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Just this week,

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I received a phone call from a man.

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Professing Christian for a long time.

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Even in the ministry.

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Living in all manner of immorality.

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Do you know what happened?

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A friend of his turned on

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Paul Washer's message -

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I think it's the same one [br]that was preached here:

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"Examine Yourself"

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Maybe the very same message.

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This man was laid bare,

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and he recognized,

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I don't measure up.

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And do you know what he fears now?

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Is being in the ministry, [br]having so much light,

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having this false profession for so long,

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living in this immorality.

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You know what he's afraid of now?

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That he's Esau.

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He's afraid he's committed [br]the unpardonable sin.

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He's afraid he's gone too far

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and there's no way back.

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Now, I'll tell you this -

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I'll tell you what I told him.

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I can't tell you that there is a way back.

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The truth is there is a line in Scripture

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that when men cross it,[br]there's no way back.

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There is a Hebrews 6 reality.

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There is a place men come to

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that there is no more repentance.

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He told me that his friends and counselors

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had sent him to the Word of God.

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That's good.

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To look at passages that [br]dealt with the cross.

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I told him that's good.

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But you see what he could tell me:

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"Well, I believe He went to the cross.

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I believe He died.

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I believe everything I'm reading.

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I just don't know if it's for me."

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I told him, "exactly."

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That is exactly the issue.

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I said, "What you need to do

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is you need to find that one verse..."

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that he can sink his faith into;

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that he can say, "That's for me."

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You see, that's where faith is.

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Saving faith isn't saying:

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"I believe Jesus was a [br]true historical figure."

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It's not saying, "I believe [br]Jesus went to the cross."

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It's got to be personalized.

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There's got to be something [br]you can hang on

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that you know is for you,

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because you know what the [br]devil's going to do to him?

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The devil's already doing it to him.

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He's there whispering in his ear:

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"After what you've done,

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there's no hope for you.

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You are Esau."

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He just keeps hearing that in his ear

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over and over and over.

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You know how you answer that?

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You answer that with the kind of promise

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that resists the devil;

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that the devil simply cannot answer.

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What do you tell him?

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I told him, "You may [br]have crossed that line."

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But I know this, that if he can find

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any promise in this book

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that he can lay his faith onto,

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he will not be disappointed.

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He will not be confounded.[br]He will not be cast away.

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Because that's what saving faith is.

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And you know as I was thinking

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after I got off the phone with him,

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I start thinking about,

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what sort of verses are they

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that a man in that condition might find?

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I mean, if he was going through Scripture,

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what might be one verse?

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I'll tell you one that jumped out at me.

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And sometimes they can be obscure verses,

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and sometimes you may think

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that they're not even dealing with

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the very thing that you [br]take it in faith to mean.

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But if you take it in faith to mean it;

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if you take it in faith [br]that you're trusting

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the God behind these things...

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I mean, we could just look at that -

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the broadness of some of God's promises.

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I mean, you know what?

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You think about how in Isaiah 53,

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how by His stripes we're healed.

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Does it blow anybody away that Matthew

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basically in Matthew 9 says

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He's healing the people, [br]thus fulfilling that?

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You're like wait a second,

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I thought that was spiritual [br]healing back there.

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And Jesus is physically healing.

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We might just talk about the broadness

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of some of God's promises.

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But I got to thinking about this.

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Jesus Himself says,

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"If somebody strikes you on one cheek,

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turn to him the other also."

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If a man could just find hope there.

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I've struck Him in the cheek

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by my actions,

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but He is such a God

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who sends His Son

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who is the radiance of the glory of God,

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and He is the kind that teaches us

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that if we're struck, turn the other also.

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I mean, if He's teaching that to us,

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is He not also a God who takes many blows,

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many dishonorings and yet is still willing

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to turn the other cheek?

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Or, how about this?

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In Joel 2, God says,

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"Yet even now..." Those three words

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could be something that somebody's faith

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could cling to.

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"Yet even now..."

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Wait, what's that?

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"Yet even now, declares the Lord,

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return to Me with all your heart."

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You know when you say that -

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"yet even now" -

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it's after people have done a lot of bad.

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Yet even now after all you've done,

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"if anyone will turn to Me [br]with all their heart

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with fasting, with weeping, with mourning,

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rend your hearts and not your garments,

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return to the Lord your God,

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for He is gracious and merciful..."

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How about these three words?

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"...slow to anger."

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I mean if a man's faith can get into that.

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God is slow to anger.

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I can put my weight on that promise,

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because I've provoked Him for a long time,

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but He's slow to anger.

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Oh, certainly the God of Scripture

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in all of His infinite mercies,

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certainly I could not [br]wear out His kindness

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just in these years I've done this.

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Certainly God is greater than that.

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Those words, "yet even now."

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Or how about this?

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God's kindness is meant [br]to lead to repentance.

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Because one of the things I told him,

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I told him one of the things that tells me

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God is not done with you,

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is He led you to that Paul Washer sermon.

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And He convicted you.

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And you came clean!

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He confessed.

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He confessed to his wife.

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He confessed to his church.

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That is a kindness.

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And what would you say?

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God's kindnesses are not meant

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to lead him to repentance?

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You see, that isn't the indication

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in my estimation of somebody

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that God is done with.

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Or how about this?

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To Sardis - Oh, when I preached

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about those seven churches in Asia Minor,

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Sardis jumped out at me.

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"You have a name

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that you are alive,

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but you are dead."

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This is a church.

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You talk about people exposed to light.

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But, you're dead.

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What did He say? No hope?

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You've crossed the line?

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He doesn't.

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He says, "Wake up."

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You see if our faith can just [br]grab words like that:

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"Wake up."

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Of course, there's these words.

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John 6:37

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Our Lord says,

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"Whoever comes to Me,

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I will never cast out."

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Whoever!

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It doesn't matter what [br]you say you've done.

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If you go to Christ, [br]He won't cast you out.

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Period.

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It's amazing when I come across people

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who are struggling with [br]the unpardonable sin

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and I bring up this text,

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immediately, "Yeah, but..."

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Look, if you want to find every reason

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not to believe a text,

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that's classic unbeliever.

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And you will perish.

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See, the only hope is

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that our faith can find a place to stay.

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This except was taken [br]from the full sermon:

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"People of Promise"