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[ Silence ] [MUSIC - "I CAN TOUCH MY TRUST IN JESUS"] ♪ They'll back up me ♪ ♪ But there's one who always listens ♪

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♪ When my poor condition sees ♪ ♪ I can't put my trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Can't he put his trust in me ♪ Do I help those who are needy, just like Jesus has helped me?

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Do I give my best in service, even though no one can see? I can say He is my Savior, and from sin He set me free. I can thank my trusted Jesus. Can He put His trust in me?

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When my burden gets so heavy, and it seems I can't go on, and my pathway gets so dreary, I can't tell the right from wrong. ♪ Jesus' voice I hear within me ♪ ♪ Whispering, "Child, rely on me" ♪

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♪ I can't put my trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Can he put his trust in me? ♪ ♪ When the journey gets so tedious ♪ ♪ I can't complain or go wrong ♪

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♪ Though my enemies misuse me ♪ ♪ I love them just the same ♪ ♪ Am I truly an example ♪ ♪ Of what a Christian ought to be ♪

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♪ I can't put my trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Can't he put his trust in me ♪ ♪ Do I help those who are needy ♪ ♪ Just like Jesus has helped me ♪

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♪ Do I give my best in service ♪ ♪ Even though no one can see ♪ ♪ I can say he is my savior ♪ ♪ And from sin he set me free ♪

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♪ I can put my trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Can he put his trust in me ♪ ♪ Distrust in me ♪ - Amen.

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Hear this word which is recorded in the book of the prophet Jeremiah, the 35th chapter, verses five through 10. And Jeremiah said before the members of the community

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Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups and said to them drink wine but they said we do not drink wine for Jonadab son of Rechab our ancestor has laid the command upon us saying you must never drink wine neither you or your sons and And you must not build houses or sow seed or plant vineyards, but you shall dwell only in tents all your days, so that you may live many days on the face of the ground where you're staying.

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So we will listen to the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he has commanded us about not drinking wine as long as we live. We, our wives, our sons, and our daughters. And to build houses for our dwellings and vineyards and sown fields shall not be

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for us. But we will dwell in tents. And we will do in accordance with everything Jonadam, our father, commanded us.

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Subject of the message, the quality of loyalty. The quality of loyalty. Loyalty is an expression of a way of life of life which is faithfully followed. Loyalty proclaims a particular mode of thought and

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conduct. It involves consistency. We may often be consistent in that which is detrimental to our being. For that reason, it is imperative that we consider the quality of loyalty, the moral quality of the way of life we espouse, why we do what we do, and the benefits that come to us in the process. Our earliest understanding of loyalty occurs within the family circle.

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We're told certain things to do. And those of us who grew up several generations ago can remember having our parents to tell us that you had better mind. In other words, you mind me, do what I say. You are to obey.

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We had certain responsibilities, certain obligations. I had certain tasks I was to do. I was to sweep the floor, I was to do the dishes, I was to bring in the wood, and of course I was not to go away from the house after school, I was to stay in the yard, to

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be at home when my mother and father came. And to disobey was not to mine, it was to fail to be loyal, to do what was commanded. It is the expression of loyalty for one to conduct oneself according to the command that is given to be respectful and obedient.

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After getting this experience within the family circle, the next place I remember is at school, learning the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, an expression of loyalty to country, and then And of course the church, hearing the church covenant, an expression of loyalty to Christ and the church, the things that we promised to do as members of the household of faith.

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So whether it is at home, whether it is at church, whether it's on the job, loyalty in each instance involves faithfulness to the obligations assumed. It involves promises that are kept. It involves pledge and performance.

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What is significant here is the quality of the loyalty we proclaim. Some people make promises with no intention of keeping their promises. They promise anything and everything in order to get what they want. Individuals have often been praised and rewarded for exemplifying a brand of loyalty which

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disregards truth and honor. have infiltrated certain groups, parading in the name of loyalty, claiming to be what they are not. Remember many years ago I was a communist for the FBI. Lying and spying often sanctioned in the name of patriotism.

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So what is the quality of our loyalty? The quality of loyalty, kind of loyalty, the brand of loyalty we exemplify, that is what really matters.

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Whether one is faithful to that which is good, whether one is loyal to that which is true, whether one is rightly related to that which is eternal, whether what we do is right or not,

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whether we are faithful to that which is true, or whether we are faithful to that which is false and meaningless. The quality of our loyalty is determined

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by the object of our loyalty, And so human existence itself is a loyalty challenge. The quality of our life is determined by the promises we make and the promises we keep.

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The one to whom the promise is made the one who makes the promise. When we consider these two aspects of our loyalty, we are considering the quality of our loyalty. Robert Frost puts it in very beautiful words when he says,

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"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and and miles to go before I sleep,

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and miles to go before I sleep. All of us have promises to keep. We all ushered into a paradise of possibility. All of us have opportunities and obligations.

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We have promises to keep, and the way we go about keeping the promises That exemplifies the quality of our loyalty. Whatever we do that's worth doing involves promises,

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and we are judged according to the quality of our loyalty. God makes a covenant with his people. He promises to be their God. He promises to guide, guard, and govern Israel.

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And they make a promise to be his people. They promise to be faithful to him. God is faithful, but the people waver. They are sometimes faithful,

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and they are sometimes unfaithful. I was reading something of the life of a person that was given in a book some time ago, and he had listed there,

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Sometime professor at a certain university and That is the way it is often when we consider the loyalty of those who claim to be God's people This was the case of of Judah sometimes faithful and

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Many times they were unfaithful and so the Prophet Jeremiah Gives to the nation a Loyalty lesson from the Reco bites

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The record bites are considered religious fanatics and often we Point to the people who are really loyal who really have steadfast

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Convictions who are really determined to do what they promised to do. We say that these people Have something wrong with them. They're fanatics. And so the people of that day considered the record bites religious fanatics They were looked upon as extreme

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enthusiasts in religion They're considered extreme because they have made the supreme dedication They submit themselves To a way of life and they follow

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that way faithfully Loyalty you see involves some do's and some don'ts Some thou shalt, some thou shalt not. Loyalty is not just a way of life where it's some namby-pamby or some willy-nilly existence. It's not that broad road where we just do

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whatever we may care to do. Loyalty is the straight and narrow path. So there are some things that they are to do. There is a command that they are to follow. The Rechabites have received a command from Jonah their father, the son of Rechab. They have received a command from him that they are to follow a nomadic

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existence. They are not to drink wine, they are not to live in houses, they are to live in tents. Not only are they not to drink wine, they are not to plant vineyards, they are not to have anything to do with the vine. They are to be nomads, they are to be pilgrims, they are to do some things and there are some

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things that they are not to do. This is based upon a command which they have received from their father thou shalt never drink wine neither you nor your children so they have received this command they have taken this vow they have made the pledge they've given the promise to obey to live as nomads as

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desert travelers to live in tents and not houses to live in the land as strangers, to live as desert wanderers, as pilgrims, there to be desert horsemen, to be riding from place to place, to be always on the move. And their loyalty, you see, involves a peculiar lifestyle. The quality of their loyalty is reflected in their faithfulness

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to the lifestyle commanded by their father, their ancestor. They are to obey the word of their father. And too often our loyalty involves cutting ourselves off from our roots. quick to dispose of the inheritance of our fathers. Too often this is the case and that's why from time to time we really need to focus attention upon the

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significance of loyalty, what it really means. So often we just take it for granted. Often it's like what happens in the life of a family here, the family that has lived for many years, and they have gathered some choice pieces of furniture, their precious antiques, and they die.

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And the children come along and they say, "I don't want this old furniture that mother and daddy had. It's old. not in step with the times and so I want to get rid of it and they say to

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someone else you can just give me whatever you want to give me for it they don't recognize the value of it and so they give away these precious antique pieces of furniture for a mere pittance because they don't know the value of it and they get something that's supposed to be so modern so much up-to-date

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date that's not nearly as good. So easily do we we discard the inheritance of our fathers without really knowing the price, without really recognizing the value. Loyalty you see involves clinging to the heritage which has been given us. So the Recibites recognize the significance of loyalty and we see in them a high

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quality of loyalty. They're not to drink wine, they're to plant no vineyards, they're to live in no houses, and their teaching is that they are to do this to be completely, to be absolutely free of the influences of Baal, Baal worship, the kind of worship that represents that which is false,

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kind of worship that represents that which is idolatrous, a kind of loyalty which they are to exemplify is to be faithful to that which is highest and best, and they are to cling to that way of life. So you see, my beloved,

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loyalty at its best involves the courage to be, The courage to really be ourselves in spite of what is happening all around us. The courage to be, loyalty always puts us to a test. And so Jeremiah takes the Rechabites to the temple, places before them bowls of wine and cups that they might drink.

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And he says to them drink wine And they say no We will not drink wine He says why not and they say we have said yes to our father

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We've made a promise We've made a commitment that we will be faithful to the way of life Which he has given us and that is that we would drink no wine That we would have nothing to do with the vine that we would live in no houses, but live in tents

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There are some things that to which we must say no Because we have said yes to our father And there are some things to which we must say no in our life Together here in this world because we have said yes to God because we have said yes to Christ

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There are some things to which we must say no So they say to the Prophet, "We have adopted a peculiar lifestyle and we will be faithful to that way of life. We are nomads.

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We are country dwellers." You see, Nebuchadnezzar has invaded the land. We were dwelling out there in the wilderness, in the desert. he's driven us now within the walls of the city. We've had to leave dwelling

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in tents outside the city walls to come within the fortified walls of the city because of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. But even though the circumstances around, even though the conditions around us have changed, we nevertheless will be faithful to our way of life. even though circumstances have changed we have not changed and that's what loyalty means so often when circumstances change we want to change

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you say well Reverend you know things aren't going too well I've had this to happen in my family and so I can't be faithful to God we make excuses because the circumstances change. Some say well I was faithful out there in the country and that little town where I used to live I was faithful out there, but now I've come to the city and

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This church is so much larger church the church is so much larger and they can get along without me. So I don't have to be faithful Circumstances have changed and so we change because the circumstances change But that's not the way loyalty the quality of loyalty

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Simplified by the record bites is that even though the circumstances have changed and even though the Babylonians have invaded and they have somehow caused us to leave our dwelling place out there in the ditch where we had promised that we would live we've had to leave that but our determination our commitment our

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Faithfulness has not changed we will Tenure our peculiar lifestyle We will not

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drink wine So the Prophet Jeremiah contrasts Judah's disobedience With the loyalty of the Rechabites

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Judah has received a special revelation from the Lord Just as the Rechabites had received a special command from their father The Rechabites obey the command and so are we to obey God's command

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our commander-in-chief Has given us the word to go forward to be faithful in the struggle we've promised to be faithful to him and There is a reward for faithfulness

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and the reward to the Rechabites is a reward that you shall dwell in the land, you shall survive. You'll survive even though things around you are changing, but you shall survive because of the quality of your loyalty, because of your love,

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because of your commitment you shall survive. Be faithful. Be thou faithful until death and you shall receive the crown. Be faithful. I would be true. I would be a friend. I would be loyal. I I would be faithful. So, to express this way of life, to sort of renew our commitment, to renew our covenant

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every day, be able to say I will trust in the Lord. I've said yes to the Lord long ago at a point in my life. I've said yes to the Lord and even though circumstances have changed and I find myself going from one stage of life into another. I find myself sometimes in the

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summer and sometimes in the winter in my existence but I will be faithful. I've said yes to the Lord. I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord till I die. And as we come now to this time of commitment, this time of expressing your loyalty and your love to Christ. We invite you to come.

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We invite you to unite with the church. (shouting) (shouting) [MUSIC PLAYING]

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I mean, you know, that's how you say it right now. I will trust in the Lord, I will trust in the Lord, I will trust in the Lord till I'm gone. I will try to make it work. I will try to make it work.

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I will try to make the world a better place. I won't let anybody die. I can't let anybody die. I'm gonna treat everybody well until I die.

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I'm gonna treat everybody well. I'm gonna treat everybody well. I'm gonna treat everybody well until I die. I'm gonna stay on the bed, bed and knees

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I'm gonna stay on the bed, bed and knees I'm gonna stay on the bed, bed and knees I'm gonna stay on the bed, bed and knees I'm gonna stay on the bed, bed and knees

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♪ I'm gonna sit on the bed that He's gonna lay ♪ ♪ I'm gonna trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm gonna trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm gonna trust in the Lord tonight ♪

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I'm gonna cross with the Lord. I'm gonna cross with the Lord. I'm gonna cross with the Lord. I'm gonna cross.

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I'm gonna stay on the dead man's knees. I'm gonna stay on the dead man's knees. I'm gonna stay on the midnight beat Until I'm done

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I'm gonna stay on the midnight beat I'm gonna stay on the midnight beat I'm gonna stay on the midnight beat Until I'm done

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I'm gonna trust in the Lord. I'm gonna trust in the Lord. I'm gonna trust in the Lord. I'm gonna trust.

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I'm gonna trust in the Lord. I'm gonna trust in the Lord. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]