Latest / CCC West Covina / The Model Life: Alertness, Part 7

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The Model Life: Alertness, Part 7 · CCC West Covina

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In the 19th century, there was a Danish religious philosopher
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named Soren Kirkegaard. He said a lot of things that we
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would not accept nor agree with, but one thing he did say would
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spark a lot of interest in the church today.
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He said these words too often in the church.
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People adopt an attitude of theater, imagining the preacher
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is an actor and they as critics praising and blaming his
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performances. Actually, he says, the people
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are the actors on the stage of life.
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The preacher is merely the prompter reminding them of their
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lost lines. He hits on a nerve.
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Now we know you're not actors. We know you're children of the
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living God. And yet it is true that the
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essence of our gathering together is to remind us of our
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responsibility to live and honor the Lord.
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All that to be said is that when you think about it, my
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responsibility is to remind you of what you're supposed to be
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doing. Have you ever thought this way?
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That that the Bible, the Bible is a book of reminders.
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The Bible is a book of repetition.
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The Bible is a book of reiteration because the Bible
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says the same thing over and over and over again.
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It's it's come from different authors, it's come by way of
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different illustrations and historical situations, But
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everything in the Bible is the same.
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Every book of the Bible is literally the same thing.
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It's just come at from a a different perspective.
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It's all about a Redeemer. His name is the Messiah, the
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King of Israel. He is coming, He's coming to
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die, and after he dies he's going to rise again and then
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he's going to come back again instead of his Kingdom.
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Everything in the Bible is about that.
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So all the authors just keep pointing to the same person
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who's going to do the same thing that they all say he's going to
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do because it's all inspired by God.
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And so the book is a is the Bible is the book of repetition,
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a book of reiteration, a book of reminders.
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And I think it's imperative that that the preacher reiterate over
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and over again the same thing. That's what the preachers of the
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Bible did. So Jesus did, so Paul did, so
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Peter did, so Malachi did. It's what the psalmist did.
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They just kept reminding the people of where they were and
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what happened and where they need to be going and what they
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need to be doing. So Kirkegaard hit hit on a on a
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nerve in the church. There's so many times we just
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come to watch and listen and then pass criticism on what we
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see or don't see instead of coming to listen to what it is
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that we need to be reminded of and to follow through on that
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truth and to live it out that that is just so incredibly
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important. And Paul in First Thessalonians
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5, where where we're at is giving by way of reminder of the
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day of the Lord. He's going to remind them as to
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the the time of that day. He's going to remind them in
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terms of the term of that day. He's going to remind them in
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terms of the terror of that day. He's going to remind them as to
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the thief who comes in that day and reminds them though of the
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thrill of that day. And we need to understand that
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thrill. That's where we have paused.
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We've been here for a couple of weeks and we'll be here for a
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couple of more because I'm in no hurry.
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After all, I'm not going anywhere.
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And I'm going to be here next week, Lord willing, and the week
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after that, Lord willing until he comes again.
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But the bottom line is there's this great thrill behind
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everything about the coming of the king.
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So I want you to be able to train the children sitting next
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to you about the second coming. I want you to teach them about
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salvation 1st and the second coming second.
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That's the order you teach your children.
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You teach them about what it means to have faith in Jesus
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Christ and to live for the glory of his Kingdom.
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And then you tell him that this King is coming again, because
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that is the emphasis of the Scriptures in the New Testament.
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And so we as parents likewise need to fill the hearts and
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minds of our children about the coming of that day.
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Listen, if you want your discouragement to disappear, you
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must stay focused on the coming of the King because that's where
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the world's going and we need to understand that.
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And so we need to be reminded. And let me remind you so you can
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tell it to your children and explain to them about the day of
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Christ, the day of the Lord and the day of God, because it
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encapsules everything about the coming of the King.
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The Day of Christ is about the rapture of the church and the
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reward to the Christian. That's the day of Christ.
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That's what Paul talks about in first.
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That's one. He's 413 to 18.
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Then he goes on to the day of the Lord, because the day of the
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Lord follows the day of Christ, and the day of Christ is about
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the retribution of sinners and the redemption of Israel.
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So just make sure you got it, that the Day of Christ is about
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the rapture of the church and the reward for the Christian.
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And then the Day of the Lord is about the retribution of sinners
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and the redemption of Israel. And then comes the Day of God
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and day. The Day of God is all about the
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righteousness that dwells forever because the ruling 1
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reigns forever. All of us in many enemies are
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subdued and you dwell in perfect righteousness and that is the
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thrill behind the coming of the king.
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We are looking and longing and hastening the coming of the day
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of God. If you got your Bible, turn to
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second Peter chapter 3 with me if you would please.
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This is good for your children as you sit there and you open
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your Bible that they learn that they need to open their Bibles
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to hear what God has to say that they might listen to the living
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and abiding word of God. That is just so incredibly
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important. And so Peter says that this way
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in second Peter chapter 3 verse #10 But the day of the Lord will
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come like the thief, in which the heavens will pass away with
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the roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat,
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and the earth and its works will be burned up.
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And since all these things are to be destroyed in this way,
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what sort of people are you to be in holy conduct and
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godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day
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of God? So you see the contrast between
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the day of the Lord and the day of God.
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But notice what he says. He says as you live your life
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and you're anticipating and you're alert to all that's going
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to come. Note this.
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What sort of people ought you to be?
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Listen carefully. This is not a question.
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This is an exclamation. Peter's not saying what sort of
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people are you to be in light of all this?
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That's the question. No, that's not the question.
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It's an exclamation. Now you need to understand this
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because the phrase what manner of people or what manner of
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person ought you to be? Is is 1 phrase in the original
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language. It's from the Greek word
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potipen. So he says these words.
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What other generational, what other worldly, what other
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dimension of people ought you to be in holy conduct and
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godliness? In other words, until the day of
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God, which is the end where righteousness dwells, there's a
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certain kind of person you need to be, You need to be the kind
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of person that's from another dimension, that's from another
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world. That's what Pontipen means.
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So let me illustrate it for you. Mark chapter 4 verse #41 The
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disciples are on the boat and it was a great storm, right?
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They, they, they wake up the Lord and he and he calms the,
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the sea. It becomes like glass.
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And the phrase the disciples give is what manner of man is
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this? That even the winds and the
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waves obey him. Same phrase.
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What other worldly kind of man is this?
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What kind of man from another dimension is this?
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That even the winds and the waves obey Him?
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In other words, he's not from this dimension, He's not from
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this world, and our Lord was not because he came down from above.
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What other worldly kind of person is this?
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That even the winds and the waves obey him?
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Wow, what a statement. So Peter says the same thing
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because Peter was on the boat. He was on the boat that day.
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And so he's going to say, what manner of people ought you to
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be? What other kind of worldly
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dimension ought you to exemplify?
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Because you're not from this world, You're heavenly citizens
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living in holy conduct and godliness.
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And then how about this one? The Bible says in first John
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chapter 3 verse #1 In John the Apostle, who was also on the
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boat with Peter and the other disciples said this, What manner
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of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be
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called the children of God? What other kind of dimensional
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love is this that we should be called the children of God?
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Remember in John's Gospel, John always refers to himself as to
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the disciple whom Jesus loved. He never calls himself by name.
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And that's because John was so overwhelmed by the fact that he
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was loved by the living God, he could not even speak his name.
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So he was the disciple whom Jesus loved.
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So now when he writes first John chapter 3, he says, oh, what
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manner of love is this? What other worldly kind of love
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is this? It's from another dimension.
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It's not from the natural dimension.
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It's from a supernatural dimension.
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It's not from an earthly perspective.
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It's from a heavenly perspective because there's nothing on earth
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that can compare to the love that God has for his children.
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So he says, ah, what manner of love is this?
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The Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the
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children of God. Peter comes right on the heels
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of John and right on the the the heels of his experience on, on
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the Sea of Galilee and says, ah, what other worldly kind of
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people ought you to be? It's an exclamation.
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You're from a different world. And then he says this, he says
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in holy. And God is first looking for and
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hastening the coming day of God. Looking is a word of alertness,
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a watchfulness of soberness, awakeness.
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Hastening deals with anticipation.
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And we have told you that the model life is characterized not
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just by abstinence in First Thessalonians 4128, not just by
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aspiration in First Thessalonians 49 to 12:00, but
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by anticipation in First Thessalonians 4 verses 11 to 18,
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and then alertness in First Thessalonians 51 to 11.
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That's the model life. The model life is all about the
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coming of the King. Our whole lives are encompassed
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by the arrival of the Messiah. He's going to come again.
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And so we live in the realm of another dimension, living in
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holy conduct and godliness, looking and hastening the day of
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God. The day of God is the day of
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eternity. Look at verse #18 To him be the
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glory. First, Peter 3, second Peter 3,
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Excuse me. To him be the glory both now and
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two, the day of eternity. That's the day of God where
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righteousness dwells that that's the thrill of the day of the
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Lord. That's the thrill of the day of
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Christ. That's the thrill behind the
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coming of Christ. It's all about the day of
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eternity where righteousness dwells.
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There is no more pain. There is no more sorrow.
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There is no more sadness. There is no more loss.
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It's all about the glory of the King.
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It's about where righteousness dwells forever and ever and
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ever. And that's what is the thrill
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behind everything that encompasses the coming of the
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king, the day of Christ, the day of the Lord, and ultimately the
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day of God. So Peter says these words in
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verse #9 and they're important words because you need to teach
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your children that the coming of Christ is a sure event.
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He is coming and the veracity of God is at stake.
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There is a fixed time in which he's going to arrive.
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And you say, but it's been 2000 years, 2000 years.
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We talked to you a couple of weeks ago about how how Israel
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was so apathetic because it's only been 400 years since they
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heard anything from a prophet or an Angel or from God.
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Now it's been 2000 years. What is taking God so long?
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Why does he wait so long? Remember there, there's no
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clocks in heaven, there's no calendars in heaven, There's
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nothing in heaven because it exists outside the realm of
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time. So Peter would say earlier in
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verse #8 but do you not not let this one fact escape you?
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Your notice beloved, that the with the Lord one day is like
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1000 years and 1000 years like like one day.
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So in 2000 years has been like 2 days in heaven, not very long at
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all. But still we ask what?
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Why is the Lord not here yet? What is he waiting on?
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When things are bad around you and you're thinking, wow, Lord
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Jesus, come quickly and we greet one another with Maranatha.
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Did anybody do that? By the way, today did anybody
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greet one another with Maranatha?
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I was greeted by one person today who said Maranatha.
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Pastor, did you do that? Did you forget already from two
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weeks ago? That's how the early church
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greeted one another because they were so enamored with the coming
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of Christ, they could not wait for him to arrive.
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And yet so many times we just become so lethargic and
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complacent and apathetic to the coming to the King.
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And yet that is the sunum bonum of motivation in the life of the
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believer. It's everything, Everything.
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That's why you need to know all you can about the second coming
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to the Messiah. And so Peter says this.
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The Lord is not slow about His promises, as some count
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slowness, but it's patient towards you, not wishing for any
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to perish, but for all to come through repentance.
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Here's your answer as to why the Lord has not come yet.
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Our God is a patient God, a long-suffering God, and He is
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waiting. He is waiting for that last
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person in the church age to come to saving faith like it was in
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the days of Noah. First Peter chapter 3, Peter
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would talk about the patience of the Lord for 120 years and he
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waited for 120 years because it took Moses that long to build a
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boat with his boys. But on top of that, he was a
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preacher of righteousness, praying for people to come to
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saving grace. But the patience of the Lord ran
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out, for he will not always strive with man, but he is a
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patient God. In fact, back in Exodus chapter
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34, when God spoke to Moses and and declare it to him his glory
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in verse number six, he said then the Lord passed by in front
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of him and proclaim the Lord the Lord God compassionate and
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gracious, slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness
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and truth. So he characterizes himself a
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God of compassion, mercy, a God of long-suffering, a God of
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patience. And then over in, in the the
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Psalms, Psalm 145 verse number #8 The Lord is gracious and
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merciful, slow to anger, and great and loving kindness.
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The Lord is good to all. It is mercies over all his
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works. Joel and 2 chapter 2 verse #13
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says rend your heart and not your garments.
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Now return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and
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compassionate, slow to anger, abounding and loving kindness
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and relenting of evil. Paul said in Romans 2 verse #4
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Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness, and
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tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God
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leads you to repentance? Chapter 9 verse #22 What if God,
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although willing to demonstrate His wrath, and to make His power
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known, and dirt with much patience, vessels of wrath,
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prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the
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riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared
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beforehand for glory, even us whom He also called, not from
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among Jews only, but also from among the Gentiles.
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It's all about the patience of God that the the fact that the
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Christ is going to come again is a sure event.
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It's ironclad. It's been fixed by the Father's
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authority. Acts one, verse number 7.
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And although it's been 2000 years on, although we don't
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think of it as Christ coming in my lifetime, you got to realize
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that he could come at any moment to take his church home to be
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with him. And the day of Christ will
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happen, then the day of the Lord will happen, and then the day of
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God will come. It's all, it's all been mapped
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out in the sovereign plan of the living God.
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But he's patient because he's looking for the salvation of
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lost souls. And Luke, he said, I came to
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seek and say that which was lost over in the book of Isaiah, the
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45th chapter. The Lord says these words, He
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says, turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, prime
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God, and there is no other. I have sworn by myself, the Word
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has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and will not turn
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back, that to me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear
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allegiance to me. So he cries, Turn to me, and be
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saved all the ends of the earth. Paul says in Acts 17 that God is
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declaring that all men everywhere should repent.
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Why? Because he has a fixed day in
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which the righteous judge will pass judgments.
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That's why Paul says over in first Timothy chapter 2 verse #4
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he desires all meant to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
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the truth. That's God's desire.
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That's very important. That's the heart of God.
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First 24 says that God desires all men to be saved.
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It doesn't say that God decreed all men to be saved because the
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Greek word is thelema and thelema is the the will of
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desire. OK, it's like Matthew chapter 6.
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Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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And the will, there is the will of desire, not the will of
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decree because God's decree happens as he has appointed it
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to happen. Nothing can thwart his plans.
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But God has a desire and, and when he says, so when you pray,
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you pray this way, Lord, I desire that your will be done
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right here on earth as your desire is accomplished in
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heaven, because in heaven God's desire is always accomplished.
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And so the prayer is the longing for whatever has happening in
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heaven, which is your ultimate desire, may it happen here on
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earth, because we know that you desire that same thing to happen
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here. So with a desire so, so God
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desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
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truth. It does not mean that he has
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decreed all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
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truth. That's very important to
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understand that because not everybody's going to be saved.
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Not everybody's going to give their life to Christ.
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But it doesn't diminish the desire of God.
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God's decree never diminishes His desire.
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The heart of God is that all men be saved.
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Exodus chapter 34 Ezekiel, excuse me, chapter 34.
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God says, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
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He doesn't. So when you come to second Peter
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chapter 3 verse #9 Peter says these words.
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He says the Lord is not slow about His promise as some
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counsel on us, but is patient towards you, not wishing or not
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willing for any of you to perish, but for all of you to
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come to repentance. Now that word willing there is
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bhullamai. That's the decree of God.
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That's different than first Timothy 24, which is thelema,
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the desire of the will. This is the desire of His
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decree. God has a decree that all the
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elect will be saved, but during this church age, as the gospel
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goes forth, there are many people yet to believe the
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gospel. And so our prayer is that they
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would be saved, that they would come to know Christ.
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Think about it this way, you, you are you are asking the Lord
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to do what is ultimate desire is that man to be saved.
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And maybe you're here today and you have a loved one.
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Maybe that loved one is sitting next to you.
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Maybe you're going to have lunch today with that loved one.
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Maybe you're going to spend some time with that loved one in, in,
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in days to come. And you know that they're not
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saved. And your prayer request is, oh
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Lord God, I know that you desire all men to be saved and to come
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to the knowledge of the truth. I know that you are patient and
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you are long-suffering with this one who does not know you.
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Lord Jesus, save them. Save them from their sin.
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You can't save them. You can't.
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You are the vehicle. You are the vessel by which the
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word of God has been displayed and declared.
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Don't take up on the responsibility of saving them.
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Take up on the responsibility of speaking to them about the
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saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, and let God do what God
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does, because God saves man. And therefore you pray and you
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ask the Lord. This is why God hasn't come yet.
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There are people even in our church that are not saved,
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they're not giving their life to Christ.
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And, and this is a, a, a message of, of, of plea to you that you
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would come to Christ today, that you would give your life to the
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Lord today and not wait another day.
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Because the only reason the day of the Lord has not been enacted
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and the only reason the day of Christ has not come, the
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rapture, the church, and the reward for Christians is because
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in this church age, the time from Pentecost and Acts chapter
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2 until Jesus comes again, the rapture, the church, the church
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age, God is still saving people. He's completing his bride.
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And if you're here today and never give your life to Christ,
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know what the Lord says. He says, coming to me, all you
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that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I meek and
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lowly in heart, Christ invites you to come to be a partaker of
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his salvation, His grace, his mercy.
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He wants you to have that. And if you're here today, know
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this, that the day of Christ is coming, which inaugurates the
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day of the Lord, which inaugurates the day of God, the
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day of eternity. So I'm going to come on a fixed
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schedule, just like when Jesus came the first time in the
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fullness of time. Galatians 4 Four.
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God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
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that he might redeem those who are under the law.
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Wow, what a statement. It's just that that at the right
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moment, in the fullness of time, when everything had come to a
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point where it was the perfect time for the Son of Man to come
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in his incarnation, he sent forth his Son.
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It was the right time, it was the perfect time, it was a
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precise time, it was an excellent time, But the time
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that the Father is fixed by his own authority.
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X-17 the time that has not yet arrived.
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And So what do we do? We proclaim the Lord's death
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until he comes, right? We proclaim the Lord's death
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until he comes because we know he's going to come again.
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But until that day, there's hope.
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There's opportunity for you to give your life to Christ in my
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prayer is that that would be you today.
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When you when you talk to your children, you talk to them about
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the saving grace of God. Why?
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Because the Lord's coming again and because he's going to begin
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coming again. I want you to know him.
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I want you to love him. I want you to serve him and
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honor him and glorify his name. And so God is not slow and some
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may count slowness, but he is patient.
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He is long-suffering. He's long-suffering with your
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husband as to why he's not saved, your spouse as to why
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she's not saved, your children as to why they're not saved.
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It's the patience of God on display and God at the great
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preacher that he is offers the invitation That's even at the
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book, the end of the Book of Revelation, very last chapter,
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he extends an invitation. He says the Spirit and the bride
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say, come, who's the bride? That's the church.
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And let the one who hears say, come, and let the one who was
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thirsty come. Let the one who wishes take the
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water of life without cost come. He offers this divine invitation
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at the very end of the Book of Revelation because the heart of
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God is on display. Yes, He's going to bring
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retribution on all those who do not believe in His name.
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But but, but he wants his desire to be fulfilled.
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And that's why it's the desire of his heart that should be
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saved. Are you, do you know Christ as
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Lord and Savior? Are you born again?
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Have you experienced new life in Christ?
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We gathered together today on the 1st Sunday of the month of
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June to celebrate the Lord's death.
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He came that we might live because He died for us.
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Have you experienced that life? That's the essence of our
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celebration. That's why we spend time around
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the Lord's Table asking the Lord and thanking the Lord for all
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that He has done and saving us from our sin that we might be
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able to say, as John said, what other worldly kind of love is
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this? The Father has bestowed upon me
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that I should be called a child of God.
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Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today
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and we're grateful. And although our time is short,
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the opportunity you give us is great.
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And our prayer, Lord, is that as we partake of the Lord's Table,
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it would be that one, that one element that would help us
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understand that we proclaim your death until you come again,
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because people need to be saved. And you came to save the lost.
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You came to die for the sins of man.
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For that we are grateful. We partake of the Lord's Table
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with great thankfulness in Jesus name, Amen.