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[ Silence ] [ Music ] [MUSIC - "COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING"] Come, thou almighty king.

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Help us thy name to sing. Help us to praise. Father of glorious, Lord of victorious, ♪ Of every humorous agent of fate ♪

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(upbeat piano music) ♪ Come now, almighty King ♪ ♪ Tell us thy name to see ♪ ♪ Come thou all mighty King ♪

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♪ Tell us thy name to see ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We come to praise thy name ♪

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♪ Come Thou Almighty King ♪ ♪ Help us Thy name to sing ♪ ♪ Come Thou Almighty King ♪ ♪ Help us Thy name to sing ♪

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♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ The day ♪

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♪ Father of glorious ♪ ♪ Lord of victorious ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪

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♪ Father of glorious ♪ ♪ Lord of victorious ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪

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♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We've come to praise ♪ ♪ We've come to praise thy name ♪ ♪ Father of glorious ♪

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♪ Lord of victorious ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪ ♪ Father of glorious ♪

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♪ Lord of victorious ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪ ♪ Come and reign over us ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪

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♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ Thy name ♪ ♪ Thy name ♪

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♪ Thy name ♪ ♪ Thy name ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ We come to praise ♪

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♪ We come to praise ♪ ♪ Thy name ♪ - Amen. - Ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

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God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a

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highway for our God." "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God. Our subject, a highway in the desert. The prophetic voice of Deutero Isaiah comforted the children of Israel by announcing the end

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of the long night of Babylonian captivity. This proud and prosperous nation was uprooted homes, and made to suffer the humiliation of wretched slaves in a heathen land. disappearing and proclaims the dawn of freedom's holy light. He envisions the return to Jerusalem as a journey requiring special preparation. As prisoners of war, they had wandered far

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from home and suffered many things in a strange land. Now the night of slavery has passed and the morning of freedom is at hand. And with the coming of freedom is the privilege to go back to Jerusalem. It's a long journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, a journey fraught with many dangers. And one may

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easily be tempted to become weary along the way, for it's a long, long journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. So this 40th chapter of Isaiah begins with what may be considered today as a proclamation. In ancient times, there was what was known as a town crier.

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And when he had a significant message to announce, he went about on the streets saying, "Hear ye, hear ye," and would make known his proclamation. Today we have a city council and a mayor. These persons issue proclamations almost every week sometimes it seems.

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They make known whatever word there is to be delivered from the city fathers to the people of the city. So here comes a word from the one who is a spokesperson for the eternal. Hear ye.

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It comes to us through the long ago, but it is relevant for our life today. And it comes to those of us who have gathered around the Word of God this morning. Hear ye. Hear ye.

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Prepare ye. "Fear ye the way of the Lord." Advent precedes Christmas. It is a time of preparation.

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Many of us now have already begun making certain preparations for Christmas. Most of the time those things are rather material. We put up a tree out at Zilker Park and we say, "That's the sign that the time is near." Some of us put trees up in our homes and we have special decorations.

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Some cities are known for their lights at this particular time of the year in preparation for Christmas. But so often the preparation that we make is not the real preparation that should be made for Christmas.

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This preparation that the prophet is talking about in this 40th chapter has to do with preparing for the coming King. The King is coming. The King is coming.

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certain protocols, certain arrangements ought to be made, Father King is coming. I was in a meeting many years ago, and the Prime Minister of Guyana was in the building, And it so happened that I came out of my room and he came out of the room and I found myself face to face with the Prime Minister.

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And I didn't know what to say. I knew he had security people all around and I didn't want to be misunderstood and I didn't think it was just to say hello would be sufficient. And it was like when Queen Elizabeth visited here some years ago, one lady of color ran

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up and embraced her. Well, you're not supposed to embrace the queen. So I didn't want to do anything that would--and I just looked and smiled and he smiled and we went on.

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But here, what kind of preparation, what kind of protocol should we observe in preparation for the coming of the king. Now those who are to leave Babylon and journey to Jerusalem must travel through the desert,

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expose themselves to the dangers and the hardships of the desert. So Isaiah issues a warning "To those who would be desert wanderers, lest by their haste

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to return home they fail to prepare adequately for the journey." So he cries, "In the wilderness prepare ye the way of make straight in the desert a highway for our God." In those days, it was the practice in the East, whenever the king ended up

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on an expedition or took a journey, especially through the desert, he sent messengers before him to prepare the way for his coming. They were to open the passes, level the ways, and remove all impediments." Push aside all of those things

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in order to make ready for the coming of the king. So the through the desert is a call to every person to live life at its best. Now, many have been known to die in the desert. I mentioned that Sunday or so ago, searching for cool water,

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searching for food, they become faint and fall by the wayside. So one needs guidance through the desert, guidance by one who has an unerring hand and the assurance of an abiding presence. We're all pilgrims in the desert, traveling through the

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wilderness of this world on our way home. We need a highway in the desert. Traveling through the wilderness of this world, we find ourselves as desert wanderers, we experience loneliness. And one needs to have the best of physical

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One needs to have fortitude. One needs to have faith in making the journey through the desert. One of the things I mentioned just a moment ago is loneliness. That's one of the desert experiences, especially during this season of the year.

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people experience a deep sense of loneliness. And when we feel so left alone in the world, left alone to go it for ourselves, deserted by loved ones, and isolated from the main traffic of human relations. Sometimes it's the loneliness of physical suffering. We find ourselves in a desert, a barren and desolate place, without any signs of comfort and cheer

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the desert. In these spiritually dry and depressing moments, we need the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to lead us on our way. Prepare a highway, make straight in the desert a highway for our King. Another experience in the desert is grief.

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If permitted to go and check, grief will produce a kind of drought in the soul, and the soul old cries out for the refreshing rains of God's comforting spirit. Several years ago, a young couple was engaged, and shortly before the marriage was to take place, the bride-to-be

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became seriously ill and died. And the young man could not bear thought of seeing his wife to be suddenly summoned from his presence, from this earthly scene. And he was so heartbroken and so overcome with grief that he wanted to be buried with her.

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So what he needed was a highway through the desert of grief because we all have to go through that desert. That's the only way home. And we need a highway. Death is a desert experience. Most of us don't like to talk about it, but it

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has to be dealt with. We have to pass through death on our way to eternal life. We must pass through death. Some say, "Oh, I'm prepared. I have sufficient insurance policies. They're airtight so I'm ready for death but that's not the kind of highway that I'm talking about. That's not the kind of readiness I'm talking about. I'm talking

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about a different kind of preparation. We need a highway over which to travel through the dangerous desert of death. Dangerous. Hear me today, the voice of crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Prepare a

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highway in the desert for the victorious advance of the conquering king." These are days when we're busy, shopping, making arrangements for the coming of Christmas. But I'm talking about the coming of the King, the one who is not some

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ancient King, but one who is eternal, who is the first and the last. And the deserts of this world are not impassable. That was a time in this country when we looked upon those 13 colonists along the Atlantic seaboard as places where people could be safe and live securely.

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The other sections were largely regarded as a howling wilderness. But there arose strong stalwart champions who came and pushed back that area so that we now have all of this area well populated for the most part. So Isaiah sets forth the provisions governing the construction of the highway that is needed

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for those who would travel through the desert from Babylon to Jerusalem, he sets forth. We think of people traveling, experiencing repentance and giving obedience to God, but But Isaiah talks about that there are low places that need to be filled. You know what we need to think about in building a highway is what is necessary for construction,

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road construction. So we're going to prepare for the coming of the king that there are some low places in our lives that need to be filled. We know what they are.

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No one has to go over it. Deep in our hearts, we know that in order to be prepared, to be rightly prepared for the coming of the King of kings, that I've got some low places that need to be filled. Every valley, every valley. Not just some, but every

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valley. KENNETH: All the low places should be filled. And then there are some high places that need to be brought down. Sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. And we need to humble ourselves in order for God to

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have His way in our lives. Some low places, some high places. shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low." And in order for that to happen, when we see roads being built, we need some heavy equipment. Some heavy equipment.

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equipment. So--and the rough places should be made plain. When I was a boy in church, I heard them singing, "My road is rough and rocky all the way." I think that song has some bad It's not rough and rocky all the way.

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There are some valleys, there are some hills, and there are some rough places. So the difficulties of life are solved largely through our preparing a place, a highway, through the desert. the difficulties that we encounter from day to day, we can deal with them triumphantly when we prepare a highway for the coming of the king. Politically, we need a highway.

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The conflict involving Iraq, we need a highway. The problem of communications, you know. One leader may make up his mind, this is the way it's going to be, but that's not the way that's going to happen. Well, we need to build highways of communication, a highway, a highway. Every mountain and hill made low, rough places made plain, highway to the desert.

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I remember in 1953, we made a journey to California for the first time, from Trabucco. And I had a fear for the desert. I talked to so many people, be sure that you

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are ready for the desert. And so I was somewhat frightened by hearing so much talk about the desert. And they said, and if you're going to go through the desert,

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be sure you go through at night. That's what they told me. It's cooler. But somehow, we reached the desert right

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at the middle of the day. And we saw signs along the way. Last stop. Yes Lord. Before the desert. And we stopped and checked the fuel, the oil, the gas, the

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water, we had some extra water, everything, some water bags, we had all of that. And at that service station where it was said last stop, we checked all of those things. And "You know what, brothers and sisters? We rode, my wife and I, through the desert without any problem." We came through

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the desert. You can't get through the desert, but you need to be sure that you have the right companion. Be sure that you have your hand in God's hand, and He will guide safely and securely through the desert.

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- Yes, Lord. - And we can arrive at our destination. We arrived in Los Angeles safe and sound. (congregation laughing)

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God will carry us through. - Ask, ask the Savior to help you, comfort, strengthen and keep you. - He is willing to aid you.

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He will carry you through. As we sing the hymn of invitation, We extend the privilege of the church just as I am. That's the wonderful thing.

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He takes us as we are. Right where we are, whatever it may be, our condition or circumstance, he comes out. He reaches out to us to be our eternal companion

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and to guide us and to help us. We invite you to come. the church is opened by letter of Christian experience or on profession of faith. [ Music ]

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Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And at my wits' end come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am a man raging flood, to rid my soul of wood or flood,

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♪ And he whose blood can lift me strong to land ♪ ♪ How hard I've come, I've come ♪ ♪ Just as I am, though torn apart ♪ ♪ Out of the stout heart ♪

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♪ With me your conflict ♪ ♪ With me your doubt ♪ ♪ Ideas and fears within ♪ ♪ With love to lend ♪

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♪ Of God I come ♪ ♪ I come ♪ ♪ Just as I am ♪ ♪ O wretched one ♪

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♪ Sight which has ♪ ♪ Seen me gone ♪ ♪ How mine ♪ ♪ It's all I need ♪

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♪ Need to find you there ♪ ♪ How far I've come ♪ ♪ I've come ♪ ♪ Just as I am ♪

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♪ The wild trees sing ♪ ♪ We'll dwell ♪ ♪ Come wander ♪ ♪ Dream ♪

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♪ Dreaming ♪ ♪ Because ♪ ♪ Thy promise ♪ ♪ My healing ♪

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♪ O Lamb ♪ ♪ Of God ♪ I come, I come. The eternal God, our Father, send us forth on the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

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Be our companion, our guide, our stay. Lord bless you and keep you the Lord causes face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace now and forevermore amen

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Amen, amen, amen. [LAUGHTER] [LAUGHTER] Yeah.

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Love it. [BLANK_AUDIO]