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In the name of Jesus,
amen. The word is

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near you in your
mouth and in your heart.

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From Romans 10,
here Paul is citing

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God's words to
Israel. In Deuteronomy

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chapter 30, God
Himself put his word in

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Israel's mouth and
heart so that they

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could follow His
commands so that they

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would choose life
and good and reject

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death and evil. Here
is what God says

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through his prophet
Moses when He renews

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His covenant with
Israel. God tells them,

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for this commandment
that I command to

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you today is not
too hard for you

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neither is it far
off. It is not in

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heaven that you
should say who will

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ascend to heaven
for us and bring it to

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us that we may
hear it and do it. But

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the word is very
near you. It is in your

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mouth and in your
heart so that you can

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do it. See I have
said before you today

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life and good, death
and evil. Therefore

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choose life that you
and your offspring

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may live loving
the Lord your God

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obeying His voice
and holding fast to

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Him for He is your
life and length of

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days. Now we know
quite well that Israel

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does not always
treasure God's Word in

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the heart. We know
quite well that Israel

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is not always inclined
to speak God's

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Word or obey it. So
how is your heart and

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your mouth today?
The psalmist is well

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aware of the
inclination of the heart to

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steer away from God
and his word. He is

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aware of what we call
concupiscence, that

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inclination of the
heart to sin and

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evil, to idolatry.
And so the psalmist

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prays to God, let
my prayer be counted

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as incense before
you and the lifting up

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of my hands as the
evening sacrifice. Set

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a guard O Lord over
my mouth. Keep watch

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over the door of my
lips. Do not let my

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heart incline to any
evil. To busy myself

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with wicked deeds.
From Psalm 141.

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But Israel's heart
turns away from the

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one through God
and his mouth prays to

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other idols and does
not always speak in

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accordance with God's
will. Israel chooses

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sin, evil, death.
Israel's heart is

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not good and his
mouth shows it. Yes at

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times Israel's heart
pays lip service to

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God. Israel says the
right things but the

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words are only an
appearance of goodness

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and do not really
match a heart that

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puts his trust in
God alone. And so

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through His prophet
Isaiah God complains

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against and accuses
Israel saying this

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people draw near
with their mouth and

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honor me with
their lips while their

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hearts are far from
me. You see Israel's

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wayward heart needs
to be saved. Israel

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needs a new heart,
one that is inclined

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to the things of God,
to God and his word

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and Israel needs a
new mouth to go with

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that. A new mouth
that speaks out of the

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abundance of such
a heart. Are we that

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different from Israel?
We too are God's

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children who believe
in the heart and

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are justified and
who confess with the

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mouth and are saved
yet on account of

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Satan's attacks and
our own sinful flesh

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We still struggle
don't we? We struggle

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to honor God with
our whole hearts and

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with our mouths. When
we speak out of the

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abundance of our
hearts what comes out

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of that mouth?
Words of life that built

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up others in faith
and in love or words

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of death, words
that tear down and

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divide. How can God
turn hearts that are

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tempted in this way,
that are tempted to

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steer away from Him
and draw them near

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to His heart once
again? How can God heal

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our hearts, save our
hearts, make them

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good again so that
we can once again

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speak His word to
Him in prayer and to

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others in proclamation
and in mutual

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consolation and
conversation and

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encouragement
and so that we might

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choose life and
bear good fruit again.

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Well in the reading
for today the

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Apostle Paul tells
us how. As God did in

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the days of Moses
God will draw near

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sinners once again
by renewing His

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covenant with
them. He will put His

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word near them once
again in their very

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mouths and in their
hearts and that's

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how He will justify
and save them. God

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will make things
right again by

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declaring and
making sinful hearts

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righteous before
Him through faith in

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His Son. But this
time God will renew

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His covenant not
just with Israel of old

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but rather with
everyone who believes in

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Jesus, Jew or Gentile,
with everyone who

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calls on the name
of the Lord. Now the

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law God's command
still God's will. It

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is still good and the
person who does the

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commandments shall
indeed live by them.

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But Paul also
makes clear that this

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righteousness of
the law is different

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from the righteousness
of faith. The

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former tells you to
become righteous

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through obedience to
God's commands but

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the latter makes
you righteous through

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faith in Christ
whose obedience and

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righteousness is
passed on to you when

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your sins are forgiven
in His name. So we

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do not have to look
for Christ up there

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somewhere or down
under somewhere to

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find this righteousness,
this Word of God

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which makes us right
before Him. We do

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not have to ascend
to heaven somehow to

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bring Christ down
to us or descend to

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the abyss to bring
him up to us. No,

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Christ already died,
went down to hell,

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rose again from the
dead, ascended into

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heaven and sits at
the right hand of God

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the Father Almighty
and he has done this

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for us for our
justification. And now God

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will bring Christ
down to us in his Word

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so that we believe
Christ in the Word

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with our hearts and
speak Christ in the

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Word with our mouths.
This is a promise

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of God to you and
you can count on it.

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The Word is near
you in your mouth and

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in your heart right
now. So when your

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heart is inclined to
sin ask God as dear

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children ask their
Heavenly Father.

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Oh God bring the
Word near my heart.

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Fulfill your promise
and when your

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mouth is inclined to
speak evil ask your

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gracious Father to fulfill
His promise once again,

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Oh God bring the
Word near my mouth. To

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be sure there is only
one whose mouth

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spoke the Word
of God out of the

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abundance of a
spirit-filled heart and

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without sin. Only
one whose heart

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renounced death
and evil and chose life

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and good. Only one
who fulfilled God's

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commands, who
loved God and neighbor

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through His own
obedience to the Father

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even unto death on
the cross and He did

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that for us to cleanse
our hearts and

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purify our mouths.
But sitting at the

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right hand of the
Father Jesus also sent

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to us his Holy
Spirit. Jesus our risen

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Lord has now also
filled our hearts with

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the Holy Spirit. He
fills our hearts with

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the good and righteous
Spirit whom He

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gives to us when
God draws near us in

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his Word so that
we can believe in our

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hearts that God
raised Jesus from the

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dead and confess
with our mouths that

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Jesus is Lord.
Remember no one can

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confess Jesus as
Lord except by the Holy

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Spirit. Jesus has
given you His Spirit

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so that you may
believe and speak

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rightly out of the
abundance of a

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spirit-filled heart.
So yes in this life

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we will struggle
with our hearts and

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mouths. We know
that too well. The heart

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will struggle to
believe, the mouth will

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struggle to confess,
the heart will

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struggle to love,
and the mouth will

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struggle to build up
and encourage. But

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fear not brothers
and sisters for the

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Holy Spirit dwells
in you to guard over

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your mouth and over
your heart. Fear not

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for God's promise
stands the Word is

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near you in your
mouth and in your heart.

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And when the Word
of God is near us you

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can bet our loving
and gracious Father

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is never far off. In the
name of Jesus amen.