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Romans 831 to 39 What then shall
we say in response to this? 

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If God is for us, who can be 
against us? 

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He who did not spare His own 
Son, but gave Him up for us all,

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how will He not also along with 
Him, graciously give us all 

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things? 
Who will bring any charge 

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against those whom God has 
chosen? 

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It is God who justifies. 
Who is He then, that condemns 

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Christ Jesus who died more than 
that who was raised to life, is 

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at the right hand of God, and is
interceding for us? 

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Who shall separate us from the 
love of Christ? 

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Shall trouble, or hardship, or 
persecution, or famine, or 

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nakedness, or danger, or sword, 
as it is written for your sake, 

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we face death all day long. 
We are considered as sheep to be

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slaughtered. 
So no, all these things we are 

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more than conquerors through Him
who loved us. 

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For I am convinced that neither 
death nor life, neither angels 

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nor demons, neither the present 
or the future, nor any powers, 

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neither height nor depth, nor 
anything else in all of creation

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will be able to separate us from
the love of God that is in 

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Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Beautiful goodbye. 

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Is that not just a roar over our
lives? 

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Isn't that just the most 
incredible, raw over our lives? 

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Beautiful guy? 
The title of this morning's 

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message is it's the destination,
not the journey. 

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It's the destination, not the 
journey. 

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And we've been enjoying this 
incredible Symphony that is 

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Romans Chapter 8. 
And as we approach now the final

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movement of this great Symphony,
we've got to, we've got to 

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anticipate something great. 
We've got to have something well

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up within our hearts that 
expects something quite 

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incredible, something quite 
different. 

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You see, the orchestra has given
its absolute best. 

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We've heard the trumpet blast go
out. 

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There's no condemnation. 
Come on, there's no 

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condemnation. 
That's my best trumpet noise, so

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try again. 
That was better. 

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Hey, OK, we've heard the string 
section singing in the beautiful

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song of adoption and of 
inheritance. 

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And we've heard the drum beat of
the spirit constantly saying 

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live sanctified walk by the 
spirit. 

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And then the melody that's 
created in the unification of 

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our spirits and his that cries 
out ABBA Father and helps us 

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during hardship and suffering. 
And now the music is changing. 

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It's almost as if the lights go 
dim, the orchestra shuffles in 

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anticipation and turns the page 
as we get ready for the grand 

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finale. 
See, good music has dynamics, 

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but truly great pieces of music 
create this tension that creates

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this anticipation. 
It's almost as if it sucks you 

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into this vacuum before the 
release. 

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And so too does Paul, with the 
heart of a pastor, with the 

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heart of 1 longing for the 
church to understand all the 

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things that have been laid 
before, before the church longs 

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for them to grasp. 
It invites us to pause and 

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reflect. 
And he begins his final argument

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as a master communicator with 
this most profound and important

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question. 
What then shall we say in 

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response to these things? 
What then, dear 3 CR, shall we 

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say in response to these things?
This is not a closed question 

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with yes and no answers. 
There's not a hypothetical 

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question. 
It's not a rhetorical one. 

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This is a probing, reflective 
question, one that demands a 

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response like the cry of a 
newborn baby. 

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That was a bad one as well. 
Hey, sure, it's been a while 

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since I've had a little baby. 
I didn't even know how that 

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sound anymore. 
Thank goodness that is better, 

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but it's like a cry of a newborn
baby designed to grab our 

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attention and husbands you. 
You will recognize this type of 

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question because it usually 
comes on a Saturday afternoon, 

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just as you sit down to enjoy a 
little bit of sport. 

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And you might have your favorite
beverage in the left hand, some 

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snacks on the right. 
And you're flicking through the 

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Formula One, the cricket, the 
soccer, And there might even be 

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a little fire that's going on in
the outside and and you're just 

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thinking, life could not get any
better. 

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This is bliss. 
And in that moment, you just 

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hear this sweet, familiar voice.
Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, do you see 

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that the guts are still leaking?
Kai Kai, have you seen that now 

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the damp is rising up the wall? 
And can you hear, can you hear 

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the dishwasher? 
The dishwasher is making exactly

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the same noise it was making a 
few months ago. 

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And why does it come back now? 
It's making the same sound. 

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And last night, then the the 
alarm went off. 

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Did you remember? 
And you said it could be the 

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batteries in the sensor. 
Have you gone and checked the 

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sensor? 
Because I am not staying in this

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house when you are going away 
with the alarm going off in the 

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middle of the night. 
Kai, Kai, what is your response 

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to these things now? 
Just a little bit of marriage 

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advice. 
These are not hypothetical 

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questions. 
They're not rhetorical ones. 

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And you might be fooled into 
thinking that they're multiple 

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choice because there's like, 
there's like a lot of them. 

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There's they're just, they're 
coming at you like boom, boom, 

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boom, boom, boom. 
And you think I need to choose 

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one? 
Nope, don't choose them. 

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See, all of these are probing, 
reflective questions that demand

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action. 
They demand a verdict. 

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They demand a response. 
And so too, Paul is saying to 

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us, I need your verdict. 
I need your verdict 3 CR. 

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What then shall we say to these 
things? 

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And today the Holy Spirit is 
asking us this question. 

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None of Romans 8 makes sense if 
we don't have the Holy Spirit 

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illuminating this message deeply
within us. 

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I love the word the King James 
uses. 

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Quickens. 
Don't know if you've come across

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it. 
The Holy Spirit quickens our 

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souls. 
The Holy Spirit quickens the 

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words that I give you, and 
quickens means to be made alive,

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spiritually revitalized. 
The Holy Spirit bringing about 

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is spiritual awakening, it's 
revival. 

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It's revival and revival starts 
in here. 

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Now you may have come across 
this, but quickening is often 

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used in pregnancy and quickening
there is referred to as the 

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first feeling of fetal movement,
often referred to as a gentle 

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tapping. 
And we're pregnant with the 

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message of Romans 8 and the Holy
Spirit is tapping on our hearts.

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It's tapping on our bellies 
saying I want to bring this word

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to life. 
I want you to give birth to a 

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three CI so that it can impact 
your lives, so it can impact 

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your family, so they can impact 
Pretoria in South Africa. 

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I want to bring about a 
quickening. 

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I want to bring about revival in
your lives. 

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What then shall we say to these 
things? 

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The problem is that in all of us
we have the Sunday person who is

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the yes person. 
I've got the message. 

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But then we have the the Monday 
person who's the yes but person 

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Yes, but the one that feels 
completely different when the 

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reality and the burden of Monday
comes along. 

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Am I right? 
Who loves a Monday morning? 

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Anyone. 
Oh, there we go. 

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You don't mind it? 
OK. 

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Do you love it there? 
OK, Well, the OK for the 95% of 

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the rest of us, no one really 
loves a Monday morning. 

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It's tough. 
It's hard. 

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And the Monday person says this.
I hear what you're saying that 

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there is no condemnation, but 
why do I still feel so guilty? 

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Why do I still feel dirty? 
And the Monday person says, and 

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I know what you're saying that 
I've been adopted, but I feel so

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alone. 
Why do I feel lonely if I've 

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been adopted into a family? 
And the Monday person says, I 

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understand that you say that 
nothing can separate me and that

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God loves me. 
But have you seen what my life 

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is like? 
Have you seen all the bad things

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that happened to me on a daily 
basis, all the suffering that 

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I'm going through? 
Surely that's proof. 

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Surely that's proof that God 
doesn't love me. 

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You want a verdict? 
You're asking me for a response 

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this morning, but I'm not 
convinced. 

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I'm not convinced. 
So Paul, in this final movement 

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of this grand Symphony of 
Romans, chapter 8, says fan 

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pause. 
Stop. 

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You don't have to answer yet. 
I've got one final trick up my 

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sleeve. 
I'm not afraid of your doubt. 

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In fact, I'm inviting you to 
lean into it. 

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In fact, I already know what you
are concerned about. 

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You are wondering, can God 
really be powerful enough to 

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save me? 
You are wondering, am I really 

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free, or can someone still come 
and convict me? 

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And you are wondering if 
anything can still separate me 

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from the love of God. 
And God is so kind. 

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He acknowledges the reality of 
our struggles and our fears. 

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He doesn't skirt over them. 
He's not afraid of our doubt and

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neither should we be. 
So can we this morning, over the

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next 15 minutes or so, lean 
together into the dart and 

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invite the Holy Spirit to come 
and consider. 

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We might consider, is there 
anything left that is preventing

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me this morning from responding 
to this message? 

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So, Holy Spirit, I asked you to 
come. 

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You're tapping on our hearts. 
You're tapping on our bellies. 

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Would you help us to overcome 
any lingering doubt that we 

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might have so that we might be 
persuaded and convinced that 

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nothing can separate us from the
love of God? 

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Thank you, Jesus, Amen. 
So doubt number one. 

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And Paul starts off like this. 
He says, if God is for us, who 

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can be against us? 
In other words, can anyone or 

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anything oppose God's plan of 
salvation for us? 

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We might still feel and still 
ask, is God really strong enough

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to bring about this plan of 
salvation? 

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Is He really strong enough to 
save me? 

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So let me show you this morning 
how He is the only one that can 

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save us. 
First, let's consider whose plan

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it is. 
And the answer there is it is 

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God's plan. 
It is God's plan of salvation. 

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It's not yours. 
It's not man. 

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It's not the church's plan. 
It's not some government's plan.

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It's not some powerful man's 
plan. 

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It's not the King's plan. 
It's not even your favorite 

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artist's plan. 
It's God's plan. 

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The creator of the universe of 
all things seen and unseen, the 

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all powerful, omnipotent God. 
It's his plan of salvation. 

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I remember at the beginning of 
my engineering career, I was a 

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line manager at the Maiden Wharf
Soap Factory. 

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And you would think that keeping
a soap factory was an easy task.

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Clean was an easy task. 
Don't you think that would be 

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like pretty, pretty easy? 
But actually it was very, very 

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difficult. 
You see, the way soap works is 

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that dirt sticks to soap and 
then soap sticks to water and 

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then it's washed away and you 
are clean and you all went OK. 

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That was like a revelation to 
me, OK, a few years ago, I'm 

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00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,200
sorry if you're all new IT, but 
basically dirt sticks to soap, 

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soap sticks to water, and you 
become clean. 

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The problem is, is that if you 
don't set up the machines 

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correctly, it's just the 
shavings that flow all over the 

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place. 
And then if there's a jam like 

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Spaghettis all over the place, 
and if you don't deal with it, 

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then the whole place just 
becomes a dirty slip and slide. 

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And along comes young Buckeye. 
This is my first management 

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leadership job. 
Very excited. 

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Going to be an easy task for me 
to motivate the team so that 

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they're going to clean the line 
and set it up correctly every 

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single day. 
And they just looked at me like 

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I was some stranger from another
universe and I tried everything.

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Inspirational quotes. 
You know, those posters you get,

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00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,320
you know, I stuck them up in the
team room, the one with the cat 

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hanging on the on the tree, just
hang in there. 

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Things like that. 
But nothing worked. 

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Nothing worked. 
They just didn't take me 

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seriously. 
And then the one morning I 

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arrived and I was completely 
aghast because I walked into a 

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spotless, well organized, 
perfect production line and I 

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was like, what happened? 
See, unbeknownst to me, the 

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plant manager the night before 
decided to take a walkabout 

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before he went home. 
And he was a short little man 

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with a very mean temper. 
He had been around the block and

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then around the block again, and
then had made the block. 

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We used to call him the Poison 
Dwarf. 

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00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,000
You know what you're dealing 
with. 

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If you're calling him the Poison
Dwarf, you did not mess with 

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Adam. 
You just did not. 

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And after his, let's just call 
it an intervention, the night 

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shift made sure that the line 
was absolutely spotless. 

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You see, Adam carried a 
different authority to me. 

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He was the boss of bosses boss. 
He made the calls. 

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And no matter what we do what we
can try and clean up the mess in

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our own lives, but we just don't
have the authority and the power

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to wash away our own sin. 
Only the one who has all 

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authority and all power can. 
It is God's plan of salvation. 

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And Paul to to drive this point 
home, says this. 

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Paul says just consider how 
much. 

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God sacrificed in putting this 
plan together. 

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He who did not spare his own 
son, He. 

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After sacrificing so much, why 
would he give up at the 

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finishing line? 
It's like running the Comrades 

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Marathon. 
You've trained for two years to 

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run it. 
You've made a good time. 

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You're 10 meters to go with an 
hour still before cut off and 

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you decide, no, I'm just going 
to walk off into the crowd. 

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You wouldn't do it, it's 
unthinkable and God, having 

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sacrificed so much, would not 
walk away from you. 

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The second bit of doubt that we 
might have is that surely 

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someone can still convict me. 
Surely someone can still condemn

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me if they knew my thoughts, if 
they knew my behavior, how I 

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acted, if the deeds that I've 
done, the way I spoke to my 

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wife, the thoughts I had about 
that person, the doubt that I 

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have, surely if these come to 
light, they will be able to 

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convict me. 
And here Paul says, let's look 

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at the legal argument. 
Let's take a look and see what's

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transpiring in the courtroom of 
heaven. 

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You see it as Jesus who 
intercedes for us. 

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It is Jesus who stands at the 
right hand of the Father and 

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pleads our case. 
It is Jesus that is our 

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advocate. 
And you might be wondering, why 

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is this important? 
It's a really nice sentiment. 

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Thanks, Jesus. 
You know, like fist bump shot, 

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bro, you know, you got my back. 
That's really cool. 

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But what is the significance of 
it being Jesus that stands and 

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pleads our case? 
Well, it's important and it's 

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significant because he is the 
only one, the only one who can 

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present the evidence to get us 
acquitted. 

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He is the only one that can 
present the evidence to get us 

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acquitted. 
I love that song. 

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We don't often sing it here, but
I sing it a ton, a ton at home. 

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It's it's come touch my hands. 
Come touch my side. 

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I'll show you where they laid 
me. 

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You'll see the grave is empty. 
So come touch my hands and come 

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touch my side. 
I'll show you where they laid 

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me. 
You'll see the grave is empty 

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and the father turns to us and 
says based on the evidence 

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presented, his hands, his side, 
the empty grave, your sins are 

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forgiven. 
Welcome to paradise. 

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Who can convict, who can bring a
charge? 

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Who can say to Jesus, you didn't
die, you weren't roses, you 

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didn't rise again? 
Who? 

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The answer is no one, no one, no
one, Three CR. 

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And the last little bit of doubt
that you might have is you might

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00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:31,480
wonder, can anything separate me
from the love of God? 

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00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:38,400
Can anything drive a wedge that 
just gets bigger and bigger 

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00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,680
between me and God's love? 
What about trouble? 

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00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,480
What about hardship? 
Persecution. 

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00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:59,800
Famine, nakedness. 
Danger, sword? 

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00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,240
Pretty exhaustive list, don't 
you think? 

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What about if you feel like 
you're a lamb to the slaughter? 

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00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:16,840
That your life is so hard that 
it feels like it's just leading 

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00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:21,000
you down a path just to be taken
out? 

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00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:27,680
That you're like a sitting duck,
taking shot after shot after 

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00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,640
shot with no recourse, no 
ability to escape. 

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00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:44,960
What about if your life is so 
good, you've got everything? 

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00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:57,800
Number one attorney in Pretoria.
Massive business on the side of 

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00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,080
the N1. 
What about your life has become 

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00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,720
so comfortable that you've grown
complacent? 

301
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:11,280
There's nothing to fight for. 
Has led to unbelief. 

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00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,600
Can unbelief separate me from 
the love of God? 

303
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:28,720
And God says no, neither death 
nor life, neither angels nor 

304
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:34,120
demons, neither the present 
today or the future tomorrow, 

305
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:40,320
neither powers, neither hearts 
the hearts of our lives, the 

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00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,480
depths of despair, nor anything 
else. 

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00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:49,520
Anything else in all of creation
is able to separate us from the 

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00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,440
love of God. 
Are you convinced? 

309
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:58,040
3 CR Are you convinced? 
Are you persuaded? 

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00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:03,480
Still not convinced? 
Let me tell you how much God 

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00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,760
loves you. 
A good man? 

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00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:13,320
No. 
A really, really good man might 

313
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:18,480
conclude that he should forgive 
the person who murdered his 

314
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,240
child. 
That would be a very good man. 

315
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,480
Would you agree? 
An incredibly good man to be 

316
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:31,640
able to stand in front of the 
murderer and say I forgive you. 

317
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,280
We saw Charlie Cook's wife do it
at the funeral. 

318
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:45,800
But you know, it's quite another
thing to then look that murderer

319
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:52,200
in the eye and say you are 
adopted into my family. 

320
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:58,600
It's quite another thing to look
that murderer in the eye and say

321
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:05,000
come and live in my house, not 
the servants quarters. 

322
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,680
Come and live in this bedroom 
that I have prepared for you. 

323
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:16,080
Come and enjoy every single 
right that you have as a child 

324
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:22,680
in this house, a full air, and 
come and enjoy the inheritance 

325
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,840
that I have prepared for you, 
all the riches of this family, 

326
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,160
for you and your kind. 
From this day forward, you will 

327
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:39,400
get to enjoy them. 
It goes beyond our human 

328
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:45,560
understanding. 
We cannot fathom it, but this is

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00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:51,880
the insurmountable, inseparable 
love of God. 

330
00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:00,720
What then shall we say in 
response to these things? 

331
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:08,840
Don't let anyone fool you. 3 CI 
as struggling sheep, facing 

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00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:13,720
trials all day long, feeling 
abandoned and maybe as if God 

333
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:19,840
doesn't love you. 
No matter what the others try 

334
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:25,440
and tell you, no matter what the
world tries to tell you. 

335
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:30,960
It's the destination, not the 
journey. 

336
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:38,160
It's the destination, not the 
journey. 

337
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:46,560
We get it so wrong. 
We always focus on the journey, 

338
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:54,920
on the experience, what my life 
should be like here on earth. 

339
00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:00,920
And we think that our Christian 
walk starts and ends here on 

340
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:07,520
earth, and we are more than 
conquerors because we understand

341
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,320
that it is the destination and 
not the journey. 

342
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:18,440
And one day, when all is said 
and done and our lives are no 

343
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:26,240
more than smoke and we stand in 
that place of judgement with 

344
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:32,280
Jesus as our Advocate, we will 
understand without a shadow of a

345
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:38,880
doubt that it is only the 
destination that matters. 

346
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:46,680
So as we begin to conclude this 
great Symphony that is Romans 

347
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:53,000
chapter 8, do you have a 
clearview of eternity? 

348
00:30:55,600 --> 00:31:03,160
Are you persuaded? 
Are you convinced We sing that 

349
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,720
song all the time? 
When we arrive at Eternity 

350
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:13,680
Shore, where death is but a 
memory and tears are no more, 

351
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:18,400
we'll enter in as the wedding 
bells ring. 

352
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,840
The bride will come together and
we'll sing. 

353
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:31,160
You're beautiful. 
What then, my dear? 

354
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:37,240
3 CR shall we do in response to 
these things? 

355
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:39,240
Amen.