incredible about being a human.

389
00:24:04,770 –> 00:24:08,930
There’s something very amazing
about it and sometimes we think

390
00:24:09,290 –> 00:24:11,730
in terms and and and rightly so.
You know, what is?

391
00:24:14,580 –> 00:24:17,980
What is man, as Sam 8 says.
What is what is man?

392
00:24:17,980 –> 00:24:21,780
That God’s mindful of him, or
the Son of man that God visits

393
00:24:21,780 –> 00:24:23,780
him.
That man seems like nothing, And

394
00:24:24,780 –> 00:24:28,180
that is right at one level.
There is this gulf between us in

395
00:24:28,540 –> 00:24:33,260
from a wisdom and power point of
view, but so is there a gulf

396
00:24:33,260 –> 00:24:35,580
between a father and a little
newborn child.

397
00:24:36,220 –> 00:24:38,460
But they’re still connected.
There’s still a connection

398
00:24:38,460 –> 00:24:45,590
between the two of them.
I know it at my work.

399
00:24:45,590 –> 00:24:47,470
I I work, my office is in the
western suburbs.

400
00:24:47,470 –> 00:24:49,790
So my my office is like the
United Nations.

401
00:24:49,790 –> 00:24:52,910
We’ve got every tongue and
kindred under heaven there,

402
00:24:52,910 –> 00:24:54,590
which is lovely.
And we all talk about

403
00:24:54,790 –> 00:24:56,870
interesting things.
But in my office I have a

404
00:24:56,870 –> 00:24:58,790
Palestinian Christian, believe
it or not.

405
00:24:58,790 –> 00:25:03,190
And he’s very pro Israel and
he’s cousins in the Israeli army

406
00:25:03,190 –> 00:25:04,630
and we have we have good
conversations.

407
00:25:04,630 –> 00:25:08,430
But he likes this is very, very
incredible.

408
00:25:08,430 –> 00:25:10,470
He’s a Palestinian Christian who
loves listening to Jewish

409
00:25:10,470 –> 00:25:13,530
rabbis.
So occasionally he’ll give me a

410
00:25:14,290 –> 00:25:16,610
a little YouTube clip or
something from a rabbi that he

411
00:25:16,610 –> 00:25:19,250
likes to listen to.
And he’s got a few favorites,

412
00:25:19,570 –> 00:25:21,370
but there’s one of them.
I was listening to it in the

413
00:25:21,370 –> 00:25:26,610
car, and it was a rabbi, and he
was explaining what Judaism gave

414
00:25:26,610 –> 00:25:28,610
the world.
And he says a lot of people

415
00:25:28,610 –> 00:25:32,730
think Judaism gave the world
monotheism, which is worshipping

416
00:25:32,730 –> 00:25:35,330
one God.
That was the unique gift that

417
00:25:35,330 –> 00:25:37,530
that Judaism gave the world, He
said.

418
00:25:37,530 –> 00:25:41,060
That’s not really the case.
That’s not really what the Jews

419
00:25:41,060 –> 00:25:45,100
gave the world, he said.
We what we really gave the world

420
00:25:46,220 –> 00:25:51,420
was the fact that there is a God
who is relational, that has that

421
00:25:51,420 –> 00:25:55,380
wants a relationship, that has
personality and feelings and is

422
00:25:55,500 –> 00:25:57,260
wants to be connected to his
creation.

423
00:25:57,260 –> 00:26:01,220
He said that was the real gift
that Judaism gave the world and

424
00:26:01,220 –> 00:26:04,780
of course changed the world.
And this is this start really

425
00:26:04,780 –> 00:26:08,980
started started me thinking and
he said this.

426
00:26:09,060 –> 00:26:13,750
God is presented to us in a way
and presents himself to us in a

427
00:26:13,750 –> 00:26:18,510
way that he has feelings, he has
emotions, he gets jealous, he

428
00:26:18,510 –> 00:26:20,750
gets angry, he gets he’s
sorrowful.

429
00:26:21,070 –> 00:26:24,510
All these different things God
is, God is connecting with his

430
00:26:24,510 –> 00:26:29,270
creation is that there’s a
there’s similar emotional

431
00:26:29,470 –> 00:26:32,070
feelings that his creation
reflects and has.

432
00:26:33,150 –> 00:26:39,960
And he says God also has needs.
Now this threw me, I have to say

433
00:26:40,040 –> 00:26:42,040
through when he said God has
needs.

434
00:26:43,680 –> 00:26:46,440
We think of God as self existing
of course and not needing

435
00:26:46,440 –> 00:26:50,840
anything and and and that is of
course is right.

436
00:26:50,840 –> 00:26:52,280
We’ll expand on that in a
moment.

437
00:26:52,760 –> 00:26:56,080
But it’s interesting to say that
if he is like his creation, that

438
00:26:56,080 –> 00:26:58,960
he has feelings and he has
emotions.

439
00:27:01,060 –> 00:27:03,500
The rabbi went on to say, why
did he even create people?

440
00:27:03,500 –> 00:27:06,420
Was it just a science experiment
that God was just saying, I’m

441
00:27:06,420 –> 00:27:08,860
going to make little puppets, so
I’m going to make a little Ant

442
00:27:09,580 –> 00:27:12,460
pill and I’m just going to see
how these things work and I’m

443
00:27:12,460 –> 00:27:16,540
going to look and say, no, God
was making companions for

444
00:27:16,540 –> 00:27:20,580
himself.
God has needs now.

445
00:27:21,540 –> 00:27:24,700
You may feel uncomfortable about
using that language and if if

446
00:27:24,700 –> 00:27:28,620
you do, you can say it’s desires
or wants if you like, if that

447
00:27:28,620 –> 00:27:31,550
makes you feel better.
But let’s let’s just flesh this

448
00:27:31,550 –> 00:27:38,990
out for a minute.
God created Adam in his own

449
00:27:39,070 –> 00:27:42,950
image and likeness.
This is, this is in paradise.

450
00:27:42,950 –> 00:27:44,510
There’s no sin entered the
world.

451
00:27:45,030 –> 00:27:49,110
Everything’s as it should be.
And his Adam made in the image

452
00:27:49,110 –> 00:27:51,110
and likeness, A reflection of
God.

453
00:27:51,350 –> 00:27:53,270
John Thomas says the image is
like a mirror.

454
00:27:54,230 –> 00:27:58,450
His mirror is clean, very clean.
At this point of creation is the

455
00:27:58,450 –> 00:28:06,130
image and likeness of God.
And on day one, Adam, day one,

456
00:28:07,050 –> 00:28:09,090
he got some jobs to do.
He’s naming animals.

457
00:28:09,090 –> 00:28:13,130
He’s done all this.
On day one he gets lonely.

458
00:28:16,210 –> 00:28:19,090
Think about that, Day one, he
gets lonely.

459
00:28:22,010 –> 00:28:25,480
Does God to condemn him for
being lonely or to say you baby,

460
00:28:25,520 –> 00:28:29,360
grow up or, you know, get over
it, you’ve got more work to do?

461
00:28:30,480 –> 00:28:33,680
God actually says in his
response to his loneliness.

462
00:28:33,680 –> 00:28:38,040
There’s something intrinsic in
Adam, who’s reflecting in the

463
00:28:38,040 –> 00:28:41,720
very purest sense of the word,
reflecting the Creator as a son.

464
00:28:43,040 –> 00:28:47,960
God says it’s not good that you
should be alone.

465
00:28:48,440 –> 00:28:52,760
So not only did God not condemn
the loneliness, God said it’s

466
00:28:52,880 –> 00:28:55,840
not loneliness is not good, and
even though my creation is very

467
00:28:55,840 –> 00:28:57,760
good, there’s something not good
in it.

468
00:28:58,360 –> 00:28:59,600
There’s something that’s
missing.

469
00:28:59,600 –> 00:29:02,480
And so of course Evie’s made as
a companion.

470
00:29:03,400 –> 00:29:07,080
But the very fact that Adam has
this need for a connection, for

471
00:29:07,080 –> 00:29:11,840
a relationship reflecting his
very own father, who created

472
00:29:11,840 –> 00:29:14,640
him, as I said before, sin and
death into the world.

473
00:29:15,680 –> 00:29:18,160
So I thought I might look at
this a bit more deeper.

474
00:29:18,160 –> 00:29:19,880
So I went into Genesis to have a
look at it.

475
00:29:20,520 –> 00:29:26,830
While I was sorry, I forgot to
talk about the the concept of

476
00:29:26,830 –> 00:29:29,470
being in the image of God has
very serious implications

477
00:29:29,470 –> 00:29:31,310
through the whole of human
history.

478
00:29:33,310 –> 00:29:37,990
Genesis 9, following the the
flood, you know, God steps into

479
00:29:37,990 –> 00:29:40,470
the flood because of the
violence and because of murder.

480
00:29:40,470 –> 00:29:43,950
And so in Genesis 9, there’s a
prohibition placed upon killing.

481
00:29:43,950 –> 00:29:45,790
God says you can kill all the
animals and eat them.

482
00:29:46,230 –> 00:29:48,550
Don’t kill humans.
Why?

483
00:29:49,320 –> 00:29:51,760
Because they are made in the
image of God.

484
00:29:51,760 –> 00:29:55,320
There’s something about humans.
Act 17, we’ve talked about this

485
00:29:55,320 –> 00:29:57,720
already.
Paul says we are his offspring.

486
00:29:57,720 –> 00:30:00,240
He’s not just talking about
believers in Christ, he’s

487
00:30:00,240 –> 00:30:02,280
talking about all humans.
We are his offspring.

488
00:30:02,280 –> 00:30:05,040
And there’s an interesting verse
in James 3 where James says

489
00:30:05,800 –> 00:30:09,760
don’t curse humans, don’t curse
men who are made in the

490
00:30:09,760 –> 00:30:12,040
similitude of the image and
likeness of God.

491
00:30:13,080 –> 00:30:14,880
He’s not just talking about
believers there either.

492
00:30:15,360 –> 00:30:17,380
So there’s something about
humans.

493
00:30:17,380 –> 00:30:21,300
There’s a level of dignity,
there’s a level of protection

494
00:30:21,300 –> 00:30:24,740
they have under the eternal
divine law because they are

495
00:30:24,740 –> 00:30:27,380
God’s children.
We don’t, we can’t kill somebody

496
00:30:28,740 –> 00:30:39,380
under that.
Let’s just think about Genesis

497
00:30:39,380 –> 00:30:42,700
and the creation record to try
and get a picture of how

498
00:30:43,370 –> 00:30:46,570
important man was in this in in
the creation of the world.

499
00:30:46,570 –> 00:30:50,890
So you’ve probably heard before
how Genesis One and Genesis 2

500
00:30:50,890 –> 00:30:53,250
are significantly different in
the language and the style of

501
00:30:53,250 –> 00:30:55,530
language that he that he’s used,
even the Hebrew words that he

502
00:30:55,530 –> 00:30:57,530
used.
And some people have wrongly

503
00:30:59,570 –> 00:31:00,850
called these two creation
records.

504
00:31:00,850 –> 00:31:02,810
I don’t know if you ever heard
people say there’s two creation

505
00:31:02,810 –> 00:31:04,210
records.
There’s not two creation

506
00:31:04,210 –> 00:31:07,330
records.
Genesis 2 is an expansion or a

507
00:31:07,330 –> 00:31:10,970
drill down if you like into the
into the 6th day in the creation

508
00:31:10,970 –> 00:31:13,480
of man.
But but it is interesting and it

509
00:31:13,480 –> 00:31:17,000
is very true that there are
significant differences in

510
00:31:17,000 –> 00:31:22,360
Genesis One and Genesis 2.
So in Genesis one God is

511
00:31:22,360 –> 00:31:28,040
referred to by the title Elohim
and it’s it’s it’s it’s has an

512
00:31:28,040 –> 00:31:29,720
impersonal aspect to it isn’t
it?

513
00:31:29,720 –> 00:31:34,240
Elohim is is referring to the
ale, the power of God.

514
00:31:34,240 –> 00:31:36,520
So it’s God’s power, God’s
energy.

515
00:31:36,680 –> 00:31:38,920
And that’s how God presents
himself in those.

516
00:31:39,120 –> 00:31:42,280
In that very first chapter, and
as you read through that first

517
00:31:42,280 –> 00:31:46,760
chapter, you have God in a sense
like a distant king.

518
00:31:47,280 –> 00:31:49,800
And he’s he’s calling out
commands.

519
00:31:49,800 –> 00:31:54,080
He says let there be light and
then bam, there’s light and let

520
00:31:54,080 –> 00:31:58,160
the dry ground separate from the
water and the water’s rush back

521
00:31:58,160 –> 00:32:00,760
And then the and the king is
making these these commands and

522
00:32:00,760 –> 00:32:03,760
his word brings about this
physical reality as things

523
00:32:03,760 –> 00:32:09,040
happen from his commands.
When you get to chapter 2, it’s

524
00:32:09,040 –> 00:32:13,660
very, very different.
In chapter 2, God is now called

525
00:32:13,660 –> 00:32:17,860
Yahweh, His personal name.
We know someone’s name is a very

526
00:32:18,140 –> 00:32:20,220
intimate thing, isn’t it?
When you hear your name mention

527
00:32:20,220 –> 00:32:24,100
you, you flinch or you you turn
around your name something close

528
00:32:24,100 –> 00:32:27,020
to something important to you.
God now presents his covenant

529
00:32:27,020 –> 00:32:30,780
name when we get into Chapter 2.
No longer.

530
00:32:30,780 –> 00:32:35,820
He’s got creating by, by
command, by just yelling

531
00:32:35,820 –> 00:32:37,060
commands.
Let there be light.

532
00:32:37,060 –> 00:32:39,380
Let the earth bring forth this
and that.

533
00:32:40,150 –> 00:32:43,870
Now God’s down and and personal
in the creation record.

534
00:32:44,110 –> 00:32:45,990
He’s right.
He’s down in the garden, as it

535
00:32:45,990 –> 00:32:50,710
were, not calling out things
from from an apparent distance.

536
00:32:51,590 –> 00:32:53,870
He makes man.
Now this is really where it gets

537
00:32:53,870 –> 00:32:55,950
interesting.
He makes him, as it were, with

538
00:32:55,950 –> 00:32:59,790
his own hands.
He forms him out of the clay,

539
00:32:59,790 –> 00:33:03,470
out of the dust of the earth.
He makes man.

540
00:33:04,510 –> 00:33:07,390
He hasn’t done that with the
animals, with the mountains,

541
00:33:07,390 –> 00:33:10,270
with the dry land, with the fish
of the sea that they’ve just

542
00:33:10,270 –> 00:33:12,550
come into existence from his the
power of his word.

543
00:33:13,110 –> 00:33:16,990
Now he’s forming man like a
Potter.

544
00:33:16,990 –> 00:33:20,310
He’s making man.
It’s very personal, very

545
00:33:20,310 –> 00:33:24,030
intimate.
And then he breathes into his

546
00:33:24,030 –> 00:33:31,130
nostrils, the breath of life.
Now, how this all played out is,

547
00:33:31,490 –> 00:33:36,290
is, is hard to know in reality,
but it forgot to do that to an

548
00:33:36,290 –> 00:33:39,570
inanimate body.
Got his, in a sense, getting

549
00:33:39,570 –> 00:33:41,770
down on his knees, isn’t he?
He’s, he’s coming.

550
00:33:41,770 –> 00:33:46,730
He’s condescending down and he’s
fixing his lips around the

551
00:33:46,730 –> 00:33:49,930
nostrils, which is again, a very
intimate and tend tender part of

552
00:33:49,970 –> 00:33:52,250
one’s body.
You don’t touch people’s

553
00:33:52,250 –> 00:33:55,250
nostrils at the hall, I imagine.
So your nostrils are very, you

554
00:33:55,250 –> 00:34:00,400
know, intimate.
It’s now connected to God’s

555
00:34:00,440 –> 00:34:02,720
mouth, if you like.
He breathes into his nostrils,

556
00:34:02,720 –> 00:34:04,760
the breath of life.
You can see there’s a very much

557
00:34:04,760 –> 00:34:08,840
a different picture of creation
here than just commands by

558
00:34:08,840 –> 00:34:12,360
theat.
And now God breathes that life

559
00:34:12,360 –> 00:34:14,639
into man.
God then goes on to plant the

560
00:34:14,639 –> 00:34:16,199
garden.
He puts man in the garden.

561
00:34:16,199 –> 00:34:18,800
The words like hey, you would
place a puppy, if you like, in a

562
00:34:19,400 –> 00:34:21,199
in a basket places man in the
garden.

563
00:34:21,440 –> 00:34:24,639
We know in the story.
Later on in the narrative there

564
00:34:24,639 –> 00:34:27,870
God walks, as it were, in the
garden with Adam and even

565
00:34:27,870 –> 00:34:31,310
converses with them.
So we do have this, this

566
00:34:31,310 –> 00:34:36,350
intimate connection between this
very special part of his

567
00:34:36,350 –> 00:34:39,909
creation, which is which is man.
And this is, this is something

568
00:34:39,949 –> 00:34:43,710
that’s I think it’s quite
profound when we when we think

569
00:34:43,710 –> 00:34:48,949
about it.
When I, I, I went to look at

570
00:34:48,949 –> 00:34:51,429
this for myself.
So I I said I saw this rabbi

571
00:34:51,429 –> 00:34:56,330
talking about this concept and I
thought, wow, this is quite

572
00:34:56,330 –> 00:35:00,650
amazing.
But you know is is there is

573
00:35:00,650 –> 00:35:03,290
there some other?
Is there evidence for it?

574
00:35:03,290 –> 00:35:06,570
So I went and looked at Genesis
One and I I use esord because I

575
00:35:07,130 –> 00:35:10,050
don’t like change.
I can’t get out of my habits.

576
00:35:10,050 –> 00:35:14,410
I love esord in any esord.
I have a Christadelphian

577
00:35:14,410 –> 00:35:20,900
commentary called the Agora,
which is fantastic little tool

578
00:35:20,900 –> 00:35:22,780
if you don’t have it.
And it has a basically a

579
00:35:22,780 –> 00:35:26,660
commentary on every every verse
in the Bible written by brother

580
00:35:26,660 –> 00:35:28,420
George Booker from the United
States.

581
00:35:30,060 –> 00:35:33,100
With this idea in my mind
already, I went to Genesis,

582
00:35:33,140 –> 00:35:36,660
looked at Genesis one verse 26,
etcetera, trying to look at this

583
00:35:36,700 –> 00:35:40,340
idea and then I looked at, I
looked at the Agora, looked at

584
00:35:40,340 –> 00:35:43,060
the concepts and I was, I was
sort of blown away.

585
00:35:43,060 –> 00:35:46,540
It’s one of those times when you
get some amazing confirmation on

586
00:35:46,540 –> 00:35:48,100
something you’d never thought
about before.

587
00:35:48,890 –> 00:35:51,330
And in the commentary, this is
the Christofian commentary on

588
00:35:51,330 –> 00:35:55,170
the On the Agora, Father George
asked his question.

589
00:35:55,170 –> 00:35:58,810
He says is it true also.
So it was not good for man to be

590
00:35:58,810 –> 00:36:00,610
alone.
He says Is it true?

591
00:36:00,930 –> 00:36:05,770
Is it also true that it was not
good for God to be alone?

592
00:36:06,330 –> 00:36:08,050
Can we read something back into
this?

593
00:36:08,730 –> 00:36:11,810
If God reveals that it was not
good for Adam to be alone, but

594
00:36:11,810 –> 00:36:15,510
that he needed a companion,
surely it was patterned or

595
00:36:15,510 –> 00:36:18,310
figurative way of saying it’s
not good for me to be alone.

596
00:36:18,310 –> 00:36:22,030
I too must have a companion, he
says.

597
00:36:22,030 –> 00:36:25,470
Look at it another way.
If our own observation, our own

598
00:36:25,470 –> 00:36:29,230
experience, shows us how
unsatisfactory life can be lived

599
00:36:29,470 –> 00:36:32,590
entirely alone, with no regard
for or fellowship with others,

600
00:36:32,830 –> 00:36:36,230
and how much we need, we need
companionship, both personal and

601
00:36:36,230 –> 00:36:37,950
spiritual, and sympathetic and
loving.

602
00:36:38,350 –> 00:36:41,310
And if two we are made in the
image and likeness of God, then

603
00:36:41,310 –> 00:36:44,640
reason backward.
It’s not good for God himself to

604
00:36:44,640 –> 00:36:47,160
be alone.
So if God made us, and we

605
00:36:47,160 –> 00:36:50,400
reflect him, and we feel the
need for companionship and

606
00:36:50,400 –> 00:36:53,560
fellowship, then wouldn’t that
tell us a little bit about God

607
00:36:53,560 –> 00:36:55,800
himself?
Then he makes this very

608
00:36:55,800 –> 00:37:01,760
interesting practical point on
this same lesson he says on this

609
00:37:01,760 –> 00:37:02,960
same verse.
He says.

610
00:37:02,960 –> 00:37:05,800
I remember some years ago a
young sister of a Bible class

611
00:37:06,400 –> 00:37:10,980
asking Why does God love me?
The questions that he said.

612
00:37:10,980 –> 00:37:13,620
The question passed with
perfunctory discussion, and I at

613
00:37:13,620 –> 00:37:16,420
first dismissed it from my mind
as no great consequence.

614
00:37:17,100 –> 00:37:19,540
But then the question came back
to me again later, and it

615
00:37:19,540 –> 00:37:21,500
suddenly seemed to be of
enormous import.

616
00:37:21,500 –> 00:37:25,660
Why does God love me?
Not just the fact that he does

617
00:37:25,660 –> 00:37:30,860
love, or that he is loved, but
he needs someone, he says, but

618
00:37:30,860 –> 00:37:34,220
the rationale behind it.
I finally came to the conclusion

619
00:37:34,220 –> 00:37:39,100
that God loves me because he
needs someone to love and he

620
00:37:39,100 –> 00:37:42,060
needs someone to love him, and
that somehow even the

621
00:37:42,060 –> 00:37:45,020
omnipotence of the universe
would be incomplete without the

622
00:37:45,020 –> 00:37:47,900
love freely given of his
creation.

623
00:37:48,980 –> 00:37:51,900
And then he talks about how this
ties him with free will and he

624
00:37:51,900 –> 00:37:53,540
says this is what God is looking
for.

625
00:37:53,540 –> 00:37:56,380
And This is why he had to create
beans like Adam and Eve with the

626
00:37:56,620 –> 00:38:00,500
potential to choose having free
will and hence the potential to

627
00:38:00,500 –> 00:38:04,460
disappoint him greatly, but also
the potential and what a

628
00:38:04,460 –> 00:38:06,860
potential to actually please
him.

629
00:38:08,020 –> 00:38:11,940
I thought this really, this
really changed some of my

630
00:38:11,940 –> 00:38:16,060
thinking in this regard.
God has this need.

631
00:38:16,060 –> 00:38:17,500
That’s the very reason it
created.

632
00:38:17,500 –> 00:38:22,740
Didn’t just create as a project,
as an experiment, it created in

633
00:38:22,740 –> 00:38:26,860
his plan to have companionship
with his creation.

634
00:38:28,580 –> 00:38:34,180
And if when I say need we have
what we call existential needs,

635
00:38:34,180 –> 00:38:36,020
these are needs we could, we
wouldn’t be able to live

636
00:38:36,020 –> 00:38:38,570
without.
So we have need for food and

637
00:38:38,570 –> 00:38:40,290
water.
God doesn’t have existential

638
00:38:40,290 –> 00:38:44,410
needs, but we also have needs
for companionship like Adam and

639
00:38:44,730 –> 00:38:47,050
and fellowship with each other
and interaction with people.

640
00:38:47,210 –> 00:38:50,410
These are needs that we could we
could live without them, but the

641
00:38:50,410 –> 00:38:53,490
quality of our life would be
diminished with if we didn’t

642
00:38:53,490 –> 00:38:57,090
have them.
Also, we think of needs.

643
00:38:57,090 –> 00:39:01,690
Needs reflect who we are.
Our very being, in a sense, our

644
00:39:01,690 –> 00:39:05,530
very inner person can be
reflected in a need.

645
00:39:05,530 –> 00:39:08,780
What do I mean by that?
I’ll give you my wife, Susan.

646
00:39:08,780 –> 00:39:10,180
Many of you, of course, know her
very well.

647
00:39:11,140 –> 00:39:13,300
Susan is one of these underdog
people, right?

648
00:39:13,300 –> 00:39:16,820
So she always at the meeting,
she thinks anyone’s ever been

649
00:39:17,700 –> 00:39:20,900
sort of either hard done by or
have been oppressed in any way,

650
00:39:20,900 –> 00:39:24,580
or anyone’s having.
She just has a need that she has

651
00:39:24,580 –> 00:39:26,940
to get involved.
It’s just drives me crazy.

652
00:39:27,180 –> 00:39:28,820
Sometimes I say just settle
down, dear.

653
00:39:28,820 –> 00:39:30,500
It’s going to be all right.
It’s not our business.

654
00:39:30,500 –> 00:39:33,420
We don’t need to get involved.
But she has something built into

655
00:39:33,420 –> 00:39:36,400
her that she just has to say
something.

656
00:39:36,400 –> 00:39:39,360
She has to do something.
She feels something about the

657
00:39:39,360 –> 00:39:42,480
situation, and it’s just part of
her very essence, her very

658
00:39:42,480 –> 00:39:45,200
character.
It’s it’s a need that I don’t

659
00:39:45,200 –> 00:39:48,360
particularly have.
I have high empathy but not the

660
00:39:48,360 –> 00:39:53,640
need to just jump in and try and
help people who I feel I’ve been

661
00:39:55,000 –> 00:39:56,920
badly treated or whatever the
case might be.

662
00:39:58,610 –> 00:40:01,490
Another exam is my my own dad.
He’s a he’s a classic and I’m

663
00:40:01,930 –> 00:40:04,650
sick of talking about him but he
just turned 80 on Saturday so we

664
00:40:04,650 –> 00:40:09,090
just had a little party for him
but dad’s a that’s a fearless

665
00:40:09,090 –> 00:40:13,450
sort of guy and and when he
worked for the state rail he

666
00:40:13,450 –> 00:40:17,210
used to work in he worked
between Redfern and and and town

667
00:40:17,210 –> 00:40:20,730
Hall and that in the city area
there on on on maintenance and

668
00:40:20,730 –> 00:40:22,370
things.
He he told me, he told us once

669
00:40:22,370 –> 00:40:24,930
he came home and told us and it
was no big deal but I was

670
00:40:24,930 –> 00:40:26,130
impressed.
He said he came home.

671
00:40:26,370 –> 00:40:30,390
It was back in the 80s.
And there was a a gang of Asians

672
00:40:30,390 –> 00:40:33,750
that was like a triad and they
were kicking some guy on the

673
00:40:33,750 –> 00:40:35,430
platform.
This is like four or five in the

674
00:40:35,430 –> 00:40:37,710
morning when dad used to work
and they were just laying into

675
00:40:37,710 –> 00:40:41,350
him and kicking him and and dad
said, oh, it was horrific.

676
00:40:41,350 –> 00:40:44,910
I was beaten into this guy and
Dad walked over.

677
00:40:44,910 –> 00:40:47,710
So there’s commuters getting off
trains and they’re just heading

678
00:40:47,710 –> 00:40:50,470
up the stairs and no one wants
to get involved in anything like

679
00:40:50,470 –> 00:40:53,070
this.
But Dad would have a Dad’s got a

680
00:40:53,070 –> 00:40:54,790
need.
He couldn’t just let that go.

681
00:40:54,790 –> 00:40:57,980
So Dad walked over and he said
come on fellas, he’s had enough.

682
00:40:57,980 –> 00:40:59,540
He’s had enough, Dad, come on,
move on.

683
00:40:59,540 –> 00:41:02,860
He’s had and eventually the the
the guy’s got a last kick in and

684
00:41:02,860 –> 00:41:05,940
kept walking and to me that’s
like Dad has this need.

685
00:41:05,940 –> 00:41:07,900
He could not.
I I would have just bowled it up

686
00:41:07,900 –> 00:41:10,140
the stairs and thought, well
this is the police’s job.

687
00:41:10,140 –> 00:41:13,060
It’s not my job.
But he had a need that he had to

688
00:41:13,420 –> 00:41:16,460
get involved at that point so
that when I talk about needs,

689
00:41:16,460 –> 00:41:19,100
I’m not talking about needing to
eat or drink or whatever the

690
00:41:19,100 –> 00:41:20,980
case.
It’s something that comes from

691
00:41:20,980 –> 00:41:24,340
our very essence from our very
being of who we are and we have

692
00:41:24,340 –> 00:41:29,450
we have those those needs.
Now God has a character and a

693
00:41:29,450 –> 00:41:32,810
personality and he has he’s he’s
revealed that to us So what can

694
00:41:32,810 –> 00:41:37,890
we learn about that from him and
he I think it’s captured nicely

695
00:41:37,890 –> 00:41:43,010
in Psalm 94 that says does he
who fashion the ear not hear.

696
00:41:43,850 –> 00:41:48,090
Does he who form the eye not see
And so based on that logic we

697
00:41:48,090 –> 00:41:52,570
could assume, does he who made
man us humans to long for

698
00:41:52,570 –> 00:41:55,130
companionship and need
companionship and need

699
00:41:55,730 –> 00:41:59,290
fellowship and interaction?
Does he also have those similar

700
00:41:59,290 –> 00:42:01,010
feelings?
It would it would logically

701
00:42:01,010 –> 00:42:03,450
follow I think if we follow that
through.

702
00:42:04,850 –> 00:42:08,730
And as we said, God has revealed
himself to us very clearly in

703
00:42:08,730 –> 00:42:11,490
his word, hasn’t he?
And probably the most, you know,

704
00:42:11,690 –> 00:42:19,130
they’re famous revelations of
God of XSA, Exodus 34.

705
00:42:19,530 –> 00:42:21,090
So I’ve written numbers 14.
I’ve got that wrong.

706
00:42:21,090 –> 00:42:26,010
I think I’ve seen numbers 14,
but I think Xodus 34 captures it

707
00:42:26,010 –> 00:42:28,770
very well.
God reveals himself as abundant.

708
00:42:30,330 –> 00:42:33,450
You know, sometimes we think
about God being this balance.

709
00:42:33,450 –> 00:42:37,610
We go, oh, God’s balance is a
perfect balance of goodness and

710
00:42:37,610 –> 00:42:39,850
severity.
Do you really think balance is

711
00:42:39,850 –> 00:42:43,090
the way to think about that?
It’s got balance between, I

712
00:42:43,090 –> 00:42:45,650
mean, if you’re a parent, you
say, well, I’m balanced.

713
00:42:46,050 –> 00:42:49,090
I like to build my kids 50% of
the time and be nicer than 50%

714
00:42:49,090 –> 00:42:50,290
of the time because I like to be
balanced.

715
00:42:50,370 –> 00:42:53,090
That’s not quite, that’s not
quite the concept, is it?

716
00:42:53,410 –> 00:42:56,030
We don’t.
We will discipline our children.

717
00:42:56,030 –> 00:42:58,350
We could go, we’ll go there and
they’ve got the emotional

718
00:42:58,350 –> 00:42:59,950
intelligence to do that when
it’s needed.

719
00:42:59,950 –> 00:43:03,110
But that’s not that’s not what
we’re that’s not not why we had

720
00:43:03,110 –> 00:43:05,670
children.
That’s not what we take joy and

721
00:43:05,670 –> 00:43:07,830
pleasure in, is that that’s not
who we really are.

722
00:43:07,830 –> 00:43:12,430
We we know it’s necessary.
And I think the same applies to

723
00:43:12,430 –> 00:43:14,590
God.
When God reveals himself, he

724
00:43:14,590 –> 00:43:17,710
says I’m abundant in certain
qualities.

725
00:43:18,390 –> 00:43:22,550
And these qualities, this idea
of abundance as we apply it to

726
00:43:22,550 –> 00:43:26,770
God, relate to these qualities
that in the Hebrew are called

727
00:43:27,090 –> 00:43:31,890
Hessed and emit goodness and
truth in the in the Authorized

728
00:43:31,890 –> 00:43:36,290
version, God says he’s abundant
in these qualities of goodness,

729
00:43:36,370 –> 00:43:41,530
of hessed.
Hessed is covenant love, as

730
00:43:41,530 –> 00:43:46,290
we’ll see in a second.
It’s a love for your people, for

731
00:43:46,290 –> 00:43:50,100
yours, just like a parent has
this, he said.

732
00:43:50,100 –> 00:43:52,420
For their own children and their
own wife and their own family.

733
00:43:52,700 –> 00:43:55,420
It’s a connection love, it’s a
relationship.

734
00:43:55,420 –> 00:44:00,700
Love and emit is translated
truth, but it’s not really

735
00:44:00,700 –> 00:44:02,620
propositional truth as we think
about it.

736
00:44:02,620 –> 00:44:07,260
It’s more being true, being
faithful like a husband, being

737
00:44:07,260 –> 00:44:09,820
true to their vows or things
like that.

738
00:44:09,820 –> 00:44:17,320
So God’s it’s their relationship
words emit and he said these are

739
00:44:17,320 –> 00:44:19,560
relationship words and
connection words with people and

740
00:44:19,560 –> 00:44:24,920
it’s God’s not saying I, I, I
display he said And I display

741
00:44:24,920 –> 00:44:29,040
him at he says I am this is what
I this is what I am.

742
00:44:29,040 –> 00:44:35,120
My very being is is relationship
love and goodness and or mercy.

743
00:44:35,480 –> 00:44:39,360
However it’s translated and this
faithfulness to my connection to

744
00:44:39,360 –> 00:44:43,480
my to my relationship and so
there’s many verses that pick

745
00:44:43,480 –> 00:44:47,770
this up.
Micah seven, who is a God like

746
00:44:47,770 –> 00:44:51,250
you, pardoning iniquity and
passing over transgression

747
00:44:51,250 –> 00:44:57,170
because he delights in mercy.
That’s what God delights in

748
00:44:57,170 –> 00:44:57,810
Mercy.
So.

749
00:44:58,690 –> 00:45:00,810
So it’s not like a 50% on bad
50%.

750
00:45:00,810 –> 00:45:05,570
I do good God will bring
judgment in his righteousness

751
00:45:05,810 –> 00:45:08,090
when it’s necessary, but he
delights.

752
00:45:08,090 –> 00:45:12,970
That’s the the the weight of the
scale is on on mercy, on his

753
00:45:12,970 –> 00:45:14,890
chest, set on his loving
kindness.

754
00:45:14,890 –> 00:45:20,150
That’s where God sits.
You think about, like, you know,

755
00:45:20,150 –> 00:45:24,830
if your kids ask you, dad, what
was the what was the what

756
00:45:24,830 –> 00:45:26,390
memories do you have of me as a
kid?

757
00:45:26,950 –> 00:45:31,470
And you think, Oh yeah, remember
that time I builded you when you

758
00:45:31,470 –> 00:45:33,470
were like a naughty kid at
Sunday school?

759
00:45:33,550 –> 00:45:36,790
Or remember that time I I made
you sit in the car when you were

760
00:45:36,790 –> 00:45:38,830
being cheeky?
You know, you don’t Remember

761
00:45:38,830 –> 00:45:41,430
Remember those things, do you?
You know I remember that time I

762
00:45:41,430 –> 00:45:44,150
grounded you for six weeks
because you broke the window at

763
00:45:44,150 –> 00:45:46,490
home or something.
That’s not what you that’s not

764
00:45:46,490 –> 00:45:49,890
who you that’s not that’s not a
relationship that yeah it was

765
00:45:49,890 –> 00:45:52,450
essential at the time.
Those of you who know Johnny of

766
00:45:52,450 –> 00:45:59,890
no, of course it was essential.
But it it’s not I can’t even

767
00:45:59,890 –> 00:46:02,050
remember doing that half the
time because Susan mainly did

768
00:46:02,050 –> 00:46:05,690
that.
So I just so that’s not what

769
00:46:05,690 –> 00:46:09,530
what our relationship is made-up
of is it it’s it’s the the love

770
00:46:09,530 –> 00:46:13,010
it’s the it’s the beautiful
moments it’s the it’s the chess

771
00:46:13,010 –> 00:46:15,650
head.
The chess head that he Jews he

772
00:46:15,650 –> 00:46:18,450
said get it right from the
actual sound there.

773
00:46:18,890 –> 00:46:20,890
God says I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked.

774
00:46:20,890 –> 00:46:22,930
Yes that has to happen in God’s
righteousness.

775
00:46:23,210 –> 00:46:26,370
That’s that’s not who he is.
That’s not what he is in a sense

776
00:46:26,370 –> 00:46:30,610
that it’s it’s it’s something
that it has to happen but it’s

777
00:46:30,610 –> 00:46:32,770
not.
God said I’d rather they turn

778
00:46:32,770 –> 00:46:35,650
from their way and live.
That’s really what what God

779
00:46:35,650 –> 00:46:43,260
would would like this idea of he
said translated off the loving

780
00:46:43,260 –> 00:46:47,860
kindness in in the Old Testament
emit this idea of truth or

781
00:46:47,860 –> 00:46:49,740
faithfulness as strong as
defines it.

782
00:46:49,740 –> 00:46:52,340
There are trustworthiness it’s a
relationship where have been

783
00:46:52,420 –> 00:46:55,980
faithful to your commitments in
a relationship that’s that’s

784
00:46:55,980 –> 00:46:58,500
what God is.
He’s a Hebrew expert.

785
00:46:58,500 –> 00:47:00,060
I’m not going to run out of
time.

786
00:47:00,060 –> 00:47:03,900
So we’re dwell on all these.
But he’s connecting hessed.

787
00:47:04,980 –> 00:47:09,300
You know, God loves the world,
but Hessed’s particularly

788
00:47:10,670 –> 00:47:13,750
relevant to his actual people
that he’s in relationship with.

789
00:47:13,750 –> 00:47:16,910
That’s his that’s a God and his
people word.

790
00:47:16,910 –> 00:47:18,710
I am your God and you’re my
people.

791
00:47:18,990 –> 00:47:23,390
And he said is God’s love word,
his kindness word compassion in

792
00:47:23,390 –> 00:47:26,950
that relationship.
And the Hebrew experts say it’s

793
00:47:26,950 –> 00:47:30,110
a covenant word.
That’s L it’s the What does this

794
00:47:30,110 –> 00:47:32,030
writer he say?
It’s constitutes the essence of

795
00:47:32,030 –> 00:47:33,910
the covenant.
It’s at the very base of the

796
00:47:33,910 –> 00:47:37,190
covenant.
Look at these famous words from

797
00:47:37,190 –> 00:47:40,190
Exodus 34.
The Lord passes by and he

798
00:47:40,190 –> 00:47:43,830
proclaims Yahweh Yahweh.
Twice.

799
00:47:43,830 –> 00:47:45,550
He says it.
This is, this is if you want to

800
00:47:45,550 –> 00:47:50,150
know me and what I’m what I am,
This is all that I am.

801
00:47:50,390 –> 00:47:52,710
What is God?
What is he, essentially?

802
00:47:52,710 –> 00:47:56,990
And he’s very core.
God declares himself as

803
00:47:56,990 –> 00:48:01,830
merciful, gracious,
long-suffering, abundant in He

804
00:48:01,830 –> 00:48:05,190
said and emit.
That’s what God is.

805
00:48:05,550 –> 00:48:08,590
That’s what he is.
What does he do though?

806
00:48:09,110 –> 00:48:12,910
What does he act?
Well, he also He is he said, but

807
00:48:12,910 –> 00:48:15,350
he also does He said.
He’s what does God do?

808
00:48:15,550 –> 00:48:19,470
He keeps, he said for thousands
for giving iniquity and

809
00:48:19,470 –> 00:48:25,510
transgression of sins.
He also does does things that

810
00:48:25,510 –> 00:48:29,430
are negative in a sense where he
visits iniquity on on people

811
00:48:29,430 –> 00:48:31,190
that are sinners.
That’s what he does.

812
00:48:31,270 –> 00:48:34,910
What he is his goodness and
truth.

813
00:48:34,910 –> 00:48:38,190
That is what God is at his very
poor, his very essence.

814
00:48:39,430 –> 00:48:43,230
And so the idea of the He said
God’s God’s love connected to

815
00:48:43,230 –> 00:48:47,070
his faithfulness to his
relationships is is is runs all

816
00:48:47,070 –> 00:48:48,430
through scripture.
His Exodus 20.

817
00:48:48,430 –> 00:48:51,390
Verse six, another covenant
passage.

818
00:48:51,710 –> 00:48:53,550
God shows this covenant
faithfulness.

819
00:48:53,550 –> 00:48:56,710
His he said as the century
Jewish Bible translates it to

820
00:48:56,750 –> 00:49:00,150
1000 generations of those who
keep my commandments.

821
00:49:00,150 –> 00:49:04,030
And this is this is who God is,
this covenant faithfulness.

822
00:49:05,870 –> 00:49:09,000
Jeremy seven another covenant.
Context.

823
00:49:09,000 –> 00:49:11,840
Therefore know that the Lord
your God he is God, the faithful

824
00:49:11,840 –> 00:49:16,160
God who keeps covenant.
And he said so the the covenant

825
00:49:16,160 –> 00:49:21,880
and the he said, linked together
for 1000 generations as I 54 For

826
00:49:21,880 –> 00:49:23,720
the mountains shall depart, and
the hill shall be removed.

827
00:49:23,720 –> 00:49:28,000
But my he said, shall not depart
from you, nor shall my covenant

828
00:49:28,000 –> 00:49:30,920
of peace be removed.
Connection with covenant there.

829
00:49:30,920 –> 00:49:34,040
And he said, praise Xiao Wei or
you Gentiles, Lord him or you

830
00:49:34,040 –> 00:49:37,120
peoples, for his he said, is
great towards us.

831
00:49:37,480 –> 00:49:41,000
And He’s emit the emit of God.
His faithfulness endures

832
00:49:41,000 –> 00:49:44,120
forever.
Praise the Lord and it goes on

833
00:49:44,120 –> 00:49:47,640
and on and on.
If that is the case, brothers

834
00:49:47,640 –> 00:49:52,520
and sisters, that God
essentially is a being of

835
00:49:52,520 –> 00:49:57,000
relation, A relational being, a
being who wants to connect to

836
00:49:57,000 –> 00:49:59,240
others.
And maybe he’s created us for

837
00:49:59,240 –> 00:50:02,040
that very purpose, to have a
relationship with his people,

838
00:50:02,040 –> 00:50:05,700
with his creation.
It explains why there are verses

839
00:50:05,700 –> 00:50:09,100
in the Old Testament
particularly that talks about us

840
00:50:09,100 –> 00:50:12,060
giving God pleasure.
Now, I want you to think about

841
00:50:12,060 –> 00:50:14,020
that.
It’s easy to read and go, yeah,

842
00:50:14,020 –> 00:50:16,500
we give pleasure to God.
Think about this.

843
00:50:16,620 –> 00:50:22,900
You can give pleasure.
That means you can change the

844
00:50:22,900 –> 00:50:27,540
state of the emotional state of
the being that created this

845
00:50:27,540 –> 00:50:31,140
universe.
You can give pleasure to the

846
00:50:31,660 –> 00:50:33,780
architect and creator of this
universe.

847
00:50:34,230 –> 00:50:38,110
I mean, that is phenomenal.
That is almost hard to believe.

848
00:50:38,110 –> 00:50:42,070
But it’s true.
Again, it it feeds back into the

849
00:50:42,070 –> 00:50:43,670
evidence.
Isn’t it, that God is a

850
00:50:43,670 –> 00:50:49,430
relational being who delights,
wants, needs, whatever word you

851
00:50:49,430 –> 00:50:53,270
want to use there.
But it’s a God of connection, a

852
00:50:53,270 –> 00:50:55,870
God of covenant.
He doesn’t take delight as

853
00:50:55,870 –> 00:50:58,350
someone for what he says in the
strength of the horse, the

854
00:50:58,350 –> 00:51:02,330
technology, the all those
things.

855
00:51:02,330 –> 00:51:05,610
He takes no pleasure in the legs
of the success of humans in that

856
00:51:05,890 –> 00:51:07,610
in in the sense of achievement
and success.

857
00:51:08,690 –> 00:51:11,450
The Lord takes pleasure in those
who fear Him, those who

858
00:51:12,130 –> 00:51:16,690
acknowledge his existence to
acknowledge him and count him as

859
00:51:16,690 –> 00:51:19,650
they got, and those who hope in
his, he said.

860
00:51:20,290 –> 00:51:24,210
Those who are linked to him in a
relationship and his He said,

861
00:51:24,530 –> 00:51:28,250
God takes pleasure in that
someone. 49 The Lord takes

862
00:51:28,250 –> 00:51:32,460
pleasure in His people, His
people.

863
00:51:32,460 –> 00:51:36,460
People can give pleasure to the
creator of this incredible

864
00:51:36,460 –> 00:51:40,820
universe and that.
That’s just mind blowing when

865
00:51:40,820 –> 00:51:44,180
you think about it.
But it makes sense.

866
00:51:45,380 –> 00:51:49,140
We get pleasure from our
relationships, from connections

867
00:51:49,140 –> 00:51:53,580
to people.
Why then would not God extract

868
00:51:53,580 –> 00:51:55,620
pleasure from His relationships
with us?

869
00:51:56,460 –> 00:52:02,020
And so we are his offspring.
As Paul says in Act 17, God

870
00:52:02,620 –> 00:52:04,580
takes pleasure from our
connection with us.

871
00:52:05,620 –> 00:52:08,300
And here’s the flip side, and
this is where it really is

872
00:52:08,380 –> 00:52:12,060
powerful.
It’s a win, win relationship,

873
00:52:12,700 –> 00:52:16,260
very rare in our world in the
sense only in, you know,

874
00:52:16,260 –> 00:52:18,900
marriage and in close family
connections and close

875
00:52:18,900 –> 00:52:22,060
friendships you have a win win
situation where the relationship

876
00:52:23,540 –> 00:52:27,980
benefits both parties.
In an absolute sense, God gets

877
00:52:27,980 –> 00:52:34,020
pleasure from this relationship
and we get pleasure, we get joy

878
00:52:34,940 –> 00:52:38,900
from that relationship.
And so the two, the two partners

879
00:52:39,660 –> 00:52:43,780
here, the two potential
partners, 2 relational partners,

880
00:52:44,260 –> 00:52:47,660
get incredible benefit.
Both sides, even the more

881
00:52:47,660 –> 00:52:52,100
powerful side gets benefit from
the connection from the kindred

882
00:52:52,100 –> 00:52:54,260
spirits And I quickly flicked
with out of time.

883
00:52:54,260 –> 00:52:55,260
So I flicked through these
verses.

884
00:52:55,260 –> 00:53:00,110
But so many verses talk about
this presence of God and have an

885
00:53:00,110 –> 00:53:03,470
emotional connection to it.
You will show me the path of

886
00:53:03,470 –> 00:53:06,830
life in your presence is
fullness, of joy at your right

887
00:53:06,830 –> 00:53:09,390
hand of pleasures.
For evermore let us come before

888
00:53:09,390 –> 00:53:13,030
His presence with Thanksgiving,
with a joyful noise, with Psalm.

889
00:53:13,230 –> 00:53:15,230
So the Lord with gladness coming
before his presence, with

890
00:53:15,230 –> 00:53:18,550
singing righteousness and
justice of the foundation of

891
00:53:18,550 –> 00:53:21,790
your throne, he said, And emit,
go before your presence before

892
00:53:21,790 –> 00:53:23,710
your face.
Blessed of the people who know

893
00:53:23,710 –> 00:53:27,200
the joyful sound they walk, O
Lord, in the lights of your

894
00:53:27,200 –> 00:53:30,600
countenance, of your presence in
your name, they rejoice all the

895
00:53:30,600 –> 00:53:32,280
day long.
Look at these rejoicing

896
00:53:32,280 –> 00:53:36,720
presence, connections.
Will the Lord show us any good?

897
00:53:36,720 –> 00:53:40,240
Lift up the light of your
countenance upon us your

898
00:53:40,240 –> 00:53:42,360
presence.
You’ll put gladness in our

899
00:53:42,360 –> 00:53:46,040
hearts, and so forth.
And so, just to finish up,

900
00:53:46,040 –> 00:53:50,720
brothers and sisters, I want us
to think about the presence of

901
00:53:50,720 –> 00:53:52,160
God.
Remember in our first session we

902
00:53:52,160 –> 00:53:54,990
said the the presence, the word
for presence is word.

903
00:53:54,990 –> 00:54:00,310
Pen AM is also translated face
and used to describe the face of

904
00:54:00,310 –> 00:54:02,750
God or the face of a person.
So there is something in the

905
00:54:02,750 –> 00:54:06,910
Hebrew concept of the face,
somebody’s face and somebody’s

906
00:54:06,910 –> 00:54:08,630
presence and we we sort of use
that.

907
00:54:08,630 –> 00:54:12,350
We say get out of my face or
let’s have some FaceTime and

908
00:54:12,350 –> 00:54:15,030
let’s get together face to face
and talk about this.

909
00:54:15,030 –> 00:54:17,670
So there is something special
about being in someone’s

910
00:54:17,670 –> 00:54:21,470
presence, in their in their very
face, even these little things

911
00:54:21,470 –> 00:54:23,830
that people have on their phone
messages are called emojis.

912
00:54:23,830 –> 00:54:30,670
There’s an emotional, there’s
emotional emotion conveyed in

913
00:54:30,670 –> 00:54:32,870
these emojis, isn’t there?
In these faces where they’re

914
00:54:32,870 –> 00:54:34,590
smiling, whether they’re sad,
whether they’re happy.

915
00:54:34,590 –> 00:54:39,910
So the face communicates a lot
of a lot of emotion.

916
00:54:43,590 –> 00:54:46,430
There’s a lot of psalms and a
lot of references in the Old

917
00:54:46,430 –> 00:54:50,440
Testament about seeking God’s
face, about wanting to be in his

918
00:54:50,440 –> 00:54:52,640
face.
If you like, in God’s presence,

919
00:54:54,400 –> 00:54:56,640
he’s Psalm 69.
Don’t hide your face from your

920
00:54:56,640 –> 00:54:58,400
servant.
Psalm 27.

921
00:54:58,400 –> 00:55:02,280
When when you said seek my face,
my heart said to you your face,

922
00:55:02,280 –> 00:55:05,560
Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me as

923
00:55:05,560 –> 00:55:07,720
this.
It reminds us of Act seven,

924
00:55:07,720 –> 00:55:08,800
which we talked about earlier
on.

925
00:55:08,800 –> 00:55:12,880
Isn’t it that God says I created
you so that you can feel for me

926
00:55:12,880 –> 00:55:16,160
and seek for me and touch me?
God wants that.

927
00:55:16,500 –> 00:55:19,180
God wants that connection with
his people, and it just runs all

928
00:55:19,180 –> 00:55:21,540
the way through the Bible.
Blessed are the people who know

929
00:55:21,540 –> 00:55:24,220
the joyful sound that walk in a
lot of your countenance,

930
00:55:24,220 –> 00:55:27,780
etcetera.
So I might just finish up here

931
00:55:27,780 –> 00:55:30,900
with a just a few minutes
thinking about this beautiful

932
00:55:30,900 –> 00:55:33,260
part of the scripture that
Nathan read for us tonight.

933
00:55:33,260 –> 00:55:37,860
Towards the end of #6, there’s
this beautiful set of stanzas,

934
00:55:37,860 –> 00:55:42,380
if you like this, this, this
priestly benedictional blessing

935
00:55:42,380 –> 00:55:46,660
that was given to the people,
blessing them and bringing God’s

936
00:55:46,660 –> 00:55:49,220
presence into their life.
Let’s just let’s think about

937
00:55:49,220 –> 00:55:53,060
this and just in the whole
context of God’s presence.

938
00:55:53,060 –> 00:55:57,900
Remember Hebrews 10, The
boldness we can have in God’s

939
00:55:57,900 –> 00:56:01,940
presence, the pleriphoria, the
full assurance of God’s

940
00:56:01,940 –> 00:56:06,580
presence, the ability to draw
need to God.

941
00:56:06,580 –> 00:56:10,380
And here it is in a I think
lived out in a very and

942
00:56:10,380 –> 00:56:13,340
expressed in a very practical
and beautiful in a very

943
00:56:13,340 –> 00:56:19,230
emotional way.
What can we say about this

944
00:56:19,350 –> 00:56:21,150
section of scripture?
Well, let’s make a few

945
00:56:21,150 –> 00:56:25,310
observations.
One, you’ll notice how each of

946
00:56:25,310 –> 00:56:27,910
the stanzas begins with the name
of God.

947
00:56:27,910 –> 00:56:31,470
Yahweh.
Yahweh, Bless you, Yahweh.

948
00:56:31,470 –> 00:56:33,350
Make his face.
Yahweh, lift up his counter.

949
00:56:33,350 –> 00:56:35,710
So it’s very personal, isn’t it?
It’s that it’s God’s.

950
00:56:36,030 –> 00:56:40,310
God’s placing his own name here.
And you normally tell your name

951
00:56:40,310 –> 00:56:42,030
to people that you want a
relationship with, don’t you?

952
00:56:42,030 –> 00:56:44,670
You say my name’s Darren or
whatever, and you’re now

953
00:56:44,750 –> 00:56:48,510
starting this connection.
If it’s someone you know, you’re

954
00:56:48,510 –> 00:56:51,070
not going to see someone selling
you a ticket or the sandwich.

955
00:56:51,070 –> 00:56:53,430
You don’t tell them your name
necessarily because there’s no,

956
00:56:53,430 –> 00:56:54,830
you’re not going to have a
relationship with them.

957
00:56:54,830 –> 00:56:57,110
So God, he’s saying, I want to
have a relationship.

958
00:56:57,110 –> 00:56:59,110
I’m giving you my name so we can
talk together.

959
00:57:00,230 –> 00:57:03,270
And so it’s anchored in who
Yahweh actually is.

960
00:57:03,270 –> 00:57:05,230
It’s anchored in his very
person.

961
00:57:06,470 –> 00:57:09,630
Notice some, and particularly
those those of you who have the

962
00:57:09,630 –> 00:57:12,350
King James Bible, of course,
will see that the blessing

963
00:57:12,350 –> 00:57:14,430
relates to thee.
The Lord bless thee, which is

964
00:57:14,430 –> 00:57:16,310
the singular in the the Old
English.

965
00:57:17,110 –> 00:57:20,390
And and this is, this is a
singular concept which is, which

966
00:57:20,390 –> 00:57:23,830
is very fascinating, isn’t it?
Sometimes we we shy away from

967
00:57:23,950 –> 00:57:27,150
talking about ourselves in the
context of God’s blessing and we

968
00:57:27,150 –> 00:57:28,670
don’t.
We’d like to sort of make it a

969
00:57:28,670 –> 00:57:33,470
more collective phrase, but hear
the blessings, individual

970
00:57:33,670 –> 00:57:38,360
personal.
Yahweh bless you Darren, you

971
00:57:38,360 –> 00:57:40,760
know this is me.
Yaweh make his face shine upon

972
00:57:40,760 –> 00:57:43,760
you and be gracious to you.
Yaweh lift up his countenance

973
00:57:43,760 –> 00:57:47,120
upon you and give you peace.
It’s it’s a personal blessing

974
00:57:47,120 –> 00:57:51,720
from Yahweh personally to you
personally.

975
00:57:54,120 –> 00:57:57,960
Notice the repetition there of
the of the of the presence of

976
00:57:57,960 –> 00:57:59,760
God.
So it’s translated in This is, I

977
00:57:59,760 –> 00:58:02,560
think, new King James.
Here it’s translator’s face

978
00:58:03,120 –> 00:58:06,370
means it’s 10:00 AM, it’s
presence, and in the third

979
00:58:06,370 –> 00:58:07,450
stands.
There it’s translated

980
00:58:07,450 –> 00:58:10,050
countenance.
In that translation, others have

981
00:58:10,050 –> 00:58:12,850
face again, but it’s presence,
it’s pen AM.

982
00:58:13,650 –> 00:58:16,490
It’s God’s presence that
permeates this little blessing.

983
00:58:16,490 –> 00:58:19,650
It’s about God blessing you with
him.

984
00:58:20,330 –> 00:58:25,330
He is the blessing in a sense.
Notice that part of the

985
00:58:25,330 –> 00:58:27,130
blessing.
The second stands there is God

986
00:58:27,250 –> 00:58:29,530
being gracious to you.
This is a beautiful word.

987
00:58:30,490 –> 00:58:33,180
The word gracious.
If you look up strongest

988
00:58:33,180 –> 00:58:37,460
concordance it means to bend
down or stoop in kindness to an

989
00:58:37,460 –> 00:58:39,780
inferior.
It’s like a little child has

990
00:58:40,300 –> 00:58:43,140
fallen off their scooter or the
skateboard and they’re on the

991
00:58:43,140 –> 00:58:47,060
ground and they’ve cut their leg
and you as the adult kneel down,

992
00:58:47,060 –> 00:58:51,460
you stoop down to beside of any
and that stooping brings comfort

993
00:58:51,460 –> 00:58:55,860
into their into their presence.
Your presence gives comfort to

994
00:58:55,860 –> 00:58:57,460
their presence and there’s a
connection there.

995
00:58:57,460 –> 00:59:01,250
And they they feel thankful and
and reassure that you’re there.

996
00:59:01,290 –> 00:59:03,410
And so God has stooped down into
our life.

997
00:59:03,850 –> 00:59:07,410
Of course, the greater in this
relationship by, you know, a

998
00:59:07,410 –> 00:59:11,410
billion, trillion and million
times it’s not even a you can’t

999
00:59:11,410 –> 00:59:16,730
even define that, but it’s still
a real relationship and he

1000
00:59:16,730 –> 00:59:19,770
Stoops down to connect with the
the lesser party in this

1001
00:59:19,770 –> 00:59:22,730
relationship and notice where it
leaves us.

1002
00:59:24,010 –> 00:59:30,590
Yahweh lift up his presence upon
you and give you Shalom, give

1003
00:59:30,590 –> 00:59:35,870
you peace and this word, Shalom
is such a comprehensive and and

1004
00:59:36,990 –> 00:59:38,550
holistic word.
It’s so beautiful.

1005
00:59:38,550 –> 00:59:42,830
It’s not just the absence of
fighting or or just a quiet

1006
00:59:42,830 –> 00:59:45,910
time.
This Shalom has it at its very

1007
00:59:45,910 –> 00:59:50,630
core, the idea of even welfare
and and healing and tranquility

1008
00:59:50,630 –> 00:59:53,790
and contentment and peace in the
true sense.

1009
00:59:53,790 –> 00:59:57,870
So there’s a There’s an
emotional power that comes from

1010
00:59:57,870 –> 01:00:00,270
being in the presence of God.
This is the core of the

1011
01:00:00,270 –> 01:00:02,190
blessing.
The blessing isn’t just an

1012
01:00:02,190 –> 01:00:06,070
intellectual, academic thing.
There’s a power that comes from

1013
01:00:06,070 –> 01:00:08,030
being in the very presence of
God.

1014
01:00:11,310 –> 01:00:13,950
Just want us to finish up by
focusing on this phrase.

1015
01:00:13,950 –> 01:00:18,870
Shine Yahweh.
Bless you and keep you Yahweh.

1016
01:00:18,870 –> 01:00:21,110
Make his face, his presence
shine.

1017
01:00:22,240 –> 01:00:24,680
It’s an interesting idea in the
Hebrew.

1018
01:00:24,680 –> 01:00:27,920
In the Hebrew here, the word
shine means to light up, to be

1019
01:00:27,920 –> 01:00:30,440
lit up, if you look at the
lexicon.

1020
01:00:30,440 –> 01:00:35,640
So in some way, God shining on
you, His presence, it’s shining

1021
01:00:36,000 –> 01:00:40,480
may not be physically
discernible to our optical

1022
01:00:40,480 –> 01:00:43,640
receptors, but there’s God is
shining His presence upon us.

1023
01:00:44,120 –> 01:00:47,720
And of course, building to this
word, shine is an idiom.

1024
01:00:50,000 –> 01:00:55,720
God isn’t literally shining in
that sense, but He’s shining

1025
01:00:55,720 –> 01:00:57,360
something.
There’s something coming from

1026
01:00:57,360 –> 01:01:03,680
God into our into our presence
and the idiom and how it’s using

1027
01:01:04,360 –> 01:01:05,880
Hebrew and other parts of the
Bible.

1028
01:01:05,880 –> 01:01:09,440
The idiom here of shine is the
idea of smiling.

1029
01:01:10,440 –> 01:01:15,480
God is smiling upon you.
His face is smiling.

1030
01:01:16,130 –> 01:01:19,650
And we we use this idiom even in
our own life today, we talk

1031
01:01:19,650 –> 01:01:21,450
about someone having a beaming
smile.

1032
01:01:22,250 –> 01:01:25,210
Well, there’s not really light
beaming from someone’s face, but

1033
01:01:25,490 –> 01:01:28,330
we we use that idiom.
Someone has a glowing smile.

1034
01:01:28,650 –> 01:01:31,090
Someone has a radiant smile.
That’s the same idea that some

1035
01:01:31,090 –> 01:01:33,810
radiate something radiating from
the face.

1036
01:01:34,170 –> 01:01:36,690
Her smile lights up the room.
You know, you’ve got a little

1037
01:01:36,930 –> 01:01:40,810
gorgeous little granddaughter
and her smile just lights up the

1038
01:01:40,810 –> 01:01:43,730
room or lights up the place.
We use that idiom ourselves.

1039
01:01:43,730 –> 01:01:47,570
So it’s it’s some.
It’s quite understandable in

1040
01:01:47,570 –> 01:01:50,850
that sense.
There’s something amazing about

1041
01:01:50,850 –> 01:01:52,730
a smile.
When you think about it, the

1042
01:01:52,730 –> 01:01:57,370
smile is a dynamic phenomenon
that is hard to describe because

1043
01:01:57,610 –> 01:02:00,210
what actually is it?
What is a smile?

1044
01:02:00,210 –> 01:02:04,490
It’s just muscles.
It’s just my face now and my

1045
01:02:04,490 –> 01:02:05,570
face now.
My face.

1046
01:02:05,930 –> 01:02:07,810
It’s just the movement of some
muscles.

1047
01:02:08,090 –> 01:02:11,090
That’s all that’s happening.
Muscles moving the eyes don’t

1048
01:02:11,090 –> 01:02:13,970
really shine anymore.
They seem to, but something

1049
01:02:13,970 –> 01:02:19,900
magical happens in your eyes.
But it’s just muscle movement.

1050
01:02:20,020 –> 01:02:21,460
It’s a it’s a little miracle,
isn’t it?

1051
01:02:21,460 –> 01:02:23,900
A smile’s, a little miracle,
Little reflection of God.

1052
01:02:24,860 –> 01:02:29,020
But think about what the smile
does it it draws people to you.

1053
01:02:29,020 –> 01:02:32,580
When someone smiles and you’re
in a crowd and they smile,

1054
01:02:33,020 –> 01:02:35,100
there’s an attraction, there’s
you’re drawn to that person.

1055
01:02:35,100 –> 01:02:37,420
There’s something lovely about a
smile.

1056
01:02:38,060 –> 01:02:40,540
It’s also contagious.
When someone smiles at you, you,

1057
01:02:41,060 –> 01:02:43,980
you, you smile back.
Usually it makes you smile.

1058
01:02:43,980 –> 01:02:48,040
Even if you’re not feeling the
best you, you smile and you know

1059
01:02:48,040 –> 01:02:51,280
our capitalist world knows that.
And they train the McDonald’s

1060
01:02:51,280 –> 01:02:54,560
girls to smile at you.
I’m happy for other reasons, but

1061
01:02:54,560 –> 01:02:56,960
but also the smiles nice, the
smiles nice as well.

1062
01:02:58,520 –> 01:03:00,720
Smile is a gift as well.
When you smile at someone,

1063
01:03:00,720 –> 01:03:02,880
you’re giving.
It’s a giving, it’s a beautiful

1064
01:03:02,880 –> 01:03:05,080
thing and you’re giving
something to somebody.

1065
01:03:06,000 –> 01:03:11,200
And it’s also transformative.
A smile transforms the

1066
01:03:11,200 –> 01:03:16,440
atmosphere, the situation.
It can make a tense situation,

1067
01:03:16,440 –> 01:03:19,880
awkward situation better.
A smile transforms and changes

1068
01:03:19,880 –> 01:03:23,600
the your state of mind and those
with you as well.

1069
01:03:24,640 –> 01:03:29,840
It lifts your emotions.
It can give you a dopamine hit

1070
01:03:30,120 –> 01:03:34,120
and raise your spirit.
It can spark off endorphins in

1071
01:03:34,120 –> 01:03:36,680
your in your brain.
A smile is a very powerful thing

1072
01:03:36,920 –> 01:03:39,240
and yet it’s just muscles in
your face that are that are that

1073
01:03:39,240 –> 01:03:42,440
are moving and a positive smile
can surge through your body.

1074
01:03:44,030 –> 01:03:46,670
Some of the some of the dynamic
Bible translations have picked

1075
01:03:46,670 –> 01:03:49,590
up the idiom and translated it
not not being literally they’re

1076
01:03:49,590 –> 01:03:51,830
picking up the the idiom behind
the word.

1077
01:03:51,830 –> 01:03:54,550
So the the New Living
translations got made the Lord

1078
01:03:54,550 –> 01:03:57,310
smile on you.
The NIRV says made the Lord

1079
01:03:57,310 –> 01:04:00,790
smile on you.
Good word Bible, the Lord smile

1080
01:04:00,790 –> 01:04:02,190
on you.
The message has got got smile on

1081
01:04:02,190 –> 01:04:03,310
you as well and they’re not
wrong.

1082
01:04:03,430 –> 01:04:05,950
They’re not technically
translating the word, but

1083
01:04:05,950 –> 01:04:09,030
they’re not wrong in the the
sense of the idiom is smile.

1084
01:04:09,030 –> 01:04:14,020
So what do we what do we, what
do we got here?

1085
01:04:14,020 –> 01:04:15,260
What?
What have we been told?

1086
01:04:16,380 –> 01:04:19,780
The blessing of the blessing,
the priestly blessing that we

1087
01:04:19,780 –> 01:04:22,660
have.
Particularly now under the new

1088
01:04:22,660 –> 01:04:26,940
covenant, this blessing ramps up
big time, doesn’t it?

1089
01:04:26,940 –> 01:04:31,420
Our high priest is so superior
than the priest giving these

1090
01:04:31,420 –> 01:04:35,820
blessings.
Under the Old Covenant, the

1091
01:04:35,820 –> 01:04:38,260
blessing says Yahweh be with
you.

1092
01:04:39,350 –> 01:04:41,670
And we’ve seen through our study
that he actually is with us,

1093
01:04:41,670 –> 01:04:42,670
isn’t he?
He’s with us.

1094
01:04:43,230 –> 01:04:47,430
I think we laid out the evidence
for that reasonably strongly.

1095
01:04:47,830 –> 01:04:50,150
He’s with us regardless of the
circumstances.

1096
01:04:50,270 –> 01:04:52,110
Yahweh is with us.
The Lord be with us.

1097
01:04:52,910 –> 01:04:56,510
He’s gracious unto us in the way
He’s forgiven us our sins,

1098
01:04:56,510 –> 01:04:58,750
deemed us righteous, all those
things that we’ve talked about.

1099
01:04:59,270 –> 01:05:04,590
He’s blessed us, brothers and
sisters, with his presence in a

1100
01:05:04,590 –> 01:05:08,500
relational sense through the New
Covenant, but also in the sense

1101
01:05:08,500 –> 01:05:13,020
that He’s spatially with us in
our life and that should, if we

1102
01:05:13,020 –> 01:05:17,020
think about the reality of that
and make that real, brings

1103
01:05:17,540 –> 01:05:21,540
peace, brings Shalom, I can’t
put it any better than number

1104
01:05:21,540 –> 01:05:24,380
six.
It’s Shalom that comes from the

1105
01:05:24,380 –> 01:05:27,460
presence of God in its absolute
sense.

1106
01:05:29,060 –> 01:05:33,290
So there’s a connection to the
smile of God and his face

1107
01:05:33,290 –> 01:05:35,850
shining in salvation.
Haven’t got time to flesh all

1108
01:05:35,850 –> 01:05:37,530
these out now, but I just want
to take us to the end of the

1109
01:05:37,530 –> 01:05:40,370
story, which of course is
Revelation 22.

1110
01:05:41,770 –> 01:05:47,290
And there’s some interesting
little verses in chapter 22 and

1111
01:05:47,290 –> 01:05:51,340
one of them is here in verses
verse four that says, and we

1112
01:05:51,340 –> 01:05:53,700
don’t quite know.
This of course is still the

1113
01:05:53,700 –> 01:05:56,420
apocalypse.
So the literal nature of how

1114
01:05:56,420 –> 01:05:59,940
this all works itself out is is
going to remains to be seen in

1115
01:05:59,940 –> 01:06:03,100
its ultimate sense.
But you can see what the

1116
01:06:03,140 –> 01:06:06,220
inspiration is telling us.
If we link it back to the Old

1117
01:06:06,220 –> 01:06:08,500
Testament and to the blessings
of God under the on the old

1118
01:06:08,500 –> 01:06:11,220
covenant, we’ve got some
incredible things to look

1119
01:06:11,220 –> 01:06:14,580
forward to.
Revelation 22 says those who are

1120
01:06:14,580 –> 01:06:20,380
in this new heaven, new earth,
shall see his face, his

1121
01:06:20,380 –> 01:06:23,700
presence, it was lost back in
Eden.

1122
01:06:25,540 –> 01:06:28,300
God knew it was going to be lost
in the full knowledge of God,

1123
01:06:28,300 –> 01:06:33,820
that he knew that already.
It wasn’t a plan that went awry

1124
01:06:33,820 –> 01:06:37,740
in that sense, as we sometimes
may sort of portray it.

1125
01:06:38,460 –> 01:06:44,940
God knew Jesus Christ was going
to come, but the narrative tells

1126
01:06:44,940 –> 01:06:48,460
us what happens because of sin
and what the results were.

1127
01:06:48,460 –> 01:06:52,580
And we we’re told that we God’s
presence was lost and adamantly

1128
01:06:52,580 –> 01:06:54,020
hid themselves from the presence
of the Lord.

1129
01:06:55,700 –> 01:06:59,180
We’ve been restored under the
new creation that has happened

1130
01:06:59,180 –> 01:07:01,740
now in our life.
The new creation came into

1131
01:07:01,740 –> 01:07:03,260
effect when Jesus was
resurrected.

1132
01:07:03,580 –> 01:07:05,740
He’s the first born of the new
creation.

1133
01:07:05,940 –> 01:07:07,620
We are part of this new
creation.

1134
01:07:08,300 –> 01:07:11,970
The connection to God’s been
repaired, We have boldness to

1135
01:07:11,970 –> 01:07:14,330
come into His presence, into His
face.

1136
01:07:15,210 –> 01:07:18,850
But of course the completion of
that, the fulfillment of that is

1137
01:07:18,850 –> 01:07:20,490
not till we get to the very end
of the Bible.

1138
01:07:20,490 –> 01:07:23,890
They shall see His face, His
name shall be on their forehead

1139
01:07:24,010 –> 01:07:26,250
heads.
And it’s expressed in such a way

1140
01:07:26,250 –> 01:07:30,090
that because of God’s face
there’ll be no night there.

1141
01:07:30,850 –> 01:07:34,210
There’ll be no lamp or light or
even the sun.

1142
01:07:35,520 –> 01:07:37,800
As I said, how this practically
works out, we don’t know.

1143
01:07:37,800 –> 01:07:39,840
But think of the the concept
here.

1144
01:07:39,840 –> 01:07:42,840
The Lord shining his face and
giving us Shalom.

1145
01:07:43,680 –> 01:07:45,720
He is the ultimate expression of
Shalom.

1146
01:07:46,440 –> 01:07:51,240
God’s face will be our light.
He will shine his smile, as it

1147
01:07:51,240 –> 01:07:54,520
were, into our into our hearts
and into our lives.

1148
01:07:55,240 –> 01:07:58,440
And So what we experience now of
the presence of God and the

1149
01:07:58,440 –> 01:08:03,320
smile of God in our lives is
really a flickering reality.

1150
01:08:03,320 –> 01:08:06,780
It’s true and it’s a reality,
but it’s a flickering reality of

1151
01:08:07,340 –> 01:08:12,660
in comparison to what awaits us
all when God is All in all.

1152
01:08:13,460 –> 01:08:15,980
So let’s finish on the verse We
started with brothers and

1153
01:08:15,980 –> 01:08:19,779
sisters just to again reanchor
ourselves in the reality of this

1154
01:08:20,779 –> 01:08:22,340
Paul’s preaching.
Act 17.

1155
01:08:22,340 –> 01:08:25,779
He’s talking to Pagan
philosophers in the Pagan city

1156
01:08:25,779 –> 01:08:27,979
of Athens and what does he tell
them?

1157
01:08:27,979 –> 01:08:29,899
He says God made the world and
everything in it.

1158
01:08:30,700 –> 01:08:33,300
He gave breath and life to all
mankind and set the bounds of

1159
01:08:33,300 –> 01:08:38,649
their habitation for a reason.
That you want to know what his

1160
01:08:38,649 –> 01:08:41,410
reason was?
That these humans that he

1161
01:08:41,410 –> 01:08:45,370
created with his, as it were his
hands in the clay, getting his

1162
01:08:45,370 –> 01:08:48,210
hands dirty, getting down and
dirty in the creation, breathing

1163
01:08:48,210 –> 01:08:50,490
with his own mouth into their
nostrils.

1164
01:08:50,770 –> 01:08:56,290
He did that for a reason, that
these creatures created in his

1165
01:08:56,290 –> 01:08:58,210
image and likeness.
His children, his offspring,

1166
01:08:58,490 –> 01:09:03,490
should seek him and feel their
way towards him and actually

1167
01:09:03,490 –> 01:09:06,850
find him, because he’s actually
not far from every one of us,

1168
01:09:06,850 –> 01:09:11,529
for in him we live and move and
have our very being thanks.

1169
01:09:26,660 –> 01:09:28,899
Thank you for listening to the
good Christadelphian Talks

1170
01:09:28,899 –> 01:09:31,779
Podcast.
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1171
01:09:31,779 –> 01:09:33,939
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1172
01:09:34,279 –> 01:09:36,680
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1173
01:09:36,680 –> 01:09:39,560
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1174
01:09:39,560 –> 01:09:41,399
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1175
01:09:42,240 –> 01:09:45,040
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1176
01:09:45,040 –> 01:09:46,800
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1177
01:09:47,279 –> 01:09:50,319
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1178
01:09:50,319 –> 01:09:54,640
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1179
01:09:54,640 –> 01:09:57,720
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1180
01:09:57,720 –> 01:10:00,600
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01:10:00,960 –> 01:10:03,120
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1182
01:10:03,630 –> 01:10:08,190
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1183
01:10:08,190 –> 01:10:10,910
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1184
01:10:10,910 –> 01:10:13,070
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1185
01:10:13,070 –> 01:10:16,190
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1186
01:10:16,190 –> 01:10:18,510
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1187
01:10:18,750 –> 01:10:20,990
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1188
01:10:21,910 –> 01:10:24,710
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1189
01:10:24,710 –> 01:10:24,990
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