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[no audio] [MUSIC] ♪ I'm just a-going to my home ♪ ♪ I'm just a-going to my home ♪

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[Music] I am a poor, weak, married stranger, Out of this world of woe. [ Music ]

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I'm going home to see my father. I'm going home, no more to roam. I'm just a train fling across the Jordan.

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I'm just a-going to my home. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC] [ Music ]

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[ Music ] ♪ I saw love, the world ♪ ♪ Yet the end is only ♪ ♪ In God's hands ♪

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♪ I have also believed ♪ ♪ And believed and believed ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ Should not perish but have everlasting life ♪

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♪ For God sent not his Son ♪ ♪ Into the world to condemn the world ♪ ♪ What said God His Son ♪ ♪ It took a world to come to light ♪

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♪ What can a world do ♪ ♪ But be saved ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ So loved the world ♪

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♪ God so loved the world ♪ ♪ That he gave his only begotten Son ♪ ♪ But whose soul we leave him ♪ ♪ We leave him in the end ♪

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♪ Should not perish ♪ ♪ Should not perish ♪ ♪ But come and do us this ♪ ♪ Everlasting love ♪

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♪ Everlasting love ♪ ♪ Everlasting love ♪ - That's not. ♪ God ♪

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♪ So loved ♪ ♪ The world ♪ ♪ God ♪ ♪ So loved ♪

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♪ The world ♪ ♪ God ♪ ♪ Son of the world ♪ (congregation applauding)

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- This is our time of prayer together. We go to the throne of grace, remembering all sorts and conditions of humankind. We will close this period with a prayer chant.

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Dear Lord and Father of mankind, we'll ask you to sing those lines as I line them out. That first stanza is the close of this prayer period. I have a note here requesting that our church family would pray for Percy Houston, who is

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in very serious condition at St. David's Hospital. Sister Theresa Matthews is also in the hospital. And the mother of Sister Jeffrey Archer passed away last Friday and will be funeralized here tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.

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And the wait will be today at Richard's Funeral Chapel from 5 to 7. The funeral will also be there. So let's remember this family in our prayers. Sister Marie Gilbert, who was one of the old stable members of this community, passed

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away a member of Wesley. Let's remember these and all others that may be sick, bereaved, or have some special concern, of which we pray. Would you join hands with the person that may be next to you, on the pew, or behind you, or in front of you, as the case may be, as long as you join hands with some one.

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Let us bow our heads. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. We bless you for your loving kindness,

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for your tender mercies, for your amazing grace. We bless your name that we are alive to see each other's face. We may gather at this place and worship you

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in spirit and in truth. We come as empty pitches before a full fountain. We need you to fill our lives with meaning. We need you to empower us.

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We need you, oh God, to give us a sense of direction. We need you to have that ability to accept whatever life may bring. So we ask that you will bless us individually,

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bless us collectively, and we pray for all of the families that are represented here. But we reach out, oh God, to others who may be sick, not only those within our fellowship,

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but people everywhere, those who are bereaved, Those who are suffering from physical, mental, or spiritual maladies, we present them to you. And we pray, oh God, for a manifestation

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of your healing power. Oh gracious God, our Father, have mercy upon us. Bless us as a church as we seek to minister in your name here in this community.

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Help us to have the patience to work with the unreached and to reach out to the homeless, to the destitute, to the disadvantaged. We pray for all of them.

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And we pray for this nation of ours. We pray, oh God, for those who are involved in serving as public officials. We pray for the election which is forthcoming.

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We pray, oh God, for the condition in the Middle East, for those servicemen who are now going to defend Kuwait and to be involved in that conflict involving the Arab nations.

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So we ask that you will bless those not only there, but in Bosnia, and we ask that you will somehow look with tender compassion upon this whole world, because it's yours and we are thine. Bless us and use us in this service and in this week, we pray.

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would you join in singing Dear Lord and Father of Mankind? Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Forgive our foolish ways.

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Forgive our foolish ways. Reclothe us in our rightful mind. Reclothe us in our rightful mind. In purer lives, thy service find.

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♪ In pure alarts ♪ ♪ Thou serv'd ♪ In deeper reverence, please. ♪ In deeper reverence ♪

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♪ Praise ♪ Amen. (upbeat piano music) (orchestral music)

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(orchestral music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ]

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When I walk through the purdy gates of Zion, When I walk on the streets facing God, When I see the precious place of my Savior, Then I know that I truly belong.

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When I walk through the purgatory of Zion, When I walk on the street of faith and love, When I see the precious place of my Savior, ♪ In a moment I'll truly be home ♪

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♪ Oh Zion, where I'm shocked by troubles over ♪ ♪ Oh Zion, where the strangers wait for me ♪ ♪ With all happiness for a shadow to our sadness ♪ ♪ We now know that our truth is made whole ♪

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♪ Oh, Zion, when I shall my troubles over ♪ ♪ Who's dying ♪ ♪ When the Jesus breaks the knee ♪ ♪ We all have been despised ♪

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♪ For sadness ♪ ♪ We have grown yet ♪ ♪ How should we pay it all ♪ ♪ Some bad morning ♪

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♪ When this matter's over I'll fly away ♪ ♪ In a boat that I truly made before ♪ ♪ Some bad morning ♪ ♪ When this matter's over I'll fly away ♪

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In a road that I truly made before. In a road that I truly made before. In a road that I truly made before. [MUSIC]

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♪ The long to everlive way ♪ ♪ I'll take my gospel trumpet ♪ ♪ And blow it wherever I go ♪ ♪ And if the Lord is with me ♪

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♪ I'll applaud wherever I go ♪ ♪ Let us cheer the weary troubled heart ♪ ♪ Oh, cheer the weary traveler ♪ ♪ Let us cheer the weary traveler ♪

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♪ Along the heavenly way ♪ ♪ Let us cheer the weary traveler ♪ ♪ Oh, cheer the weary traveler ♪ ♪ Let us cheer the weary traveler ♪

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♪ Along the heavenly way ♪ Amen. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

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by whom also we have access by faith, and to this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. And patience experience, and

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experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of is set abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans chapter 5 verses 1 through 5. The subject, "Cheer in the midst of vexations." Cheer in the midst

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midst of vexations. Now I think this is not only a difficult sermon to deliver, it's a difficult sermon to accept as a way of life. And yet it is the very heart of the Christian in faith. Cheer. Imagine cheer, having cheer in the midst of vexations. And heaven knows we are vexed in this world,

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constantly vexed. I suppose the reason so many people so many tell other people to go to hell is that they're vexed. And to have the kind of outlook and spirit not to be vexed in situations when this is usually done, that's where the Christian

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faith comes into play. You see, human existence is permeated with contradictions. This is the story of the struggle of salvation history. From the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis to the Garden of God in John's vision in the book of Revelation, there are contradictions along the way. There was a contradiction there in the

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Garden of Eden. God said, the serpent said. That was a contradiction. God said one thing, the serpent said another. Paul says, "When I would do good, evil is always I've got to always deal with these contradictions.

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So the presence of these contradictions make us aware of our estrangement. In other words, we are made aware of our separateness and the fact that we are not only separated from ourselves, we are separated from one another and we are separated from God because contradictions. So because of this estrangement, we become

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ashamed of ourselves as did Adam and Eve, and they tried to hide from God among the trees of the garden. So we are vexed by by contrary circumstances. We are troubled by unpleasant conditions. We are disturbed by perplexing decisions.

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And how can we have cheer in the midst of all these vexations? Engulfed by a sea of troubles and pierced by the slings and arrows of outrageous fate,

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How can we have cheer in the midst of vexations? Saddam Hussein renews his aggressive military tactics against the Kurds and Kuwait. We thought he was defeated in 1991 in the Gulf Persian War,

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But now he's back again, and our boys are risking their lives to try to set things in order. We are vexed by these happenings. Contradictions are with us every day.

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In diseases that attack the body, in social programs and political actions that are against our well-being. The Apostle Paul has a word

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for persons who are committed to living the good life. It is a word that helps us to be of good cheer in the midst of vexations. It's a word about being constant

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in the midst of changing conditions. It's a word about being rightly related to the eternal in the midst of the temporary. First, the apostle describes what it means

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to be up against God in the salvation struggle. You know, some people want to be saved without God. They think they can be saved by trusting in their own righteousness rather than committing themselves to God's righteousness.

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But in order to have peace with God, we must commit ourselves to God. We must put our lives in His hands and we must totally surrender ourselves to God. happens through Jesus Christ. God meets us through Jesus Christ. Listen again to the text. "Therefore being justified by faith, being accepted by faith, we have

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have peace with God through Jesus Christ, by whom we have access. Access by faith. Now it's a wonderful thing to know

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that you have access to God. Access. The Reverend Hartsfield told a story about his son when he was young.

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He'd be around to study there at the church with his playmates, playing around and be running in and out of the study. And if it hadn't been for the fact that that was his son, you know, he would have just said, "Get out of here, boy."

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But that was his son, and the son would not only run into the study where his father was, but he would beckon his friends, say, "Come on. It's all right. Come on.

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my father. And so it is like that with Jesus Christ. He says, "Come on, follow me into the very presence of the Father. It's all right, you can come on in. This is my dad, this is my father." And so we have access. And the apostle talks about peace with God, And the apostle talks

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about peace with God. Peace with God. Oh, that's one of the most important things you

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can ever have, brothers and sisters, is peace with God. This access that is provided for us gives us

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this peace with God. In other words, back in ancient times, when a person's life was in danger and you were being pursued by the enemy,

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if you could just make it to the sanctuary and get to the sanctuary and grasp hold to the hands of the altar, then you were safe and secure.

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So it is through Jesus Christ that we are provided sanctuary. We are provided protection. And we are enabled to stand in the presence of God. Because we have that access through Him.

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That's wonderful. Because we could not come into His presence. We could not stand without the fact it is made possible through Jesus Christ.

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So we have to come into his presence with the spirit of Jesus Christ, with the attitude of Jesus Christ, and recognizing the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

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So we have this access. So when we have this peace with God, now that doesn't mean, brothers and sisters, that everything is gonna be happening all right around us.

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It doesn't mean that. You may be having hell in the house where you live in. You see, you may be having that, and you may be having it on your job!

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The things may not be working right, they should. You may be having all kinds of difficulties for your body, you may be hurting right now. But you see, it's like this, it's a picture

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I saw once of a bird that was in a crag. Bird had a nest in this rock, and underneath the rock, the waters were roaring, dashing around all around the rock. The winds were blowing the leaves all around,

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but the bird was quiet, with serenity just sitting there on the nest. Two more raging all around, but peace right inside. So this relationship of having peace with God means that a hell may be raging all around you, but you have a certain inner peace with God. So this is what the apostle is talking about. Now he says here

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that we are privileged to go into the Father's presence through Jesus Christ. We have access into the sanctuary of the Father's presence and through Jesus Christ we have peace with God and through Jesus Christ we have the reality of eschatological freedom. Now that's a big word, eschatological freedom.

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In other words, eschatology has to do with the last things. In other words, we have the presence of the reality of that last freedom that we talk about and hope for. You know, we talk about being free.

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We sing a song, we shall be free. Well, what the apostle is saying is that That eschatological freedom. In the Christian faith, you have an expression of it now.

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You don't have to wait until you get in heaven when to fall off by and by. But you have that freedom that's promised in the last day, you have it right now in the present day.

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That's why we pray thy kingdom come, thou wilt be done, but we know that the kingdom has already come because we have a foretaste of the kingdom in our hearts. You see, so this cheer in the midst of vexations is being able to suffer for righteousness and be happy about it.

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Now, a whole lot of us suffer for righteousness, but my goodness, when we get to talking about it and fussing about it, we have lost the reward. What I'm talking about is redemptive suffering,

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being willing to suffer for righteousness. In other words, for goodness sakes. In other words, I'm gonna put up, I'm gonna be mistreated, I'm gonna be lied on, I'm gonna be hurt, but I'll do this for righteousness. And the reason we we, Paul is saying that this happens is that the glory we seek is not in

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ourselves. The glory we seek is in the cross of Jesus Christ and the more we suffer for righteousness sake, the more we are like Him and the more the experience of the cross is revealed in our lives. That's where the is. Glory of God. God's glory has been manifested to us

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through the cross. On a hill, skull shaped hill on the outskirts of Jerusalem, a cross. There the Son of God died. God raised Him up on the third day and in so doing God God Himself revealed His glory through the cross. If you want to share in the

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glory of God, you got to bear the cross. Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure by the cross are sanctified. Peace is there that knows no measure. Joy is that through all time abide." And the cross, cross, followers of Jesus Christ are given cheer in vexed circumstances, amidst the vexations of human existence.

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They have cheer that is constant. "We glory," listen to that, can you imagine? "We glory," he says, "in tribulations." In other words, we glory in having a hard time. Now most of us have a hard time accepting that,

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but that's what the apostles, you see, as he, when he says we, he's not only talking about the Christians of his time, he's talking about the Christians of every time.

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We glory, if you truly like Christ, We glory in tribulations because tribulations work for patience. Yes, Lord. In other words, they teach us how to endure.

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You have a hard time, it teaches you how to put up with things. You have a hard time. It teaches you patience.

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And patience, experience. In other words, that's building up your character in Jesus Christ. That's what it's doing.

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And then that experience work is hope because we are moving toward the fulfillment of that hope which is in Jesus Christ. So we glory in having a hard time.

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Glory in that. You know, Some people feel that because they have certain things that they can do whatever they want to do.

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People are saying that it was the feeling of Mike Tyson 'cause he was wealthy, that he could get what he wanted whenever he wanted. So he takes the girl into the motel or hotel room

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at one or two o'clock in the morning. And young ladies let me say that don't be going to hotel rooms with men one and two o'clock in the morning because they aren't taking you there for no prime meeting.

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You know, at that time. And of course, he's accused of rape because he figured that when she went there that she knew what the deal was.

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You see, but, and of course he has to suffer for that. Now those kind of sufferings are not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kind of sufferings for righteousness sake.

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And the more you suffer for righteousness sake, the greater your cheer in Jesus Christ. The paper reported yesterday, I believe it was, that going back to Tyson, that he fought out at Las Vegas.

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He fought this fellow out there a few days ago. And the fight only lasted a minute and a half. And that he was well paid, both the winner and the loser for that minute and a half.

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And the sports commentator went on to say that since Tyson has been out of prison, that he has fought a total of 18 minutes and that he has made $80 million. And at this last fight, the people were unhappy, the audience was unhappy because it only lasted a minute and a half and they wanted more for their money.

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They wanted to see this man beaten up longer for their money. Well, in the arrangement that God has, we are to suffer longer if we are to gain the reward that is of cheer in the midst of vexations. Now finally my brothers and sisters let me illustrate what happened when the

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church was young. He said well Reverend that was that was something Paul said and he was all caught up in his theology. No no when the church was young and they found themselves in the midst of the contradictions of society. The Jewish people were saying this and that and and they were punishing the disciples

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and they took him and told him, said, "Now don't you speak any more in the name of this man, Jesus Christ. Don't speak any more in his name." And they went out and they found him and they were out there still preaching in his name. And they took him and they beat him. And they not only beat them, but they said, "Now I'll tell you again, don't do that!" And it is said in the scripture that these men, Peter and John, counted it all joy, joy that they were privileged to suffer shame in his name.

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So my brothers and sisters, cheer. You know God is able to give us cheer in the midst of all of the vexations of life. Sure, it's in our body with all of the diseases that we may confront,

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and yet somehow we can say the Lord, my God, is with me to strengthen me and to help me cheer

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in the midst of vexations. And Paul says, we are troubled. Don't think this is gonna change. on every side. We are perplexed. Sometimes we don't know what to

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do, but not in despair. We are persecuted, but we are not forsaken. We are cast down. We're always bearing about in the body, the death of the Lord Jesus. Somehow Jesus is with us and over and over and over again we experience the triumph of God's grace through Jesus

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Christ. In other words, God's grace enables us to accept it. Oh, they may make the and heavy and the blood may be running here and there, but God's grace enables

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us to accept the very worst that God causes us to experience. And so, there are two words

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I'd like for us to remember as you forget possibly most of this sermon. But two of these words in

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the song we're gonna sing now is gladly suffer. For Christ, gladly suffer.

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In other words, the writer says, "Thou my everlasting potion." In other words, "More than friend,

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"a life to me." That's what our Lord is. All along this pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee.

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Just walk with Him. Oh, there'll be some... [ Silence ]