It Is Written - It Is Sealed - Day of Atonement

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Welcome to A Word in Season with Doug Stringer and friends.

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We share good news and godly wisdom to empower you to be salt and light in every season of life.

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Leviticus 23,27 of the New Living Translation says,

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Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the 10th day of the same month,

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nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.

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You must observe it as an official day for Holy Assembly,

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a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord.

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Listen as Doug shares on the importance of the holiest day in God's calendar and what it means to you.

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After the episode, consider leaving a review and follow us on your favorite streaming service.

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If you've gleaned anything from this podcast, consider paying it forward with a gift at somebodycares.org.

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Now let's join our host, Doug Stringer.

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In today's podcast, I'd like to take a brief look at Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.

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This year, in 2023, it would actually be the year 5784 in the Jewish calendar.

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So Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement began Sunday evening at sundown, September 24th,

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and will go through sundown, Monday, September 25th, 2023.

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In brief summary, remember Rosh Hashanah this year, September 15th at sundown was the beginning of the year 5784 in the Jewish calendar.

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In the Gregorian calendar, it was sundown, September 15th.

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It was the beginning of the High Holy Days and the start of the fall feast season,

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which began with what we call Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets.

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It also began what is called the Ten Days of All.

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It's a preparation coming into the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.

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In the Jewish Civil Calendar and the Ecclesiastical Calendar,

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Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day on God's calendar.

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Now as a reminder, Rosh Hashanah is considered the first of Tishri, which is the first month of the Civil Year,

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and the seventh month of the Ecclesiastical Year in the Hebrew calendar.

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So sundown, September 15th, was the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the new year of 5784 in the Jewish calendar.

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A time for new beginnings, a new era, and a new season.

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So Rosh Hashanah or the Feast of Trumpets, segwayed into the Ten Days of All in preparation for Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.

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You may remember that I've shared in the past that Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 and 2

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talk about the first of Tishri and the reading of the law or God's word,

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and it was declared to the people as a reminder of their covenant relationship.

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So on Tishri 1, Rosh Hashanah is the start of a new year and is observed as a form of thanksgiving

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and the celebration of the creation of the universe, and more specifically the creation of Adam and Eve,

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God's first creation according to Hebrew culture.

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I was reading some commentary about Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days of All in Yom Kippur,

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and it's interesting that looking at some of the commentary that Rosh Hashanah makes a statement,

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It is written.

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Now we know it is written, God's word is true, it's character, nature, word, and spirit.

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So Rosh Hashanah has come to declare it is written, and Yom Kippur has come to mean it is sealed.

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These declarations so resonated with me.

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It is written and it is sealed.

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When I think about the scripture, it says we are sealed by the Spirit of Adoption.

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And then I thought about Hebrews chapter 10.

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It says we can enter boldly into the Holy of Holies, having therefore brethren boldness

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to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way,

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which he had consecrated for us through the veil.

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Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.

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We can enter boldly into the holiest of holies.

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We have access to the very presence of the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

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So on this Yom Kippur, the day of Atom, with the holiest day in Jewish culture,

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we too as those who have been grafted in because of our Judeo-Christian faith and foundations,

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can enter into the holiest presence of God by a new and living way,

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which he himself has consecrated for us through the veil.

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So let us draw near with a true heart, a pure heart,

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in full assurance of faith that says in Hebrews chapter 10,

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it is written and it is sealed.

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When you have a moment, take some personal study time and go to Leviticus chapter 23

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as it talks about the Feasts of the Lord.

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And it goes into the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Trumpets

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and the Day of Atonement.

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In fact, verse 26 of Leviticus 23 says,

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And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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Also the 10th day of this seventh month, which is the month of Tishri,

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shall be the day of Atonement.

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It shall be a holy convocation for you.

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And you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

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Now remember, the 10th day of the seventh month

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is the Ecclesiastical month, which is still the first day of the civil year

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in the Jewish calendar.

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So it's still after Rosh Hashanah.

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So Rosh Hashanah, Feast of Trumpets, 10 days of all, Yom Kippur,

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the Day of Atonement, the holiest of days.

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I like what my friend Robert Stearns of Eagle Wings Ministry says.

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He says, Whereas Rosh Hashanah is about individual repentance,

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the Day of Atonement is a day atoning for the sins of a nation.

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Wow, this is God's holiest day of the year, he says.

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Robert goes on to say,

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Biblically, One goat was sacrificed for individual sin.

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A second goat, the priest, would lay hands on it,

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confessing the sins of the nation,

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and release into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

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So Yom Kippur points to the redemption of the world through the blood of Christ.

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And again in Jewish tradition, Yom Kippur determines whose name

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is written for another year in God's Book of Life.

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And by our celebrating Yom Kippur, as Christians,

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we give thanks not just for a year,

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but for all eternity through the Messiah, Jesus Christ,

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through His death on the cross, and the shedding of His sinless blood.

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He said, Beloved, God is a God of perfect timing,

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and we're coming up on a very special season the Lord has created

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with very specific instruction.

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In fact, he says, Be careful.

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Robert concludes with quoting Leviticus 23 verse 27.

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Be careful to celebrate the day of Atonement on the 10th day of that same month,

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nine days after the festival of trumpets.

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You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly,

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a day to deny yourselves to present special gifts to the Lord.

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Now I recognize that we're no longer under the law,

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and Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 verse 1,

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to stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free,

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and be no longer entangled in the yokes of bondage.

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I get that, and it's important for us to know that full assurance

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that we write about in Hebrews chapter 10.

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But I'm also quite aware and cognizant of the importance

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that we are to be holy even as He is holy,

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that we should worship Him in the beauty of holiness,

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which is the glory do His name, or the least we can do for all He's already done for us,

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just because, because, because of who He is and what He's done for us.

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Now you've heard me share often,

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holiness is not some sort of external piety,

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but it is the inward consecration of the heart that says,

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my life is not my own God, whatever you will,

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your will be done, not my will be done.

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Jesus prayed that in the Lord's prayer.

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He taught us how to pray.

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Thy kingdom come,

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Thy will be done on earth that is in heaven,

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not my will, but your will be done.

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So I recognize it's important for us to yield into His Lordship,

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and to be the people that God's called us to be,

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to represent Him as ambassadors of His kingdom,

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ambassadors for Christ, champions for Christ.

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There's something so holy when we offer ourselves to the Lord.

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In fact, Romans chapter 12 says,

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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,

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that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

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holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service,

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or the least we can do, and do not be conformed to this world,

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but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

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that you may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

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As we declare God's word, His word works.

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His word is true.

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During this season, may we realize that God's word,

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it is written, and now it is sealed.

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We have been sealed by the Spirit of adoption.

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Now, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19,

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in conclusion, I want to read these verses to you.

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Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

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by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh,

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and having a high priest over the house of God.

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Now, He says, let us draw near with a true heart,

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in full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience,

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and our bodies washed with pure water.

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Let us hold fast that confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful.

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And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

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not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as in the manner of some,

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but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching.

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Wow, that is so prophetic.

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We're living in an awkward day.

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We're living in a day of trouble and distress.

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This is the time we need to see the Lord's presence like never before,

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and we need to seek His Word, and to live His Word, to study His Word,

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to let His Word work in and through us.

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He goes on to say,

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The just shall live by faith in verse 26 in Hebrews chapter 10.

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For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,

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there is no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

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But a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation

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will to devour the adversaries.

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For anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony

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of two or three witnesses of how much more punishment.

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Do you suppose will he be thought worthy

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who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,

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countered the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified,

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a common thing, or profanity in the Holy in other words,

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and insulting the Spirit of Grace.

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We are saved by grace.

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We have faith and confidence in God.

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We have faith assurance in Christ.

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But let us not live an unholy life.

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Let us be holy as he is holy.

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And this Yom Kippur and this season,

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let's be reminded that we serve a holy God,

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and we can't serve His holiness in some sort of external piety.

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But it's the willingness of allowing Him the Lordship of our lives

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that our will not be done, but His will be done on earth as it is in heaven,

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not my will but His will be done.

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Let us not willfully trample underfoot the Spirit of Grace

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and consider the blood that was shed for us as covenant relationship

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by the shed blood of Christ become a common thing.

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So many of us at times forget the holiness of God

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and all that is done in the high cost of His love for us

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that we end up profaning the holiness of God.

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Let us offer ourselves living sacrifices holy and acceptable unto Him.

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Let us come before Him to be holy even as he is holy.

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Let us also recognize that we can't live this life according to the flesh,

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but we must be led of the Spirit of God.

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We have seen such a falling away by even many professing to know the Lord.

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It's a day of trouble and distress as Hezekiah said in Isaiah.

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When he said this is a day of trouble and distress,

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contemptibility, because the children are ready to come forth,

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but there's no strength to bring them forth.

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We have seen such a falling away by so many professing even to know the Lord.

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So many have become discouraged, allowed anxieties and stresses to overwhelm them.

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And yet scripture is very clear when it says that we should be anxious for nothing,

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but with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let our requests be known unto God.

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The days are approaching. We live in such a day.

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The day is now in here where there is so much contempt to the things of God.

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And yet circumstances and giants and obstacles do not change who God is,

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but God is bigger than every obstacle and every giant and every challenge along the way.

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And He changes circumstances.

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So these high holy days and Yom Kippur and the days that we're coming into,

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let it be a time to remind us of the importance of going deeper in the Lord

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and higher in consecration in the Lord,

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that we have so great a salvation to be grateful for,

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that we need to be anxious for nothing, but with prayer and supplication

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and with thanksgiving, let our requests be known unto God.

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Let us remember that God's word is true.

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It is written. It is written. It is written.

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God's word is true.

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Let us remember to let His word wash our minds.

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Let us remember that the word works and that we need to declare the goodness of God

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and the word of God that lives will be transformed.

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He is still our Savior, Healer, Liberator and Deliverer.

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We are in a season where we need the manifest presence of God,

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the liberation of God, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit of God,

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so we can see lives transformed around us.

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Let us not be conformed to this world,

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but let's be transformed by the renewing of our minds

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and that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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God, it is written and it is sealed.