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The Last Walk

Touching Lives with James Merritt

February 14, 2021

27:29

Touching Lives is the international broadcast ministry of Dr. James Merritt.

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The Last Walk

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...
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male announcer: This program ispaid for by the friends and
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partners of "Touching Lives."
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Welcome to the internationalbroadcast ministry of
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"Touching Lives,"with Dr. James Merritt.
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Here at "Touching Lives," ourmission is to touch the lives
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of the lost and enrichthe faith of the file.
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And now, here is Pastor, author,and speaker, Dr. James Merritt.
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♪♪♪
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James Merritt: We're in a serieswe're calling "Pitch Perfect,"
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we're in the book of Psalms, the23rd Psalm, I invite you to turn
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to that where you'rewatching right now.
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We're in the 4th verse today,and there's this one stanza that
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echoes the good professor righton key, he says exactly the same
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thing thousands of years ago.
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Listen to what he wrote.
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"Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death,
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I will fear no evil.
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For you are with me; yourrod and your staff, they
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comfort me."
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David hits us with two heavywords, evil and death.
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And too often, as we know, thosewords do go together.
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We face evil every day, and oneday, we're all going to face
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death, and between those twowords is that word fear.
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Now, I'll be honest with you.
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I find very few people who willadmit they're afraid of death.
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As a matter of fact, most peoplewill say well, I'm not afraid
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to die, well, I'm not afraid ofdeath, and I believe most people
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being honest.
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I can honestly say to you,I'm not afraid to die.
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But I think if we're all honest,we would say, you know, there is
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this fear of the unknownof death.
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Because let's face it, we onlyget to do it one time and we
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don't know what it's like untilwe do it and then we don't ever
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get to do it again.
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The eminent philosopher, thegreat, brilliant philosopher,
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Jerry Seinfeld, he said this.
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"According to the most studies,people's number one fear is
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public speaking, and numbertwo is death.
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That means to the average personif you have to go to a funeral,
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you're better off in the casketthan doing the eulogy."
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Now, that may be true, butwhether or not you fear death
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you do have to face it.
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And here's the cold hard truth.
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When we face death, we'rebasically going to face it one
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of two ways, with hope orwithout hope; you'll face it
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hopeful or you'll faceit hopeless.
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Either we believe in our heartsthat this life is all there is,
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or there is more to lifethan this life.
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And I want to be very candidparticularly if you're not
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a believer, if you're a skeptic,you're not into this
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Christian business.
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Let me tell you why I believeeverybody should at least stop
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and think and considerChristianity, because I don't
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know of any faith, any religion,any philosophy, any worldview,
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any spiritual concept that givesmore hope for death and more
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help for evil than Christianity.
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Because, if this verse is true,if what David wrote is true, to
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rephrase Winston Churchill,"Death is not the end, it's not
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even the beginning of the end,it's just the end of
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the beginning."
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I like to walk, Teresa and Ilike to walk our neighborhood.
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One of these days, we're allgoing to take what I call
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the last walk, and here'sthe bad news.
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Humanly speaking, you have totake that walk by yourself,
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nobody can take it with you,it's the walk with death.
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We don't know where, we don'tknow when, we don't know how,
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but we're going to takethat walk.
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So what I wanna do today, let'sdo what David did, let's look
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ahead to what that walk could belike and where that walk could
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lead, because here'sthe great news.
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If you know the God of life anddeath, the walk, the last walk
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you take will be the best walkyou'll ever take, and here's
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what David says.
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He says, number one, we walk tothe prospect of death.
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Every morning when you get up,you're walking closer and closer
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to death.
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Every morning when you get up,you're taking a step closer
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to death.
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So David says this, "Even thoughI walk through the valley of the
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shadow of death, I willfear no evil."
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Now you may not know this butI've been to Israel many times
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and there's actually a valley inIsrael, that's called the Valley
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of The Shadow of Death, it's asteep, dark, narrow canyon
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that's located about halfwaybetween Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
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This canyon, this valley is sodark that the sun can only reach
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it when it's directly overhead.
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As a matter of fact, this verseactually, literally says,
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"Though I walk through thevalley of deep darkness."
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I imagine David had been throughthat valley many, many times,
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and it's so fascinating to methat David compares death to
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walking through a valley of deepdarkness, and there's no doubt
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we're going to walkthrough that valley.
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You know, it's kind of strange.
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We have a little Boston Terrier,his name is Pocky.
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Pocky is 10 years old, she'sbasically blind, she has a lot
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of joint trouble now, andfrankly, she probably beginning
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that process of dying.
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Now, here's the strange thing.
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That little dog does not knowshe's dying but I know she's
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dying, and I know I'm dying, youknow you're dying, and the
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strange thing is human beingsare the only creatures on earth
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that realize they're goingto die, and we are.
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As a matter of fact, that word,though, "Even though I walk,"
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should be better translated,when, because death is not
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a question of whether, it isa question of when.
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Now keep this in mind, all we'retalking about this entire series
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is a shepherd and a sheep.
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And if you are a shepherd backin the day, you would really
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appreciate what Davidis saying here.
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Because there was a certain timeof the year when shepherds would
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lead their sheep from thelowlands up to the highlands.
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And the reason he would do thatis because, when it got hot, the
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snow on top of the mountainwould begin to melt and it will
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give fresh water and freshgrass, where the sheep could
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eat and drink.
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So there would be that certaintime of the year where the
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shepherd would know, alright,it's time to take the sheep from
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the lowlands to the highlands.
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Down through the valley, up tothe mountain, because down where
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they'd been for all thesemonths, the grass's now barren
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because of the summer sun,water had dried up.
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So he would take them up to thehighlands where it was cooler,
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where it was more refreshing.
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So the shepherd would lovinglyguide the sheep through the
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valley, up to the mountaintopwhere they could lie down beside
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green pastures and rest besidestill waters.
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Now, there's a reason why theshepherd always took the sheep
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through the valley; because thevalley was the only route to get
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to the mountaintop, the valleywas the only route to get
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to higher ground.
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You know, every mountainhas its valleys.
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If you've got mountains, you'veautomatically got valleys.
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And most of the time, if not allthe time, the best route, and
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sometimes the only route to thetop of the mountain is to go
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through the valley.
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That's why David said, "I walkthrough the valley."
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Now notice, he doesn't runthrough the valley, he doesn't
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run away from the valley, hecan't go over it, can't go
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around it, can't go under it, hehas to go through it, but here's
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what's interesting.
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He's in no hurry, he said,"I walk through the valley."
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Now, a valley is not a dead endstreet, it's not a cul-de-sac.
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You know what a valley is?
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Think about it this way.
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A valley is simply a tunnel thatis open at both ends, that's
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what a valley is; it has anentrance, it has an exit.
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Now listen to this nextstatement.
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Jesus said, "I am the light ofthe world," you say, what's that
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got to do with the valley?
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Well once you enter into thetunnel of death, listen, here's
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the Great News, you ready?
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Once you enter into the tunnelof death, if you know that
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shepherd, if he is your Lord,there's a light at the end of
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that tunnel and thatlight is Jesus.
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And David is not, now listen,David is not walking through the
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valley of death, he's walkingthrough the valley of the
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shadow of death.
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And you know what ashadow is, right?
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A shadow is an image withoutany substance.
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See, in a real sense, if you'rea follower of Jesus, this is
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such great news, if you're afollower of Jesus you will never
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face death, you'll only facethe shadow of death.
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That's why David can say, "Eventhough I walk through the valley
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of the shadow of death, I willfear no evil," because I'm not
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really facing death, I'm justfacing the shadow of death.
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David was saying death is justa shadow of its former self
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because of a risen Lord that hasconquered death once
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and for all.
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But here's the truth; we walkto the prospect of death.
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Folks say so what happens whenyou get there?
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We don't know when, don't knowwhere, we don't know how; maybe
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today, maybe tomorrow, but it'scoming; and all of a sudden you
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find yourself in the tunnel, youfind yourself in the valley.
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Then what?
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Now watch this.
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David says we not only walk tothe prospect of death, he says
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when we do, we walk in thepresence of the Lord, we walk in
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the presence of the Lord.
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David is walking confidently tothe prospect of death, no fear
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of any evil whether it comesto life or death.
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How could he do that?
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How can he be so confident?
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How can he be so bold?
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How could he be so calm?
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Because of four words,here they are.
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"You are with me,""You are with me."
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Now, I want you to notice theshift in David's vocabulary in
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the beginning of this Psalmup to this point.
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Because up until now, if youread that Psalm, go back to
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the 1st verse and read the first3 verses, you and I are
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the audience.
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He's talking to us and he'stalking about God, God has been
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the topic.
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So we read the verses this way.
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"The Lord is my shepherd," thirdperson, "He makes me lie down,"
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third person, "He leads mebeside still waters.
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He restores my soul: he leads mein the paths of righteousness."
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It's all in the third person,it's always about God.
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So he's talking about theshepherd, he's talking to us,
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God is listening.
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But in verse 4, he changes, hemoves from the third person
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to the second person.
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He's no longer talking about theshepherd, he's talking to
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the shepherd.
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He was talking to us and God waslistening, now he's talking to
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God and we're listening.
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He said, "You are with me."
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See, David knew that sheep neverever go through valleys alone.
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You know why?
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You know why sheep don't don'tgo through valleys alone?
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They'll never make it to themountaintop, they won't make it
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through the valley,you know why?
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They'll die, they're literallydefenseless, and the shepherd
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is always the security and thesupply and the safety
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of the sheep.
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And remember, we're walkingthrough the Valley of the
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Shadow of Death.
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Let me go back to that wordshadow for just a moment.
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Have you everthought about this?
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I'm looking at my shadow rightnow, I'm looking on the floor,
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I see my shadow.
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You know what that tells me?
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I'm surrounded by light.
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You cannot have a shadow if youdon't have light, anytime
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there's a shadowthere's a light.
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Have you ever heard of peoplewho are afraid of their
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own shadows?
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If you're one of those kind ofpeople, you're just ,you know,
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you're skittish, you're nervous,you're afraid of everything;
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you're afraid of yourown shadow.
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The next time you get scared ofyour own shadow, let me tell you
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what to do.
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All you have to do if you'reafraid of your shadow is real
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simply, real simple.
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Turn your back on your shadowand just look to the light.
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Guess what happens?
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The moment you turn your back onthe shadow and look to the
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light, you're now looking at thelight before you and the shadow
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falls behind you.
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By the way, let me tell youanother great thing about
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a shadow.
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If you ever see your shadow thenyou already automatically know
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something else has to be true:you're not walking in darkness,
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you're walking in light, becauseyou can't see your shadow if
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you're in complete darkness.
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So anytime I see my shadow, Iknow I'm walking in light.
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That's why it's always betterfor the sheep to be in the
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valley with the shepherd than tobe on the mountaintop without
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the shepherds.
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Those four words are alwaystrue, David said, "You are
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with me."
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Those words arealways 100% true.
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No matter where I am, God isalways with me; no matter what
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I'm doing, God isalways with me.
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If nature runs its course, ifthings go like I think they're
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supposed to go and will go, oneof these days I'm gonna leave my
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wife, one of these days I'mgoing to leave my boys, one of
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these days I'm going to leave mygrandchildren, but God will
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never leave me, Godwill always be with me.
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No matter where you are, nomatter what you're doing, if you
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know the shepherd, he is alwayswith you, he will never
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leave you.
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See, when you leave this Earth,you don't leave God's presence,
00:14:05.368 --> 00:14:09.605
you take God's presence withyou, because wherever you go
00:14:09.605 --> 00:14:13.342
he is the Good Shepherd.
00:14:13.342 --> 00:14:15.311
Now let me tell you something'strue about a shepherd.
00:14:15.311 --> 00:14:17.613
This next thing I'm about to saywill be worth you listening
00:14:17.613 --> 00:14:19.949
today, you ready?
00:14:19.949 --> 00:14:23.119
A shepherd will never lead thesheep where he has not
00:14:23.119 --> 00:14:28.324
already been.
00:14:28.324 --> 00:14:30.426
He will never lead the sheepwhere he has not already been.
00:14:30.426 --> 00:14:36.232
I'm gonna tell you somethingthat I have preached all of my
00:14:36.232 --> 00:14:38.634
life and I still don'tunderstand it.
00:14:38.634 --> 00:14:41.137
I'm going to tell you somethingI have preached all of my life
00:14:41.137 --> 00:14:43.239
and I believe it with all of mybeing but I still can't get my
00:14:43.239 --> 00:14:46.108
mind around it.
00:14:46.108 --> 00:14:47.443
I'm gonna tell you something Ipreached all of my life and I
00:14:47.443 --> 00:14:49.712
will never deny it and you can'tmake me deny it, y'all, you
00:14:49.712 --> 00:14:52.248
could kill me before I would,but I still sometimes
00:14:52.248 --> 00:14:56.319
really don't get it.
00:14:56.319 --> 00:14:57.653
You ready for this?
00:14:57.653 --> 00:14:59.288
This shepherd, this God himselfwent before we through the
00:14:59.288 --> 00:15:06.395
Valley of the Shadow of Death.
00:15:06.395 --> 00:15:09.231
He did it, he went through theValley of the Shadow of Death.
00:15:09.231 --> 00:15:13.336
That same valley that one daywe're going to go through, he's
00:15:13.336 --> 00:15:17.840
going to go through, but he cameout on the other side.
00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:23.212
Matter of fact, he came backphysically from the dead, and do
00:15:23.212 --> 00:15:25.514
you know why?
00:15:25.514 --> 00:15:26.882
Are you ready for this?
00:15:26.882 --> 00:15:28.217
Because darkness can'thold light, light always
00:15:28.217 --> 00:15:31.821
conquers darkness.
00:15:31.821 --> 00:15:33.422
Jesus is the light of the world,who, right now, is staying in
00:15:33.422 --> 00:15:39.595
us, who's shouting before us,who is standing with us.
00:15:39.595 --> 00:15:43.432
That's why no believerever dies alone.
00:15:43.432 --> 00:15:46.469
I was reading the other day,about a sad story really, about
00:15:46.469 --> 00:15:49.739
a young mother who got thecoronavirus and she died, and
00:15:49.739 --> 00:15:53.542
her family could not visit herand they said she died alone.
00:15:53.542 --> 00:15:57.079
I was reading that onlinethe other day and I thought
00:15:57.079 --> 00:15:59.915
to myself, "Not ifshe knew Jesus."
00:15:59.915 --> 00:16:02.685
If you are a believer, if youknow the shepherd you never die
00:16:02.685 --> 00:16:06.722
alone, God is always with us.
00:16:06.722 --> 00:16:10.993
So yes, we walk to the prospectof death, don't know when,
00:16:10.993 --> 00:16:15.731
where, how, but one day, I meanin the blink of an eye you're in
00:16:15.731 --> 00:16:20.036
the tunnel, you're in thevision, you're in the valley.
00:16:20.036 --> 00:16:24.273
But we walk in thepresence of the Lord.
00:16:24.273 --> 00:16:28.444
Because I'm telling you Ibelieve more than even in this
00:16:28.444 --> 00:16:31.080
life, the moment you take yourbreath, your last breath, you're
00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:34.283
gonna experience the presence ofthe shepherd and this presence
00:16:34.283 --> 00:16:37.053
of God like you've never felt itbefore; but it gets even better.
00:16:37.053 --> 00:16:42.158
As we walk to the prospectof death, as we walk in the
00:16:42.158 --> 00:16:46.162
presence of the Lord, here's whywe don't have to fear any evil,
00:16:46.162 --> 00:16:49.832
watch this.
00:16:49.832 --> 00:16:51.200
We walk with the protection ofthe shepherd, we walk with the
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:56.038
protection the shepherd.
00:16:56.038 --> 00:16:58.607
See, there are two bookends toour days, which is why we should
00:16:58.607 --> 00:17:03.446
never fear life or death, neverfear anything in life or fear
00:17:03.446 --> 00:17:08.651
anything after life, never fearwhat we're going through in life
00:17:08.651 --> 00:17:12.288
or even in death because notonly do we have the presence
00:17:12.288 --> 00:17:15.691
of the Lord, we have theprotection of the Shepherd.
00:17:15.691 --> 00:17:19.762
Listen to what he says.
00:17:19.762 --> 00:17:21.297
He says, "Your rod and yourstaff, they comfort me."
00:17:21.297 --> 00:17:29.371
Now a shepherd always carriedtwo things, he never went
00:17:29.371 --> 00:17:35.845
anywhere without thesetwo things, never.
00:17:35.845 --> 00:17:38.981
He always had a rod andhe always had a staff.
00:17:38.981 --> 00:17:46.489
Now, a shepherd carried a rodbecause when a shepherd began
00:17:46.489 --> 00:17:49.658
to guide his flock he would gointo the bush, here's what he
00:17:49.658 --> 00:17:52.895
would do, he would cut down ayoung sapling and he would carve
00:17:52.895 --> 00:17:58.167
it and he would widdle itand with great care.
00:17:58.167 --> 00:18:01.470
And then he would take theenlarged base of that sampling,
00:18:01.470 --> 00:18:05.307
this base right here where thetrunk would join the root, and
00:18:05.307 --> 00:18:10.779
it would be shaped, he wouldshape it into this smooth,
00:18:10.779 --> 00:18:13.482
rounded head of hardwood.
00:18:13.482 --> 00:18:15.551
It'd be anywhere from one tothree feet long, something about
00:18:15.551 --> 00:18:18.487
like this, and it would beshaped to fit the shepherd's
00:18:18.487 --> 00:18:21.524
hand perfectly.
00:18:21.524 --> 00:18:22.858
He could just walk, it was veryeasy to walk with it, he never
00:18:22.858 --> 00:18:25.194
ever let it go, it wasalways in his hand.
00:18:25.194 --> 00:18:28.464
That rod became an extension ofthe shepherd's right arm, it was
00:18:28.464 --> 00:18:31.967
a symbol of strengthand a symbol or power.
00:18:31.967 --> 00:18:35.104
Now what was thepurpose of the rod?
00:18:35.104 --> 00:18:36.705
It only had one purpose.
00:18:36.705 --> 00:18:38.073
The purpose of the rod was toguard the sheep to make sure
00:18:38.073 --> 00:18:41.544
that no danger cameto the sheep.
00:18:41.544 --> 00:18:43.679
As a matter of fact, sometimes ashepherd would take that rod and
00:18:43.679 --> 00:18:46.982
he would go to the smooth part,he would drive pieces of metal
00:18:46.982 --> 00:18:50.653
into that knob.
00:18:50.653 --> 00:18:53.022
And just think about it, withthis weapon, he could kill
00:18:53.022 --> 00:18:56.625
bears, lions, wolves, snakes,any kind of wild animal at all.
00:18:56.625 --> 00:19:04.667
And whenever the sheep would seethat rod there'd be this
00:19:04.667 --> 00:19:09.305
calmness, there'd be this peacebecause they knew that shepherd
00:19:09.305 --> 00:19:14.343
could protect themfrom any evil.
00:19:14.343 --> 00:19:15.978
They do that as long as theshepherd was there and he
00:19:15.978 --> 00:19:18.881
had his rod, they wouldalways be protected.
00:19:18.881 --> 00:19:23.452
But then the shepherdhad a staff.
00:19:23.452 --> 00:19:27.823
Now, where the rod was to guardthe sheep, the staff was to
00:19:27.823 --> 00:19:33.562
guide the sheep; the rod was toprotect the sheep, the staff was
00:19:33.562 --> 00:19:39.301
to direct the sheep.
00:19:39.301 --> 00:19:41.503
And he needed it because whensheep are going up the side of
00:19:41.503 --> 00:19:44.240
a mountain, they'd be close to adangerous path or they'd be on a
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:49.078
difficult path, and theycould easily fall off.
00:19:49.078 --> 00:19:51.614
And so again, here goes thesheep, he take maybe the sheep
00:19:51.614 --> 00:19:55.484
and he just kind of guide thatsheep back, "Nope, you can't
00:19:55.484 --> 00:19:58.220
go that way."
00:19:58.220 --> 00:19:59.588
Now if the sheep were stubborn,and trust me, sheep
00:19:59.588 --> 00:20:01.023
are stubborn.
00:20:01.023 --> 00:20:02.358
If the sheep are stubborn, hecould just hook the crook of
00:20:02.358 --> 00:20:05.494
this staff around the sheep'sneck and literally just pull him
00:20:05.494 --> 00:20:08.897
back into line, becausesometimes a sheep would wander
00:20:08.897 --> 00:20:11.934
off and they just didn'tknow any better.
00:20:11.934 --> 00:20:14.236
So it was the shepherd's job tomake sure that they all stayed
00:20:14.236 --> 00:20:17.606
together, so this was the toolthat he would use to do that.
00:20:17.606 --> 00:20:22.011
Sometimes a sheep, you know, hecan't watch them all the time
00:20:22.011 --> 00:20:25.447
you know, at every moment,sometimes that sheep might slip
00:20:25.447 --> 00:20:28.617
and he might slip over steepravine or he might get tangled
00:20:28.617 --> 00:20:31.520
in a thorn bush or stumbleinto a rocky creek bed.
00:20:31.520 --> 00:20:34.790
And then that shepherd wouldjust very gently, very expertly
00:20:34.790 --> 00:20:38.894
take this crook, he put it intothe belly of that lamb or that
00:20:38.894 --> 00:20:43.032
sheep, he gently pull that sheepup, sometimes maybe by the nape
00:20:43.032 --> 00:20:48.771
of the neck, and he pull himback into the fold.
00:20:48.771 --> 00:20:52.074
He would make sure that thatsheep was taken care of and that
00:20:52.074 --> 00:20:55.678
that sheep was protected.
00:20:55.678 --> 00:20:57.246
Now, here's the point, here'swhat David was saying.
00:20:57.246 --> 00:21:02.284
If you walk with God throughyour life, if you follow Jesus
00:21:02.284 --> 00:21:08.857
as your shepherd, if you want tobe one of his sheep, he says
00:21:08.857 --> 00:21:15.064
I'll walk with you through lifeand I'll walk with you in death,
00:21:15.064 --> 00:21:21.003
and you don't have to fearanything on either side of
00:21:21.003 --> 00:21:24.139
the valley because I've gota rod that's gonna protect you
00:21:24.139 --> 00:21:30.045
and I've got a shepherd's crookthat's going to direct you.
00:21:30.045 --> 00:21:33.449
You know, one of my favoriteverses in the book of Psalms is
00:21:33.449 --> 00:21:37.286
Psalm 116:15, here'swhat it says.
00:21:37.286 --> 00:21:41.824
"Precious in the sight of theLord is the death of his
00:21:41.824 --> 00:21:46.695
faithful servants."
00:21:46.695 --> 00:21:48.063
I want you to think about that.
00:21:48.063 --> 00:21:49.398
"Precious in the sight of theLord is the death of his
00:21:49.398 --> 00:21:53.235
faithful servants."
00:21:53.235 --> 00:21:54.603
By the way, the word preciousthere, it doesn't mean, so much,
00:21:54.603 --> 00:21:57.106
valuable, that word literallymeans carefully attended to
00:21:57.106 --> 00:22:01.543
and watched over.
00:22:01.543 --> 00:22:02.878
See, here's thebeautiful picture.
00:22:02.878 --> 00:22:04.713
One of these days I'm gonna takethat last walk or one of these
00:22:04.713 --> 00:22:07.082
days you're going to take thatlast walk, but when you do it
00:22:07.082 --> 00:22:12.454
will be in God's time, it willbe in God's sight, it will be
00:22:12.454 --> 00:22:18.227
with God's presence and itwill be in God's protection.
00:22:18.227 --> 00:22:23.432
I want to close with this, thiswill be worth the whole price
00:22:23.432 --> 00:22:25.934
of admission.
00:22:25.934 --> 00:22:28.370
A thousand years after Davidwrote these words, another
00:22:28.370 --> 00:22:33.842
Bethlehem shepherd came along,he was called the Good Shepherd,
00:22:33.842 --> 00:22:38.480
he said this.
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:40.916
He said, "My Father's househas many rooms.
00:22:40.916 --> 00:22:45.120
If that were not so, would Ihave told you that I'm going
00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:48.390
there to preparea place for you?
00:22:48.390 --> 00:22:50.959
And if I go and prepare a placefor you," now listen to this,
00:22:50.959 --> 00:22:56.432
"I will come back and take youto be with me, that you also
00:22:56.432 --> 00:23:02.137
may be where I am."
00:23:02.137 --> 00:23:05.707
I want you to listen to whatJesus just said, you talk about
00:23:05.707 --> 00:23:07.943
a promise.
00:23:07.943 --> 00:23:10.479
He said I'm leavingyou right now.
00:23:10.479 --> 00:23:13.482
By the way, you'll still have ashepherd, he's the Holy Spirit,
00:23:13.482 --> 00:23:17.119
but I'm leaving you right now,I'm going to prepare a place
00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:19.588
for you.
00:23:19.588 --> 00:23:21.156
But he said when it's time foryou to leave this earth and come
00:23:21.156 --> 00:23:25.561
home, I'm going to come backand take you to be with me.
00:23:25.561 --> 00:23:31.567
If you don't think your death isa big deal to Jesus, if you
00:23:31.567 --> 00:23:36.071
don't think your death isprecious in the eyes of God
00:23:36.071 --> 00:23:39.675
think about it this way.
00:23:39.675 --> 00:23:41.777
Jesus doesn't delegate this taskto anybody else, he says when
00:23:41.777 --> 00:23:46.915
it's time for you to cross thevalley, he said I'll come
00:23:46.915 --> 00:23:51.220
get you.
00:23:51.220 --> 00:23:52.688
When it's time for you to enterinto that tunnel, he says, when
00:23:52.688 --> 00:23:57.793
it's time for you to come homeI'm personally going to come
00:23:57.793 --> 00:24:01.163
and pick you up.
00:24:01.163 --> 00:24:04.533
The Lord may send a missionaryto preach to you, he may send
00:24:04.533 --> 00:24:08.504
a teacher to guide you, he maysend a doctor to heal you, he
00:24:08.504 --> 00:24:13.108
may send a friend to encourageyou but he doesn't send anybody
00:24:13.108 --> 00:24:18.447
to take you home, he doesn'tsend anybody to walk with you
00:24:18.447 --> 00:24:22.551
through the valley ofthe shadow of death.
00:24:22.551 --> 00:24:25.420
He says you know what, I'mreserving that job for myself,
00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:29.525
I'm going to do it with you.
00:24:29.525 --> 00:24:33.095
So one day, when we take thatlast walk to death, we're going
00:24:33.095 --> 00:24:37.866
to enter into this valley ofdeep darkness but the light
00:24:37.866 --> 00:24:42.671
of the world will be with us;his rod will guard us, his staff
00:24:42.671 --> 00:24:49.912
will guide us.
00:24:49.912 --> 00:24:51.246
And oh, by the way, it's areally short walk, it's
00:24:51.246 --> 00:24:56.919
only two steps.
00:24:56.919 --> 00:24:58.954
One step, you leave this world,and the next step, you enter his
00:24:58.954 --> 00:25:04.826
world, and because of Jesus,that last walk will be
00:25:04.826 --> 00:25:10.399
the best walk you've ever taken.
00:25:10.399 --> 00:25:13.902
male announcer: To watchan extended version of today's
00:25:13.902 --> 00:25:15.837
message from Dr. James Merritt,go to TouchingLives.org.
00:25:15.837 --> 00:25:22.311
James Merritt: Big question:have you and your spouse been
00:25:22.311 --> 00:25:23.979
spending more time together thanyou thought possible these
00:25:23.979 --> 00:25:26.715
last few months?
00:25:26.715 --> 00:25:28.050
You have no doubt learned morethings about each other,
00:25:28.050 --> 00:25:30.252
both good and bad.
00:25:30.252 --> 00:25:31.787
Let's celebrate marriage, getaway for a time of renewal
00:25:31.787 --> 00:25:34.890
in our relationships.
00:25:34.890 --> 00:25:36.258
I want you to join me and mybeautiful wife, Teresa, as we
00:25:36.258 --> 00:25:39.361
head to Gatlinburg, Tennessee,next spring to host the Reignite
00:25:39.361 --> 00:25:42.831
Marriage Retreat.
00:25:42.831 --> 00:25:44.199
We'll start on Thursday night,March the 25th, and finish by
00:25:44.199 --> 00:25:47.035
noon on Saturday,March the 27th.
00:25:47.035 --> 00:25:49.538
The entire weekend will takeplace at the Mills Auditorium in
00:25:49.538 --> 00:25:53.008
the GatlinburgConvention Center.
00:25:53.008 --> 00:25:55.377
We'll spend time in the Word ofGod learning about marriage,
00:25:55.377 --> 00:25:58.981
we'll laugh a lot as comedianTim Loveless entertains us,
00:25:58.981 --> 00:26:02.618
and we will leave refreshed andrenewed in our marriages.
00:26:02.618 --> 00:26:06.088
The Reignite MarriageRetreat will have very
00:26:06.088 --> 00:26:08.223
limited availability.
00:26:08.223 --> 00:26:09.925
You can visit TouchingLives.orgfor all the details and
00:26:09.925 --> 00:26:13.662
to purchase tickets.
00:26:13.662 --> 00:26:15.097
Thanks for watching thebroadcast today, I hope to see
00:26:15.097 --> 00:26:17.933
you in March in Gatlinburg forthe Reignite Marriage Retreat.
00:26:17.933 --> 00:26:21.937
♪♪♪
00:26:21.937 --> 00:26:30.112
male announcer: This October,join Dr. James Merritt and
00:26:30.112 --> 00:26:32.414
friends and beautiful Branson,Missouri, for the 2021
00:26:32.414 --> 00:26:35.817
Mountain Top Conference.
00:26:35.817 --> 00:26:37.386
This Ozark city offers somethingfor everyone: from world-class
00:26:37.386 --> 00:26:41.657
dining and live entertainmentto unique shopping and outdoor
00:26:41.657 --> 00:26:44.860
recreation, there is anadventure waiting for you.
00:26:44.860 --> 00:26:47.663
This event will feature powerfulpreaching daily from
00:26:47.663 --> 00:26:50.465
Dr. Merritt, and joining himwill be his friend, Bellevue
00:26:50.465 --> 00:26:53.335
Baptist Church's,Dr. Steve Gaines.
00:26:53.335 --> 00:26:55.070
You will also get to hear fromthe legendary "Oak Ridge Boys,"
00:26:55.070 --> 00:26:57.906
when they stop by to sharesome of their story.
00:26:57.906 --> 00:27:00.909
Enjoy incredible music fromGrammy Award-winning Guy Penrod,
00:27:00.909 --> 00:27:05.781
and one of Christian music'sbiggest artists, Crowder.
00:27:05.781 --> 00:27:09.651
Visit MountainTopConference.comfor all the details, and reserve
00:27:09.651 --> 00:27:13.155
your spot today.
00:27:13.155 --> 00:27:15.257
announcer: Touching thelives of the lost and enriching
00:27:17.292 --> 00:27:19.795
the faith of the found, this is"Touching Lives" with
00:27:19.795 --> 00:27:23.331
Dr. James Merritt.
00:27:23.331 --> 00:27:24.700
This broadcast is made possibleby the grace of God and
00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:28.403
your faithful prayers and gifts.
00:27:28.403 --> 00:27:30.000

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