Aaron McKee – The Relenting and Unrelenting God – Class 4 – Living The Tension (1 Cor. 3)

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We’ll now turn it over to
brother Aaron for his fourth

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class.
The overall topic for the

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weekend is the relenting and
unrelenting God.

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This class is entitled Living
the Tension.

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Brother Aaron.
Well, good morning brothers and

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sisters, good morning.
Well, yesterday we talked about

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a number of things as we dwelled
on this character of God

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revealed to Moses and Sinai.
We talked about the seemingly

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paradoxical qualities of our
God, how he reveals himself

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throughout Scripture.
We talked about the importance

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of how we perceive these
qualities of God.

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And in our second and third
classes, we alternately explored

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the God of grace, how his grace
moves with mankind, what that

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tells us about what grace means
to God.

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And then we’ve of course dwelt
on the God of justice.

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In the year Uzziah dies, Isaiah
received a vision of God and

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what he saw terrified him.
Because in the words of Isaiah

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6, we’re in seeing the Lord of
hosts, this image of God

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enthroned in power over the
earth, in the seat of glory,

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lifting him up over the
seraphim.

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These beasts which convey the
host of God is angels and Saints

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who’ve executed His power in
authority and majesty over the

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earth, and who in united voice
proclaim this cry Holy.

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Holy is the Lord of hosts.
The earth is full of his glory,

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and the voice that spoke these
things shook the foundations of

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the earth.
Well, in seeing these things,

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brothers, sisters, Elijah cried
out as we all would.

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Woe is me, I am lost.
For what man can stand in the

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presence of God, of of unclean
lips, who dwells with unclean

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people, and stand before his
character?

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But in the silence that follows
that statement, a hand comes

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forward pulling a coal from an
altar of sacrifice, and it

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touches his lips.
And that same voice declares

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these words.
Your guilt is taken away.

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You’re sin atoned.
And how does Isaiah respond?

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It’s in verse 8.
Bron Sisters, He says, here I

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am, take me, send me to Israel
to show your character in an

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imagery of a man, Bron Sisters,
who perceives the character of

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God, his righteous justice and
his boundless grace, and it

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moves him to action.
Well, we are drawn to the

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fundamental understanding that
is underlined everything

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considered this weekend and
that’s simply that knowing

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Godburn sisters, knowing these
qualities of character revealed

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in this vision that our pattern
throughout Scripture that is

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always a call to action in our
lives.

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This morning, brothers and
sisters, we will consider that

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calling.
Consider what it means to to

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live in the tension of this
character, to to be those who

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who strive for his grace and
live by his truth.

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This morning we’ll consider the
difficulties in that calling

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that many throughout our
scriptures failed in this

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struggle, failed in the balance
of grace and truth.

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You know, they, they could show
truth, but at cost of grace or

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live by grace but but have
little value of truth.

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We’ll consider that some, some
of them attained a harmony, a

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shadow of God’s character and
will reflect what that looks

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like, how it manifests, what
lessons we can apply to our

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ecclesia, our personal lives.
But ultimately we will bring our

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thoughts to the conclusion in a
simple, sobering, fundamental

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reflection from the sisters.
And that’s that, while many have

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tried.
All fall short of the glory of

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God, all struggle in
imperfections of the fleshbrun

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sisters.
Yet yet, despite these things,

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by the grace of God, He will
give us a standard that can

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transform us to what we cannot
be ourselves to receive His

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glory and walk in His character
as Moses once desired on the

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summits of Sinai.
But we’ll start our thoughts

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running sisters with a simple
reflection and that’s that.

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All throughout Scripture.
Oh, that would be great.

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Yes.
Thank you.

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Yeah.
Just so everybody can see it

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then.
All throughout Scripture our God

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has this repeated desire,
doesn’t He?

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We We see this time and again in
the record of His Word.

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We we see it in the account of
Zechariah 7 verse 9.

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What does it say?
Thus says the Lord of hosts to

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Israel execute justice and
compassion everyone to his

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brother.
We we see it in Proverbs 3,

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verse three to four.
Let not love and truth forsake

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you.
We see it in Proverbs 31, verse

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9.
Open your mouth, judge

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righteously with compassion.
We see it perhaps most notably

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by the sisters, the words of
Micah 6, verse 8.

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What does it say?
What does the Lord require but

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that you do justice and love
mercy and so walk before God?

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If one thing is abundantly clear
by the sisters, it’s that all

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throughout Scripture, our God
who has lived in the tension of

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these traits, in everything
we’ve considered this weekend,

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all throughout Scripture, He
expects us to do the same.

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To show the fullness of his
character and how we treat those

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around us and how we live our
lives and how we speak about his

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truth in this world.
And Brun sisters, while we might

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know that, while while we might
comprehensively, you know, Theo

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theologically, intellectually
understand that it is something

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else entirely to live it, we are
at all times people who want to

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forgive yet be fair.
We at all times want to speak

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truth but but not hurt others.
We’d all times want to uphold

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principles but still love people
in their failures.

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And that speaks to you as an
individual as it does me.

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It’s also characteristic of our
cliches as we face problems.

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It’s characteristic of our our
worldwide community.

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We, we grapple in this tension
over so many issues, yet yet so

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often we fall short, don’t we?
To to one side or the other.

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You know, we, we strain to grab
hold of truth, but grace slips

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through our fingers and all this
leads us to a a very simple,

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very painful, harsh reality.
Run, sisters.

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And that’s that.
There is difficulty in

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discernment.
The greatest test of

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discipleship is holding
conviction and compassion

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together, to be firm in our
truth yet tender in our mercies.

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And if you feel that, Bron
sisters, if you have struggled

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with this relentlessly in your
life as I have, if you’ve seen

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it in your ecclesias, that is
not unique to us, Bron sisters,

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know that many throughout our
Bibles struggled in the tension.

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You know, let’s think about them
for a moment.

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Come with me to Job Chapter 4.
In fact, the whole book of Job

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if we reduce it to a single
thing when we think about it,

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it’s really a record of people
who struggle in their

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perceptions of God, aren’t they
they’re trying to reconcile.

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You know, how does he work in
our lives?

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What what is God expected man
and what do we see verse 7.

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These are the words of a life as
the the the supposed friend of

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Job.
He says what innocent ever

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perish, Job, Those who plow
iniquity reap the same.

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Think about what he’s saying
here.

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Run, sisters.
He’s talking to a man who lost

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his children.
He says your suffering proves

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your guilt.
We think through the words of

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Job 11, the words of Zophar.
Again, another supposed friend

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of Job.
He says, Job, you think your

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doctrines are pure, but know
that God takes less from you

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than you deserve.
You deserve worse than all the

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terrible things that happened.
What a terrible thing to say.

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Run, sisters, this is a people
who flatten God’s character.

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They could see a a God of truth,
a God of merciless justice.

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They could defend him as a God
of truth.

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But in so doing, they crushed
Job with accusations rather than

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comfort, with judgement rather
than mercy.

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And because of that, what does
God say?

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They did not speak right of me.
They misperceived who I am, how

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my justice works as God.
And we’ve perhaps seen that in

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our lives, Brun sisters.
Perhaps we’ve been these people.

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I’ve been this this person.
We’re in moments of correction.

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You know, I I deliver truth in
ways that was overbearing, that

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lean to harshness, where where
my delivery was was more rigid

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and and hurtful.
And I justified it all behind

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the fact that, you know, it’s
for their own their own good.

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This can characterize whole
Ecclesius Brun sisters where,

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you know, we we develop a a
truth only emphasis where we can

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hammer law and doctrine.
We’re very comfortable with

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that.
But but we leave little space

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for hope and grace.
And unfortunately, Job’s

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friends, they weren’t alone in
that behavior.

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In fact, there are many in the
records of Scripture who show

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the same.
We see it in the history of

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Israel of people who are
constantly living on this

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spectrum of God’s character, who
who many times practice truth

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without grace, who stone Stephen
in defense of their truth, who

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took the life of Christ
justified with these words to

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Pilate.
We have a law that lets us do

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it.
They killed the Son of God with

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the law of God.
The lesson in this behaviour is

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a simple one, Brun sisters.
And that’s that when truth

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stands alone, it wounds rather
than heals.

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It’s a lesson that truth without
grace will condemn rather than

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restores.
The lesson of truth absent of

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grace, Brun sisters, are the
words of 2nd Corinthians 3,

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verse 6.
The letter kills, but the Spirit

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gives life.
You see what Paul is not saying

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here is forget truth and just
live by spirit or, or that you

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know truth is something soft and
and malleable and you can mold

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it to whatever you want because
because grace is more important.

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What he’s saying is truth
divorced from God’s character is

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dead.
He’s saying how you exercise

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truth can never be divorced from
how the Spirit of God expresses

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itself.
The truth of God must always be

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practiced in the fruits of His
Spirit, in Lovejoy, peace,

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patience, kindness and goodness
and faithfulness and gentleness.

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That’s the expectation of God.
When we show truth.

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Run sisters, when?
When we lose that, we become

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something hollow.
When we lose that, we become

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James and John who could call
down fire in defence of truth,

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but are rebuked of Christ for
not representing it’s spirit.

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We become Moses in Numbers 20,
who in defense of God, in anger

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struck the rock and is rebuked
of doing it.

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We we become the sword of Peter,
striking out and defending

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truth, but by doing it in force
deny it’s spirit.

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We become Ephesus who could
uphold the soundest of doctrine

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in truth as an ecclesia, but in
conviction they forgot the love

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that makes truth come alive in
their examples is the lesson

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that even when truth is on our
side.

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Bron Sisters acting in wrath
misrepresents God in their

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examples is the understanding it
is never permissible to

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demonstrate the works of our
flesh in defence of truth.

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But just as we have those who
led with truth and admitted

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grace, so, so two brothers,
sisters, do we see the reverse.

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Just as we have Ephesus who
betray truth emitting loves, so

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we have Thyatira embracing love
at expense of truth.

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And we see this same imbalance
of grace, Brun sisters, all

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throughout our Bibles.
We see it in the records of

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Jeremiah 7.
Let’s take a look at that

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because here Brun sisters, what
does God say of Israel?

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They’re they’re struggling with
a with a very specific issue.

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He he condemns them very
purposefully.

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We see it starting in verse 5.
He says you’ve forsaken justice

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and truth qualities of my
character for verse 9, you

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steal, you murder, you commit
adultery, you swear falsely, you

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make offerings to Bill.
Then you come to my house and

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say we are delivered.
In other words, from sisters.

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This is a people struggling in
the imbalance of grace.

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They presumed on his character
of mercy that all day long that

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they trusted in his in his
covenant and all the wonderful

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things that we talked about in
our second class the the the the

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the hand of God’s grace that
secures this quality of

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character into man.
But they flaunted his word of

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truth.
But what does God say Brown

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sisters verse 12 Remember what I
do to Shiloh.

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You see, God references Shiloh
because in the story of Eli and

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his family is one of the most
ruinous examples of what happens

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00:15:12,280 –> 00:15:19,360
when grace forgets truth.
In their story is a lesson of

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00:15:19,360 –> 00:15:21,800
spiritual decay and divine
rejection.

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00:15:21,800 –> 00:15:24,680
In their story is a record of of
priests who the Bible calls

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00:15:24,760 –> 00:15:31,920
worthless men, men who abuse the
offerings of God, men who in

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00:15:31,920 –> 00:15:35,000
their role as intercessors
harass people who practiced

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00:15:35,000 –> 00:15:37,400
immorality, participate in
corruption, presumed on the

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00:15:37,400 –> 00:15:39,360
grace of God.
They take his ark to battle and

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00:15:39,360 –> 00:15:41,320
they lose it.
In fact, the actions, they are

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00:15:41,320 –> 00:15:44,240
so intensive, so abhorrent.
That is often the case, Brun

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00:15:44,240 –> 00:15:46,400
sisters, when there is an
imbalance of people

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00:15:46,400 –> 00:15:50,080
misrepresenting God.
It LED Israel to abhor his

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00:15:50,080 –> 00:15:56,200
worship in the land.
And if you’re like me, Brun

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00:15:56,200 –> 00:16:01,280
sisters, we read that behavior
and we’re so easily appalled at

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00:16:01,280 –> 00:16:02,640
that, too.
You know, it’s these are

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00:16:02,640 –> 00:16:05,560
terrible things these men did.
We have to recognize, though, it

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00:16:05,560 –> 00:16:10,760
wasn’t just the sons of Eli.
It was Eli himself.

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00:16:12,520 –> 00:16:15,000
Eli were told who desired good
for Israel.

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Eli were told who who knew his
sons did wrong.

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Eli were told, rebuked his sons
for what they did.

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00:16:20,000 –> 00:16:21,800
He says, why do you do such
things?

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00:16:24,040 –> 00:16:26,120
You’re doing enough to tell
himself, You know, I, I, I

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00:16:26,120 –> 00:16:28,880
tried, I, I said my piece, I, I
stood for what’s right.

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00:16:28,960 –> 00:16:31,680
What does God say to Eli?
Brothers and sisters, you

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00:16:31,800 –> 00:16:40,920
honored your sons more than me.
And for that he lost everything.

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00:16:40,920 –> 00:16:44,680
In this story we are presented
with the consequence of where

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00:16:44,680 –> 00:16:50,720
grace without truth leads.
In Eli we see a cutting example

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00:16:50,720 –> 00:16:52,880
that when grace forgets truth
brains sisters.

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00:16:53,080 –> 00:16:56,280
Often it stems from our
discomfort and confronting

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00:16:56,280 –> 00:17:04,960
what’s wrong.
We see this in Saul, who first

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00:17:04,960 –> 00:17:07,800
Samuel 15 He he shows the
supposed act of grace, doesn’t

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00:17:07,800 –> 00:17:09,560
he?
He spares the king Agag.

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00:17:09,560 –> 00:17:11,720
But but when pressed why he does
it, what does he say?

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00:17:11,800 –> 00:17:14,000
How does he respond?
He says it’s because I feared

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00:17:14,000 –> 00:17:19,440
people and obeyed them.
It’s false grace, Brun sisters.

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00:17:19,440 –> 00:17:21,920
It isn’t grace in in alignment
with God’s character.

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00:17:21,920 –> 00:17:24,440
It’s grace in alignment with
fear.

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00:17:24,440 –> 00:17:31,400
Like Eli.
Appearance, family, harmony,

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00:17:31,520 –> 00:17:34,360
community, perception, all these
mattered more than obedience.

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00:17:34,520 –> 00:17:37,480
In both examples.
Is the lesson that grace when

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00:17:37,480 –> 00:17:39,800
it’s without boundaries, Brun
sisters, it isn’t grace.

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00:17:39,800 –> 00:17:42,600
It is enablement that leads
people to ruin.

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00:17:45,680 –> 00:17:48,440
In Eli’s the lesson that that
good intentions, A collegial

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00:17:48,440 –> 00:17:50,960
position, personal piety, while
all good things brains, sisters,

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00:17:51,040 –> 00:17:53,880
they are never substitutes for
speaking truth.

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00:17:53,880 –> 00:17:56,440
In Eli we see the cost of not
speaking up.

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00:17:56,560 –> 00:18:05,760
It is always greater than the
cost of doing what’s right.

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00:18:15,400 –> 00:18:21,880
But in both extremes, while they
manifest in in different ways

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00:18:21,880 –> 00:18:24,560
and take different forms, they,
they, they share a commonality.

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00:18:24,560 –> 00:18:26,560
Bred and sisters, there’s a very
common trait and that’s that

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00:18:26,560 –> 00:18:31,400
when people seem to misapply the
tension, it masquerades as

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godliness, doesn’t it?
You know, we’ve perhaps seen

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00:18:36,880 –> 00:18:39,320
this in a life of the truth.
Bred and sisters, We’ve perhaps

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00:18:39,320 –> 00:18:44,200
been this person again, I’ve
been this person we’re an

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00:18:44,200 –> 00:18:46,200
uncompromising defensive
doctrine.

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00:18:46,200 –> 00:18:48,440
I rebuked harshly.
I I treated roughly.

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00:18:48,440 –> 00:18:51,480
I lack sensitivity and justified
in the name of I’m representing

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00:18:51,520 –> 00:18:56,040
God’s character of truth.
So I’m allowed to talk that way.

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00:18:56,040 –> 00:18:58,400
That’s the way that God
sometimes presents himself.

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00:18:58,600 –> 00:19:01,040
But really my motive was was
comfort by the sisters.

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00:19:03,080 –> 00:19:05,240
It was pride.
It was it was fear, and it

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00:19:05,240 –> 00:19:06,520
wasn’t the person in front of
me.

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00:19:06,520 –> 00:19:08,600
Not not to.
How am I speaking to them?

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00:19:08,600 –> 00:19:10,640
Is is going to restore them in a
spirit of grace.

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00:19:10,760 –> 00:19:14,800
And it’s true in the reverse.
We’re showing grace.

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00:19:14,800 –> 00:19:17,880
I told myself I represent the
boundless grace of God’s

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00:19:17,880 –> 00:19:19,680
character.
I thought myself merciful, but

286
00:19:19,680 –> 00:19:24,880
really I was avoiding
responsibility, avoiding the

287
00:19:24,880 –> 00:19:29,480
hard conversations, allowing
something in myself that I

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00:19:29,480 –> 00:19:31,360
shouldn’t.
Both cause harm.

289
00:19:31,360 –> 00:19:33,680
Brun sisters.
Both lead those around us to

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00:19:33,680 –> 00:19:37,400
abhor the character of God as
the sons of Eli did.

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00:19:37,400 –> 00:19:57,350
Both hurt the vulnerable.
Yet for all the difficulties,

292
00:19:59,510 –> 00:20:04,830
there are those who show a
balance, who show just a glimmer

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00:20:04,950 –> 00:20:08,670
of what God has always desired
of man that we show in our

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00:20:08,670 –> 00:20:10,590
lives.
We start to see it in Joseph,

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00:20:12,510 –> 00:20:15,070
who, in a position to judge over
his brothers, who has every

296
00:20:15,070 –> 00:20:18,590
right by reason of man to be
retributive over restorative,

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00:20:18,750 –> 00:20:23,440
chooses restoration.
He acts in mercy, and it’s not

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00:20:23,440 –> 00:20:24,760
cheap.
Mercy, mercy, brothers, sisters,

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00:20:24,760 –> 00:20:26,600
not forgiveness that overlook
the wrong.

300
00:20:26,600 –> 00:20:29,280
What does he say?
He says you sold me to his

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00:20:29,280 –> 00:20:31,560
brothers.
He confronts their wrong in

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00:20:31,560 –> 00:20:33,240
words of truth.
But how does he say it?

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00:20:33,240 –> 00:20:40,640
God sent me to preserve you.
His grace and truth aimed for

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00:20:40,640 –> 00:20:44,920
their restoration.
We see it in Hosea, who did not

305
00:20:44,920 –> 00:20:47,800
ignore the sins of his wife.
He says you’ve loved another

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00:20:47,800 –> 00:20:50,520
man, turn from your adultery.
He confronts her with that

307
00:20:50,520 –> 00:20:53,360
truth, but redeems her at cost
to himself.

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00:20:53,360 –> 00:20:59,480
He buys her back to restore her.
We see it in Stephen, who spoke

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00:20:59,480 –> 00:21:02,640
truth, but always in attempt to
restore, forgiving them to his

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00:21:02,640 –> 00:21:04,120
last breath.
We see it in Moses, the

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00:21:04,120 –> 00:21:06,840
Lawgiver, who diligently
enforced the laws of God.

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00:21:06,840 –> 00:21:08,480
Brown sisters.
But what does he say in his

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00:21:08,480 –> 00:21:11,640
final sentiments of Deuteronomy?
Underneath these things are the

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00:21:11,640 –> 00:21:23,240
everlasting arms of God.
The prophets live this tension

315
00:21:23,240 –> 00:21:28,320
we’re Speaking of who spoke
boldly concerning sin, but wept

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00:21:28,320 –> 00:21:30,760
for those they rebuked.
We see it in Ezekiel who groaned

317
00:21:30,760 –> 00:21:33,080
with broken heart, it says
before the eyes of Israel.

318
00:21:33,080 –> 00:21:37,840
We see it in Samuel who grieved
till his death for the loss of

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00:21:37,840 –> 00:21:38,880
Saul.
We see it in the tears of

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00:21:38,880 –> 00:21:41,520
Jeremiah. 9 verse one.
Oh my head were waters, he says,

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00:21:41,600 –> 00:21:44,600
and my eyes fountains, that I
would weep night and day for

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00:21:44,600 –> 00:21:48,600
this people.
We see it in Nathan, who comes

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00:21:48,600 –> 00:21:51,440
to David and he confronts him
with words and truth, but by

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00:21:51,440 –> 00:21:54,720
grace does it in a manner that
would touch his heart, that

325
00:21:54,720 –> 00:21:58,800
leads him to restoration, not
not to provoke anger and shame

326
00:21:58,880 –> 00:22:02,280
or to generate a guilt inside of
him that would destroy himself.

327
00:22:08,000 –> 00:22:12,200
We see it in Abigail, brothers
and sisters, who in coming

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00:22:12,200 –> 00:22:14,160
before David, she corrects his
wrongs.

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00:22:14,160 –> 00:22:20,160
But how does she do it?
In tears she falls before him

330
00:22:22,360 –> 00:22:26,160
with no superiority, no
pretence, no no, no ego.

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00:22:26,160 –> 00:22:31,440
In grace she shows her truth.
And in their examples are some

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00:22:31,440 –> 00:22:40,240
powerful lessons.
The first is that while they

333
00:22:40,240 –> 00:22:42,960
spoke truth boldly and
courageously and brothers

334
00:22:42,960 –> 00:22:45,960
sisters, in a world where truth
is hard to speak, it’s important

335
00:22:45,960 –> 00:22:48,440
we know this because it means
that there are times that that

336
00:22:48,440 –> 00:22:52,560
we will risk offending people
that must never be the intent of

337
00:22:52,560 –> 00:22:57,640
our actions.
We must never conflate the the

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00:22:57,640 –> 00:23:01,520
call to speak truth is this
license to be malicious or or

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00:23:01,520 –> 00:23:04,600
rough with one another.
Many faithful have suffered

340
00:23:07,160 –> 00:23:08,680
because of those who practice
the truth.

341
00:23:08,680 –> 00:23:13,640
That is callous and cold, a
thing to be dropped in, you

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00:23:13,640 –> 00:23:15,400
know, If others don’t listen,
well, too bad.

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00:23:15,400 –> 00:23:16,880
I guess they didn’t care for God
as I do.

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00:23:19,440 –> 00:23:22,040
Guess they weren’t special in
the eyes of God to be called as

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00:23:22,040 –> 00:23:24,160
I was.
Many in the regular scripture

346
00:23:24,160 –> 00:23:29,600
strained for the opposite,
strained for ways to speak truth

347
00:23:29,600 –> 00:23:32,160
that would restore man’s heart.
We think that we see that in the

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00:23:32,160 –> 00:23:33,800
lesson of this still small voice
of Elijah.

349
00:23:33,800 –> 00:23:36,360
Again, it wasn’t the whirlwind
and the fire that calls the

350
00:23:36,360 –> 00:23:38,360
heart of man.
It’s the character of God that

351
00:23:38,360 –> 00:23:40,360
turns hearts.
That’s the lesson of the the

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00:23:40,360 –> 00:23:45,240
Spirit that descends on Christ
brain sisters, as he’s baptized.

353
00:23:45,280 –> 00:23:47,240
How does it descend on him?
As a dove?

354
00:23:47,400 –> 00:23:49,760
That’s how Christ approached
man.

355
00:23:49,800 –> 00:23:51,800
That’s the lesson of Paul on
Mars Hill.

356
00:23:53,960 –> 00:23:56,640
That’s the lesson of Paul the
Thessalonians, who it says wean

357
00:23:56,640 –> 00:23:59,360
them on the gospel as a mother
nursing her child.

358
00:23:59,360 –> 00:24:01,720
That’s the lesson of Priscilla
and Aquila, who corrected

359
00:24:01,720 –> 00:24:03,160
Apollo’s.
But how do they do it?

360
00:24:03,160 –> 00:24:07,200
By gently taking him aside to
explain him the ways of God.

361
00:24:07,280 –> 00:24:13,440
We have a responsibility to one
another, brothers and sisters,

362
00:24:13,920 –> 00:24:21,040
to speak the truth boldly but
never cruelly to be as Paul who

363
00:24:21,040 –> 00:24:24,200
would write in Romans 9 verse
one I I say the truth in Christ,

364
00:24:28,000 –> 00:24:33,400
but I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart,

365
00:24:33,480 –> 00:24:36,720
and I wish myself a cursed and
place of those I speak it to.

366
00:24:36,840 –> 00:24:38,920
To live the words of Galatians 6
verse 12.

367
00:24:38,920 –> 00:24:41,360
If anyone is caught in
transgression, you are to re

368
00:24:41,360 –> 00:24:44,600
spiritually restore him in
gentleness.

369
00:24:53,120 –> 00:24:55,400
We can note these things are not
a balance.

370
00:24:57,120 –> 00:25:01,720
Brothers and sisters, you know,
sometimes when we talk about

371
00:25:01,720 –> 00:25:04,480
these qualities as we have this
weekend, we, we, we, we tend to

372
00:25:04,480 –> 00:25:08,200
see them as this thing we have
to split 5050 as if 2 scales

373
00:25:08,200 –> 00:25:10,800
have to have to come up.
Even that can’t be farther from

374
00:25:10,800 –> 00:25:15,480
truth, from sisters.
Well, both equally parts of God.

375
00:25:15,480 –> 00:25:17,880
One by nature envelops the
other.

376
00:25:17,880 –> 00:25:21,000
Mercy by nature forgives the
debt justice owes.

377
00:25:22,880 –> 00:25:24,960
For that reason James rightly
observed in James 2.

378
00:25:24,960 –> 00:25:27,280
Mercy triumphs judgement for
that reason.

379
00:25:27,280 –> 00:25:29,200
Brun, sisters.
When this character is weighed

380
00:25:29,200 –> 00:25:35,400
in Exodus 34, it is mercy to the
thousandths and justice to the

381
00:25:35,400 –> 00:25:38,120
third and fourth.
God limits the reach of His

382
00:25:38,120 –> 00:25:40,840
judgement and multiplies the
reach of mercy.

383
00:25:40,920 –> 00:25:47,000
The same is required of us to be
firm in our convictions, but in

384
00:25:47,000 –> 00:25:50,520
always dedicate ourselves to the
preservation of others rather

385
00:25:50,520 –> 00:25:55,280
than destruction to forgive. 70
* 7 in the example of our Lord.

386
00:25:55,400 –> 00:26:08,680
But above all, we can note that
like God living this tension, it

387
00:26:08,680 –> 00:26:15,200
is never one-size-fits-all.
In every case, from Abigail to

388
00:26:15,200 –> 00:26:18,640
Stephen to the lives of prophets
and so many others, it manifests

389
00:26:18,640 –> 00:26:20,360
differently and takes many
forms.

390
00:26:20,360 –> 00:26:26,080
One sisters mirroring this
character is adapting to the

391
00:26:26,080 –> 00:26:30,680
person in front of us as God
does to us, is going to that

392
00:26:30,680 –> 00:26:33,760
brother in error and weighing
the response that will confront

393
00:26:33,760 –> 00:26:36,720
them not just in rebuke, but to
restore them to God.

394
00:26:39,520 –> 00:26:41,760
It’s about going to the young
person in our meeting who are in

395
00:26:41,760 –> 00:26:44,640
a state of wrong and seeing them
as as especially vulnerable.

396
00:26:44,640 –> 00:26:47,480
So we don’t rub that in their
face, but we sit with them in

397
00:26:47,480 –> 00:26:50,640
mercy and through grace and
guide their hearts to truth.

398
00:26:50,720 –> 00:26:55,320
It’s reaching to the absent.
Perceiving there are things.

399
00:26:55,320 –> 00:26:57,640
In their lives that that we
don’t know they suffer with so,

400
00:26:57,720 –> 00:27:00,240
so weighing carefully how we
might reach them.

401
00:27:00,320 –> 00:27:02,160
It’s extending a hand to a
friend.

402
00:27:04,200 –> 00:27:07,040
Someone who’s strayed and.
And having a hard conversation

403
00:27:07,040 –> 00:27:09,640
and it’s not comfortable, but we
do it anyway, as Paul did to

404
00:27:09,640 –> 00:27:12,440
Peter, because you care for them
and you love them.

405
00:27:12,440 –> 00:27:15,560
It’s receiving a blow from a
brother or sister, as Paul did.

406
00:27:19,640 –> 00:27:23,080
Yet still writing as he.
Wrote to Corinth in love I write

407
00:27:23,080 –> 00:27:27,200
to you.
And never shying from.

408
00:27:27,200 –> 00:27:30,160
Working through the issues and
being present.

409
00:27:32,120 –> 00:27:33,240
In the face of.
Wrongs.

410
00:27:46,590 –> 00:27:48,150
But ultimately, brothers and.
Sisters.

411
00:27:50,350 –> 00:27:53,670
We end in the reflection.
That in every example mentioned.

412
00:27:55,350 –> 00:27:58,230
Despite our best intentions.
We should fall short of these

413
00:27:58,230 –> 00:28:01,190
things, don’t we all have sinned
and fallen short of the

414
00:28:01,190 –> 00:28:03,830
character of God.
All fall short of the the glory

415
00:28:03,830 –> 00:28:06,830
in Isaiah’s vision and and the
character that Moses could

416
00:28:06,830 –> 00:28:08,350
perceive on the summits of
Sinai.

417
00:28:08,510 –> 00:28:10,550
And you know, more often than
not, run Sisters.

418
00:28:12,760 –> 00:28:15,040
Not only do we.
Fail but, But if you’re like me,

419
00:28:15,320 –> 00:28:19,960
you fail like Jonah.
Who can understand that God?

420
00:28:19,960 –> 00:28:22,920
Is is both these things.
We know he is just and merciful

421
00:28:22,920 –> 00:28:24,360
that that he has grace and
truth.

422
00:28:24,360 –> 00:28:27,800
He’s relenting and unrelenting.
But we practice them on on my

423
00:28:27,800 –> 00:28:31,760
own terms.
You know I I desire.

424
00:28:31,840 –> 00:28:33,880
Justice and grace when I want
them.

425
00:28:35,920 –> 00:28:38,040
Times I I want judgement.
More than redemption.

426
00:28:38,040 –> 00:28:40,720
So I pretend it’s working with
my mercy.

427
00:28:40,720 –> 00:28:44,280
So deceive myself to my to my
own intentions understanding

428
00:28:44,280 –> 00:28:50,040
this.
Draws us to a few.

429
00:28:50,040 –> 00:28:56,240
Closing thoughts the 1st.
Are the words of.

430
00:28:56,240 –> 00:29:00,640
Jeremiah the heart is deceitful
and desperately wicked.

431
00:29:00,880 –> 00:29:03,400
Living the tension, brothers and
sisters.

432
00:29:06,080 –> 00:29:08,000
Requires.
Honesty.

433
00:29:10,800 –> 00:29:12,800
Honesty to search.
Our hearts.

434
00:29:14,760 –> 00:29:17,440
Honesty to ask ourselves.
The hard questions, honesty to

435
00:29:17,440 –> 00:29:19,600
ask.
Am I acting in self-interest or

436
00:29:19,600 –> 00:29:23,600
selflessness?
Am I protecting?

437
00:29:23,600 –> 00:29:27,040
Myself from from discomfort or
or am I reflecting the fullness

438
00:29:27,040 –> 00:29:28,640
of God?
It’s having awareness to know if

439
00:29:28,640 –> 00:29:31,800
I am one who leans to grace.
I scream for truth.

440
00:29:34,960 –> 00:29:37,840
And if I am.
Inclined to truth, I desperately

441
00:29:38,040 –> 00:29:48,210
search for His grace the second.
Is there are limitations?

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00:29:48,210 –> 00:29:49,770
In what we do, brothers and
sisters.

443
00:29:52,650 –> 00:29:55,130
Paul in First Corinthians he.
He writes directly to this.

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00:29:55,130 –> 00:29:57,890
He says, therefore do not
pronounce judgement before the

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00:29:57,890 –> 00:30:01,400
Lord.
For he who comes will bring.

446
00:30:01,400 –> 00:30:04,400
To light what is hidden and
disclose the purpose of the

447
00:30:04,400 –> 00:30:05,960
heart.
What Paul isn’t saying they’re

448
00:30:05,960 –> 00:30:08,240
brothers and sisters is that you
cannot judge.

449
00:30:10,920 –> 00:30:13,080
Or that you cannot?
Correct a wrong or or that you

450
00:30:13,080 –> 00:30:14,840
can’t call out injustice when
you see it.

451
00:30:14,840 –> 00:30:17,840
In fact, how much of our Bible
brothers and sisters advocates

452
00:30:17,840 –> 00:30:20,480
for us to do that?
What he’s saying is there are

453
00:30:20,480 –> 00:30:27,040
limitations in that calling.
So often our world.

454
00:30:27,040 –> 00:30:30,640
Pulls us beyond that.
To where we shouldn’t.

455
00:30:30,640 –> 00:30:34,960
Go to to apply labels to judge.
A person’s motives.

456
00:30:34,960 –> 00:30:37,960
To to derive their character in
the face of their wrongs.

457
00:30:37,960 –> 00:30:40,800
That is the role of Christ from
the sisters who walks in our

458
00:30:40,800 –> 00:30:42,760
lampstands and judges the heart
of man.

459
00:30:42,760 –> 00:30:45,920
Our role is confined in the
words of Romans, that the

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00:30:45,920 –> 00:30:53,600
judgement of God is according to
truth, to enforce that judgement

461
00:30:53,680 –> 00:30:55,720
from His word.
And brothers, sisters, let that

462
00:30:55,720 –> 00:30:59,560
be our standard.
To judge as Christ.

463
00:30:59,560 –> 00:31:02,440
Commanded not in appearance, but
in righteous judgment, and

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00:31:02,440 –> 00:31:03,920
always in the spirit of
compassion.

465
00:31:03,920 –> 00:31:06,600
Always knowing, however innocent
we might feel against somebody

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00:31:06,600 –> 00:31:08,520
else.
From sisters before God.

467
00:31:13,120 –> 00:31:22,290
We are all guilty, but above
all.

468
00:31:24,880 –> 00:31:28,880
In considering our shortcomings,
marvelling as as Isaiah once

469
00:31:28,880 –> 00:31:32,520
did, of of how far we might be
falling from the glory of our

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00:31:32,520 –> 00:31:39,000
God will like Isaiah.
We now rejoice.

471
00:31:39,240 –> 00:31:44,360
In an act of God’s grace.
Rejoice in the giving.

472
00:31:44,360 –> 00:31:48,040
Of his son.
Who lived this character?

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00:31:48,160 –> 00:31:51,360
To perfection, rejoice.
He gave us a way to transform us

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00:31:51,480 –> 00:31:53,240
to what we cannot attain
ourselves.

475
00:31:53,240 –> 00:31:56,120
We will close Bruin sisters on
an image of this process, the

476
00:31:56,120 –> 00:31:59,680
burning coal that Isaiah saw
pulled from an altar of

477
00:31:59,680 –> 00:32:04,960
sacrifice.
To take away the sins.

478
00:32:04,960 –> 00:32:09,280
Of man, and we see him in 2nd
Corinthians 3, where once wrote

479
00:32:09,280 –> 00:32:13,400
Paul.
All we with veiled.

480
00:32:13,400 –> 00:32:19,400
Face beheld the character of God
from afar, like Moses and many.

481
00:32:19,400 –> 00:32:21,520
Thereafter who all?
Throughout, Scripture could only

482
00:32:21,520 –> 00:32:24,480
glimpse these qualities as a
light that shone behind rock,

483
00:32:24,480 –> 00:32:26,960
but they they could strain to
see it, but they failed in the

484
00:32:26,960 –> 00:32:30,600
tension.
Helpless to attain it because.

485
00:32:30,600 –> 00:32:34,080
It manifested behind a law whose
standards they could never

486
00:32:34,080 –> 00:32:43,120
reach.
Well, in verse 18.

487
00:32:43,120 –> 00:32:47,880
We have our hope.
Hope in the giving of his.

488
00:32:47,880 –> 00:32:51,880
Son.
Hope because he reflects.

489
00:32:51,880 –> 00:32:55,400
The glory of God’s character as
a mirror to mankind.

490
00:32:55,400 –> 00:32:56,520
Hope.
Because when one turns to

491
00:32:56,520 –> 00:32:59,680
Christ, we are not only a model
of that image born sisters, we

492
00:32:59,680 –> 00:33:04,040
are transformed in it.
From 1° of glory.

493
00:33:04,040 –> 00:33:06,560
To another for this, brothers
and sisters, is the man we’re

494
00:33:06,560 –> 00:33:09,800
going to consider, and our eggs
are to come, who lived this

495
00:33:09,800 –> 00:33:14,320
tension to perfection.
A man who when we walk in.

496
00:33:14,320 –> 00:33:17,320
His ways frees us from the
failures of flesh.

497
00:33:20,280 –> 00:33:23,040
And refines us in.
The completeness of God for this

498
00:33:23,040 –> 00:33:28,280
alone, says Paul.
Comes from the Lord.