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Welcome to the Word for Today.

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The Word for Today is a continuous study

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of the Bible, taught by Pastor Chuck Smith

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of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.

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Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old

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Testament, and if you're following along in your

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Bible, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah chapter

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42, beginning with verse 1, as we continue

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with an in-depth message entitled, The Servant

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of God.

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Isaiah 42.

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God is drawing our attention, as He always

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does, to His servant.

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God declares, behold My servant.

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Study, scrutinize, observe.

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My servant who I uphold, I support him,

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I'm behind him, I sustain him.

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Mine elect, My chosen one, in whom My

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soul delighted.

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And so the description of God's servant, upheld

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by God, chosen by God, one who brought

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pleasure to God.

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I have put My Spirit upon him.

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Again, going back to Isaiah chapter 11, the

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Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

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the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit

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of counsel and of might, the Spirit of

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knowledge and the fear of the Lord will

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make him of quick understanding in the fear

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of the Lord, so that he will be

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able to judge righteously.

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The other prophecy of the Messiah, actually it

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is the Messiah Himself speaking prophetically in Isaiah

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61.

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The Spirit of the Lord God is upon

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Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to

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preach the good tidings to the meek.

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He has sent Me to bind up the

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broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,

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the opening of the prison to those that

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are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of

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the Lord.

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And how glorious it is for each of

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us to be able to bear witness of

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the fact that Jesus has opened the prison

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in which we were once bound, that prison

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of darkness, bound by the power of sin.

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Oh, how glorious to be set free.

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What marvelous freedom we have in Christ.

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And that is a strange kind of a

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paradox that does exist, because there are people

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today who are talking about freedom.

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The American Civil Liberties Union, their whole desire

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is for freedom, freedom from religion, freedom from

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God, freedom of sex, freedom for pornography, freedom

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for all kinds of sexual expressions and desires,

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freedom for aberrant sexual experiences.

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And yet, there is no one that is

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more bound than those who are bound by

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their flesh.

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There is no one who is less free.

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You tell me that that person who is

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on crack or that person on cocaine is

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free?

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You've got to be kidding.

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They're not free at all.

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They are completely bound.

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I'm free.

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I don't have to have coke or crack

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or whatever.

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I'm free.

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I don't have to pick up a cigarette.

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I don't have to take a drink.

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I'm free.

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I'm the freest person you ever saw.

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And I love my freedom.

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It's the person who has given himself over

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to these things that is really bound.

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And you start out doing them in the

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name of freedom.

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Well, yes, I want freedom.

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And you start doing these things in the

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name of freedom.

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I'm free to do it.

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But yet, once you get started, soon you

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become bound.

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And once you are bound, then you keep

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doing it, but not because you want to

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or like to, but because you have to.

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You're no longer free.

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You've become a slave.

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And so, that marvelous freedom that we have

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in Jesus Christ through the power of his

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spirit.

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So God says, I delight in him.

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I've put my spirit upon him.

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And through the power of that spirit, he

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has opened the prison to those that were

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bound.

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He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

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Righteous judgment.

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Jesus shall reign over the whole world.

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Not just over Israel, not over the Jews.

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His is a universal reign.

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He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

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Judgment to the Gentiles.

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He shall not cry nor cause his voice

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to be heard in the street.

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He's not going to lift himself up.

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He isn't going to come with the great

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publicity campaign.

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And as you look at the life of

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Christ, he avoided so many times publicity.

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There were many opportunities to sort of demonstrate

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and show off if he so desired his

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miraculous power.

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He could have used his powers for his

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own personal gain and benefit, but he did

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not.

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Even when he was before Pilate.

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And Pilate didn't want to make a judgment.

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He sent him to Herod, who happened to

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be in the area at the time.

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And Herod was thrilled because he had heard

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about Jesus.

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He had heard all these stories about the

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miracles that Jesus did.

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And he wanted to see some kind of

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miraculous thing.

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And so he sort of challenged Jesus, you

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know, do something, show me something, do a

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miracle.

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And Jesus wouldn't even speak to him.

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Now, Jesus could have done some kind of

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a miracle and astounded Herod and Herod would

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say, hey, let him go.

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But Jesus wouldn't use his miraculous powers for

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his own personal benefit.

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That was suggested by Satan in the beginning.

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Hey, turn this stone into bread, feed yourself,

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use your powers for yourself, for your own

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personal gain.

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No.

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Man shall not live by bread alone.

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Jump off the pinnacle of the temple, demonstrate

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your powers.

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Let the people be amazed as you'll land

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there on the ground, you know, full tack,

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no problems.

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And then also even offering him the glories

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of the kingdoms of the world.

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But Jesus ministry for the most part was

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on an individual basis in the close-knit

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group of the disciples or within the synagogue,

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within the temple, within the home or by

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the seashore on the mountainside.

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But he didn't go out of his way

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to seek publicity.

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In fact, he sought rather to avoid it.

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He will not cry nor lift up, exalt

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himself nor cause his voice to be heard

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in the street.

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A little bit of the character and the

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nature of the Messiah.

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A bruised reed shall he not break.

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The bruised reed was a crushed reed that

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had become bent over.

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They are rather brittle.

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They grow in abundance around the Jordan River,

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around the Nile and going through them.

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They're sort of top heavy anyhow, and they

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easily break crushed and are broken.

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But a bruised reed shall he not break.

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Of course, it's a reference to that person

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whose life is crushed by the weight of

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the world and by the weight of sin.

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And when that sinful person comes to Jesus

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Christ, he doesn't break them, he restores them.

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To completeness, the Lord isn't wanting to break

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you, he isn't wanting to destroy you.

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The Lord is wanting to save you, to

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heal you, to mend you.

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The bruised reed he will not break.

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And the smoking flax shall he not quench.

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That is that little wick in the little

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oil light.

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The oil has run out, and so the

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flame has gone out, and there's just the

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smoke now from the wick.

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It's acrid, it's irritating.

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And the natural thing is just go over

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and pinch it, put the smoke out, cause

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it to quit smoking.

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But he will put new oil in the

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vessel and bring the flame back into full

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brilliance.

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That person whose love and passion for God

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has waned there's no longer that fire burning

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in their hearts.

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Their experience can be likened to just a

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smoking flax.

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There's the remnant there of past blessings, but

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the fire is gone.

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As Jesus said to Ephesus, thou has left

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thy first love.

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That dynamic of the first love, that flame

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of passion is gone.

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And that person comes to Christ and he

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restores the flame, restores the fire.

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He shall bring forth judgment unto truth or

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true judgment.

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And oh God, how we need true judgment

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today.

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And he will not fail nor be discouraged

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till he has set judgment in the earth

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and the coastlands shall wait for his law.

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I so often get discouraged when I look

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at the world, when I look at the

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conditions of the world, when I see the

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inequities of the world.

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I often am discouraged.

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I think, oh Lord, how long?

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Lord, get me out of here.

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I don't belong here.

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And it looks to me like evil is

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triumphing.

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It looks to me like the forces of

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darkness are more powerful than the forces of

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light.

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And they seem to prevail in so many

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cases that are brought before the courts and

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all.

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And I think, oh Lord.

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And I get so discouraged in my idealism,

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in hoping for real justice and real righteousness.

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But he will not be discouraged until he

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has accomplished his purpose, until he has established

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true justice here on the earth and has

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set judgment in the earth.

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And thus saith God, Jehovah, he that created

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the heavens and stretched them out, he that

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spread forth the earth and that which comes

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out of it, that is all of the

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plant life that comes out of the earth.

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He that gives breath unto the people upon

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it and spirit to them that walk therein.

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God over and over throughout the whole Bible

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is acknowledged as the creator, creator of the

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earth, creator of the heavens, creator of the

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life forms within the earth, creator of man,

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the sustainer of man.

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He gives breath to man, puts spirit within

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man.

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God is speaking.

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And whenever God speaks, he usually announces himself

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as the creator.

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And this is another discouraging thing.

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Send your children to the public school and

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they are taught that they are an accident.

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They were not created.

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Matter upon matter over, now it's 20 billion

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years, has brought forth this marvelous, marvelous instrument.

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How can a sane person look at the

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body and the functions of the body?

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Look at how the DNA can store the

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memories.

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Look how the blood stream and the operates.

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Look how even your breath, God said, and

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I give breath to man and just your

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breath itself.

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The cells of your body need oxygen in

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order to function.

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They burn the oxygen light like a car

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burns gasoline, your cells burn oxygen.

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And like your car, when it is burned,

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the gasoline gives off a carbon monoxide gas

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as the result of the combustion.

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So your body gives off carbon dioxide gas

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as a result of the burning of the

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oxygen in the cells.

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And thus there has to be a discharge

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of the carbon dioxide and a fresh supply

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of oxygen for the cells.

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So God has designed this whole beautiful system

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of the lungs and your capacity to breathe

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in the air.

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And from this 79 parts of nitrogen and

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20 parts of oxygen, your lungs take that

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oxygen and it sort of spreads it out

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over the lungs.

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And the blood comes pumping into your lungs

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from the heart.

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And the blood discharges all of the carbon

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dioxide that it's picked up all of the

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garbage, the carbon dioxide gases that it's picked

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up as it's gone through your whole system

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in each cell.

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And it deposits that carbon dioxide in your

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lungs.

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And as it goes through, it takes the

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oxygen that has just been brought into your

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lungs by that deep breath.

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And it goes back into the heart and

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down through the cells, resupplying them with oxygen

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and on the return trip, picking up the

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carbon dioxide.

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Now, when you do a little exercise, do

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your aerobics, you're using more oxygen, the cells

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are working harder.

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And so they're burning up more oxygen.

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So what happens?

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Your lungs start working faster.

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Your heart starts beating faster because you have

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to get more oxygen to those cells that

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are sloughing off the carbon dioxide.

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You got to keep the cells functioning properly.

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And so you start now, do you think

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that, well, I'm really been running hard.

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I better really start breathing harder.

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No, you don't even think about that.

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Why?

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Because your lungs are involuntary muscles.

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You have voluntary muscles and involuntary muscles.

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Your voluntary muscles are attached to the skeleton

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of your body and they are operated by

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a command from the brain.

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You say to your hand, move, it moves.

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But of course, there's quite a functioning actually,

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because the brain not only tells your hand

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to move, but it tells your arm and

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the elbow and everything.

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I mean, it just, you know, and it

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says, clench your fist, you know, in their

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voluntary muscles and they're controlled by the brain,

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but you have your involuntary muscles, your heart,

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your lungs, because you see your life depends

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on your heart and your lungs.

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The sustaining of life depends on the heart

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and the lungs.

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You know, you can live without clenching your

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fist.

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You can live with a withered arm, but

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you can't live without your heart pumping and

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your lungs working.

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So those muscles of your body that are

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important for the sustaining of life, God keeps

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control of those.

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He lets you control your other muscles that

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can get you in trouble or do things

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for you.

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But those muscles upon which your life depends,

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God keeps control of those muscles so that

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you don't have to think.

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Heart beat, lungs work.

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They're involuntary muscles that operate without a conscious

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thought patterns from the brain.

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Marvelous, marvelous the way God has created us.

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And to think that that could have all

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just evolved over a matter of time by

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mutations and all is just ridiculous.

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And yet that's what they are.

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And that's where I get discouraged.

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I think, oh God, you know, it's so

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insane to try to propose that all of

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this came about by these fortuitous concurrences of

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accidental circumstances.

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It's crazy.

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Thus saith the Lord, Yehovah, he that created

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the heavens and stretched them out, put the

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stars up there, even in the form of

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a cross and an opening in the clouds.

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I love it.

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He that spread forth the earth and that

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which comes out of it, the plant life,

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the marvels of the plant life.

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Oh, amazing.

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Each seed with the genetic code within it,

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with all of the potential for the development

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of that same plant.

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Marvelous.

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Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few

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00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:24,280
closing comments.

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But first I'd like to remind you that

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00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,980
today's message is available in its unedited form

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00:21:28,980 --> 00:21:30,500
on cassette or CD.

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00:21:31,220 --> 00:21:33,360
Simply write or call and ask for ordering

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00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:37,120
details on tape or CD number C 3261.

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00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,480
Again, that's tape or CD number C 3261.

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00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:44,360
As we come to a close in today's

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00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:46,620
program, we'd like to recommend a resource just

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00:21:46,620 --> 00:21:47,100
for women.

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00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:49,540
Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in

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00:21:49,540 --> 00:21:52,480
the hustle and bustle of Christmas, buying presents,

394
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,420
decorating, cooking, the list grows longer every day.

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00:21:55,980 --> 00:21:58,200
Without realizing it, we can easily forget the

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00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,580
true meaning of why we celebrate our Lord's

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00:22:00,580 --> 00:22:00,920
birth.

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00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,220
For this reason, the word for today presents

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00:22:04,220 --> 00:22:07,300
a season of joy, an audio Bible study

400
00:22:07,300 --> 00:22:10,440
that reflects the true meaning of Christmas hosted

401
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,060
by Kay Smith, wife of Pastor Chuck.

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00:22:13,380 --> 00:22:15,600
Kay reminds us to spend time at the

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00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,900
Lord's feet, despite our busy schedules.

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00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,240
Guest speakers also include Elizabeth Elliott, Sheila Walsh,

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00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,360
and Marge Caldwell, exhorting us to remember that

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00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:27,700
it's through Jesus Christ that our season of

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00:22:27,700 --> 00:22:29,700
joy can be peaceful and complete.

408
00:22:30,580 --> 00:22:33,280
Also ask about Pastor Chuck Smith's tract entitled,

409
00:22:33,660 --> 00:22:35,060
How Can a Man Be Born Again?

410
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,440
Available in both Spanish and English, this would

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00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,660
make the perfect addition to Christmas cards or

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00:22:40,660 --> 00:22:40,980
gifts.

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00:22:41,780 --> 00:22:43,780
To order your copy of A Season of

414
00:22:43,780 --> 00:22:45,800
Joy and How Can a Man Be Born

415
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,800
Again, call the word for today at 1

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00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:53,880
-800-272-WORD or write to us at

417
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:59,000
P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California 92628.

418
00:22:59,540 --> 00:23:01,520
And remember the word for today would like

419
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,700
to assist you this Christmas in spreading the

420
00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:06,160
gospel of Jesus to your family, friends, and

421
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:06,640
coworkers.

422
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,880
Please call our customer service department to help

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00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,080
you in finding that perfect gift that will

424
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:13,880
reflect the true meaning of Christmas.

425
00:23:14,740 --> 00:23:16,060
And if you call right now and mention

426
00:23:16,060 --> 00:23:18,680
this radio ad, the word for today will

427
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:20,800
give you a 20% discount on any

428
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,740
resource carried by the word for today.

429
00:23:23,220 --> 00:23:25,040
Once again, that number to call is 1

430
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,540
-800-272-9673.

431
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:30,280
And for those of you that would like

432
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,000
to visit our website, you can do so

433
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,020
at www.twft.com.

434
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,220
Or if you'd like to email us, you

435
00:23:38,220 --> 00:23:42,320
can do so at info at twft.com.

436
00:23:43,020 --> 00:23:44,540
Well, coming up next time on the word

437
00:23:44,540 --> 00:23:47,240
for today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his

438
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,540
fascinating study through the book of Isaiah.

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00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,440
That's coming up next time on the word

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00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:53,120
for today.

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00:24:00,980 --> 00:24:04,120
And now with a few closing comments, here

442
00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:05,100
is Pastor Chuck.

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00:24:07,230 --> 00:24:11,050
Now God says, consider this, look at the

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00:24:11,050 --> 00:24:15,750
thing, consider this, because it is a pattern

445
00:24:15,750 --> 00:24:18,690
of man that is followed over and over

446
00:24:18,690 --> 00:24:19,170
again.

447
00:24:20,990 --> 00:24:22,670
You call upon God, he delivers.

448
00:24:23,230 --> 00:24:26,090
You forsake God, you get in trouble again.

449
00:24:26,270 --> 00:24:27,830
You call upon God, he helps.

450
00:24:28,410 --> 00:24:31,490
You forsake God, but there comes the time

451
00:24:32,910 --> 00:24:36,130
when you can exhaust the patience even of

452
00:24:36,130 --> 00:24:37,310
an infinite God.

453
00:24:38,270 --> 00:24:40,530
A time when you're snared, a time when

454
00:24:40,530 --> 00:24:44,630
you go into this prison, a time when

455
00:24:44,630 --> 00:24:46,990
you become a spoil and are robbed.

456
00:24:48,030 --> 00:24:50,790
Therefore, he has poured out the fury of

457
00:24:50,790 --> 00:24:55,090
his anger and the strength of battle.

458
00:24:56,450 --> 00:24:58,830
You've been set on fire round about, yet

459
00:24:58,830 --> 00:25:00,670
you don't know you were burned.

460
00:25:00,830 --> 00:25:01,990
You didn't lay it to heart.

461
00:25:02,150 --> 00:25:05,010
You didn't realize it's because we've turned our

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00:25:05,010 --> 00:25:05,950
backs on God.