¤
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>> Good morning
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and happy Sabbath.
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Welcome to Pioneer.
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So glad you're here today.
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And welcome to those who are
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joining online or on the radio.
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We're so glad to have you.
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Isn't it beautiful outside?
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As you were driving in today,
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that fresh snow, there's not
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much wind, everything's
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blanketed and white.
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Just absolutely beautiful.
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I invite you now to open
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your bulletins
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or to read on the screen
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our call to worship together.
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Please stand for our opening
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prayer and remain standing for
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our hymn.
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Dear Father in heaven,
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we come here together
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thanking You for our gifts.
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Too often do we forget to say
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thank you, and You're blessing
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us day by day.
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But today we pause
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and we say thank you, Father,
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and thank you especially
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for the gift of Your Son,
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Jesus Christ.
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The Bible says,
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"Where sin abounds,
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grace much more abounds."
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We thank you for that grace
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in our lives today.
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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
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[ "He Lives" begins ]
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>> Our scripture reading today
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is found in a book of first
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chapter -- 1 Peter 5:6-11.
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1 Peter 5:6-11.
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"Humble yourself, therefore,
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under God's mighty hand,
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that He might lift you up
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in due time.
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Cast all of your anxiety on Him
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because He cares for you.
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Be alert and of sober mind.
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Your enemy, the devil, prowls
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around like a roaring lion
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looking for someone to devour.
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Resist him.
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Stand firm in the faith because
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you know that the family of
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believers throughout the world
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is undergoing through
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the same kind of sufferings.
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And the God of all grace,
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who called you
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to His eternal glory in Christ,
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after you have suffered a little
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while, will Himself restore you
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and make you strong, firm,
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and steadfast.
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To Him be the power
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for ever and ever.
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Amen."
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>> Amen, PMC.
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That is such a wonderful
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reading.
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Standing before you leading in
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worship is Watchmen Acappella.
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We'll be singing songs
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of praises together,
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songs that you know.
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When we start singing
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"Because He Lives," sing,
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join us on the chorus,
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and we will lead you
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in worship on the stanzas.
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[ "My Jesus, My Saviour (Shout
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to the Lord)" begins ]
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You know this song.
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It says -- Sing with us.
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Thank you, Jesus.
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[ "There Is None Like You"
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begins ]
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Please stand with me.
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Eugene, lead us.
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Yes, sir.
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Yes, sir.
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Narda?
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Yes, sir.
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>> Which is who? Jesus.
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>> Why?
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Because He lives!
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Amen. You may be seated.
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>> Welcome to part two of our
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continuing series entitled "God
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Has Great Plans for Your Past."
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If you missed part one,
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I want to encourage you to go to
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pmchurch.org.
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There you will find archived not
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just last week's presentation,
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but many, many others as well.
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We encourage you to go there
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to catch up
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on what we tackled in part one
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because we're gonna build on
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that today in part two.
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Now, to begin, with part two,
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I want to point out that
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much of the time when your past
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is overshadowing your present,
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the steps that we described
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in part one are sufficient.
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The divine eraser, Christ's
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blood, does its part.
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Our guilt is indeed removed.
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And as we discussed last week,
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numerous other blessings
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will follow.
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And -- And there are some times
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when God places still
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another tool at our fingertips.
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Indeed, it is a command.
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Under certain circumstances, God
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makes a command that we do
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something.
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But as with all of God's
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commands, it is also a very
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useful tool.
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God is generally not interested
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in just making commands.
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He makes commands for our
00:18:08.18\00:18:09.18
benefit, for our blessing
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that we might grow and flourish.
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And this tool -- this tool that
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God places at our fingertips
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is sufficiently powerful
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that if we have wronged people
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in the past
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and that wrong is casting
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a shadow over our present,
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we can take this additional tool
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and apply it in a biblical
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fashion.
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And at the very least --
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at the very least,
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it will lead to a quiet sense
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of peace that will satisfy you
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at a deep soul level.
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And at best, it will positively
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transform relationships
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in your sphere of influence
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for generations to come.
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Let's get to it.
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If you have your Bible, take a
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look at 2 Chronicles 33:1,
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page 318 in most of the red pew
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Bibles that are scattered
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throughout the congregation.
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Page 318, 2 Chronicles, chapter
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33 beginning with verse 1.
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Now, a little background here of
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what we're gonna be reading.
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This is a story about a guy
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by the name of Manasseh.
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He was the 14th ruler of Judah.
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He was a king.
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And he reigned from about 696 BC
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to 641 BC, a total of 55 years,
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the longest of any Jewish king.
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I mean, that was a long time,
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55 years that he reigned.
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You may remember last -- a few
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weeks ago, we talked about the
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prophet Micah, and the prophet
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Micah's ministry overlapped
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with good King Hezekiah's reign.
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Well, Manasseh
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is the son of Hezekiah.
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Let's see if the apple
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fell close to the tree.
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Verse 1, 2 Chronicles 33.
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"Manasseh was 12 years old
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when he became king,
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and he reigned in Jerusalem
00:19:58.56\00:19:59.56
55 years.
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He did --"
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What's the next word?
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"Evil." Uh-oh.
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"He did evil in the eyes of the
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Lord, following the detestable
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practices of the nations
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the Lord had driven out
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before the Israelites."
00:20:11.51\00:20:12.81
Now, here comes this laundry
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list here with verse 3.
00:20:14.24\00:20:15.51
"He rebuilt
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the high places his father,
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Hezekiah, had demolished.
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He also erected altars to the
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Baals and made Asherah poles.
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He bowed down to all the starry
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hosts, hosts and worshiped them.
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He built altars
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in the temple of the Lord,
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of which the Lord had said,
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'My name will remain
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in Jerusalem forever.'
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In both courts of the temple of
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the Lord, he built altars to all
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the starry hosts.
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He sacrificed his sons
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in the fire in the
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Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced
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sorcery, divination, and
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witchcraft, and consulted
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mediums and spiritists.
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He did much evil in the eyes of
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the Lord, provoking Him to
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anger."
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Now, that list is easily bad
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enough.
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This is Evil Hall of Fame type
00:20:58.22\00:20:59.22
of stuff here.
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But the list isn't done yet.
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Verse 7 -- "He took the carved
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image he had made and put it in
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God's temple, of which God had
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said to David and to his son
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Solomon, 'In this temple and in
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Jerusalem, which I have chosen
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out of all the tribes of Israel,
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I will put my Name forever.
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I will not again make the feet
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of the Israelites leave the land
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I assigned to your forefathers,
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if only they will be careful to
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do everything I've commanded
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them in concerning all the laws,
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decrees and ordinances given
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through Moses.'"
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Does that sound familiar at all?
00:21:33.89\00:21:36.52
Micah chapter 6.
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This is another covenant
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lawsuit.
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God here is laying out
00:21:40.73\00:21:41.93
the terms of the covenant.
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He's calling, you know,
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Judah to account.
00:21:44.13\00:21:45.20
He's saying, "This is what I
00:21:45.30\00:21:46.43
asked you to do, but look what
00:21:46.53\00:21:47.87
you've been doing."
00:21:47.97\00:21:51.01
And verse 9 -- "But Manasseh led
00:21:51.11\00:21:53.41
Judah and the people of
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Jerusalem astray, so that they
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did more evil than the nations
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the Lord had destroyed before
00:22:00.32\00:22:01.98
the Israelites."
00:22:02.08\00:22:03.59
Not surprisingly, many
00:22:08.09\00:22:10.63
historians believe that Manasseh
00:22:10.73\00:22:14.60
was the most evil king that
00:22:14.73\00:22:15.40
Judah ever had.
00:22:15.50\00:22:17.53
I mean, you'd hate to see
00:22:17.63\00:22:18.20
who's in first place
00:22:18.30\00:22:19.03
if he's not, right?
00:22:19.13\00:22:20.84
I mean, this is bad stuff.
00:22:20.94\00:22:22.90
He's also responsible for, I
00:22:23.00\00:22:24.81
think, one of the greater crimes
00:22:24.91\00:22:25.84
in the Old Testament, the death
00:22:25.94\00:22:27.98
of the prophet Isaiah.
00:22:28.08\00:22:30.05
You know, Isaiah is a major role
00:22:30.15\00:22:32.48
in the Old Testament, one of the
00:22:32.58\00:22:33.38
greatest of the Old Testament
00:22:33.48\00:22:34.28
prophets, the messianic
00:22:34.38\00:22:36.22
prophecies that came through his
00:22:36.32\00:22:37.12
ministry.
00:22:37.22\00:22:38.15
And the work that Isaiah had to
00:22:38.25\00:22:39.95
do with King Manasseh obviously
00:22:40.06\00:22:42.29
was one of rebuke.
00:22:42.39\00:22:44.03
"Don't do this."
00:22:44.13\00:22:44.93
And it was not just Isaiah.
00:22:45.03\00:22:45.96
There were other prophets, too,
00:22:46.06\00:22:47.00
that God said, "Don't do this,"
00:22:47.10\00:22:48.83
speaking through his prophets.
00:22:48.93\00:22:50.17
And one by one, Manasseh
00:22:50.27\00:22:52.20
doesn't just, like, momentarily
00:22:52.30\00:22:53.97
silence them.
00:22:54.07\00:22:54.84
He kills them.
00:22:54.94\00:22:58.91
Hezekiah...
00:22:59.01\00:23:02.34
Excuse me.
00:23:02.44\00:23:03.45
Manasseh is an evil man
00:23:03.55\00:23:07.32
who does terrible, evil things.
00:23:07.42\00:23:11.05
And the question
00:23:11.15\00:23:11.65
begs to be asked,
00:23:11.75\00:23:12.62
"What does God do about this?"
00:23:12.72\00:23:14.36
I mean, what happens in God's
00:23:14.46\00:23:16.32
scheme of things when there is
00:23:16.42\00:23:18.16
this evil, wicked man doing evil
00:23:18.26\00:23:19.86
and wicked things?
00:23:19.96\00:23:20.63
Well, let's find out.
00:23:20.73\00:23:21.66
Verse 10, 2 Chronicles, chapter
00:23:21.76\00:23:24.17
33 says, says, "The Lord spoke
00:23:24.27\00:23:27.20
to Manasseh and his people, but
00:23:27.30\00:23:29.34
they paid no attention."
00:23:29.44\00:23:31.34
Probably a reference to Isaiah,
00:23:31.44\00:23:32.74
et cetera.
00:23:32.84\00:23:34.04
"So the Lord brought them the
00:23:34.14\00:23:36.58
army commanders of the king of
00:23:36.68\00:23:38.18
Assyria, who took Manasseh
00:23:38.28\00:23:40.28
prisoner, put a hook in his
00:23:40.38\00:23:41.75
nose, bound him with bronze
00:23:41.85\00:23:43.65
shackles and took him to
00:23:43.75\00:23:45.59
Babylon."
00:23:45.69\00:23:46.22
>> Amen!
00:23:46.32\00:23:48.62
[ Laughter ]
00:23:48.72\00:23:52.29
>> Sister, we're just getting
00:23:52.39\00:23:53.23
started, so keep going.
00:23:53.33\00:23:54.66
Keep going. Yes.
00:23:54.76\00:23:57.20
Many people -- indeed, when this
00:23:57.30\00:23:58.63
happened, undoubtedly, they
00:23:58.73\00:24:00.34
said, "Amen!"
00:24:00.44\00:24:02.17
I mean, at the risk of gross
00:24:02.27\00:24:03.87
understatement, what a jerk.
00:24:03.97\00:24:05.47
I mean, what a -- you know,
00:24:05.57\00:24:07.71
the dregs of humanity.
00:24:07.81\00:24:09.01
This is Manasseh, right?
00:24:09.11\00:24:11.51
And we easily and should
00:24:11.61\00:24:14.85
at that moment have cried,
00:24:14.95\00:24:16.02
"Justice."
00:24:16.12\00:24:17.19
At last, God has brought
00:24:17.29\00:24:19.22
justice.
00:24:19.32\00:24:20.02
Evil does have consequences.
00:24:20.12\00:24:21.82
Justice will come.
00:24:21.92\00:24:22.72
God will see to that.
00:24:22.82\00:24:26.59
And with that in mind,
00:24:26.70\00:24:28.33
let's picture Manasseh
00:24:28.43\00:24:30.20
for just a moment here.
00:24:30.30\00:24:32.13
Now, there's no pictures
00:24:32.23\00:24:33.00
in the Bible.
00:24:33.10\00:24:34.24
Sometimes we wish there were
00:24:34.34\00:24:35.57
pictures in the Bible.
00:24:35.67\00:24:36.40
There are other times
00:24:36.50\00:24:37.17
we can be eternally grateful
00:24:37.27\00:24:38.24
that there are no pictures
00:24:38.34\00:24:38.97
in the Bible, right?
00:24:39.07\00:24:40.78
But in this particular case,
00:24:40.88\00:24:41.94
I would have liked
00:24:42.04\00:24:42.68
a little snapshot at least.
00:24:42.78\00:24:43.61
So, I'm just gonna use
00:24:43.71\00:24:44.61
my sanctified imagination.
00:24:44.71\00:24:45.88
Here's what I imagine
00:24:45.98\00:24:47.32
Manasseh being like.
00:24:47.42\00:24:49.32
Manasseh is in really bad shape,
00:24:49.42\00:24:53.46
physically and emotionally.
00:24:53.56\00:24:57.46
He has been taken forcibly in
00:24:57.56\00:24:59.93
chains from his home in
00:25:00.10\00:25:02.53
Jerusalem, all the way to
00:25:02.63\00:25:03.67
Babylon.
00:25:03.77\00:25:04.37
Now, just in case you're
00:25:04.47\00:25:05.27
wondering, how does Babylon
00:25:05.37\00:25:05.83
fit into this?
00:25:05.93\00:25:06.77
Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian
00:25:06.87\00:25:08.44
Empire was going to rise not too
00:25:08.54\00:25:09.84
long in the future from this
00:25:09.94\00:25:10.97
story, but at this point, they
00:25:11.07\00:25:12.07
are still subject to the
00:25:12.17\00:25:12.67
Assyrians.
00:25:12.77\00:25:14.21
And so the Assyrians would use
00:25:14.31\00:25:15.34
the city of Babylon
00:25:15.44\00:25:16.85
as a base of operations,
00:25:16.95\00:25:18.08
including to imprison
00:25:18.18\00:25:19.15
political prisoners.
00:25:19.25\00:25:20.58
And so the Assyrians
00:25:20.68\00:25:21.55
take Manasseh.
00:25:21.65\00:25:23.12
It takes weeks to travel
00:25:23.22\00:25:25.25
across that part of the world,
00:25:25.35\00:25:26.45
from Jerusalem to Babylon.
00:25:26.55\00:25:28.89
And I'm gonna guess they did
00:25:28.99\00:25:29.76
not take him first class.
00:25:29.86\00:25:31.93
I mean, there was no reason to.
00:25:32.03\00:25:33.23
I mean, he was completely
00:25:33.33\00:25:34.73
at their mercy.
00:25:34.83\00:25:36.36
They put a hook through his
00:25:36.46\00:25:37.10
nose.
00:25:37.20\00:25:37.93
Now, some of you are probably
00:25:38.03\00:25:38.97
picturing, like, this surgical
00:25:39.07\00:25:40.37
steel fishhook-type thing.
00:25:40.47\00:25:41.87
No. The Hebrew is interesting.
00:25:41.97\00:25:44.11
It probably was a thorn.
00:25:44.21\00:25:47.41
In other words, they are making
00:25:47.51\00:25:48.98
a statement with Manasseh's
00:25:49.08\00:25:51.28
arrest and incarceration.
00:25:51.38\00:25:52.58
Anybody who saw him
00:25:52.68\00:25:53.68
would see this thorn
00:25:53.78\00:25:55.35
shoved through his nose.
00:25:55.45\00:25:57.95
"This person," they said,
00:25:58.05\00:25:59.69
"has no value."
00:25:59.79\00:26:02.79
And he's there
00:26:02.89\00:26:03.39
in this jail cell,
00:26:03.49\00:26:04.56
wherever it was in Babylon.
00:26:04.66\00:26:05.89
And here's my guess.
00:26:05.99\00:26:07.13
I don't know this for certain,
00:26:07.23\00:26:08.33
but, you know, wild living
00:26:08.43\00:26:09.46
takes its toll.
00:26:09.56\00:26:11.77
Some of you know exactly
00:26:11.87\00:26:12.43
what I mean.
00:26:12.53\00:26:13.67
If you live a sinful,
00:26:13.77\00:26:16.57
wild lifestyle
00:26:16.67\00:26:17.97
and you do it long enough,
00:26:18.07\00:26:19.04
pretty soon the signs
00:26:19.14\00:26:20.14
will begin to show, okay?
00:26:20.24\00:26:21.71
And so I imagine this is the
00:26:21.81\00:26:23.48
case with Manasseh because he's
00:26:23.58\00:26:24.75
been doing this kind of stuff
00:26:24.85\00:26:25.28
for decades.
00:26:25.38\00:26:26.11
I mean, if if he sacrifices
00:26:26.21\00:26:28.45
his sons in the flames,
00:26:28.55\00:26:30.22
do we really think he's not
00:26:30.32\00:26:31.15
doing drugs?
00:26:31.25\00:26:33.25
Is he not drinking?
00:26:33.36\00:26:34.22
Is he not chasing women?
00:26:34.32\00:26:36.32
I mean, I think Manasseh left
00:26:36.42\00:26:38.26
nothing out of his reach.
00:26:38.36\00:26:40.06
I think he did it all
00:26:40.16\00:26:41.83
and he did it for as long
00:26:41.93\00:26:42.96
as he possibly could.
00:26:43.06\00:26:45.10
And anyone who stood in his way
00:26:45.20\00:26:47.57
was liable to be killed.
00:26:47.67\00:26:50.34
And now this guy -- you know,
00:26:50.44\00:26:53.74
needle marks in his arms,
00:26:53.84\00:26:56.64
chains on his wrists,
00:26:56.75\00:26:59.28
locked in a cell a long,
00:26:59.38\00:27:01.95
long ways from anybody that
00:27:02.05\00:27:03.69
he can order to do something.
00:27:03.79\00:27:06.52
If I had to guess from a human
00:27:06.62\00:27:07.99
perspective, my guess would be
00:27:08.09\00:27:11.33
that Manasseh is probably one of
00:27:11.43\00:27:14.66
the most bitter, angry,
00:27:14.76\00:27:17.43
depressed human beings on the
00:27:17.53\00:27:19.53
planet.
00:27:19.63\00:27:21.47
I don't know.
00:27:21.57\00:27:23.00
Maybe he might have even been
00:27:23.10\00:27:24.14
suicidal.
00:27:24.24\00:27:26.11
And yet that is absolutely
00:27:31.21\00:27:36.95
not how the story ends.
00:27:37.05\00:27:42.16
Take a look at this.
00:27:42.26\00:27:43.96
Verse 12, 2 Chronicles 33.
00:27:44.06\00:27:49.03
"In his distress --"
00:27:49.13\00:27:50.83
This is Manasseh.
00:27:50.93\00:27:51.77
"In his distress, he sought the
00:27:51.87\00:27:55.40
favor of the Lord his God and
00:27:55.50\00:27:57.37
humbled himself greatly before
00:27:57.47\00:28:00.18
the God of his fathers.
00:28:00.28\00:28:02.38
And when he prayed to Him, the
00:28:02.48\00:28:04.41
Lord was moved by his entreaty
00:28:04.51\00:28:06.75
and listened to his plea.
00:28:06.85\00:28:08.52
So he brought him back to
00:28:08.62\00:28:10.55
Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
00:28:10.65\00:28:13.15
Then Manasseh knew that the Lord
00:28:13.25\00:28:15.42
is God."
00:28:15.52\00:28:16.76
>> Amen!
00:28:16.86\00:28:18.73
>> Let me tell you why the other
00:28:24.40\00:28:25.60
half of you didn't say amen.
00:28:25.70\00:28:26.57
[ Laughter ]
00:28:26.67\00:28:27.54
Okay?
00:28:27.64\00:28:29.37
Because Manasseh's the worst
00:28:29.47\00:28:30.47
of the worst.
00:28:30.57\00:28:31.84
I mean, he is the Hitler
00:28:31.94\00:28:33.38
of his era, is he not?
00:28:33.48\00:28:35.88
I mean, you know, destroying his
00:28:35.98\00:28:36.95
own people.
00:28:37.05\00:28:37.61
We didn't read it here,
00:28:37.71\00:28:38.45
but if you read in 2 Kings,
00:28:38.55\00:28:39.65
kind of a parallel account
00:28:39.75\00:28:40.82
here of Manasseh's life,
00:28:40.92\00:28:42.02
it says he filled Jerusalem
00:28:42.12\00:28:43.45
from one end to the other.
00:28:43.55\00:28:44.72
The streets were running
00:28:44.82\00:28:45.79
with the blood of the people
00:28:45.89\00:28:46.96
that he mowed down.
00:28:47.06\00:28:49.09
He sacrifices his son
00:28:49.19\00:28:50.33
in the flames.
00:28:50.43\00:28:51.13
He used people to no end.
00:28:51.23\00:28:52.46
And ultimately
00:28:52.56\00:28:53.73
he destroys the sovereignty
00:28:53.83\00:28:55.26
of an entire nation of people.
00:28:55.36\00:28:57.23
And God has the audacity
00:28:57.33\00:28:59.03
to forgive him?
00:28:59.13\00:29:03.57
That is scandalous.
00:29:03.67\00:29:05.54
And it was every bit as
00:29:10.25\00:29:11.51
scandalous when He forgave you.
00:29:11.61\00:29:15.98
It was every bit as scandalous
00:29:16.08\00:29:17.35
when He forgave me.
00:29:17.45\00:29:20.79
Because, you see,
00:29:20.89\00:29:22.86
while Manasseh sacrificed
00:29:22.96\00:29:24.23
his sons in the flames,
00:29:24.33\00:29:26.80
you and I caused the sacrifice
00:29:26.90\00:29:28.16
of the Son of God.
00:29:28.26\00:29:31.37
There is no one that merits
00:29:31.47\00:29:33.34
the grace of God.
00:29:33.44\00:29:35.40
That's why they call it grace.
00:29:35.50\00:29:38.61
Because we don't deserve it.
00:29:38.71\00:29:41.24
And as challenging to the mind
00:29:41.34\00:29:43.01
as it can sometimes be when we
00:29:43.11\00:29:44.48
see stories of this incredible
00:29:44.58\00:29:46.58
forgiveness that God lavishes on
00:29:46.68\00:29:48.58
on a dreg like Manasseh,
00:29:48.68\00:29:52.05
it must serve to remind us
00:29:52.15\00:29:54.06
just how good God is to forgive
00:29:54.16\00:29:58.13
even people like us.
00:29:58.23\00:30:01.53
Praise the Lord for his
00:30:01.63\00:30:02.06
goodness.
00:30:02.16\00:30:02.33
Amen?
00:30:02.43\00:30:03.10
>> Amen!
00:30:03.20\00:30:03.80
>> Amen.
00:30:03.90\00:30:05.93
Now, this would be a great place
00:30:06.03\00:30:08.17
to end the story, right?
00:30:08.27\00:30:09.80
I mean, if Hollywood were
00:30:09.90\00:30:10.81
writing the script for this,
00:30:10.91\00:30:11.71
this would be the end.
00:30:11.81\00:30:12.94
Manasseh, you know,
00:30:13.04\00:30:14.38
would have a horse.
00:30:14.48\00:30:15.94
He would get on it.
00:30:16.04\00:30:16.68
He would ride off into the
00:30:16.78\00:30:17.61
sunset, and the credits would
00:30:17.71\00:30:18.81
roll and this would be the end.
00:30:18.91\00:30:20.02
Right? Okay.
00:30:20.12\00:30:21.62
You know, bad guy makes good,
00:30:21.72\00:30:23.18
and, you know, we're done.
00:30:23.28\00:30:25.42
It is not even remotely close
00:30:25.52\00:30:27.76
to the end of the story because
00:30:27.86\00:30:29.66
what God is going to do here --
00:30:29.76\00:30:31.99
God is about to perform
00:30:32.09\00:30:33.33
a restoration work in
00:30:33.43\00:30:35.03
and through the very one
00:30:35.13\00:30:37.13
who had been the worst king
00:30:37.23\00:30:39.43
that Judah ever knew.
00:30:39.53\00:30:40.84
Let's pick the story up here.
00:30:40.94\00:30:41.74
Verse 14, 2 Chronicles 33.
00:30:41.84\00:30:45.71
It says, "Afterward --"
00:30:45.81\00:30:47.28
Okay, so, Manasseh -- he's back
00:30:47.38\00:30:48.84
on the throne now, he's in
00:30:48.94\00:30:49.84
Judah, he's king again.
00:30:49.94\00:30:51.38
"Afterward, he rebuilt the outer
00:30:51.48\00:30:54.65
wall of the City of David, west
00:30:54.75\00:30:56.45
of the Gihon spring in the
00:30:56.55\00:30:58.09
valley, as far as the entrance
00:30:58.19\00:30:59.49
of the Fish Gate and encircling
00:30:59.59\00:31:00.72
the hill of Ophel.
00:31:00.82\00:31:02.19
He also made it much higher.
00:31:02.29\00:31:04.66
He stationed military commanders
00:31:04.76\00:31:06.59
in all the fortified cities in
00:31:06.70\00:31:07.83
Judah."
00:31:07.93\00:31:09.00
Verse 15 -- "He got rid of the
00:31:09.10\00:31:11.13
foreign gods and removed the
00:31:11.23\00:31:12.70
image from the temple of the
00:31:12.80\00:31:13.90
Lord, as well as all the altars
00:31:14.00\00:31:15.77
he had built on the temple hill
00:31:15.87\00:31:17.17
and in Jerusalem, and he threw
00:31:17.27\00:31:19.27
them out of the city.
00:31:19.37\00:31:20.64
Then he restored the altar of
00:31:20.74\00:31:23.04
the Lord and sacrificed
00:31:23.14\00:31:24.91
fellowship offerings and thank
00:31:25.01\00:31:26.31
offerings on it and told Judah
00:31:26.41\00:31:29.08
to serve the Lord, the God of
00:31:29.18\00:31:32.02
Israel."
00:31:32.12\00:31:34.52
Wow.
00:31:34.62\00:31:38.09
You know, in part one,
00:31:38.19\00:31:39.09
we learned four things about
00:31:39.19\00:31:40.40
God's plan for our past.
00:31:40.50\00:31:42.26
Here is point number five.
00:31:42.36\00:31:45.43
God often restores us
00:31:45.53\00:31:47.57
from our past by having us
00:31:47.67\00:31:50.04
restore others in the present.
00:31:50.14\00:31:53.44
God often restores us
00:31:53.54\00:31:54.84
from our past by having us
00:31:54.94\00:31:56.54
restore others in the present.
00:31:56.64\00:31:59.38
This is not to earn forgiveness.
00:31:59.48\00:32:01.25
No. It is a fruit of it.
00:32:01.35\00:32:03.92
It's not salvation by works.
00:32:04.02\00:32:05.09
This is a fruit of that
00:32:05.19\00:32:06.25
salvation, this tool
00:32:06.35\00:32:07.79
that God offers to us.
00:32:07.89\00:32:09.69
And under certain circumstances,
00:32:09.79\00:32:10.86
He commands that it be done.
00:32:10.96\00:32:13.16
Do you see what Manasseh
00:32:13.26\00:32:14.56
is doing here?
00:32:14.63\00:32:15.70
He is performing a restoration.
00:32:15.80\00:32:18.73
He is making what is often
00:32:18.83\00:32:20.04
called restitution, or sometimes
00:32:20.14\00:32:21.54
it's called making amends.
00:32:21.64\00:32:23.27
He is restoring
00:32:23.37\00:32:24.64
that which he broke,
00:32:24.74\00:32:25.87
that which he stole, et cetera.
00:32:25.97\00:32:27.31
et cetera, and what a powerful
00:32:27.41\00:32:28.48
thing it was.
00:32:28.58\00:32:29.91
I mean, do you understand
00:32:30.01\00:32:31.88
the magnitude of what Manasseh
00:32:31.98\00:32:33.38
is doing here?
00:32:33.48\00:32:35.45
He takes you -- Verse 14.
00:32:35.55\00:32:37.22
He does this fortification
00:32:37.32\00:32:39.39
project here.
00:32:39.49\00:32:40.52
It said, "Afterward, he rebuilt
00:32:40.62\00:32:41.76
the outer wall of the
00:32:41.86\00:32:43.02
City of David, west of the Gihon
00:32:43.12\00:32:44.46
spring in the valley, as far as
00:32:44.56\00:32:45.69
the entrance of the Fish Gate
00:32:45.79\00:32:46.76
and encircling the hill of
00:32:46.86\00:32:47.66
Ophel.
00:32:47.76\00:32:48.43
He also made it much higher."
00:32:48.53\00:32:50.70
This is huge.
00:32:50.80\00:32:52.70
You know, I've been to the
00:32:52.80\00:32:54.14
Old City of Jerusalem before,
00:32:54.24\00:32:55.80
and it's in, not surprisingly,
00:32:55.90\00:32:57.37
the new city of Jerusalem.
00:32:57.47\00:32:59.37
Jerusalem itself proper today is
00:32:59.47\00:33:01.81
quite large, but the Old City
00:33:01.91\00:33:03.38
is, by human standards, by city
00:33:03.48\00:33:05.11
standards, today it's pretty
00:33:05.21\00:33:05.68
small.
00:33:05.78\00:33:07.48
But if you don't have cranes
00:33:07.58\00:33:09.85
and bulldozers and quarries
00:33:09.95\00:33:11.69
that can mechanically cut stone
00:33:11.79\00:33:13.02
and whatnot, you begin to
00:33:13.12\00:33:14.72
understand this was a massive
00:33:14.82\00:33:17.36
undertaking.
00:33:17.46\00:33:19.46
I mean, Manasseh is not just,
00:33:19.56\00:33:21.83
like, like putting a few rocks
00:33:21.93\00:33:23.33
together and calling it good.
00:33:23.43\00:33:24.67
This is a dramatic
00:33:24.77\00:33:26.20
intensification
00:33:26.30\00:33:27.74
of the fortifications
00:33:27.84\00:33:28.94
of the city of Jerusalem
00:33:29.04\00:33:30.11
and then, by extension,
00:33:30.21\00:33:31.21
also for the rest of Judah
00:33:31.31\00:33:32.11
when he installs
00:33:32.21\00:33:32.94
these military commanders.
00:33:33.04\00:33:34.38
Now, what is Manasseh
00:33:34.48\00:33:35.38
doing here?
00:33:35.48\00:33:37.05
You know, scholars speculate
00:33:37.15\00:33:38.15
that there's one of two things
00:33:38.25\00:33:38.98
happening.
00:33:39.08\00:33:41.18
What is clear is that Manasseh's
00:33:41.28\00:33:42.68
sin had resulted in Judah
00:33:42.78\00:33:44.32
becoming a vassal state
00:33:44.42\00:33:45.89
to the Assyrians.
00:33:45.99\00:33:47.46
This was the condition
00:33:47.56\00:33:48.39
under which Manasseh
00:33:48.49\00:33:50.23
was restored to his throne.
00:33:50.33\00:33:52.96
Being a vassal state meant
00:33:53.06\00:33:54.10
that if there were state
00:33:54.20\00:33:55.00
interests for Assyria,
00:33:55.10\00:33:56.77
they could call on their vassals
00:33:56.87\00:33:58.20
and say, "Well, you need to
00:33:58.30\00:33:58.70
support us."
00:33:58.80\00:33:59.60
Generally speaking,
00:33:59.70\00:34:00.94
that was military stuff.
00:34:01.04\00:34:02.87
They had to fight
00:34:02.97\00:34:03.41
in the Assyrian wars.
00:34:03.51\00:34:04.81
Well, Manasseh knows this.
00:34:04.91\00:34:06.54
And perhaps the first reason
00:34:06.64\00:34:07.78
why Manasseh's engaging in
00:34:07.88\00:34:09.31
all of this, this fortification,
00:34:09.41\00:34:10.68
he knows that Assyria
00:34:10.78\00:34:11.95
is planning on tangling
00:34:12.05\00:34:13.28
with Egypt from the south.
00:34:13.38\00:34:14.82
Well, guess what?
00:34:14.92\00:34:16.02
Judah is on the way, okay, from
00:34:16.12\00:34:18.42
Egypt on their way to the
00:34:18.52\00:34:18.95
Assyrians.
00:34:19.05\00:34:20.12
As a vassal state,
00:34:20.22\00:34:21.32
Judah would be expected
00:34:21.42\00:34:22.46
to defend the Assyrians.
00:34:22.56\00:34:24.26
Manasseh may have figured
00:34:24.36\00:34:25.89
that he can't change that fact,
00:34:25.99\00:34:27.96
but he can fortify Jerusalem
00:34:28.03\00:34:30.27
and Judah to do everything
00:34:30.37\00:34:32.20
in his power to minimize Jewish
00:34:32.30\00:34:34.07
casualties on the day of battle.
00:34:34.17\00:34:37.07
Or secondly, it's also possible
00:34:37.17\00:34:39.01
that Manasseh was convicted
00:34:39.11\00:34:40.31
that the only righteous course
00:34:40.41\00:34:41.84
of action was to rebel,
00:34:41.94\00:34:46.88
to fight the Assyrians, to throw
00:34:46.98\00:34:49.18
off their yoke of bondage.
00:34:49.28\00:34:51.49
And if that was going to
00:34:51.59\00:34:52.69
happen, again, to make every
00:34:52.79\00:34:54.26
chance of victory possible,
00:34:54.36\00:34:55.89
Manasseh fortifies
00:34:55.99\00:34:57.23
Jerusalem and Judah.
00:34:57.33\00:34:58.83
It was a massive project.
00:34:58.93\00:35:01.23
If you go there and you see the
00:35:01.33\00:35:02.56
walls, even today, it was
00:35:02.66\00:35:04.03
a massive project.
00:35:04.13\00:35:05.83
But Manasseh believed it was
00:35:05.93\00:35:07.20
worth it if he could save
00:35:07.30\00:35:09.07
the lives of the people he had
00:35:09.17\00:35:10.61
in the past so badly corrupted.
00:35:10.71\00:35:12.07
And after making these physical
00:35:16.01\00:35:17.18
amends -- building up the city,
00:35:17.28\00:35:18.71
et cetera -- he makes spiritual
00:35:18.81\00:35:20.35
amends.
00:35:20.45\00:35:21.25
He removes the idols
00:35:21.35\00:35:22.65
to foreign gods.
00:35:22.75\00:35:23.59
He removes the idolatrous altar
00:35:23.69\00:35:24.89
from the Jerusalem Temple.
00:35:24.99\00:35:26.32
He removes all of the altars
00:35:26.42\00:35:28.12
from the Temple Mount
00:35:28.22\00:35:29.02
and throughout Jerusalem.
00:35:29.12\00:35:30.39
He restores the altar of God.
00:35:30.49\00:35:32.23
He offers sacrifices on it,
00:35:32.33\00:35:33.76
restoring it to its rightful
00:35:33.86\00:35:35.03
use, and he makes a proclamation
00:35:35.13\00:35:36.93
to the entire nation -- "Serve
00:35:37.03\00:35:38.83
Jehovah, the one true God."
00:35:38.93\00:35:40.34
You know, we don't know how
00:35:43.67\00:35:44.74
immediately effective
00:35:44.84\00:35:46.11
his attempts at reform were.
00:35:46.21\00:35:48.78
Surely there were some in Judah
00:35:48.88\00:35:51.18
that ceased their evil,
00:35:51.28\00:35:52.01
idolatrous ways.
00:35:52.11\00:35:55.12
But there is one thing
00:35:55.22\00:35:55.95
that we can know for certain,
00:35:56.05\00:35:57.89
and that is what happened
00:35:57.99\00:35:59.15
two years after Manasseh's
00:35:59.25\00:36:00.56
death.
00:36:00.66\00:36:02.92
You see, at Manasseh's death,
00:36:03.02\00:36:04.66
his son Ammon became king.
00:36:04.76\00:36:06.23
Ammon was wicked.
00:36:06.33\00:36:08.16
But he was assassinated
00:36:08.26\00:36:09.33
after only two years in power.
00:36:09.43\00:36:10.83
Now, two years -- that's a drop
00:36:10.93\00:36:11.97
in the bucket compared to
00:36:12.07\00:36:12.73
the 55 years that Dad had.
00:36:12.83\00:36:14.30
And in Ammon's place,
00:36:14.40\00:36:15.80
Ammon's son,
00:36:15.90\00:36:17.04
a boy by the name of Josiah,
00:36:17.14\00:36:18.57
was made king instead.
00:36:18.67\00:36:20.94
And Josiah became
00:36:21.04\00:36:22.74
such an important and successful
00:36:22.84\00:36:24.61
reformer in Judah's history that
00:36:24.71\00:36:26.51
the book of 2 Chronicles
00:36:26.61\00:36:27.78
dedicates two full and lengthy
00:36:27.88\00:36:29.55
chapters just to his reign.
00:36:29.65\00:36:32.89
Could it be -- Could it be
00:36:32.99\00:36:36.96
that the spirit of reform
00:36:37.06\00:36:38.49
started by Manasseh and
00:36:38.59\00:36:40.73
confirmed by Manasseh's attempts
00:36:40.83\00:36:42.13
to restore the pledge he had
00:36:42.23\00:36:43.40
broken planted the seeds for
00:36:43.50\00:36:45.10
Josiah and his advisors to
00:36:45.20\00:36:47.14
eventually fully lead Judah back
00:36:47.24\00:36:49.37
to God?
00:36:49.47\00:36:53.14
God does indeed often restore us
00:36:53.24\00:36:55.91
from our past by having us
00:36:56.01\00:36:58.11
restore others in the present,
00:36:58.21\00:37:00.52
and such restorations can bear
00:37:00.62\00:37:02.65
fruit for generations to come.
00:37:02.75\00:37:05.59
Now, if you're listening right
00:37:09.52\00:37:12.39
now and perhaps you have a sense
00:37:12.49\00:37:15.73
that there is something that
00:37:15.83\00:37:16.70
you need to make amends for,
00:37:16.80\00:37:19.20
something in the past that
00:37:19.30\00:37:20.04
you've done, you've harmed
00:37:20.14\00:37:21.00
others, you need to make amends
00:37:21.10\00:37:22.40
for it -- if that's the case,
00:37:22.50\00:37:24.31
let me offer you two pieces
00:37:24.41\00:37:25.61
of counsel.
00:37:25.71\00:37:27.84
First, as we talked about
00:37:27.94\00:37:29.61
with confession in part one,
00:37:29.71\00:37:31.45
seek the counsel of wise,
00:37:31.55\00:37:33.82
experienced Christians
00:37:33.92\00:37:35.32
before you make amends.
00:37:35.42\00:37:37.19
Seek their counsel before you
00:37:37.29\00:37:38.92
do it.
00:37:39.02\00:37:40.06
Now, again, the reason for this
00:37:40.16\00:37:41.29
is probably obvious.
00:37:41.39\00:37:42.66
If you've genuinely harmed
00:37:42.76\00:37:44.06
somebody, particularly if it's
00:37:44.16\00:37:45.26
quite a ways in the past,
00:37:45.36\00:37:47.03
your emotions are probably
00:37:47.13\00:37:48.73
quite wrapped up in that.
00:37:48.83\00:37:50.27
If you've spent time
00:37:50.37\00:37:51.10
trying to hide this, et cetera,
00:37:51.20\00:37:52.10
and now you've got a lot of
00:37:52.20\00:37:52.80
emotional energy, you are
00:37:52.90\00:37:54.00
probably not seeing the
00:37:54.10\00:37:55.27
situation in an objective
00:37:55.37\00:37:56.34
fashion.
00:37:56.44\00:37:58.01
You need someone who can.
00:37:58.11\00:38:00.28
So find an experienced
00:38:00.38\00:38:01.98
Christian, someone with long
00:38:02.08\00:38:02.94
experience in Christ.
00:38:03.04\00:38:04.75
Find a Christian counselor,
00:38:04.85\00:38:05.61
a pastor, a teacher
00:38:05.71\00:38:06.65
that you trust and tell them
00:38:06.75\00:38:08.48
what you're thinking about
00:38:08.58\00:38:09.58
and let them give their input.
00:38:09.68\00:38:11.95
You know, I have seen --
00:38:12.05\00:38:13.39
When people take this step,
00:38:13.49\00:38:14.76
it can be very fruitful.
00:38:14.86\00:38:15.76
I've seen some people
00:38:15.86\00:38:17.23
that were overly sensitive,
00:38:17.33\00:38:19.66
and they thought that because of
00:38:19.76\00:38:21.03
what they had done in the past,
00:38:21.13\00:38:22.03
they were gonna have to,
00:38:22.13\00:38:23.16
you know, sacrifice themselves
00:38:23.26\00:38:24.67
on an altar and pay $1 billion
00:38:24.77\00:38:25.97
and all of this type of --
00:38:26.07\00:38:27.67
And it wasn't true.
00:38:27.77\00:38:29.04
They overestimated the impact
00:38:29.14\00:38:30.91
of what they had done.
00:38:31.01\00:38:32.84
There are some people
00:38:32.94\00:38:33.64
that have the opposite problem.
00:38:33.74\00:38:34.88
They're numbed out.
00:38:34.98\00:38:35.84
Maybe they lived a life that was
00:38:35.94\00:38:37.18
so thoroughly steeped in
00:38:37.28\00:38:38.55
immorality, it's difficult for
00:38:38.65\00:38:40.28
them to grasp the magnitude of
00:38:40.38\00:38:41.52
what they did.
00:38:41.62\00:38:42.78
Ask somebody.
00:38:42.88\00:38:44.62
You know, one of the great
00:38:44.72\00:38:45.59
benefits of our congregation
00:38:45.69\00:38:47.02
here is that we have many
00:38:47.12\00:38:48.46
seasoned saints that have been
00:38:48.56\00:38:50.23
around the track a number of
00:38:50.33\00:38:50.86
times.
00:38:50.96\00:38:52.33
If you're younger
00:38:52.43\00:38:52.99
and you're looking
00:38:53.09\00:38:53.73
for somebody to share with,
00:38:53.83\00:38:54.46
maybe get to know
00:38:54.56\00:38:55.20
some of our people here.
00:38:55.30\00:38:56.26
They just might be able to give
00:38:56.36\00:38:57.30
you the information
00:38:57.40\00:38:58.50
that you need.
00:38:58.60\00:39:00.34
Consult with somebody.
00:39:00.44\00:39:01.84
Seek the counsel of wise
00:39:01.94\00:39:03.67
and experienced Christians
00:39:03.77\00:39:04.67
before you make amends.
00:39:04.77\00:39:06.94
And secondly,
00:39:07.04\00:39:08.98
to the best of your ability,
00:39:09.08\00:39:11.21
let the amends fit the sin.
00:39:11.31\00:39:15.88
Let the amends fit the sin.
00:39:15.98\00:39:18.59
In other words, if possible,
00:39:18.69\00:39:20.66
restore what you took, okay?
00:39:20.76\00:39:24.63
Now, I wish we had time to
00:39:24.73\00:39:26.49
study more here.
00:39:26.59\00:39:27.30
You know, they say that
00:39:27.40\00:39:28.00
preaching is the art of what not
00:39:28.10\00:39:29.13
to say, and so if we had more
00:39:29.23\00:39:30.70
time, we would look at
00:39:30.80\00:39:32.23
Leviticus 6:1-7.
00:39:32.33\00:39:34.07
Leviticus 6:1-7.
00:39:34.17\00:39:35.74
We don't have time this morning,
00:39:35.84\00:39:36.71
unfortunately, but there it
00:39:36.81\00:39:38.34
gives some very good counsel for
00:39:38.44\00:39:40.04
proportionality in making amends
00:39:40.14\00:39:41.71
and this type of a thing.
00:39:41.81\00:39:42.81
I encourage you to read it.
00:39:42.91\00:39:45.01
But restoring what you took
00:39:45.11\00:39:48.08
to the best of your ability.
00:39:48.18\00:39:50.59
Every word in this particular
00:39:50.69\00:39:52.42
counsel here is important.
00:39:52.52\00:39:54.02
This is very much what I think
00:39:54.12\00:39:55.49
Manasseh did, okay?
00:39:55.59\00:39:57.33
He robbed the temple in
00:39:57.43\00:39:59.09
Jerusalem of its sanctity,
00:39:59.19\00:40:00.13
right?
00:40:00.23\00:40:01.36
So he did all that he could
00:40:01.46\00:40:02.80
to bring it back.
00:40:02.90\00:40:04.97
He took the practice of the
00:40:05.07\00:40:06.60
worship of the one true God away
00:40:06.70\00:40:08.37
from his people in Jerusalem.
00:40:08.47\00:40:09.80
So, to make amends, he took
00:40:09.90\00:40:11.17
all of the pagan altars
00:40:11.27\00:40:12.87
out of Jerusalem in an attempt
00:40:12.97\00:40:14.61
to restore true worship.
00:40:14.71\00:40:17.88
Let us do the same.
00:40:17.98\00:40:22.38
If amends are called for,
00:40:22.48\00:40:24.45
go to it.
00:40:24.55\00:40:25.82
Get the counsel that you need
00:40:25.92\00:40:26.72
and go to it.
00:40:26.82\00:40:27.79
If you stole money,
00:40:27.89\00:40:29.02
give it back with interest.
00:40:29.12\00:40:31.09
If you cut someone off
00:40:31.19\00:40:32.43
in traffic, if possible,
00:40:32.53\00:40:33.56
pull over one lane,
00:40:33.66\00:40:34.93
let them go past, and smile
00:40:35.00\00:40:36.56
genuinely as they do, okay?
00:40:36.67\00:40:40.14
If you have slandered someone,
00:40:40.24\00:40:42.30
go to the third party
00:40:42.40\00:40:43.61
that you told the lies
00:40:43.71\00:40:44.77
to and correct them
00:40:44.87\00:40:46.34
and, if necessary,
00:40:46.44\00:40:47.71
the people that they told.
00:40:47.81\00:40:50.75
Et cetera, et cetera.
00:40:50.85\00:40:52.55
Which brings us
00:40:52.65\00:40:53.38
to an important point.
00:40:53.48\00:40:57.19
Anyone who takes seriously the
00:40:57.29\00:40:59.32
Bible's call to make amends will
00:40:59.42\00:41:00.99
quickly realize that sometimes
00:41:01.09\00:41:02.59
there is not a one-to-one
00:41:02.69\00:41:04.03
relationship between our sin
00:41:04.13\00:41:06.80
and an attempt at restoration.
00:41:06.90\00:41:09.73
I'll use an extreme example --
00:41:09.83\00:41:10.70
murder.
00:41:10.80\00:41:12.97
If you if you kill somebody and
00:41:13.07\00:41:15.47
you have a conversion
00:41:15.57\00:41:16.54
experience, you have a Manasseh
00:41:16.64\00:41:17.84
experience, and the Lord
00:41:17.94\00:41:19.57
forgives you and whatnot, you
00:41:19.67\00:41:20.98
cannot bring that person back
00:41:21.08\00:41:22.28
from the grave.
00:41:22.38\00:41:22.94
And so the one-to-one connection
00:41:25.21\00:41:26.85
there is not there.
00:41:26.95\00:41:28.55
And so what do we do?
00:41:28.65\00:41:30.85
What do we do in those
00:41:30.95\00:41:31.55
situations to make amends?
00:41:31.65\00:41:33.49
Some people say that gives you a
00:41:33.59\00:41:36.52
pass.
00:41:36.62\00:41:39.29
You don't have to do anything.
00:41:39.39\00:41:40.66
So, over the years, there have
00:41:44.77\00:41:46.40
been a tiny, tiny number of
00:41:46.50\00:41:49.30
situations where I have said to
00:41:49.40\00:41:50.81
a person, "I'm not sure how to
00:41:50.91\00:41:52.91
do this one.
00:41:53.01\00:41:55.74
I don't know what would be
00:41:55.84\00:41:56.51
appropriate to do."
00:41:56.61\00:41:58.41
I said, "Let's pray.
00:41:58.51\00:42:00.05
Let's pray and see what the Lord
00:42:00.15\00:42:01.12
leads on this.
00:42:01.22\00:42:01.75
I don't know. I don't know."
00:42:01.85\00:42:03.42
And in asking other people,
00:42:03.52\00:42:04.19
they didn't know either.
00:42:04.29\00:42:07.49
But generally speaking,
00:42:07.59\00:42:10.56
there is a way.
00:42:10.66\00:42:13.33
There is a way.
00:42:13.43\00:42:16.10
God is gracious, God is good,
00:42:16.20\00:42:17.97
and God is very creative.
00:42:18.07\00:42:19.93
And even when there is not a
00:42:20.04\00:42:21.17
one-to-one option, where we
00:42:21.27\00:42:22.77
can't just, you know, restore
00:42:22.87\00:42:23.97
something, God asks us to do the
00:42:24.07\00:42:26.68
best that we can, to do
00:42:26.78\00:42:28.88
the best that we can.
00:42:28.98\00:42:30.35
I think this is part of what
00:42:30.45\00:42:31.41
Manasseh is doing when he
00:42:31.51\00:42:32.61
reinforced the battlements of
00:42:32.71\00:42:33.62
Jerusalem.
00:42:33.72\00:42:34.62
He had stolen Judah's
00:42:34.72\00:42:36.05
sovereignty, in essence, right?
00:42:36.15\00:42:37.42
I mean, Through his profligacy,
00:42:37.52\00:42:39.09
et cetera, he had caused Judah
00:42:39.19\00:42:41.92
to lose its sovereignty.
00:42:42.02\00:42:43.66
And he probably knew
00:42:43.76\00:42:44.93
in his lifetime that he would
00:42:45.03\00:42:45.96
not be able to get it back.
00:42:46.06\00:42:47.60
So he did the next best thing.
00:42:47.66\00:42:49.30
He did all he could to defend
00:42:49.40\00:42:51.27
Judah from Assyria's rule
00:42:51.37\00:42:52.47
as much as possible.
00:42:52.57\00:42:53.94
So, again, let us do the same.
00:42:54.04\00:42:57.34
If you cheated on a test,
00:42:57.44\00:42:59.34
you can't retake the test, okay?
00:42:59.44\00:43:02.18
That's not gonna happen.
00:43:02.28\00:43:03.75
And you probably can't reset
00:43:03.85\00:43:05.91
whatever curve you busted for
00:43:06.01\00:43:07.75
the other students in the class
00:43:07.85\00:43:08.98
because your artificial grade
00:43:09.08\00:43:10.52
kind of inflated it for them.
00:43:10.62\00:43:11.29
Right? Okay.
00:43:11.39\00:43:13.92
So you need to do the best
00:43:14.02\00:43:14.72
that you can.
00:43:14.82\00:43:16.46
Perhaps you need to go tell the
00:43:16.56\00:43:17.93
teacher, explain what you did,
00:43:18.03\00:43:19.19
say that you are sorry for doing
00:43:19.29\00:43:20.36
this and you want to make it
00:43:20.46\00:43:20.96
right.
00:43:21.03\00:43:21.36
What can you do?
00:43:21.46\00:43:23.43
And be willing to take
00:43:23.53\00:43:24.27
their suggestions seriously.
00:43:24.37\00:43:26.30
If you lied to someone in
00:43:26.40\00:43:27.57
business, leading to a loss of
00:43:27.67\00:43:29.27
revenue, there are times when
00:43:29.37\00:43:30.74
you cannot assess exactly how
00:43:30.84\00:43:32.21
much money was lost or who all
00:43:32.31\00:43:33.71
was adversely affected.
00:43:33.81\00:43:34.98
So do your best. Get advice.
00:43:35.08\00:43:37.48
Be willing to take their
00:43:37.58\00:43:38.51
suggestions seriously.
00:43:38.61\00:43:40.35
Whatever the sin was,
00:43:40.45\00:43:42.15
if you are willing, there is
00:43:42.25\00:43:43.49
nearly always a way to make
00:43:43.59\00:43:45.65
amends.
00:43:45.75\00:43:47.19
And some of you are thinking
00:43:51.63\00:43:52.89
right now, "You're crazy.
00:43:52.99\00:43:58.57
Are you out of your mind?
00:43:58.67\00:44:01.67
Who would do this kind of stuff?
00:44:01.77\00:44:04.11
I mean, the risk.
00:44:04.21\00:44:05.41
I mean, if you make amends,
00:44:05.51\00:44:06.61
I mean, the admission that comes
00:44:06.71\00:44:08.11
with making the amends
00:44:08.21\00:44:09.18
and getting involved with,
00:44:09.28\00:44:10.71
you know, restoring things --
00:44:10.81\00:44:12.21
that's messy business.
00:44:12.31\00:44:13.45
Are you crazy?"
00:44:13.55\00:44:16.18
Well, probably, but that's
00:44:16.28\00:44:17.25
beside the point.
00:44:17.35\00:44:19.39
Let me sweeten the pot a little
00:44:19.49\00:44:22.29
bit here for you.
00:44:22.39\00:44:23.66
If you are intimidated by
00:44:23.76\00:44:25.89
the prospect of making amends --
00:44:25.99\00:44:28.23
Well, maybe I should put it this
00:44:28.33\00:44:28.63
way.
00:44:28.73\00:44:29.43
If you're not intimidated by it,
00:44:29.53\00:44:31.20
it's either because you have
00:44:31.30\00:44:32.27
done this before and you know
00:44:32.37\00:44:33.57
what's coming -- the good things
00:44:33.67\00:44:35.20
that are coming or -- or you're
00:44:35.30\00:44:37.81
ignorant and you don't
00:44:37.91\00:44:38.51
understand.
00:44:38.61\00:44:39.71
Because there is a cost here,
00:44:39.81\00:44:40.54
is there not?
00:44:40.64\00:44:41.68
Mostly to our pride.
00:44:41.78\00:44:45.35
We have to humble ourselves
00:44:45.45\00:44:48.05
and admit to someone else
00:44:48.15\00:44:49.52
that we messed up.
00:44:49.62\00:44:51.95
And why would you do that?
00:44:52.05\00:44:53.52
Two reasons.
00:44:53.62\00:44:55.46
Number one, the obvious one,
00:44:55.56\00:44:58.56
you just might help to make
00:44:58.66\00:45:00.73
someone else's life better.
00:45:00.83\00:45:05.23
Restoring the pledge does that.
00:45:05.33\00:45:07.04
If you stole money from somebody
00:45:07.14\00:45:08.80
and then you give it back with
00:45:08.90\00:45:09.97
interest, that's good for them.
00:45:10.07\00:45:12.97
That's a blessing for them.
00:45:13.07\00:45:14.41
Why does God command us
00:45:14.51\00:45:15.61
in certain situations
00:45:15.71\00:45:16.48
to make amends?
00:45:16.58\00:45:17.38
Because the other people
00:45:17.48\00:45:18.51
have a loss and we have
00:45:18.61\00:45:19.58
the opportunity to fill it,
00:45:19.68\00:45:20.58
to make it right again.
00:45:20.68\00:45:21.78
Praise the Lord, especially
00:45:21.88\00:45:23.62
if you're on the receiving end
00:45:23.72\00:45:24.55
of an amends.
00:45:24.65\00:45:27.09
Wouldn't you like to get back
00:45:27.19\00:45:28.36
whatever it was that was stolen?
00:45:28.46\00:45:29.52
Yeah, we would.
00:45:29.62\00:45:32.26
This is one great blessing
00:45:32.36\00:45:34.56
that comes when we make amends.
00:45:34.63\00:45:36.26
And number two, there is a great
00:45:36.36\00:45:39.63
blessing for you, as well.
00:45:39.73\00:45:45.87
Now, there's a whole bunch of
00:45:45.97\00:45:47.14
stories that I wish I could tell
00:45:47.24\00:45:48.14
you next to illustrate this
00:45:48.24\00:45:48.74
point.
00:45:48.84\00:45:50.05
But until some people die
00:45:50.15\00:45:51.35
and there are certain attorneys
00:45:51.45\00:45:52.05
that are no longer
00:45:52.15\00:45:52.75
doing what they're doing,
00:45:52.85\00:45:54.08
I can't tell you those things.
00:45:54.18\00:45:55.25
These are not stories about me.
00:45:55.35\00:45:56.18
These are stories about
00:45:56.28\00:45:56.65
other people
00:45:56.75\00:45:57.39
with amends and whatnot.
00:45:58.19\00:45:59.49
I can't tell you those stories,
00:45:59.59\00:46:00.29
right?
00:46:00.39\00:46:01.39
So I'm gonna bring it down a few
00:46:01.49\00:46:02.59
notches, right?
00:46:02.69\00:46:03.79
And I'm gonna tell you a story
00:46:03.89\00:46:04.99
which illustrates the blessing.
00:46:05.09\00:46:06.49
It's at a lower level,
00:46:06.59\00:46:07.40
but I think you'll see
00:46:07.50\00:46:09.66
what God is trying to say here.
00:46:09.76\00:46:12.87
When I was 12 years old.
00:46:12.97\00:46:14.97
I was working that summer on my
00:46:15.07\00:46:16.97
grandparents farm in Oklahoma,
00:46:17.07\00:46:19.24
and very strangely, on the day
00:46:19.34\00:46:22.58
that this story takes place,
00:46:22.68\00:46:24.08
I had no farm assignment
00:46:24.18\00:46:27.12
that afternoon.
00:46:27.22\00:46:29.65
I mean, the sun was blazing,
00:46:29.75\00:46:30.75
as it often does in Oklahoma
00:46:30.85\00:46:31.75
in July and August.
00:46:31.85\00:46:32.92
You know, people are sweating.
00:46:33.02\00:46:34.09
They were working hard
00:46:34.19\00:46:34.62
and whatnot, but there
00:46:34.72\00:46:35.69
was nothing for me to do.
00:46:35.79\00:46:37.33
Grandpa said, "Hey, you know,
00:46:37.43\00:46:37.96
hang out.
00:46:38.06\00:46:39.09
If we have something, we'll let
00:46:39.19\00:46:39.76
you know, whatnot."
00:46:39.86\00:46:40.96
The same thing was true
00:46:41.06\00:46:42.10
for my cousin Bruce.
00:46:42.20\00:46:44.47
Bruce didn't have anything
00:46:44.57\00:46:45.00
to do either.
00:46:45.10\00:46:47.30
So, picture this -- farmhouse,
00:46:47.40\00:46:49.54
okay?
00:46:49.64\00:46:50.87
Top of the hill overlooking
00:46:50.97\00:46:52.01
2,000 acres of farmland, okay?
00:46:52.11\00:46:54.78
Everybody's gone.
00:46:54.88\00:46:56.44
Everybody's working.
00:46:56.54\00:46:58.68
Two young guys, nothing to do.
00:46:58.78\00:47:01.85
What could go wrong?
00:47:01.95\00:47:03.52
[ Laughter ]
00:47:03.62\00:47:05.25
So, finally Bruce says,
00:47:05.35\00:47:06.52
"Hey, I got a new BB gun.
00:47:06.62\00:47:08.72
Let's do target practice."
00:47:08.82\00:47:12.06
Excellent idea.
00:47:12.16\00:47:13.76
So we went outside and, you
00:47:13.86\00:47:15.53
know, being a farm, you know,
00:47:15.63\00:47:16.60
there's things you can shoot at.
00:47:16.70\00:47:17.57
There's a few trees up there.
00:47:17.67\00:47:18.97
And so, you know, we're shooting
00:47:19.07\00:47:20.47
at these trees and whatnot,
00:47:20.57\00:47:21.37
but trees soon become boring.
00:47:21.47\00:47:22.87
And what you need is
00:47:22.97\00:47:24.11
something -- a target that will
00:47:24.21\00:47:25.77
recognize your marksmanship,
00:47:25.87\00:47:27.54
okay, that will give you
00:47:27.64\00:47:29.28
affirmation that you made a good
00:47:29.38\00:47:30.15
shot.
00:47:30.25\00:47:31.08
And so Bruce goes over
00:47:31.18\00:47:32.25
to one of the barns
00:47:32.35\00:47:33.75
nearby there, one of the sheds,
00:47:33.85\00:47:35.08
and he brings back a number 10
00:47:35.18\00:47:36.35
can.
00:47:36.45\00:47:37.85
Now, you know what a number 10
00:47:37.95\00:47:38.49
can is?
00:47:38.59\00:47:39.89
These are the big cans, right?
00:47:39.99\00:47:41.36
If you don't know what it is,
00:47:41.46\00:47:42.29
picture the big, big frank
00:47:42.39\00:47:44.76
containers that cost $478.32.
00:47:44.86\00:47:48.46
Okay, that's a number 10 can,
00:47:48.56\00:47:49.90
right?
00:47:50.00\00:47:51.33
So, this one was empty and, you
00:47:51.43\00:47:52.40
know, silver there.
00:47:52.50\00:47:53.00
We could see it.
00:47:53.10\00:47:53.87
And, man, when you hit that
00:47:53.97\00:47:55.14
thing, it gave a very satisfying
00:47:55.24\00:47:56.30
"Ping!"
00:47:56.40\00:47:57.01
Right like that.
00:47:57.11\00:47:58.27
So we put it on the fence post
00:47:58.37\00:47:59.41
and we get back 20, 25 feet.
00:47:59.51\00:48:00.91
"Ping! Ping! Ping!"
00:48:01.01\00:48:03.78
Well, the only thing better than
00:48:03.88\00:48:05.55
one can is two or three or four
00:48:05.65\00:48:06.61
cans, right?
00:48:06.72\00:48:07.38
So Bruce goes off to find
00:48:07.48\00:48:09.28
some more recognition
00:48:09.38\00:48:11.09
hardware -- right? -- for us.
00:48:11.19\00:48:14.06
And I don't know why, but he was
00:48:14.16\00:48:16.83
gone what seemed to me like a
00:48:16.93\00:48:18.49
long time.
00:48:18.59\00:48:20.66
And I've got the BB gun here in
00:48:20.76\00:48:22.40
my hand, and I'm looking around
00:48:22.50\00:48:23.40
for stuff to hit and shoot and
00:48:23.50\00:48:24.27
whatnot.
00:48:24.37\00:48:25.07
And I do a 180.
00:48:25.17\00:48:26.74
I turn 180 degrees around from
00:48:26.84\00:48:28.57
where the can is on the fence
00:48:28.67\00:48:29.44
post, and there is my
00:48:29.54\00:48:30.84
grandparents' house, okay?
00:48:30.94\00:48:33.17
It's got this little concrete
00:48:33.27\00:48:34.48
walk that goes up a couple steps
00:48:34.58\00:48:35.64
there, and to the left,
00:48:35.74\00:48:37.15
from my perspective,
00:48:37.25\00:48:38.48
the left there, there was this
00:48:38.58\00:48:39.98
big plate-glass bay window.
00:48:40.08\00:48:44.89
And I thought to myself, "I
00:48:44.99\00:48:47.12
wonder what it's like if you
00:48:47.22\00:48:49.09
shoot a BB at a big plate-glass
00:48:49.19\00:48:51.79
window."
00:48:51.89\00:48:54.50
And obviously being
00:48:54.60\00:48:55.56
fully convinced of my genius,
00:48:55.66\00:48:56.77
I didn't give it
00:48:56.87\00:48:57.33
another thought.
00:48:57.43\00:48:58.33
I raised the gun to my sights,
00:48:58.43\00:48:59.67
cocked it there,
00:48:59.77\00:49:00.47
pulled the trigger.
00:49:00.57\00:49:02.00
So, I was disappointed that the
00:49:07.54\00:49:08.71
window did not shatter, alright?
00:49:08.81\00:49:10.65
But there was kind of this thunk
00:49:10.75\00:49:13.05
sound.
00:49:13.15\00:49:15.42
And unbeknownst to me, my
00:49:15.52\00:49:17.75
grandparents were sitting right
00:49:17.85\00:49:19.45
on the other side of that
00:49:19.55\00:49:20.66
window.
00:49:20.76\00:49:21.29
You know, kind of the
00:49:21.39\00:49:22.19
reflection, you know?
00:49:22.29\00:49:23.12
You could see some through if
00:49:23.22\00:49:24.49
you really focused, but I
00:49:24.59\00:49:25.63
couldn't quite see.
00:49:25.73\00:49:26.39
Unbeknownst to me,
00:49:26.49\00:49:27.76
Grandpa was not down at the farm
00:49:27.86\00:49:29.53
doing various farm things.
00:49:29.63\00:49:31.00
I'd forgotten that sometimes
00:49:31.10\00:49:32.60
after lunch Grandpa would either
00:49:32.70\00:49:34.00
take a nap or he would read
00:49:34.10\00:49:35.40
something in his favorite chair
00:49:35.50\00:49:36.30
in the living room.
00:49:36.40\00:49:37.21
Sometimes Grandma
00:49:37.31\00:49:38.04
would join him.
00:49:38.14\00:49:39.07
And so picture this -- a boy,
00:49:39.17\00:49:40.71
a 12-year-old, with a BB gun,
00:49:40.81\00:49:42.34
shoots a BB.
00:49:42.44\00:49:43.31
It hits almost in the middle
00:49:43.41\00:49:44.61
there, lower middle.
00:49:44.71\00:49:46.35
It makes this big pop sound.
00:49:46.45\00:49:47.72
This conical piece flies
00:49:47.82\00:49:49.22
out the other side.
00:49:49.32\00:49:50.75
And Grandpa and Grandma levitate
00:49:50.85\00:49:52.49
out of their chairs.
00:49:52.59\00:49:54.79
Very spry for people their age.
00:49:54.89\00:49:56.52
I mean, they were quick on their
00:49:56.62\00:49:57.76
feet.
00:49:57.86\00:49:58.39
"Oh! What happened?!"
00:49:58.49\00:49:59.73
They rush over to the door.
00:49:59.83\00:50:00.93
They open the screen door,
00:50:01.00\00:50:02.93
and they say, "What happened?"
00:50:03.03\00:50:04.77
Alright, now, picture this.
00:50:09.24\00:50:10.41
it would have required
00:50:10.51\00:50:11.61
a team of forensic experts
00:50:11.71\00:50:13.07
to figure out what had happened,
00:50:13.17\00:50:13.54
right?
00:50:13.64\00:50:14.41
So, here I am, right?
00:50:14.51\00:50:16.38
About 20 feet away or so from
00:50:16.48\00:50:17.31
the glass.
00:50:17.41\00:50:18.08
I've got a gun in my hand,
00:50:18.18\00:50:20.45
and I'm looking their way.
00:50:20.55\00:50:22.12
And they say, "What happened?"
00:50:22.22\00:50:23.72
You remember last week that I
00:50:27.69\00:50:28.62
said that after cheating on that
00:50:28.72\00:50:30.26
spelling test in second grade,
00:50:30.36\00:50:31.29
I never cheated academically
00:50:31.39\00:50:32.06
again?
00:50:32.16\00:50:33.83
That didn't apply to agriculture
00:50:33.93\00:50:35.10
and grandparents' farms,
00:50:35.20\00:50:35.86
unfortunately, okay?
00:50:35.96\00:50:36.97
So, I had two choices.
00:50:37.07\00:50:38.50
I could own up to it,
00:50:38.60\00:50:39.37
or I could lie about it.
00:50:39.47\00:50:41.37
And I chose option B, and I
00:50:41.47\00:50:42.80
said, "Oh, uh, so, I was
00:50:42.90\00:50:46.24
shooting at that can over there,
00:50:46.34\00:50:50.25
and the BB hit it and it
00:50:50.35\00:50:52.61
ricocheted off and it hit the
00:50:52.71\00:50:55.35
glass and broke a hole in it.
00:50:55.45\00:50:57.49
I am so sorry."
00:50:57.59\00:51:00.66
And you know what Grandma and
00:51:00.76\00:51:01.72
Grandpa did?
00:51:01.82\00:51:04.59
[ Laughter ]
00:51:04.69\00:51:06.26
"That's what happened?"
00:51:09.90\00:51:12.37
Now, I mean, the physics of this
00:51:12.47\00:51:13.60
are obviously impossible, right?
00:51:13.70\00:51:14.57
I mean, anybody who's ever done
00:51:14.67\00:51:15.34
a BB gun -- I mean, even the
00:51:15.44\00:51:16.34
highest-power air gun is not
00:51:16.44\00:51:18.47
gonna send a BB off 20 feet that
00:51:18.57\00:51:20.54
direction all the way --
00:51:20.64\00:51:21.48
It won't even make it back
00:51:21.58\00:51:22.08
to the house.
00:51:22.18\00:51:22.68
the sidewalk, much less put
00:51:23.58\00:51:24.71
a hole in the window.
00:51:24.81\00:51:26.75
And he said, "That's what
00:51:26.85\00:51:27.88
happened, huh?"
00:51:27.98\00:51:30.12
"Yeah.
00:51:30.22\00:51:33.09
That's what happened. Yeah."
00:51:33.19\00:51:36.52
And they went..."Okay."
00:51:36.62\00:51:41.26
Went back inside.
00:51:41.36\00:51:44.80
Hmm.
00:51:44.90\00:51:47.87
You know, I didn't tell them
00:51:47.97\00:51:49.40
what happened that day or the
00:51:49.50\00:51:53.34
next or the next.
00:51:53.44\00:51:55.98
In fact, I didn't tell them
00:51:56.08\00:51:57.05
for 10 years, okay?
00:51:57.15\00:52:01.65
10 years later, I was in the
00:52:01.75\00:52:02.92
islands as a student missionary,
00:52:03.02\00:52:04.25
and I was studying about
00:52:04.35\00:52:05.15
this kind of thing, like what
00:52:05.25\00:52:05.92
we've been studying about.
00:52:06.02\00:52:07.29
And I became convicted
00:52:07.39\00:52:08.66
that this was something
00:52:08.76\00:52:09.49
that I needed to make right.
00:52:09.59\00:52:10.76
Now, you need to understand
00:52:10.86\00:52:11.73
something here.
00:52:11.83\00:52:12.66
I mean, to a lot of people
00:52:12.76\00:52:13.70
listening, like, "Well, you
00:52:13.80\00:52:14.76
know, come on, it was a BB gun,
00:52:14.86\00:52:15.83
a kid with a BB gun and a
00:52:15.93\00:52:16.50
window.
00:52:16.60\00:52:17.13
What's the big deal, right?"
00:52:17.23\00:52:18.33
So, for me, this is not actually
00:52:18.43\00:52:21.37
my blood grandparents.
00:52:21.47\00:52:23.20
They're my stepmother's parents.
00:52:23.30\00:52:25.44
But from a fairly early age,
00:52:25.54\00:52:26.81
they took me in as their own.
00:52:26.91\00:52:28.78
And my family life,
00:52:28.88\00:52:31.08
there was definitely chaos.
00:52:31.18\00:52:32.68
I'll be generous.
00:52:32.78\00:52:33.88
There was chaos, you know,
00:52:33.98\00:52:34.65
during those days.
00:52:34.75\00:52:36.18
And to have an island of peace
00:52:36.28\00:52:42.19
and safety and honest hard work,
00:52:42.29\00:52:45.73
I mean, it was -- you know?
00:52:45.83\00:52:48.13
This was a great gift to me.
00:52:48.23\00:52:50.70
And I felt like I had
00:52:50.80\00:52:51.90
compromised that and had let it
00:52:52.00\00:52:54.10
slide for 10 years, you know?
00:52:54.20\00:52:56.40
So I said, "I'm gonna make this
00:52:56.50\00:52:57.67
right."
00:52:57.77\00:52:58.37
And so I wrote a check,
00:52:58.47\00:53:01.41
and I wrote a letter.
00:53:01.51\00:53:03.75
I explained what had happened.
00:53:03.85\00:53:05.21
I said, "You know, I hope this
00:53:05.31\00:53:06.11
amount will cover it.
00:53:06.21\00:53:06.92
If it doesn't cover the
00:53:07.02\00:53:08.25
replacement for the window,
00:53:08.35\00:53:09.32
please let me know."
00:53:09.42\00:53:10.32
Because they never replaced the
00:53:10.42\00:53:10.95
window.
00:53:11.05\00:53:12.35
Every time I would go to my
00:53:12.45\00:53:13.99
grandparents' house, there was
00:53:14.09\00:53:14.96
this hole there, right?
00:53:15.06\00:53:17.03
In the winter time, it would
00:53:17.13\00:53:18.26
whistle because the wind is
00:53:18.36\00:53:19.73
blowing by, you know?
00:53:19.83\00:53:21.03
It was like whistling to,
00:53:21.13\00:53:22.30
"Shane did this, Shane did
00:53:22.40\00:53:24.07
this," you know, kind of thing.
00:53:24.17\00:53:26.20
And so, I mean, this constant
00:53:26.30\00:53:28.10
reminder that I had done this
00:53:28.20\00:53:30.04
thing to these very, very good
00:53:30.14\00:53:31.34
people.
00:53:31.44\00:53:32.81
And so I wrote, you know,
00:53:32.91\00:53:33.64
"Dear Grandma and Grandpa, I
00:53:33.74\00:53:34.88
just want to let you know that,"
00:53:34.98\00:53:35.91
And I told them the story,
00:53:36.01\00:53:36.54
right?
00:53:36.64\00:53:37.88
Well, when you're out in the
00:53:37.98\00:53:38.98
middle of the Pacific -- I don't
00:53:39.08\00:53:40.38
know what it takes now, but back
00:53:40.48\00:53:41.32
in those days, it took weeks.
00:53:41.42\00:53:42.15
It was probably two to three
00:53:42.25\00:53:43.85
months before I got back
00:53:43.95\00:53:45.49
a response from my grandmother.
00:53:45.59\00:53:47.62
My grandfather was a man of few
00:53:47.72\00:53:48.89
words, so I wasn't surprised to
00:53:48.99\00:53:49.79
see it was grandma's
00:53:49.89\00:53:50.19
And she said, "Dear Shane,
00:53:51.59\00:53:54.83
we thought that might have been
00:53:54.93\00:53:55.76
what had happened."
00:53:55.86\00:53:56.77
[ Laughter ]
00:53:56.87\00:53:59.30
And she included my check back
00:53:59.40\00:54:02.00
to me.
00:54:02.10\00:54:03.07
She didn't replace it.
00:54:03.17\00:54:04.31
She didn't use the money for
00:54:04.41\00:54:05.01
that.
00:54:05.11\00:54:05.91
And she said -- I --
00:54:06.01\00:54:07.48
[ Chuckling ]
00:54:07.58\00:54:10.55
I still remember the phrase.
00:54:10.65\00:54:12.11
[ Voice breaking ] She said,
00:54:12.21\00:54:13.65
"All is forgiven."
00:54:13.75\00:54:15.25
[ Chuckles ]
00:54:15.35\00:54:18.79
"All is forgiven."
00:54:18.89\00:54:23.69
And the weight of the world
00:54:23.79\00:54:26.49
rolled off my 22-year-old
00:54:26.59\00:54:27.83
shoulders.
00:54:27.93\00:54:32.07
You see, for as difficult as
00:54:32.17\00:54:33.80
making amends can be, it's not
00:54:33.90\00:54:38.11
like there's no benefit.
00:54:38.21\00:54:41.34
There are good things that God
00:54:41.44\00:54:43.55
is looking to give to you,
00:54:43.65\00:54:46.35
to come out from under
00:54:46.45\00:54:47.65
the shadow of your past.
00:54:47.75\00:54:51.49
Amends aren't to be done
00:54:51.59\00:54:52.55
to earn your forgiveness.
00:54:52.65\00:54:53.96
It's already been given.
00:54:54.06\00:54:55.92
It is to be a fruit
00:54:56.02\00:54:57.13
of that forgiveness
00:54:57.23\00:54:58.53
that we reach out to restore
00:54:58.63\00:54:59.89
the pledge that we broke.
00:55:00.06\00:55:02.83
So, I just want to ask you --
00:55:02.93\00:55:05.10
how is it with you today?
00:55:05.20\00:55:08.10
Are there things in your life
00:55:08.20\00:55:09.07
that maybe God is tapping you
00:55:09.17\00:55:09.90
on the shoulder?
00:55:10.01\00:55:10.64
You know, something happened
00:55:10.74\00:55:11.77
yesterday or 20 years ago
00:55:11.87\00:55:15.21
that you should take care of.
00:55:15.31\00:55:17.58
I just want to gently encourage
00:55:17.68\00:55:18.48
you to listen to that voice.
00:55:18.58\00:55:20.88
If you haven't done so yet,
00:55:20.98\00:55:21.85
confess and repent.
00:55:21.95\00:55:23.85
If you've done that
00:55:23.95\00:55:24.92
and the shadow is still there,
00:55:25.02\00:55:26.19
maybe God is calling you to make
00:55:26.29\00:55:27.22
some sort of amends.
00:55:27.32\00:55:28.76
Find some wise people.
00:55:28.86\00:55:29.89
Ask for their counsel.
00:55:29.99\00:55:31.46
Let them help you to go
00:55:31.56\00:55:32.46
through this process.
00:55:32.56\00:55:33.93
And if you do it, other people
00:55:34.00\00:55:36.26
will be blessed and you will
00:55:36.36\00:55:38.47
receive a blessing as well.
00:55:38.57\00:55:41.80
You know, the good news of
00:55:41.90\00:55:43.51
amends is not just that, though.
00:55:43.61\00:55:47.44
The good news of amends is that
00:55:47.54\00:55:49.18
there's actually not as much
00:55:49.28\00:55:50.88
risk to it as we often think.
00:55:50.98\00:55:52.58
Why do I say that?
00:55:52.68\00:55:53.58
It's not that there's no risk.
00:55:53.68\00:55:54.32
Don't misunderstand.
00:55:54.42\00:55:56.08
But there's often a lot less
00:55:56.18\00:55:57.19
than we think
00:55:57.29\00:55:58.22
because God has been at this
00:55:58.32\00:56:00.99
for thousands of years.
00:56:01.09\00:56:03.22
He knows how to restore people.
00:56:03.32\00:56:05.46
You're no surprise to Him.
00:56:05.56\00:56:07.50
He knows how to do this.
00:56:07.60\00:56:08.56
In fact, for all the goodness
00:56:08.66\00:56:10.20
that we get back from doing
00:56:10.30\00:56:11.27
amends, from all the blessings
00:56:11.37\00:56:12.33
and the freedom and the light
00:56:12.43\00:56:13.70
that we feel in there, for God,
00:56:13.80\00:56:15.10
it's just standard operating
00:56:15.20\00:56:16.27
procedure.
00:56:16.37\00:56:17.54
He's a pro at this.
00:56:17.64\00:56:18.97
He knows how to do it,
00:56:19.07\00:56:20.21
and He can provide
00:56:20.31\00:56:21.94
what you need to guide you
00:56:22.04\00:56:23.61
through the same process.
00:56:23.71\00:56:25.38
Just another standard
00:56:25.48\00:56:27.45
restoration.
00:56:27.55\00:56:29.82
That's what God is calling you
00:56:29.92\00:56:30.82
to.
00:56:30.92\00:56:32.35
Praise the Lord that God
00:56:32.45\00:56:34.36
really does have great plans
00:56:34.46\00:56:37.69
for our past.
00:56:37.79\00:56:39.49
[ Applause ]
00:56:43.60\00:56:45.37
>> Thank you for taking the time
00:56:51.81\00:56:52.77
to join us in worship today.
00:56:52.87\00:56:53.71
I'd like to spend just
00:56:53.81\00:56:55.08
another moment with you here
00:56:55.18\00:56:56.28
at the end of our program
00:56:56.38\00:56:57.58
to share a word of hope.
00:56:57.68\00:57:00.48
In fact, that's what this little
00:57:00.58\00:57:01.58
book is all about.
00:57:01.68\00:57:03.99
In these uncertain times --
00:57:04.09\00:57:05.52
and let's face it, they're
00:57:05.62\00:57:06.86
uncertain all over the planet --
00:57:06.96\00:57:08.66
this book, entitled
00:57:08.76\00:57:09.82
"The Great Hope,"
00:57:09.92\00:57:11.19
will help you understand
00:57:11.29\00:57:12.59
not just what God has planned
00:57:12.69\00:57:13.83
for your future,
00:57:13.93\00:57:15.50
but for the future of the entire
00:57:15.60\00:57:16.43
human race.
00:57:16.53\00:57:18.63
You know, light keeps shining
00:57:18.73\00:57:20.14
on this dark, old world,
00:57:20.24\00:57:21.64
and new truths,
00:57:21.74\00:57:22.74
long forgotten, are being
00:57:22.84\00:57:24.24
constantly rediscovered.
00:57:24.34\00:57:26.47
If you need a fresh dose of hope
00:57:26.57\00:57:28.11
in your life these days,
00:57:28.21\00:57:29.68
or if you know somebody else
00:57:29.78\00:57:30.55
who could sure use
00:57:30.65\00:57:31.38
that gift of hope,
00:57:31.48\00:57:32.85
then I'd like to invite you
00:57:32.95\00:57:33.72
to grab your phone
00:57:33.82\00:57:35.02
and dial our toll-free number.
00:57:35.12\00:57:36.85
877, the two words "HIS WILL."
00:57:36.95\00:57:40.26
That's 877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:40.36\00:57:43.06
And at no charge to you,
00:57:43.16\00:57:44.43
we'll get a copy in the mail
00:57:44.53\00:57:45.36
to you right away.
00:57:45.46\00:57:47.76
Till the next time we meet,
00:57:47.86\00:57:49.00
may the peace and hope
00:57:49.10\00:57:50.87
of the Lord Jesus Christ
00:57:50.97\00:57:52.33
be with you always.
00:57:52.43\00:57:54.20