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So here's another one.

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This is from Michael.

3
00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:15,651
It's dated September 3rd.

4
00:00:15,651 --> 00:00:20,419
So this is not too far removed

5
00:00:20,419 --> 00:00:23,451
for somebody who's going 
through what he's going through.

6
00:00:23,451 --> 00:00:26,251
"My wife recently died.

7
00:00:26,251 --> 00:00:28,569
Since then, I've done more than

8
00:00:28,569 --> 00:00:30,912
go to our usual church -

9
00:00:30,912 --> 00:00:33,381
I've immersed myself in the sermons

10
00:00:33,381 --> 00:00:35,301
of Adrian Rogers,

11
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Charles Stanley, Joyce Meyer,

12
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Joel Osteen, David Jeremiah,

13
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Tony Evans, John Hagee."

14
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I mean, that's basically your who's who

15
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of radio preachers.

16
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"I can't tell you how many others.

17
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I'm seeking a word from God -

18
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His Son and my Savior - the Christ,

19
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the Holy Spirit and my conscience."

20
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So, "I'm seeking a word from God."

21
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"I'm seeking a word from His Son, Christ."

22
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"I'm seeking a word from the Holy Spirit."

23
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,750
"I'm seeking a word from my conscience."

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He's seeking a word.

25
00:01:16,060 --> 00:01:19,541
"Here's my question:

26
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When I feel, hear, sense, or imagine

27
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a voice telling me the 
direction I should go,

28
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what I should do, how I should live,

29
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or a choice I should make,

30
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how do I know which voice I should heed?

31
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Do I do what I want?

32
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Do I oblige the voice that causes me

33
00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,512
the most earthly suffering in hopes

34
00:01:42,512 --> 00:01:44,667
it's the direction to salvation?

35
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Do I needlessly deny myself

36
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and the life lessons I have learned?

37
00:01:48,930 --> 00:01:51,350
Do I accept the advice of people around me

38
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not knowing if they're 
good or evil in heart?

39
00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,711
How can I be sure whether it's a voice

40
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to which I should attend?

41
00:01:57,919 --> 00:01:59,903
Or the temptation of the enemy?

42
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Or to borrow a line from Dickens,

43
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'You may be an undigested bit of beef,

44
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a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese,

45
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a fragment of underdone potato.

46
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There's more of gravy than 
of grave about you,

47
00:02:12,901 --> 00:02:14,820
whatever you are.'

48
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To compound my dilemma,

49
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I'm now writing this question

50
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to an unnamed, unknown,

51
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unfamiliar online pastor.

52
00:02:24,841 --> 00:02:27,152
I just want an answer.

53
00:02:27,152 --> 00:02:29,151
I just want hope.

54
00:02:29,151 --> 00:02:31,365
I just want direction.

55
00:02:31,365 --> 00:02:32,890
I'm lost.

56
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My anchor and the rock

57
00:02:35,392 --> 00:02:38,862
to which I had dedicated 
my life has died.

58
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She died. It should have been me."

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I mean, what you hear is a man -

60
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he's looking for something,

61
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for substance, answers, truth,

62
00:02:59,219 --> 00:03:02,466
a voice.

63
00:03:02,466 --> 00:03:03,678
And you know what?

64
00:03:03,678 --> 00:03:06,638
The reality is in this world - 
we know it -

65
00:03:06,638 --> 00:03:09,267
there's a thousand voices.

66
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And they will come at you.

67
00:03:10,538 --> 00:03:14,069
They will come at you 
from all these preachers.

68
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Yes, I'm an online pastor -

69
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it's just another voice, 
it's another voice.

70
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He's obviously empty. He's hurting.

71
00:03:25,409 --> 00:03:28,017
He's sad and full of sorrow.

72
00:03:28,017 --> 00:03:33,548
He's longing for something 
to fill the emptiness.

73
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He's asking,

74
00:03:37,219 --> 00:03:38,867
how can I know?

75
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Where do I look?

76
00:03:42,101 --> 00:03:44,049
I mean, I think most us here,

77
00:03:44,049 --> 00:03:46,738
we know the answer to that.

78
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I mean, look, he's right.

79
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I'm just another voice.

80
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But the reality is this,

81
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there is a place in this world

82
00:03:57,819 --> 00:03:59,939
where we can find truth.

83
00:03:59,939 --> 00:04:02,369
And there's really only one place

84
00:04:02,369 --> 00:04:06,189
that we have the guarantee is truth.

85
00:04:06,189 --> 00:04:08,729
And what you find is that even

86
00:04:08,729 --> 00:04:11,209
when somebody like the Apostle Paul

87
00:04:11,209 --> 00:04:13,530
came along and preached,

88
00:04:13,530 --> 00:04:16,679
those people at Berea were commended

89
00:04:16,679 --> 00:04:22,479
because they went to 
Scripture to prove it.

90
00:04:22,479 --> 00:04:28,371
Listen, Zeke preached on Sunday morning.

91
00:04:28,371 --> 00:04:31,131
Do you know what he dealt with?

92
00:04:31,131 --> 00:04:36,788
He dealt with Luke 7, right?

93
00:04:36,788 --> 00:04:38,989
Isn't that where he was?

94
00:04:38,989 --> 00:04:40,509
Luke 7?

95
00:04:40,509 --> 00:04:43,029
He was dealing with John the Baptist.

96
00:04:43,029 --> 00:04:46,049
Do you remember John the Baptist?

97
00:04:46,049 --> 00:04:48,298
He sent his disciples:

98
00:04:48,298 --> 00:04:50,991
"Are You the one, or 
should I look for another?"

99
00:04:50,991 --> 00:04:52,739
Here's a man - think about this -

100
00:04:52,739 --> 00:04:54,129
here's a man sitting in jail.

101
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It's not exactly the same situation,

102
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but it's similar.

103
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He's not certain.

104
00:05:00,047 --> 00:05:01,159
He's not certain.

105
00:05:01,159 --> 00:05:02,499
Reports are coming back.

106
00:05:02,499 --> 00:05:06,189
Different things - he 
has his own experience.

107
00:05:06,189 --> 00:05:08,598
He heard that voice say,

108
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"The One upon Whom you see

109
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the Spirit descend and 
remain, that's Him."

110
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That voice spoke there that day

111
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when He was baptized.

112
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You know what? Supernatural things happen.

113
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There are many voices.

114
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There is much supernatural.

115
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He's looking for something

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perhaps even supernatural.

117
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But I'll tell you what Jesus did.

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Jesus didn't say to those disciples

119
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of John the Baptist:

120
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Hey, John was there at the river

121
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the day I got baptized.

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Go remind him of what My Father

123
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spoke from heaven.

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Go remind him of Who 
the Spirit fell upon.

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He didn't do that.

126
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You know what He did?

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He roughly appealed

128
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to about three verses in Isaiah.

129
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And He basically said this:

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You go tell John

131
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that Scripture is being fulfilled.

132
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You know what's interesting?

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Peter does the same thing.

134
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Peter was up on the 
Mount of Transfiguration.

135
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You remember that?

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He heard the voice.

137
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He saw the glory.

138
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But you know what?

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When he's writing his epistles,

140
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he said there's a more 
certain word than that.

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Miracles, voices, whatever.

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00:06:33,358 --> 00:06:36,209
It doesn't matter who 
it is that's preaching.

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It doesn't matter who the 
voice is coming from.

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It doesn't matter how well 
known the preacher is.

145
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There's one place that is a sure anchor.

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It's not to be found on 
mounts of transfiguration.

147
00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:50,047
It's not to be found down at the river

148
00:06:50,047 --> 00:06:53,738
where the Spirit of God 
fell upon Jesus Christ

149
00:06:53,738 --> 00:06:54,849
at His baptism.

150
00:06:54,849 --> 00:06:57,399
You know what? Those things are true.

151
00:06:57,399 --> 00:06:58,868
Those things happened.

152
00:06:58,868 --> 00:07:01,238
But that's not where we build our faith.

153
00:07:01,238 --> 00:07:02,549
It's not on miracles.

154
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It's not on these voices -

155
00:07:03,849 --> 00:07:06,499
unless we test those voices

156
00:07:06,499 --> 00:07:07,817
like the Bereans.

157
00:07:07,817 --> 00:07:09,419
They were more noble.

158
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Why? Because they sought

159
00:07:11,179 --> 00:07:13,130
to find out from Scripture

160
00:07:13,130 --> 00:07:15,258
if those things were so.

161
00:07:15,258 --> 00:07:16,979
There's one place where we can go

162
00:07:16,979 --> 00:07:20,488
where we know we're 
going to encounter truth.

163
00:07:20,488 --> 00:07:22,030
And I would just say to Michael,

164
00:07:22,030 --> 00:07:25,379
you need to go to Scripture.

165
00:07:25,379 --> 00:07:28,078
It's time to turn off all the voices.

166
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Because you know what?

167
00:07:29,390 --> 00:07:32,238
Some of those people will give him truth,

168
00:07:32,238 --> 00:07:33,451
and some of those people

169
00:07:33,451 --> 00:07:35,720
will give him damnable lies.

170
00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,589
And some of those people will give him

171
00:07:37,589 --> 00:07:41,079
truth in some areas 
and not in other areas.

172
00:07:41,079 --> 00:07:42,609
And we have to test.

173
00:07:42,609 --> 00:07:43,938
We have to go to Scripture.

174
00:07:43,938 --> 00:07:45,669
If he wants an anchor for his soul -

175
00:07:45,669 --> 00:07:47,088
because what's happening is

176
00:07:47,088 --> 00:07:49,678
he said, "I'm lost."

177
00:07:49,678 --> 00:07:51,629
I don't know that he means that so much

178
00:07:51,629 --> 00:07:54,408
as far as he really thinks 
he's spiritually lost

179
00:07:54,408 --> 00:07:56,617
as much as he feels like

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00:07:56,617 --> 00:07:58,648
he's lost without his wife.

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00:07:58,648 --> 00:08:01,397
He's lost without this anchor in his life.

182
00:08:01,397 --> 00:08:03,308
He's just kind of wandering now.

183
00:08:03,308 --> 00:08:05,188
Ruby and I were just talking recently

184
00:08:05,188 --> 00:08:09,409
about people losing their spouses,

185
00:08:09,409 --> 00:08:12,518
and just the level of difficulty

186
00:08:12,518 --> 00:08:16,557
that people experience with that.

187
00:08:16,557 --> 00:08:21,340
And I know he's going 
through a really hard time.

188
00:08:21,340 --> 00:08:24,459
And sometimes when you're going through

189
00:08:24,459 --> 00:08:26,119
that kind of difficulty

190
00:08:26,119 --> 00:08:27,660
it's like all you really want

191
00:08:27,660 --> 00:08:30,907
is the pain to stop.

192
00:08:30,907 --> 00:08:32,550
Sometimes all you really want

193
00:08:32,550 --> 00:08:35,227
is to get back what you lost.

194
00:08:35,227 --> 00:08:40,078
But what's critical is that he go

195
00:08:40,078 --> 00:08:44,949
to that rock (incomplete thought).

196
00:08:44,949 --> 00:08:47,759
You've got to go be exposed

197
00:08:47,759 --> 00:08:49,969
to the Word of Christ

198
00:08:49,969 --> 00:08:55,960
and actually bow to what you see there.

199
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,019
I mean, that's his only hope.

200
00:08:58,019 --> 00:09:01,810
In this world of a thousand voices,

201
00:09:01,810 --> 00:09:03,719
we've got to know our Bibles.

202
00:09:03,719 --> 00:09:06,240
That's where Michael's got to go.

203
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,619
(incomplete thought)

204
00:09:08,619 --> 00:09:13,739
Look, it can be real easy

205
00:09:13,739 --> 00:09:16,149
when we come across people like this

206
00:09:16,149 --> 00:09:19,969
to want to tell them something

207
00:09:19,969 --> 00:09:24,567
that we think is going to 
make them feel better.

208
00:09:24,567 --> 00:09:26,179
We feel pity.

209
00:09:26,179 --> 00:09:28,029
We feel sorrow for them.

210
00:09:28,029 --> 00:09:29,639
We can enter in.

211
00:09:29,639 --> 00:09:32,950
I mean, I was feeling that 
as I was reading that.

212
00:09:32,950 --> 00:09:35,959
But look, if you really want 
to be faithful to people,

213
00:09:35,959 --> 00:09:38,698
there's really only one place

214
00:09:38,698 --> 00:09:40,718
where there's hope.

215
00:09:40,718 --> 00:09:42,798
There's one place where he's going to

216
00:09:42,798 --> 00:09:45,198
get confronted by truth.

217
00:09:45,198 --> 00:09:46,788
And that's in Scripture.

218
00:09:46,788 --> 00:09:48,890
And you know the reality is

219
00:09:48,890 --> 00:09:54,007
if he truly comes face to 
face with Scripture,

220
00:09:54,007 --> 00:09:58,458
he may find (incomplete thought).

221
00:09:58,458 --> 00:10:02,026
You know, there's a season to mourn.

222
00:10:02,026 --> 00:10:05,098
But the thing is if you mourn too long,

223
00:10:05,098 --> 00:10:08,358
do you know what that probably says?

224
00:10:08,358 --> 00:10:12,727
It probably says that 
there's a wrong idolatry.

225
00:10:12,727 --> 00:10:15,090
And Scripture will expose that.

226
00:10:15,090 --> 00:10:18,159
(incomplete thought)

227
00:10:18,159 --> 00:10:19,908
Have you ever read the Old Testament

228
00:10:19,908 --> 00:10:26,099
and you just thought about the prophets?

229
00:10:26,099 --> 00:10:31,568
You have God tell Jeremiah:

230
00:10:31,568 --> 00:10:34,828
Don't marry.

231
00:10:34,828 --> 00:10:38,219
You have God tell Hosea:

232
00:10:38,219 --> 00:10:40,780
Marry a harlot.

233
00:10:40,780 --> 00:10:45,569
You have, was it Isaiah, that God said -

234
00:10:45,569 --> 00:10:47,109
James: That was Ezekiel.

235
00:10:47,109 --> 00:10:48,778
Tim: Yeah, that was Ezekiel.

236
00:10:48,778 --> 00:10:50,708
James: I have it right here.

237
00:10:50,708 --> 00:10:53,629
Tim: If you've ever thought about how God

238
00:10:53,629 --> 00:10:56,067
dealt with the prophets concerning wives,

239
00:10:56,067 --> 00:11:06,010
it's hard.

240
00:11:06,010 --> 00:11:12,487
(Incomplete thought)

241
00:11:12,487 --> 00:11:14,375
Man is looking for hope.

242
00:11:14,375 --> 00:11:16,784
We're all looking for hope.

243
00:11:16,784 --> 00:11:21,375
And we've got this sure anchor.

244
00:11:21,375 --> 00:11:25,414
I mean, there really is hope to be found

245
00:11:25,414 --> 00:11:28,825
in this book if it's the kind 
of hope we're looking for.

246
00:11:28,825 --> 00:11:31,454
I remember meeting with a woman.

247
00:11:31,454 --> 00:11:33,145
She wanted to meet.

248
00:11:33,145 --> 00:11:34,986
She was basically living with a guy.

249
00:11:34,986 --> 00:11:36,796
I don't know if they were common law,

250
00:11:36,796 --> 00:11:41,225
but the guy ended up cheating on her -

251
00:11:41,225 --> 00:11:42,655
not that they were married,

252
00:11:42,655 --> 00:11:45,866
but he moved out, he left her.

253
00:11:45,866 --> 00:11:48,313
It was a sister to somebody in the church

254
00:11:48,313 --> 00:11:51,924
and I met with her.

255
00:11:51,924 --> 00:11:54,316
And after talking to her for a little bit,

256
00:11:54,316 --> 00:11:57,284
I said, you know, I think 
all you really want

257
00:11:57,284 --> 00:11:58,914
is the pain to go away.

258
00:11:58,914 --> 00:12:00,944
And she said yes! She didn't even deny it.

259
00:12:00,944 --> 00:12:03,054
She said, yes, that's exactly what I want.

260
00:12:03,054 --> 00:12:05,204
I just want the pain to stop.

261
00:12:05,204 --> 00:12:08,914
She really wasn't interested in a Savior.

262
00:12:08,914 --> 00:12:10,684
She really wasn't interested

263
00:12:10,684 --> 00:12:13,646
in being healed spiritually.

264
00:12:13,646 --> 00:12:17,625
She just wanted the pain to stop.

265
00:12:17,625 --> 00:12:22,374
I saw when my mom divorced my step-dad,

266
00:12:22,374 --> 00:12:24,495
he got religious.

267
00:12:24,495 --> 00:12:26,153
People go to church.

268
00:12:26,153 --> 00:12:30,835
People seek out religious preaching

269
00:12:30,835 --> 00:12:33,865
because they're looking for something

270
00:12:33,865 --> 00:12:37,935
to stop the hurt.

271
00:12:37,935 --> 00:12:39,884
The thing is in the midst of all of it

272
00:12:39,884 --> 00:12:41,265
what we really need

273
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is not for the hurt to stop.

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What we really need is

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somebody to cleanse our soul.

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Now He comforts - we 
have a comforting God.

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But the thing is if we're 
looking for His comforts

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aside from looking for His healing,

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then we're looking for the wrong thing.

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We'll never find the 
one without the other.

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Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people.

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That's what Scripture says,

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but you've got to be one of His people.

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And to be His people,

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you've got to be one of the sick

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who needs Christ to help.

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Sick.

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You see, that's the issue.

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Knowing that I myself am sick -

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not just that I know that 
I have lost my spouse

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and there's this emptiness.

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I know I hurt.

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Lots of people seek God 
when they're hurting,

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but not because they actually 
are looking for healing.

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Anything more to say on that one?

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James: I think like 
you said - the idolatry -

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because he said:

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the rock to which I 
dedicated my entire life.

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I could never say that about my spouse.

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If one in the church told me

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their life is dedicated to their wife?

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We'd be like, brother, that's not right.

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Tim: Yeah, there was that sense in there.

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And if he really goes to Scripture,

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his idolatry will be confronted.

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Because you know, if he reads Scripture

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from end to end,

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he'll read an account like Ezekiel.

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And that's a hard thing.

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I just read Ezekiel not long ago,

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maybe a month ago.

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And it just struck me.

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In fact, when I read that specifically,

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it made me think about how God dealt

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with all the prophets concerning wives

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00:14:44,704 --> 00:14:48,024
and how at least three examples

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00:14:48,024 --> 00:14:54,183
of something unusual there.

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I think of the single people

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00:14:55,714 --> 00:14:58,655
who really desire to be married.

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And can you imagine if you're the prophet?

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00:15:01,865 --> 00:15:06,945
And then, you have Isaiah -

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was it Isaiah?

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00:15:10,064 --> 00:15:13,224
Or am I mixing that up with Ezekiel again?

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00:15:13,224 --> 00:15:14,434
And you think,

325
00:15:14,434 --> 00:15:18,704
if you really just stop and think,

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00:15:18,704 --> 00:15:23,305
God wants me to actually do this

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00:15:23,305 --> 00:15:27,004
for like two years of my life.

328
00:15:27,004 --> 00:15:30,195
He wants me to whatever

329
00:15:30,195 --> 00:15:35,393
or He wants me to go marry a harlot.

330
00:15:35,393 --> 00:15:41,293
Or it's just like the 
delight of your eyes -

331
00:15:41,293 --> 00:15:43,104
she's gone, just like that.

332
00:15:43,104 --> 00:15:45,945
And didn't God say not to mourn for her?

333
00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:47,644
James: He said, "Yet you shall not

334
00:15:47,644 --> 00:15:51,915
mourn or weep, nor shall tears run down.

335
00:15:51,915 --> 00:15:53,565
Sigh, but not aloud.

336
00:15:53,565 --> 00:15:55,245
Make no mourning for the dead.

337
00:15:55,245 --> 00:15:56,474
Bind on your turbin.

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00:15:56,474 --> 00:15:58,275
Put on your shoes on your feet.

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00:15:58,275 --> 00:15:59,593
Do not cover your lips

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00:15:59,593 --> 00:16:01,233
nor eat the bread of men."

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00:16:01,233 --> 00:16:03,834
And he says, "So I spoke to 
the people in the morning,

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00:16:03,834 --> 00:16:05,694
and at the evening, my wife died.

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00:16:05,694 --> 00:16:07,022
And on the next morning,

344
00:16:07,022 --> 00:16:10,265
I did as I was commanded."

345
00:16:10,265 --> 00:16:13,325
Tim: Yeah, I read that and I just stopped

346
00:16:13,325 --> 00:16:21,114
and thought... (incomplete thought).

347
00:16:21,114 --> 00:16:24,025
But those are the things we're 
confronted with in Scripture.

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00:16:24,025 --> 00:16:26,804
And those are the things that 
we're all confronted with.

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00:16:26,804 --> 00:16:28,443
Look, the reality is we have

350
00:16:28,443 --> 00:16:32,455
an immensely kind Father

351
00:16:32,455 --> 00:16:35,626
and a giving Father,

352
00:16:35,626 --> 00:16:44,782
but He also takes.

353
00:16:44,782 --> 00:16:47,583
I mean, that's what Job learned.

354
00:16:47,583 --> 00:16:52,434
And every one of us He teaches

355
00:16:52,434 --> 00:16:56,942
to say, "The Lord has given,

356
00:16:56,942 --> 00:17:02,524
and the Lord has taken."

357
00:17:02,524 --> 00:17:04,164
And coming to the place:

358
00:17:04,164 --> 00:17:07,924
"Blessed be the name of the Lord."

359
00:17:07,924 --> 00:17:13,105
He lost all of his children.

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00:17:13,105 --> 00:17:17,856
And his wealth.