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The Great Tribulation Harvest | Revelation 7:9-17 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  When the Lord Jesus taught about the last days and what is
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  commonly known as the Olivet Discourse, He made an
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  extraordinary promise concerning that time to come.
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  In the middle of his teaching, Christ said in Matthew 24, verse
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  14, And the gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed
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  throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and
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  then the end will come. What a remarkable declaration.
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  You see, what Christ is saying here when you consider the
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  surrounding teaching around this promise is that the rise of
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  false teachers and deception, global upheaval, rapid cultural
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  decay, and the unprecedented persecutions of Christians will
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  in no way hinder the spread of the Gospel.
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  Somehow, someway, the saving message of Jesus Christ will
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  permeate the four corners of the earth.
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  Furthermore, what this verse reveals is that although there
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  will be mounting judgement in that brief period of time,
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  Christ assures us that He will give the nation's a final
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  opportunity, a final invitation to receive salvation before that
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  door is closed forever. Which means that while the
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  tribulation period will bring an escalation of judgments, it also
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  guarantees an amplification of the preaching of the gospel at
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  the same time. And this is undeniably a
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  demonstration of the incredible mercy of God as He carries out
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  his most visible and fierce sequence of judgments.
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  He will also make a way for people to hear the truth that
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  can save their souls for eternity.
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  Now, last week we discussed if you were here, Revelation 7 in
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  the first portion as we witness God's initial fulfilment that He
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  would save the nation of Israel. The budding of that promise was
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  made known in the first few verses.
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  And I want to tell you today that the confirmation of God's
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  trustworthiness will only continue in the rest of this
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  chapter. Because now we are going to
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  discover, as we get a future glimpse of how the Lord will
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  keep His word from Matthew 2414, that the gospel will indeed go
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  to all nations before the very end of all things unfolds.
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  So let's reach it and read it together in Revelation 7,
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  beginning in verse 9. Revelation 7, beginning in verse
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  9, we will read together attentively down to verse 17.
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  John says after this I looked and behold a great multitude
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  that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes
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  and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and
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  before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches
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  in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation
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  belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.
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  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the
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  elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on
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  their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying,
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  Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and Thanksgiving and
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  honor and power, and might be to our God forever and ever, Amen.
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  Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are these
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  clothed and white robes, and from where have they come?
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  I said to him, Sir, you know, And he said to me, These are the
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  ones coming out of the great tribulation.
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  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
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  the Lamb. Therefore they are before the
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  throne of God and serve him day and night in His temple.
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  And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his
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  presence. They shall hunger no more,
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  neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them,
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  nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne
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  will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of
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  living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
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  Father, we ask, as always, with a complete awareness of our need
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  for your help, that you would lead us so faithfully, so
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  clearly, so powerfully through these truths.
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  We need you Lord, open our minds, burn in our hearts, and
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  may this transform us in Jesus name, Amen.
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  As I was meditating on this passage, the phrase that came to
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  mind was the great tribulation harvest.
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  And there's so much more to learn from this passage than
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  seeing it as an expansion of what Christ taught in the
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  Gospels. I want us to consider at least
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  three things with you from this glorious scene.
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  The first thing is the people described in this division, the
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  people described. There's so much about this
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  people that we have to consider from the people described.
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  We must look at the praise that was given, the praise that is
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  offered to the throne and him who sits on it in the Lamb.
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  And lastly, I want us to look at the promise that is given, this
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  promise that is given to those people that are described and
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  those who follow in their direction.
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  So let's look again at verse 9. As we look at the people
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  described. At first glance, we read it.
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  This may seem like a description of all believers from all ages,
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  right? But that assumption is quickly
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  clarified by one of the elders who taught John.
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  And John teaches us by the Spirit that these are the
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  innumerable group of people who will come out of the great
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  tribulation. This is speaking about a future
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  group of people. And so this is not speaking
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  about all believers from all time.
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  And what this shows us right away is that there is a coming
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  move of God on the earth that will result in a reach and a
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  rescuing of souls unlike any other time in human history.
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  This should excite us. This should thrill us.
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  And as exciting as it sounds, you may be like me and wondering
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  how is that going to happen? Especially up to this point when
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  we have considered all the things that the world will
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  endure, the tragedies and the tumultuous events and the
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  problems and the wars and all these things will come crashing
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  upon the earth. And yet we read that there's
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  going to be an uncountable amount of people who will be
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  saved. And I believe in this very same
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  chapter, we get our clue. I want to present to you today
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  the possibility that the reason why we will see this and why
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  we're seeing it now is because of the direct ministry of the
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  144,000. Look again at verse 3 of Chapter
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  7, the 144,000, which we've established to be the Jewish
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  people who will be saved, a remnant, A revival.
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  Among this people are called servants of our God.
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  Near the end of that verse, showing us that the ceiling, the
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  spiritual application, is not just a way of marking these
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  people for salvation, but for extraordinary service.
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  They're being set apart to perform something to serve the
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  Lord in an incredible fashion during the Tribulation period.
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  Besides that, we also see something else that this unique
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  mark that will be placed upon each of these Jews.
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  We'll also provide a unique level of protection against the
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  things that will transpire following this the the growing
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  escalation of problems and of judgments.
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  This will shield them. How do we know that?
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  Because the Lord told the four angels of the earth to hold back
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  any further punishment until they were protected.
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  And why are they being protected?
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  I think the answer that makes the most sense is so that they
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  can carry out their gospel mission more effectively, that
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  they would be able to do what God has set him apart to do, and
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  that is present the gospel of Jesus Christ to the rest of the
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  world. As things are coming to an end,
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  I think these suggestions are possible.
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  I think this is more likely than one might think because it is
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  totally in concert with the rest of the Scriptures.
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  Here's what I mean. Were you here last week when we
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  talked about Romans 11 briefly and how Paul taught that ethnic
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  Israel will know a national revival in salvation, that at
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  one point they will acknowledge that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is
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  indeed their prophesied Messiah? Well, I want us to revisit
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  Romans 11 and I want us to see the fruit of the salvation of
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  the Jewish people, the growing fruit as the number of
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  salvations increase among this particular people group.
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  Let's go to Romans 11 and let's look at verse 13.
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  Romans 11 verse 13. There's that sound again.
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  I pray that that sound will never go away.
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  Hear what the Spirit of God says through Paul.
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  Now I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much then I am an
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  apostle to the Gentiles. I magnify my ministry.
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  So he wants to, he wants to comfort the Gentile believers.
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  Look, I am an apostle to the Gentiles.
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  I don't think less of my ministry, but let me tell you
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  why. One of the reasons why I magnify
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  my ministry, verse 14, in order somehow to make my fellow Jews
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  jealous and thus save some of them.
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  In other words, I'm going to preach the Hebrew Scriptures.
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  I'm going to show how God is relatable, how he's personal.
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  I'm going to show him how we are enjoying the fruit of the
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  message of their prophets. And my prayer is that as a
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  Christian, as a leader in the church, that the Jewish people
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  watching from a distance would be stirred not with an unhealthy
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  evil envy, but a pure holy jealousy to say, I want what you
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  have. I want the assurance, I want the
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  comfort, I want the joy, I want the peace that you have.
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  Are you saying that your faith is rooted and grounded in the
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  Hebrew Scriptures? Yes.
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  So Paul says, I want to magnify my ministry so I can serve some
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  of these Jews to be saved. But notice what he goes on to
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  say this brilliant point in verse 15.
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  For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world,
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  what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
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  Do you see what he's saying here?
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  Paul's reminding this Gentile church, do you understand that
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  it was the denial of the Jewish people in terms of the Messiah,
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  Jesus Christ that led to the world being blessed by the
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  gospel? Their rejection of the gospel
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  made it more available for the Gentiles to hear and receive the
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  truth. But he doesn't stop there.
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  He adds to that, if their rejection, their vehement denial
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  of Christ benefited us in such a way, what will happen to the
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  world when they accept the truth?
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  It's an amazing line of reasoning.
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  And he gives us the answer, life from the dead.
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  Now there's debate about that passage.
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  What does he mean, life from the dead?
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  Some think it's a spiritual revival that will take place,
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  but it's more likely that Paul's actually making a connection, a
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  link between the salvation of the Jewish people and that
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  triggering and ushering in the glories of the world to come.
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  Because as we're going to see in Revelation, Israel's salvation
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  will immediately precede the return of Christ.
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  There's that. You can't separate those
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  realities. That's why having an
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  understanding of Israel is absolutely foundational for your
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  eschatology, a fancy word for your understanding and study of
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  the end times. It will determine everything in
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  terms of the order, events and why things happen and how
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  prophecy works. And Paul understands here that
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  if their rejection of the gospel has brought riches to the world,
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  what it what will happen when they embrace Christ?
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  That's why I magnify my ministry.
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  That's why I preach to the Jews. That's why I pray for them.
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  One thing is very clear about Paul's message.
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  The world will experience spiritual riches in proportion
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  to how the Jewish people accept the gospel.
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  Look at verse 12 of Romans 11. He says it more than once.
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  Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if
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  their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will
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  their full inclusion mean? It's very plain, is it not?
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  If the world was blessed because they denied Christ, what will
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  happen when they are fully gathered into the fold of the
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  truth? There's no separation between
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  the Jewish people and their relationship with God and how
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  that impacts the globe. Now, why do I bring all of this
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  up? Because it complements what we
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  see in Revelation 7. What do we see in Revelation 7?
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  Again, let me remind you, you have a revival among the Jewish
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  people, 144,000 who are set apart and sealed as servants of
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  God. And immediately following that,
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  what is John C? An innumerable amount of
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  Gentiles who are saved the visions of Revelation 7 agrees
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  completely with Paul's teaching about the future of Israel and
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  how that will impact the nation's.
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  Now this is something for us to really rejoice in, especially
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  with all the supposed controversy with the Jewish
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  people. Us believers need to be very
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  careful to not allow arguments and ideas to persuade you away
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  from the love that God has for them, the love that the apostle
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  Paul had for them, and the desire for them to be saved.
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  There's so much confusion of how Christians should relate to the
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  people of Israel. Let me make it very simple.
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  You desire them to be saved. You pray that their eyes would
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  be open to see Christ and that they would bend their knee to
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  the true Messiah. We are not to be caught up in
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  politics. Our mission is a heavenly 1 and
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  our desire ultimately is that they would be saved.
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  That's your priority and mine. And don't let anybody convince
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  you otherwise. Study this verse, Study this
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  passage carefully and understand God's heart for the Jewish
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  people. Not what some popular pundit
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  says. Not what some famous pastors may
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  say. What does the Bible say about
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  this people? And align your heart with gods
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  so that you can be more in the will of God.
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  Now, there's more to say about this.
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  People described come back here in Revelation 7.
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  We're still in verse 9. They're very familiar attributes
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  made known to us. But there's something that
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  stands out. There is something mentioned
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  that never showed up before. Look here at the end of verse 9.
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  They were holding palm branches in their hands.
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  Is that significant? If you believe details in the
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  Bible are yes. Palm branches throughout the
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  Bible are always connected to celebratory events, joyous
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  occasions. Maybe your mind is going to
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  where it went for me when Jesus came in triumphantly into the
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  Jerusalem, right? The people received them and
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  they quoted the Psalms with palm branches in their hands.
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  But the history of palm branches goes further back.
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  Israel was given 7 feasts by God to celebrate on a yearly basis,
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  and the very last feast is known as the Feast of Booths.
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  But in Exodus it's also known as the Feast of In Gathering of in
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  Gathering. Why?
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  Because it was recognized at the very end of the harvest season
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  and God had given them many instructions of how they were to
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  bring offerings during that feast.
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  But one of the most unique instructions was that the Jewish
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  people were to make booths or tents and to live in them as
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  long as that celebration endured for various reasons, mainly to
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  remember their 40 year wilderness journey and how God
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  had provided and protected them during that process.
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  They were to almost relive that experience as they recollected
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  how God's presence among them in that desert shielded them as
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  they lived in these transportable shelters.
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  But it was also recognition of the moment that God was faithful
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  to provide for them in that year and that He has come through yet
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  again. It's really putting into focus
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  their present and their past. But I want you to see one of the
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  instructions of how they were to make these tents go to Leviticus
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  23 in verse 40. Leviticus 23, verse 40.
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  The Lord says to this people, and you shall take on the first
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  day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees, and bows
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  of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice
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  before the Lord your God. Seven days.
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  Now if you're a note taker, when you go to Nehemiah 8, you'll see
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  that these branches that were called to be collected were
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  actually the material for the tents.
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  And in Leviticus 23 is the very first appearance of palm
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  branches in the Bible. And as we mentioned, they are so
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  associated with jubilation, excitement, thrill, delight with
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  the truth of God and for the truth of God.
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  So Israel was to take these palm branches, make these tents, live
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  in them for that week, and realize God at this final moment
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  of the harvest season has come through for us.
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  And it didn't just happen this past year.
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  God has always been for us. God's presence has always met us
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  and always provided and protected us.
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  It's a wonderful thing, a wonderful climax to their
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  celebrations. And now we come to Revelation 7
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  and we see the redeemed from all nations, all tribes brought
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  before the throne of God coming out of the great tribulation,
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  and they're celebrating with palm branches in their hands.
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  What are they doing with those? Could it be that they are
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  celebrating for the same reason that they would have in the
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  Feast of Booths? A little bit different though,
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  because this group now represents the final gathering
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  not of produce, not of fruit, but of souls.
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  That as we are approaching the end of time, God is now bringing
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  in more people to add to the number of the redeemed.
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  And this harvest out of the great Tribulation is recognizing
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  that. That as we are coming to the end
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  of all things in the same way that the Feast of Booth signaled
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  the end of that year, we're part of the harvest.
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  We've been gathered in, we're saved.
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  God is faithful. Moreover, are they not also
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  recognizing that they are now eternally provided for,
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  protected by the unfiltered presence of God, That God now is
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  tabernacling with us, He is dwelling with us, we are with
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  Him forever and ever. I believe So even in this do we
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  see a wonderful connection with the rest of Scripture?
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  A small detail as the palm branches can have so much
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  richness to it. These are the people described.
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  I'm sure we can go over every single thing that's mentioned,
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  but we have to now go on to the praise that is provided.
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  Look again at verse 11 of Revelation 7.
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  As the people of God from all nations and tribes and tongues
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  are rejoicing, the angels and the heavenly host now
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  spontaneously join them. And I want you to see how, yes,
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  verse 11 describes them, but you come to verse 12 and you see the
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  attributes that they ascribe to the Lord.
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  There's several of them. Look again at verse 12, saying
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  Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and Thanksgiving and
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  honor and power, and might be to our God forever and ever.
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  Amen. Now does this refrain sound
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  familiar? It should, because we've seen it
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  before, earlier in Revelation. And when you compare the similar
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  refrain, you'll learn at least two things about praise.
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  Look back at Revelation 5, when the same heavenly host offered
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  their praise to the Lord before any of those seals were broken,
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  when the Lamb received the scroll from the Father's hand,
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  the people broke out and praised these creatures in another
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  realm. And look at verse 11 of
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  Revelation 5. John says in verse 11.
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  Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living
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  creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering
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  myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud
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  voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and
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  wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
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  Two things to learn about praise.
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  Here's the first Almost identical wording, right?
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  Different order, different order.
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  Compare it. And that's intentional.
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  That's intentional because if these worshippers repeated the
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  very same words in the exact same way, we might be left with
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  the impression that heavenly praise is a monotonous routine.
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  There are already people, Christians, who think that
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  worship in heaven eventually is going to get stale.
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  I mean, how much variety can you come up with?
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  It's just going to become this tedious repetition.
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  But I find something instructive about this subtle hint when you
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  compare these two refrains, that praise in heaven will always be
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  fresh. That praise in heaven will
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  always be zealous and meaningful and responsive to the
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  revelations of who God is. As those revelations will be
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  unfolding throughout eternity And before you and I get to our
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  heavenly home, I believe we also have to be making the effort to
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  keep our praise dynamic and heartfelt.
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  Now, even now, the Lord is not interesting and interested in
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  the sacrifice of praise that just repeats words off the
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  screen that don't spring from the depths of your soul.
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  And if you're a person in here who struggles to sing, singing
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  is very important to the Christian faith because it's
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  important to God. But if you struggle and many
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  people do, I want to encourage you.
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  The Holy Spirit is here to help you because one of the outcomes
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  of being filled with the Holy Spirit according to Ephesians 5,
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  is that one will make melody to the Lord.
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  From where? From their heart, Not just here,
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  not just here, from here, the depths of who you are.
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  One of the ways you know that you're filled with the Spirit is
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  that you can sing from your heart.
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  You mean it, You delighted it, It excites you.
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  And as one preacher said, the Holy Spirit is able to help us
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  hear an old song as though it was new, or to open our eyes and
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  our hearts to a completely new song to add to our list of
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  praise. It will always be a special
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  thing to sing to God in heaven. But there's a second thing to
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  consider, and that is the placement of the praise.
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  So in Revelation 5, as I mentioned, the people are
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  singing to the Lord, worshiping Lord, falling on their face the
• 24:34
  moment that the Lamb took the scroll into his own possession.
• 24:39
  But when you go to Revelation 7, they're singing similarly when
• 24:43
  the seals on the scroll are near its completion in their opening.
• 24:48
  What's the lesson? That in every season God is
• 24:51
  worthy of praise. That's the truth.
• 24:54
  That no matter what He is doing at this moment, He deserves
• 24:57
  glory with praise always. So in Revelation 5, they are
• 25:02
  rejoicing together and what Christ is about to do.
• 25:07
  Revelation 7, they're singing about what Christ has already
• 25:10
  accomplished. You and I must do the same.
• 25:14
  When we come here together, we're looking forward to what
• 25:16
  the Lord will do, and we sing about it, but we also come to
• 25:19
  celebrate what He's already done.
• 25:21
  It's a wonderful instruction about how praise works in God's
• 25:24
  economy. But now we come to the longest
• 25:27
  part and the most important in terms of this message being
• 25:30
  conveyed to the hearts of God's people for this time.
• 25:33
  And that's the promise. There's a promise that is made.
• 25:37
  Look at verse 13 of Revelation 7, as is heavenly choirs
• 25:42
  crowning the Lord with their worship.
• 25:43
  One of the 24 elders turns and asks John a question.
• 25:47
  Verse 13 that one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are
• 25:50
  these clothed in white robes and from where have they come?
• 25:56
  I said to him, Sir, you know and he said to me, these are the
• 26:00
  ones coming out of the great tribulation.
• 26:02
  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
• 26:05
  the Lamb. So the elder one of them looks
• 26:09
  at John and he says, do you know who this group is?
• 26:13
  He says, Sir, you know, that's just another way of saying, I
• 26:15
  don't, you know, I don't know. Now, you would think that the
• 26:20
  answer was obvious, right? I mean, any Christian can look
• 26:23
  at this scene and say these are believers who've been saved.
• 26:26
  Why does John not know? Let me give you an idea, because
• 26:31
  you look back and you realize that he saw what a great
• 26:34
  multitude that no one can number from every nation, from all
• 26:36
  tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne.
• 26:39
  I think the enormous size and the diversity shocked John to
• 26:43
  the point where he didn't really know how to identify them.
• 26:45
  Remember, we're we're talking about the same John who early in
• 26:48
  Revelation was used by Christ to minister to a handful of local
• 26:52
  churches who most of them were experienced great persecution.
• 26:56
  He was living at a time when Christianity was under severe
• 26:59
  attack. And so now he's transported into
• 27:03
  this vision from ministering to these believers who are
• 27:06
  suffering in their own way, suffering externally, even
• 27:08
  internally in terms of faithfulness to truth.
• 27:12
  And then now he sees the sea of people that he can't even
• 27:14
  number. Are these really Christians?
• 27:18
  Are they really among those who are called to the narrow path?
• 27:24
  He couldn't register it. And so the Lord uses one of the
• 27:28
  elders to confirm it. These are those who've been
• 27:31
  saved by the blood of the Lamb. Now, he describes in two ways.
• 27:39
  The first is that they are coming out of the great
• 27:42
  tribulation. We saw that earlier.
• 27:44
  These are the ones coming out of this period of time.
• 27:47
  And we understand this to mean that the followers of Christ
• 27:51
  here are those who precede the second coming.
• 27:55
  But we also see something here about the believer today.
• 27:58
  Even though this is describing something to come, it says
• 28:01
  something about every believer, every age, that a true Christian
• 28:05
  is someone who will go through many tribulations and make it
• 28:12
  they will endure until the end. That's true for any person who
• 28:18
  claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
• 28:20
  Not the absence of troubles, but the endurance in them and
• 28:24
  through them. They are coming out, not that
• 28:27
  they've escaped, but that they have succeeded in responding to
• 28:32
  these problems that came their way.
• 28:34
  And that is the mark of a true Christian.
• 28:36
  But we see something else here. This quality of devotion, right?
• 28:40
  This faithfulness until the end is the result of a saving act of
• 28:44
  faith. What does he say about them?
• 28:46
  Yes, they've come out of the great tribulation, but they have
• 28:48
  also washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
• 28:53
  Lamb. That was the cause of the
• 28:57
  faithfulness. It's not their faithfulness that
• 29:00
  made them worthy. It's not their faithfulness that
• 29:02
  made them clean. It's not their faithfulness that
• 29:04
  erased their sin. They were faithful because
• 29:07
  they've been washed. Don't you think it's a strange
• 29:11
  image to say that these robes have been made white by blood?
• 29:18
  Blood stains? So this is clearly symbolic and
• 29:24
  this is a very powerful message, strange to the new reader
• 29:28
  perhaps, but not strange to the Christian or understands what
• 29:31
  the blood of Christ can do. What this shows is that the
• 29:36
  worthiness of this people standing before God without
• 29:39
  fear, with complete joy, is because of something outside of
• 29:43
  themselves that is cleanse them. They have not been made white
• 29:46
  because of what they've produced in themselves.
• 29:48
  It's something outside of them that has enabled them and
• 29:52
  extracted these things. And that is something to
• 29:56
  consider because the gospel message that will save them then
• 30:01
  is the same gospel message that saves people.
• 30:03
  Now, there's not going to be a different gospel in the
• 30:06
  tribulation period. It's going to be the same truth
• 30:09
  that will reel in souls that are open to being under the lordship
• 30:13
  of Christ. Now here's what's amazing in the
• 30:18
  average mind, being religious is about doing your part over a
• 30:21
  lifetime to scrub away the sins that have stained your life, the
• 30:26
  sins of your own actions and your own attitudes.
• 30:30
  And so they work hard and they try to remove those stains and
• 30:33
  they try to remove all their past, and they try to remove all
• 30:35
  their habits and their reputation so that they can be
• 30:37
  more acceptable, They can be more attractive to God.
• 30:41
  But a true Christian is someone who hears Christ say, I alone
• 30:46
  can make you clean, and you take your heart that is stained with
• 30:52
  sin, and you joyfully give it to him, and allow his blood to make
• 30:57
  it all white. That's a true Christian.
• 31:01
  Does it perform in their garments, but removes them and
• 31:07
  let's Christ take them and wash them, and do with them what no
• 31:12
  man can do for you. But notice how the elder says
• 31:16
  what they have washed their robes.
• 31:21
  Who did it? God.
• 31:22
  That God forced them to wash their robes?
• 31:25
  No, Christ has done his part by shedding his blood.
• 31:29
  They made the conscience choice of taking their robes,
• 31:31
  acknowledging the cleansing force of that sacrifice, and
• 31:35
  allowing that agent to do the work.
• 31:41
  So it's really up to you, it's up to every person to recognize
• 31:47
  what the Lord has done and then to respond to it.
• 31:49
  No one can blame God for their unbelief.
• 31:52
  No one can blame God for them not having the chance of being
• 31:57
  saved. They have washed their robes,
• 32:00
  Have you? That's the question today, have
• 32:05
  you? A lot of churches are filling up
• 32:07
  these days because of recent events, and I'm glad that's
• 32:09
  happening. And I think it's one of the
• 32:11
  greatest evangelistic opportunities of our time.
• 32:15
  So as much as we're teaching through Revelation, I can't help
• 32:17
  myself but preach the gospel and use this to perhaps point out
• 32:21
  anybody who is an unbelief, who has not said with confidence,
• 32:25
  yes, I made the conscious choice to be washed by His blood.
• 32:29
  You can do it today and it's up to you.
• 32:33
  So I, my, my desire really is that you can walk out of here
• 32:37
  with absolute assurance that even if heaven testifies against
• 32:40
  you, they can say he or she has washed their robe in the blood
• 32:44
  of the Lamb. And you can have that confidence
• 32:49
  by the Spirit if you truly repent and believe they have
• 32:54
  done it. Now here's what's amazing.
• 32:58
  He now goes on to give the promise that awaits the person
• 33:03
  who has done this. It's not just for this group in
• 33:05
  the great Tribulation. It's for any person who has
• 33:08
  followed their example in washing themselves in Christ's
• 33:11
  love. Forgiveness and cleansing is
• 33:15
  just, it's just the beginning. There are three main future
• 33:18
  pledges that are described here that I want us to consider
• 33:21
  before we close. Three things that are
• 33:23
  guaranteed. You believer if you can say I'm
• 33:26
  clean because of his blood. Three things.
• 33:31
  The first one might be the most surprising #1 this is your
• 33:34
  promise we will serve him. What do I mean by that?
• 33:42
  Look again here at verse 15. Therefore what is therefore?
• 33:47
  Therefore, as a result of them being cleansed by the blood of
• 33:51
  the Lamb, therefore they are before the throne of God and
• 33:54
  serve Him day and night in His temple, and he who sits on the
• 34:00
  throne will shelter them with His presence.
• 34:05
  This is more than just a description of the activity that
• 34:08
  will happen in the world to come.
• 34:10
  It's phrased in a way to stir up anticipation.
• 34:16
  You have to remember, only Levites were permitted to serve
• 34:21
  God in the temple in the Old Testament, right?
• 34:24
  Not every Jew, even among the Jews, only one specific line
• 34:28
  from one particular tribe. We're permitted to serve God in
• 34:31
  that capacity. And what is now God saying here
• 34:35
  about those who've washed the robes in above the Lamb there
• 34:39
  before the throne, and serve him day, night in his temple?
• 34:42
  Now it's access to everybody. Now it's made available to all
• 34:46
  tribes and all tongues and all nations.
• 34:47
  Now we all have been given that privilege to serve God.
• 34:50
  That's true today, and that's true for the world to come in.
• 34:53
  In what way? What's the full nature of
• 34:55
  serving God in heaven? I'm not sure, but I'm sure it
• 34:59
  includes some realization of what we do here on earth, though
• 35:02
  imperfectly and in weakness. I find it amazing that one of
• 35:08
  the promises for us is that we will serve God.
• 35:13
  Serve God. I'm not sure how many Christians
• 35:17
  see that as a heavenly thing, but it but it is.
• 35:22
  And if heaven is associated with heavenly bliss and eternal
• 35:25
  delight, then obviously the equation is that there's
• 35:30
  something about serving God that unlocks that kind of joy and the
• 35:33
  light. And I want to challenge any
• 35:38
  believer here who may not be actively serving God, who may
• 35:45
  not be serving him intentionally, Consciously.
• 35:48
  You're just kind of consuming Christian content and messages,
• 35:53
  but you're not exercising your faith.
• 35:56
  Notice something here, if you want to make your life more
• 35:59
  heavenly, then you have to imitate heavenly activity.
• 36:05
  And part of that is that with all your limitations and all
• 36:08
  your responsibilities that you seek God and you say, Lord, what
• 36:11
  is it that you want me to do to serve you now?
• 36:15
  What is it that you want me to do now to actually honor you in
• 36:17
  this way? And I assure you, based on the
• 36:19
  inside of this verse, if you tap into that, then you will know a
• 36:23
  deep otherworldly contentment because you were created for it.
• 36:29
  You were made to serve God. Imagine this.
• 36:32
  We will serve God in the world to come.
• 36:38
  And so you and I can know something about the fragrance
• 36:41
  and the the light of that world to come.
• 36:44
  If you seek to imitate the activity that is presented to us
• 36:47
  here. We will serve him.
• 36:48
  That's a promise. And for those who serve God now
• 36:51
  that should be exciting because you know the joy of honoring God
• 36:54
  in that way. But secondly, we will be safe
• 36:57
  with him. We will be safe with him.
• 36:59
  Look at here at verse 16. They shall hunger no more,
• 37:02
  neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them
• 37:05
  nor any scorching heat. So you have the the fears and
• 37:10
  the heartaches and the discomforts of this life.
• 37:14
  The things that we are all vulnerable to will suddenly come
• 37:17
  to an end. They will no longer threaten
• 37:20
  you. And I listen.
• 37:23
  Even the very environment of heaven will be pleasurable, will
• 37:27
  be cooperative. There won't even be a hint of
• 37:32
  anything making us uncomfortable in that kind of an atmosphere.
• 37:36
  The sun itself will always be to our contentment and our joy, not
• 37:43
  like the unpredictable elements of this life.
• 37:47
  And there's something here about the contrast between what is
• 37:51
  provided in terms of shelter and what is promised to the wicked,
• 37:55
  even in the tribulation period. Notice what's mentioned here.
• 37:58
  Water the sun. Go to Revelation 16.
• 38:06
  This is describing the bold judgments, the last sequence of
• 38:09
  judgments that will be poured out on the earth.
• 38:11
  And notice what happens early in those series of executions.
• 38:16
  Revelation 16 Four. The third Angel poured out his
• 38:19
  bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they
• 38:23
  became blood. In other words, they weren't
• 38:26
  able to drink it anymore. It was poisoned.
• 38:30
  Look at verse 8. The 4th Angel poured out his
• 38:33
  bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with
• 38:37
  fire. Do you see the comparison?
• 38:42
  Our future is much different than the future of the wicked,
• 38:46
  and you've heard this many times before.
• 38:47
  For us, this world is the closest thing to experiencing
• 38:51
  hell. But for the wicked, this is the
• 38:55
  closest thing that they will ever know of Paradise.
• 39:01
  We won't thirst, we won't hunger.
• 39:04
  The sun won't burn us. When it comes to Revelation 16,
• 39:07
  the wicked, their future is much different.
• 39:09
  They can't drink, they will scour for food, and the very sun
• 39:14
  will torture them for all of eternity.
• 39:20
  We'll be unharmed. We will be the safest that we've
• 39:24
  ever been. And lastly, my favorite, not
• 39:29
  only will we serve Him, not only will we be sheltered and safe
• 39:31
  with them, but we will also be satisfied in Him.
• 39:34
  Look at verse 17 of Revelation 7.
• 39:38
  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
• 39:44
  and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God
• 39:48
  will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
• 39:51
  What an amazing reminder of the manifold beauty of Christ.
• 39:55
  Read your Bible slowly, would you?
• 39:56
  We're being told about the Lamb who's also a shepherd.
• 40:01
  How does that work? Lamb and a shepherd.
• 40:07
  You know why that's being described to us in this way?
• 40:08
  To show us that Christ is All in all.
• 40:12
  No matter what you need, you can find it in Him.
• 40:16
  He is the ultimate sacrifice that can save us.
• 40:19
  He's the Lamb, and at the same time He's the strong Shepherd
• 40:22
  who can guide us and shield us and protect us all the days of
• 40:26
  our lives up into eternity. He's everything.
• 40:30
  No matter what your soul needs, you can tap into it and taste it
• 40:34
  in Jesus. And notice how this, the springs
• 40:40
  of living water that he will lead us to, is not in the
• 40:43
  singular, but in the plural. It's not a spring, it's springs.
• 40:47
  And you might have a different translation that reads fountain,
• 40:49
  but even if you have that, it doesn't say fountain, but
• 40:52
  fountains referring to the abundant, unending, overflowing
• 40:59
  provision that fulfills the deepest longings of the human
• 41:02
  heart. And you can't miss how we can
• 41:09
  have access to this eternal reality.
• 41:11
  It can't be an it can't be known apart from what He will guide
• 41:15
  them. That's the middle of verse 17.
• 41:19
  He will guide them. Only when you put your hand in
• 41:23
  the hand of him can you be led to this kind of experience that
• 41:29
  will never be interrupted. And here's the thing, Christ is
• 41:35
  the only road map to that promise.
• 41:40
  And it's true even today. This is not just speaking about
• 41:43
  what's going to be known in the world to come.
• 41:46
  You and I can sample on that living water day by day.
• 41:50
  Now there are some miserable Christians, and some of you
• 41:56
  might even be here, miserable, joyless, frustrated.
• 42:07
  You know sin is wrong, but for whatever reason in your mind you
• 42:09
  think that it actually tastes better than what Christ has to
• 42:11
  offer. That is not what Christianity is
• 42:16
  about. Yes, this, this flesh does tempt
• 42:20
  us. It does lie to us.
• 42:21
  It does remind us of some of the things that we know, knew before
• 42:24
  we came to Christ. But all that is being described
• 42:27
  here is experiential. It's real, it can be owned, and
• 42:33
  it can be known. And I want to tell you this, the
• 42:38
  way to claim it is no different here.
• 42:41
  We're told that in eternity He will guide them to these living
• 42:45
  waters and he's willing to guide you now.
• 42:51
  But you have to stop leading yourself and you, you have to
• 42:55
  stop chasing all these different options, all these different
• 42:58
  avenues, all these different things and just give yourself to
• 43:02
  his leadership completely. How do I do that?
• 43:04
  You come to what his word says. You do and you do it.
• 43:08
  You just do it by faith with desperation.
• 43:12
  You don't give up. You say, Lord, if this is
• 43:15
  possible, I want to know it. I'm I wasn't planning to end
• 43:18
  here. Let's end here.
• 43:20
  Go to first Peter 1 and look at verse 8 because I want, I don't
• 43:32
  want to give the impression that everything that we just read
• 43:34
  there about how we will serve Him and how we will be safe with
• 43:36
  Him and how we will be satisfied in Him, it's just something that
• 43:39
  we have to wait for. Yes, it will be on a level that
• 43:43
  requires glorified bodies to endure.
• 43:46
  But look at this verse eight of first Peter 1.
• 43:49
  Though you have not seen him, you love him.
• 43:51
  That's a miracle in itself. How do you love somebody you've
• 43:54
  never seen before? It's because you're more than
• 43:57
  just flesh and bones. You're a spirit being, and when
• 44:00
  you get saved, your spiritual eyes open to who Christ is, and
• 44:02
  you fall in love with Him. Though you have not seen Him,
• 44:06
  you love Him, Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him.
• 44:11
  He doesn't stop there and rejoice with joy that is
• 44:15
  inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of
• 44:20
  your faith, the salvation of your souls.
• 44:25
  You can ask different people today what makes them happy, but
• 44:31
  there is a level of happiness that you can't even explain, and
• 44:34
  it's only in Christ, inexpressible.
• 44:38
  I have no expressions to tell you the joy I feel for someone
• 44:42
  that I've never seen before, for someone that I just believe and
• 44:46
  trust in because He's given me His Word.
• 44:50
  Do you have that joy And I know it fluctuates and I know it gets
• 44:52
  difficult that sometimes I know sometimes it's it's this paradox
• 44:55
  of rejoicing but suffering. I get it.
• 44:58
  But but do you know it on any level?
• 45:01
  Can you hear Peter and say I know what that's like.
• 45:05
  And if you don't take the instruction from the end of
• 45:07
  Revelation 7. Let Christ guide you there, ask
• 45:10
  for it and watch him lead you to it.
• 45:15
  Brothers and sisters, although we are looking at a great
• 45:17
  tribulation harvest, the truths here are for us today and I hope
• 45:22
  you will take it to heart. Lord, we thank you for these
• 45:25
  truths and we ask, oh God, that we would be able to, by Your
• 45:32
  grace, know again this joy that is inexpressible and filled with
• 45:35
  glory. If anybody here is not born
• 45:42
  again, please, Lord, hear our prayers on their behalf that
• 45:48
  they would be saved, truly saved.
• 45:52
  And for the believer here who is struggling, barely made it to
• 45:55
  the service today. May their future home and their
• 46:00
  present promises at their disposal deliver them from
• 46:04
  despondency and discouragement. And may they actually know a new
• 46:09
  strength as they follow you. Thank you, O God, that you are a
• 46:12
  faithful King. What you've said you will
• 46:16
  perform and you've shown us here more than once how you are
• 46:20
  dependable. We love you and we honor you and
• 46:23
  we sing to you from our hearts and Jesus name we pray.
• 46:27
  Amen and Amen can we stand together?