Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Watching for Jesus in the Air Msg 2020 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Watching for Jesus in the Air Msg 2020 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 will be
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Speaker 1: the two sections of scripture that we're going to be
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Speaker 1: reading from in a few moments. 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
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Speaker 1: verse 50, okay? Now I say this, brethren, that flesh
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Speaker 1: and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does
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Speaker 1: the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery.
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Speaker 1: We shall not all sleep. But we shall all be
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Speaker 1: changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
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Speaker 1: at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and
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Speaker 1: the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed.
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Speaker 1: For this perishable must put on the imperishable and this
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Speaker 1: mortal must put on immortality. And when this perishable will
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Speaker 1: have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have
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Speaker 1: put on immortality, Then will come about the saying that
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Speaker 1: is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Isn't that
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Speaker 1: a great line? Now, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And we'll
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Speaker 1: begin at verse 13. But we do not want you
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Speaker 1: to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that
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Speaker 1: you may not grieve. as do the rest who have
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Speaker 1: no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
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Speaker 1: rose again, even so, God will bring with him those
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Speaker 1: who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say
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Speaker 1: to you by the word of the Lord, that we
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Speaker 1: who are alive and remain until the coming of the
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Speaker 1: Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For
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Speaker 1: the Lord himself, now look at this divine order of events.
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Speaker 1: The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
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Speaker 1: with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God,
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Speaker 1: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we
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Speaker 1: who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
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Speaker 1: with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
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Speaker 1: the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that grand? Isn't that a wonderful hope? Verse 18 says,
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Speaker 1: therefore comfort one another with these words. And I don't
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Speaker 1: know of words that have done more to split churches
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Speaker 1: than those words. They were never meant to be that.
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Speaker 1: Or words that have become so controversial when they were
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Speaker 1: really written to be comforted or to comfort us in
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Speaker 1: our grief. And surely those words mean a lot to
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Speaker 1: many grieving today. Let's pray. There truly is a Redeemer, Jesus,
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Speaker 1: God's own Son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.
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Speaker 1: And this same Jesus shall reign where'er the sun doth
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Speaker 1: its successive journeys run. His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
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Speaker 1: till moon shall wax and wane no more. We find
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Speaker 1: our origin in you, our Father. We find our purpose
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Speaker 1: in you, and we find our destiny in you, and
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Speaker 1: so we seek none other. The old fisherman was right
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Speaker 1: when Peter said, to whom else shall we go? You
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Speaker 1: have the words of eternal life. And our hearts find
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Speaker 1: joy and satisfaction, Father, in expressing our worship, in loving you,
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Speaker 1: in these melodies and grand words that come to us
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Speaker 1: through the centuries of time, seasoned by age, made strong
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Speaker 1: by persecution and hardship. Nothing that is important comes easily, Lord,
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Speaker 1: and our faith comes to us written by the blood
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Speaker 1: of martyrs, even 20th century martyrs like high school students
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Speaker 1: who to the very last day of their lives spoke
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Speaker 1: of their strong faith in Christ. We meet in this
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Speaker 1: place today least quarters where we find room out of
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Speaker 1: the elements to lift our voices to you, to be instructed,
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Speaker 1: to learn to love you and to walk with you,
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Speaker 1: to be reproved, exhorted, comforted, and encouraged. And all of
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Speaker 1: this prompts us to participate in such a thing. And
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Speaker 1: this is about you and your work your Son, and
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Speaker 1: your Word. And so we give because of you. You
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Speaker 1: who are in the process of changing our lives. And
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Speaker 1: we do so with great rejoicing, full of praise for
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Speaker 1: our Redeemer, God's own Son, in whose name we pray.
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Speaker 1: Everybody sit. There's something about the coming of Christ that
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Speaker 1: disturbs the lost but comforts the saved. I've got a
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Speaker 1: friend who didn't know the Lord and he was sort
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Speaker 1: of running from him, I guess you'd say, before he
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Speaker 1: came to Christ. And he decided to sort of hitchhike
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Speaker 1: his way across America. He got about halfway, I forget,
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Speaker 1: he was going from California all the way over to
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Speaker 1: the East Coast, and he got about as far as Kansas,
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Speaker 1: and he was picked up in a car by a
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Speaker 1: rather unusual individual who had this sign plastered on the
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Speaker 1: front of his glove box. In the event of Christ's return,
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Speaker 1: this driver will disappear, and this car will self-destruct. You
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Speaker 1: better get ready, G-I-T, get ready. He told me a
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Speaker 1: little later he didn't know whether to write his will
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Speaker 1: or pray or jump when he saw that sign on
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Speaker 1: the dashboard of a car. I know there are a
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Speaker 1: lot of funny signs written these days, a lot of
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Speaker 1: bumper stickers, a lot of things you've seen in the
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Speaker 1: popular world regarding the future plan that God has for
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Speaker 1: his people. Don't worry, that's just his reminder. He's coming soon.
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Speaker 1: That's all that is. But regardless of what you may
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Speaker 1: have read or what you may have heard or what
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Speaker 1: you may have taught or what superstition you may have
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Speaker 1: embraced regarding the future plan of God, you can always
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Speaker 1: count on the Bible to shoot straight. It tells it
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Speaker 1: like it is to people who need to hear the truth,
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Speaker 1: whether they are ready for it, whether they want it,
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Speaker 1: or whether they crave it. The Bible does not hedge—
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Speaker 1: It doesn't speak in riddles. And it has a way
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Speaker 1: of saying it so that you remember it. It's always relevant.
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Speaker 1: Haven't you loved that about the scriptures? You never turn
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Speaker 1: to the Bible and think, well, that really has nothing
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Speaker 1: to do with the way I'm living. It has nothing
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Speaker 1: to do with our times. More often than not, you
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Speaker 1: read this and you say, good night. That's like this
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Speaker 1: happened this morning. This is as fresh as this week's news.
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Speaker 1: Believe me, the subject today is that fresh and is
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Speaker 1: that vital. Because we all wonder about the future. We
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Speaker 1: all wonder about what happens when my loved one dies.
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Speaker 1: I mean, if they die and disintegrate in the grave,
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Speaker 1: And yet we're going to live in bodily form. How's
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Speaker 1: that going to happen? Or if Jesus comes back for
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Speaker 1: us and he raises us, what about those that have died?
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Speaker 1: And will we know each other? And will there be
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Speaker 1: some kind of relationship with those who don't know Christ?
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Speaker 1: And will there be some change of residence after death?
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Speaker 1: Is there some way I can pray people from there
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Speaker 1: to here? or from this to that. The Bible answers
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Speaker 1: questions like that. Now, it doesn't answer all of the
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Speaker 1: imaginary details you may entertain, but it does answer the
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Speaker 1: major questions. One of the main things I observe in
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Speaker 1: the gospel writers is that we are to be ready.
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Speaker 1: Over and over, the writer, as he records the teachings
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Speaker 1: of Jesus regarding the future, he tells us in red
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Speaker 1: letters that Be ready. Be alert. You never know when
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Speaker 1: he's going to come back. In fact, Jesus said to
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Speaker 1: his own as they were around that table at the
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Speaker 1: last supper, don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe
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Speaker 1: in God, believe also in me. In my father's house
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Speaker 1: are many places of residence. I know. The old King
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Speaker 1: James handled that mansions. In my father's house are many mansions.
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Speaker 1: That got lost in the Greek text somewhere. It just
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Speaker 1: never did say mansions, and I wish it did. It
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Speaker 1: really says apartment houses. Not really. It's a place to live, okay?
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Speaker 1: In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it
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Speaker 1: were not so, would I have told you that I
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Speaker 1: go to prepare a place for you? And if I
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Speaker 1: go to prepare a place for you, I will come again.
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Speaker 1: Check it for yourself. John 14, verse 3. Those four
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Speaker 1: words are underlined in my Bible. I will come again.
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Speaker 1: Now get this straight. He is either lying or he's
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Speaker 1: going to do that. And there's everything within us that
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Speaker 1: recoils with the thought of his lying to us. He
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Speaker 1: won't do that. As I have come from heaven and
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Speaker 1: dwelt on this earth, and I am going back to
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Speaker 1: heaven to be with the Father, I will come again.
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Speaker 1: Count on it. Now he never gives us here or
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Speaker 1: anywhere else in the scriptures a date. Okay? So watch
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Speaker 1: out for date setters. Don't buy the books yet. Don't
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Speaker 1: buy the pamphlets. Don't attend the conferences. Don't be a
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Speaker 1: part of date-setting ministries, okay? Because they're wrong. When I
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Speaker 1: see a date set, it's the maverick in me, but
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Speaker 1: I always want to write them the next day after
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Speaker 1: the date they set and Christ hasn't come and asked,
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Speaker 1: how you feeling today? How you doing? How you doing?
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Speaker 1: Books have been sold by the millions of people who
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Speaker 1: were as wrong as they could be because they set dates.
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Speaker 1: He will come again. He doesn't tell us when. He
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Speaker 1: doesn't tell us when, but he tells us that he will. Now,
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Speaker 1: my Bible is open to 1 Corinthians 15, which addresses
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Speaker 1: our resurrection when we will be caught up with him again.
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Speaker 1: in new kinds of bodies, and Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4
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Speaker 1: addresses the order of events in the process of our
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Speaker 1: going from earth to heaven. So we read these two
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Speaker 1: passages together to get a clear understanding. But before we
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Speaker 1: look at 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 50, let
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Speaker 1: me clarify two matters. First is death, and the other
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Speaker 1: is destiny. Let me help erase a little bit of
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Speaker 1: the mystery that shrouds death by giving you a synonym.
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Speaker 1: It will help. Separation. Separation. At death, the invisible part
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Speaker 1: of our being is separated from the visible. What is
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Speaker 1: the invisible? Our soul's our spirits. That part of us
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Speaker 1: that makes up our personality, that part of us where
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Speaker 1: the Spirit of God dwells as we come to Christ.
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Speaker 1: He takes up His residence inside our spirit. Our souls
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Speaker 1: are those things that bring about our personality, our temperament,
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Speaker 1: our inner being. That's why when you look at a corpse,
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Speaker 1: you see no, we say there's no life there. There's
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Speaker 1: no personality there because the invisible has separated from the visible.
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Speaker 1: That's death. That's death. Now, destiny is another subject. At death,
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Speaker 1: If a person has during his or her lifetime trusted
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Speaker 1: in Christ alone by faith alone for eternal salvation, that person,
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Speaker 1: when he or she dies... His spirit soul goes immediately
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Speaker 1: to be with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5, 8, to
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Speaker 1: be absent from the body, that's the separation, that's death,
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Speaker 1: is to be present with the Lord. But wait, the
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Speaker 1: body doesn't, the soul does. The spirit goes to be
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Speaker 1: with the Lord in conscious form, in a conscious state.
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Speaker 1: We are taken from this earth immediately into the presence
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. awaiting the resurrection. But what about the body? Well,
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Speaker 1: it begins to decay, begins to disintegrate. It's only a
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Speaker 1: matter of hours before putrefaction occurs, and the marks of
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Speaker 1: decay in a matter of months, it's grotesque. So the
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Speaker 1: body is usually handled by a mortician who embalms the
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Speaker 1: body and places the body in a casket, or if
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Speaker 1: a person prefers a A cremation and the body is
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Speaker 1: placed in the ground. Dust you are and to dust
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Speaker 1: you shall return. And it awaits its destiny. For those
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Speaker 1: who have come to Christ during their lifetime, there is
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Speaker 1: this instant wonderful moment we're going to be reading about
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Speaker 1: when the Lord captures us up in the clouds to
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Speaker 1: meet him in the air. The body is raised in
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Speaker 1: a glorified state. changed instantly so that it is prepared
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Speaker 1: to endure for eternity. The soul spirit joins the body
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Speaker 1: at that point and from then on there is the
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Speaker 1: bodily presence with the Lord and with other saints throughout eternity.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that a great hope? There's another subject that needs
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Speaker 1: also to be addressed. If a person has lived without
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Speaker 1: Christ and died apart from faith in Christ alone, that
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Speaker 1: person faces a Christ-less eternity. The soul spirit goes immediately
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Speaker 1: to a place called Hades or hell, and it remains
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Speaker 1: there until the ultimate resurrection of the lost when the
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Speaker 1: person is placed into the lake of fire that was
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Speaker 1: originally prepared for the devil and his angels. That's the
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Speaker 1: destiny of the lost. There is no purgatory. There is
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Speaker 1: no praying a person out of his or her eternal
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Speaker 1: destiny that must be taken care of during time on earth.
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Speaker 1: Which gives the passion to preachers around the world to
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Speaker 1: press people to a decision for Christ. Because there is
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Speaker 1: no second chance. There is no afterthought where they realize
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Speaker 1: what has happened and They come back and decide for Christ.
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Speaker 1: In fact, Scripture describes this in Luke 16 as a
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Speaker 1: great gulf fixed between the two destinies. It's an awesome thought.
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Speaker 1: Our focus today, however, is for the believer who's still
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Speaker 1: living on this earth and faces that most important event
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Speaker 1: yet future. By the way, let me take away all
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Speaker 1: doubt From my study of the scriptures and from the
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Speaker 1: study of those under whom I have studied the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: it is our conviction that the next event of the
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Speaker 1: future is Christ coming in the clouds. Isn't that a
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Speaker 1: great thought? Well, it's great if you're ready. It's great
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Speaker 1: if you're on the edge of your seat looking forward
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Speaker 1: to it. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 50 is addressed
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Speaker 1: to believers. That's why the word brethren appears there. Now
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Speaker 1: I say this, brethren. Brothers and sisters, members of the
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Speaker 1: family of God, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
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Speaker 1: of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. What
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Speaker 1: does that mean? It means our present bag of bones,
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Speaker 1: our bodies, our aging bodies are not equipped to endure
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Speaker 1: through eternity. Of course not. We do well to make
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Speaker 1: it through 80, 90 years on this earth. Our chancellor
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Speaker 1: at Dallas Seminary, as we celebrated his birthday, May the 1st, 1999,
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Speaker 1: turned 89, born 1910. Dr. Wolvert is now 89 years old,
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Speaker 1: and when I announce that, people always smile and shake
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Speaker 1: their heads when they realize this grand Christian gentleman has
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Speaker 1: endured so long and and is such a remarkable example
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Speaker 1: of Christ-likeness, but only 89 years. Some live into their 100,
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Speaker 1: 105 or 10, and they have all kinds of ways
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Speaker 1: to make us look like we're not getting older. Have
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Speaker 1: you noticed that? Tummy tucks and face lifts and all
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Speaker 1: other things that I could mention, but listen to Florida
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Speaker 1: Mary Thompson's story. She was thought to have been at
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Speaker 1: least 120 years old before she died. 120. August 3rd,
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Speaker 1: last year, she died of a heart attack, according to
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Speaker 1: this report from the Raleigh News and Observer. Mrs. Thompson
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Speaker 1: could trace her life back to March 27, 1876. Great Scott.
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Speaker 1: What was the key to her long life? One of
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Speaker 1: her very close relatives answered, well, she ate well and
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Speaker 1: she exercised and she continued to work in the yard
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Speaker 1: till 105. Furthermore, she never smoked. She always carried a.
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Speaker 1: 22 in her bra. Now, that's the way she caused
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Speaker 1: her life to last a long time. My wife loves
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Speaker 1: it when I use that illustration. She just thinks that's wonderful. Now,
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Speaker 1: long life is not a possibility. You can't go beyond 120, 130.
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Speaker 1: It's over, friend. It's over. So in order for us
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Speaker 1: to endure through eternity, We must be given an imperishable
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Speaker 1: set of qualities. Or we will perish. We won't make it.
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Speaker 1: So he says in verse 51, I'll tell you a mystery.
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Speaker 1: I love the way he gets into it. It makes
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Speaker 1: you move on the edge of your seat. Well, we
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Speaker 1: got a mystery here. But this isn't like puzzling, uncertain ambiguity.
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Speaker 1: This isn't that kind of mystery. This is a musterion
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Speaker 1: is the Greek word. We get our word mystery from it.
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Speaker 1: It means that which is outside the range of unassisted apprehension.
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Speaker 1: It's like our word secret. A secret isn't mysterious. It's
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Speaker 1: just you don't know it until someone informs you. You
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Speaker 1: need assisting in the information. And once you've been assisted,
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Speaker 1: you see it. There are secret organizations and fraternities and sororities.
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Speaker 1: And once you're into it, it's not puzzling. It's clear.
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Speaker 1: You just now understand the secret. That's the way this
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Speaker 1: word should be read. Behold, I show you a secret.
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Speaker 1: What is that? We shall not all sleep. The word
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Speaker 1: sleep is used in the New Testament most often, not
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Speaker 1: physical sleep, but death. When the believer dies, Scripture says
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Speaker 1: we've fallen asleep in Christ. But he says, here's the
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Speaker 1: mystery or the secret. We won't all sleep. We won't
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Speaker 1: all die. But we will all be changed. In a moment,
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Speaker 1: in the twinkling of an eye, That word moment is atomos.
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Speaker 1: We get our word atom from it. It's the idea
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Speaker 1: of an indivisible segment of time. Split second is our
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Speaker 1: best word. We shall all be changed in a split second.
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Speaker 1: In the flash of light across the eye. Not the
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Speaker 1: batting of an eye. But in the flash of light
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Speaker 1: across the eye. It'll be that quick. At the last trumpet,
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Speaker 1: the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. Now,
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Speaker 1: remember what we've learned about it. Separation of soul, spirit
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Speaker 1: from the body. So we're now raising the body from
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Speaker 1: the grave. But in the process of being raised in
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Speaker 1: that split second, the Lord will provide an imperishable quality
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Speaker 1: of life. to that body. Isn't that a great thought?
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Speaker 1: You'll never age. You'll never show the marks of age.
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Speaker 1: You and I, as believers now caught up with the Lord,
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Speaker 1: will have bodies that will last forever. I have the
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Speaker 1: secret hope that we'll all be thinner also, but I
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Speaker 1: don't have any biblical support for that. I just hope
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Speaker 1: for that. It will all be changed. Glorified in these
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Speaker 1: imperishable qualities that will allow us to last forever. You
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Speaker 1: want to know what you'll be like? Study the resurrected
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Speaker 1: body of Christ. Seriously. He was seen by his followers
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Speaker 1: after he was raised, so we'll be seen. He ate,
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Speaker 1: so we'll eat. Thank goodness, we'll eat. We'll enjoy a
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Speaker 1: feast at the Lamb's Supper. Won't that be wonderful? Sitting
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Speaker 1: there with Paul and Peter and the great saints of history.
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Speaker 1: There'll be people there that you'll be surprised will be
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Speaker 1: at that meal. And there'll be people surprised that you're
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Speaker 1: there at that meal. It'll be a great, great reunion
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Speaker 1: as believers together down through history back to the beginning
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Speaker 1: of the church will be caught up there in a
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Speaker 1: glorified state. What a grand hope. What an anticipation. We
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Speaker 1: shall be changed. So we who are alive caught up
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Speaker 1: and the dead caught up. We'll all be changed. So
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Speaker 1: we'll be in this ageless, timeless condition for eternity. Verse 53.
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Speaker 1: Let me read it with 54. This perishable, that's the
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Speaker 1: current body, Must put on the imperishable. That's the eternal.
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Speaker 1: This mortal. That's the current. Must put on immortality. That's future.
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Speaker 1: That's the eternal body. And he now says. When this
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Speaker 1: has happened. When the perishable will have put on the imperishable.
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Speaker 1: When the mortal will have put on immortality. Then. Will
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Speaker 1: come about the saying. That is written. Death is swallowed
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Speaker 1: up in victory. I love that. Swallowed up. It's all gone.
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Speaker 1: You and I in the Lord's presence will never ever
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Speaker 1: have to fear the invasion of death. It comes as
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Speaker 1: an uninvited guest into homes and hearts all around the world.
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Speaker 1: It visited Littleton, Colorado on the 20th of April. And
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Speaker 1: it broke the hearts of parents as murderers walked through
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Speaker 1: those halls and for some unrevealed reason, blew these children away.
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Speaker 1: That'll never happen in heaven. Never will we be grieved
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Speaker 1: over the loss of some dear friend or son or
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Speaker 1: daughter or parent. Death is swallowed up in victory. Look
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Speaker 1: how he puts it. He says, O death, where is
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Speaker 1: thy victory? O death, where is your sting? Paul didn't
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Speaker 1: get that from Shakespeare. Shakespeare got that from Paul. That's
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Speaker 1: Paul's line. Straight from heaven. Death is swallowed up. The
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Speaker 1: sting is gone. The jaws are locked open. And we'll
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Speaker 1: forever be with him. Now, that kind of teaching and
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Speaker 1: preaching makes us hungry for more. So, since you insisted.
27:27
Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, look at verse 13, and we'll
27:33
Speaker 1: just pick up where we left off. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13.
27:40
Speaker 1: Let me give you a little outline to kind of
27:42
Speaker 1: give you hooks to hang your thoughts on. 13 and
27:46
Speaker 1: 14 of chapter 4 have to do with death and
27:51
Speaker 1: life afterwards. 15 through 17 have to do with Christ
27:56
Speaker 1: coming and others joining one another. And 18 has to
28:02
Speaker 1: do with comfort. So first, death and life afterwards. If
28:06
Speaker 1: you're a prophecy freak, if you will, if you're the
28:10
Speaker 1: kind of person that finds himself or herself really excited
28:13
Speaker 1: about prophecy, this is the passage you want to camp
28:16
Speaker 1: on as a Christian. This is the one. Verse 13,
28:21
Speaker 1: some people are thinking, oh, we ought to just, you know,
28:24
Speaker 1: ignorance is bliss. Don't worry about that, you'll get weird.
28:26
Speaker 1: This says, we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren.
28:31
Speaker 1: Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance leads to superstition, fear, sleepless nights,
28:43
Speaker 1: imaginations that run wild, If you want to know what
28:47
Speaker 1: ignorance will do, it will bring people to grave sites
28:52
Speaker 1: as they attempt to connect with their departed loved ones.
28:57
Speaker 1: It'll turn straight-thinking people into strange-thinking people. You will never
29:05
Speaker 1: again visit a grave site to connect with the dead
29:08
Speaker 1: once you understand 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18. This is to
29:11
Speaker 1: inform you Ignorance isn't bliss. Certainly not about the future.
29:20
Speaker 1: We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren. Notice again, brethren.
29:24
Speaker 1: Every time you read that, remember, this is to the Christian.
29:27
Speaker 1: Brothers and sisters, members of the family, we don't want
29:31
Speaker 1: you to be uninformed about those who are asleep. There's
29:34
Speaker 1: our word again. So the next time you hear that
29:38
Speaker 1: someone died, don't shrug your shoulders and say, well, I
29:42
Speaker 1: don't know what's happened. You know what's happened. There's been
29:46
Speaker 1: a separation. You know what's happened. The soul and spirit
29:52
Speaker 1: have been taken to be with the Lord if the
29:54
Speaker 1: person was a Christian and the body remains to be
29:58
Speaker 1: taken care of for burial. You know what's happened concerning
30:06
Speaker 1: those who are asleep. And because you know what's happened,
30:09
Speaker 1: you will not grieve as do the rest who have
30:12
Speaker 1: no hope. See how the verse ends? I tell you
30:15
Speaker 1: this so that you may not grieve as the hopeless.
30:19
Speaker 1: Don't misread the statement. I've heard believers chide others for grieving. No,
30:29
Speaker 1: it doesn't say we don't grieve. It says we don't
30:31
Speaker 1: grieve as the hopeless. Got it? I think it's unusual
30:36
Speaker 1: when someone loses a loved one and doesn't weep, doesn't grieve.
30:41
Speaker 1: I don't think you fully get over grief until you
30:43
Speaker 1: express it completely. And I think it's regrettable that Christians
30:48
Speaker 1: cut people short of their complete grief. I know a
30:52
Speaker 1: woman who grieved for three years the death of her husband.
30:56
Speaker 1: There's nothing wrong with that. She wasn't hopeless. She was
31:00
Speaker 1: just horribly lonely. and had to come to terms with
31:04
Speaker 1: a premature death, premature in their plans. It was a
31:10
Speaker 1: difficult thing, but it says we don't grieve as those
31:13
Speaker 1: who have no hope. Let me just pause a moment
31:16
Speaker 1: and ask you, do you remember seeing on television the
31:19
Speaker 1: faces of those mothers and dads, those precious teenagers in Littleton, Colorado?
31:25
Speaker 1: Remember their faces? Did you see grief? You absolutely did.
31:31
Speaker 1: Did you hear hopelessness? You absolutely did not. I received
31:37
Speaker 1: information from a trusted friend who said, of the 15 dead,
31:41
Speaker 1: 12 students, one teacher, and the two suspects, we have
31:47
Speaker 1: discovered that 11 of the 12 students were born-again Christians.
31:51
Speaker 1: That's why you didn't see hopelessness. Regardless of age, it
31:57
Speaker 1: may be a child age 4, a teen age 14,
32:02
Speaker 1: A mother aged 54. A grandmother 84. Doesn't matter about
32:08
Speaker 1: age or sex. Doesn't matter of geography. This is death
32:15
Speaker 1: as it visits a home and a life. And when
32:18
Speaker 1: there is knowledge that Jesus Christ died for sin and
32:22
Speaker 1: rose from the dead and that person has connected with
32:26
Speaker 1: that by faith, that person's ready to die. Ready for eternity.
32:34
Speaker 1: See how he puts it? Verse 14. Because. This is
32:37
Speaker 1: the reason we don't grieve as those who have no hope.
32:40
Speaker 1: Because if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
32:43
Speaker 1: even so God will bring with him those who have
32:47
Speaker 1: fallen asleep. There's our word again. Those who have died
32:51
Speaker 1: in Jesus. It's Paul's way of saying those who have
32:54
Speaker 1: died as Christians. Are you tracking me on this? It's
32:58
Speaker 1: a very simple plan. You live on this earth. You
33:03
Speaker 1: hear the gospel. You respond positively to the gospel. The
33:07
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus secures your eternity. It's that simple. And it's
33:11
Speaker 1: that confident. You have that assurance. This we say to
33:18
Speaker 1: you by the word of the Lord. You know what
33:21
Speaker 1: I believe? I believe he got this directly from the Lord.
33:24
Speaker 1: According to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, he was caught up
33:27
Speaker 1: in the third heavens and he received special revelation. During
33:31
Speaker 1: the time of the writing of the scriptures. And I
33:34
Speaker 1: believe part of the information he got from the Lord.
33:36
Speaker 1: Had to do with this mystery. This remarkable set of information.
33:42
Speaker 1: Or body of information. I think in that state of
33:47
Speaker 1: receiving revelation. The apostle was given this from the Lord.
33:50
Speaker 1: He got it as a word from God. The Lord
33:53
Speaker 1: himself gave it to him. This is no preacher's meanderings.
33:57
Speaker 1: This is no imaginary hope. This is truth from God,
34:02
Speaker 1: recorded in His inerrant Word. This we say to you
34:06
Speaker 1: by the Word of the Lord, that we who are
34:08
Speaker 1: alive and remain, meaning remain on this earth until the
34:14
Speaker 1: coming of the Lord, watch closely, we will not precede
34:19
Speaker 1: those who have fallen asleep. What does it mean? Well,
34:26
Speaker 1: when Christ returns in the air for His people, for
34:29
Speaker 1: His bride, His beloved church. Some will be alive. Some
34:34
Speaker 1: will have died. More will have died. Multiple millions, millions
34:40
Speaker 1: will have died and they're in the grave or they're
34:43
Speaker 1: in the sea or their bodies have been disintegrated by
34:47
Speaker 1: an explosion from a bomb or in war or whatever condition.
34:51
Speaker 1: No problem with God. He made us out of nothing.
34:54
Speaker 1: He can bring us back from nothing. So we who
34:58
Speaker 1: are alive will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
35:03
Speaker 1: And when he writes that, he realizes we need an
35:06
Speaker 1: order of events here. And Paul, in his grand logic,
35:10
Speaker 1: gives us the order. Look at 16 and 17. Here's
35:15
Speaker 1: the order. First, the Lord himself will descend from heaven
35:20
Speaker 1: with a shout. You're going to see three audible signals
35:26
Speaker 1: coming from heaven. A shout, the voice of the archangel,
35:32
Speaker 1: and the trumpet of God. I have a trumpet player
35:38
Speaker 1: friend in Bill Bryan, our chaplain at the seminary, who
35:41
Speaker 1: takes great delight in announcing that is the chosen instrument
35:46
Speaker 1: from God. the trumpet of God. I played the clarinet.
35:49
Speaker 1: He says, notice it does not say the clarinet or
35:52
Speaker 1: the saxophone of God. It's the trumpet of God. Now,
35:56
Speaker 1: will the shout, will the voice, will the trumpet call
35:59
Speaker 1: be heard around the world? I don't know. It doesn't
36:02
Speaker 1: say so here. Now, some teach that, and that's fine.
36:07
Speaker 1: It makes great preaching. You just don't have a lot
36:10
Speaker 1: of biblical support for it. I think it'll be loud.
36:14
Speaker 1: Angels don't mumble. And when they speak with a voice
36:20
Speaker 1: or they shout and the Lord blows his trumpet, however
36:24
Speaker 1: way that's going to be, I think it will be
36:27
Speaker 1: heard by a vast number. And the dead will rise first.
36:33
Speaker 1: So here we are. The Lord descends in the air
36:38
Speaker 1: with the sound, the voice, the trumpet, and the dead
36:40
Speaker 1: are raised first. I don't think the graves will all
36:43
Speaker 1: be open. You don't have to open a grave to
36:47
Speaker 1: get a body out that's in a glorified state. They
36:51
Speaker 1: didn't remove the stone to let Jesus out. They removed
36:53
Speaker 1: the stone to let the witnesses in. A resurrection body
36:58
Speaker 1: moves through space, matter, and time in an atomos, split second.
37:06
Speaker 1: So I think the bodies will be remarkably, miraculously transformed
37:11
Speaker 1: brought out of the grave in a glorified state. Corinthians
37:14
Speaker 1: says it will be imperishable, right? It'll be immortal. So
37:20
Speaker 1: they'll come out of the grave. They're first. And then
37:25
Speaker 1: we who are alive, we're second in the group. We
37:29
Speaker 1: who remain will be caught up together with them in
37:34
Speaker 1: the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Don't
37:38
Speaker 1: tell me it's going to be on the earth. It
37:40
Speaker 1: says in the clouds. It says in the air. That's
37:44
Speaker 1: where he's planned it. So there'll be this grand reunion
37:50
Speaker 1: in the air. I'm trying to keep from laughing out
37:53
Speaker 1: loud at this wonderful thought of all the saints caught up.
38:01
Speaker 1: And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Magnificent.
38:05
Speaker 1: Think of that. You'll see those saints you've read about
38:09
Speaker 1: and studied about You'll see the martyrs who gave their
38:12
Speaker 1: lives for the faith of the gospel. You'll see the
38:18
Speaker 1: wonderful people from our own generation and from generations past
38:23
Speaker 1: and your grandparents whom you may have never known who
38:26
Speaker 1: prayed for your salvation and your mother, your dad, whoever
38:31
Speaker 1: is in your background that had a hand in where
38:35
Speaker 1: you are today. You'll see them. That'd be great. In
38:41
Speaker 1: a timeless, imperishable state. And we'll be together forever. Isn't
38:51
Speaker 1: that great? Oh, I love it. Man. Therefore, comfort one another. Well,
39:00
Speaker 1: of course. You think those grieving families haven't been comforted
39:06
Speaker 1: with that thought? They'll be caught up. And they'll see
39:10
Speaker 1: their 16-year-old or their 17-year-old or their 14-year-old in the clouds,
39:21
Speaker 1: in the air, taken up. Now, what happens on this
39:28
Speaker 1: earth is another story. And that's for another time. Another place.
39:36
Speaker 1: You see with the departure of the believers in the church.
39:39
Speaker 1: There will be the departure of the restraining of evil.
39:41
Speaker 1: The part of the Holy Spirit. And all hell will
39:44
Speaker 1: break loose on this earth. Called a time of tribulation
39:48
Speaker 1: and even great. tribulation that builds to such a crescendo
39:53
Speaker 1: that it will require the battle of Armageddon the return
39:57
Speaker 1: of Christ to the earth as he fulfills his promises
40:02
Speaker 1: to Israel and the establishment of his kingdom for a
40:05
Speaker 1: thousand years as we rule and reign with him because
40:09
Speaker 1: we've been with him we return with him he wins
40:12
Speaker 1: the battle we rule over sections of this world during
40:16
Speaker 1: the millennium is that great news or what I get
40:21
Speaker 1: Newport beach. No, that's another subject. It's just a joke.
40:25
Speaker 1: Come on, you guys. It's just a little fun with
40:27
Speaker 1: you there for a moment. I would rather have Hawaii
40:30
Speaker 1: and tell you the truth. That'd be a whole lot better. Look,
40:33
Speaker 1: look at Titus. Okay. First, second Thessalonians, first and second Timothy, Titus,
40:39
Speaker 1: go to Titus. Always glad I went to vacation Bible school.
40:42
Speaker 1: That's where you learn to memorize the Bible books of
40:44
Speaker 1: the Bible and comes in handy. Titus. Some of you
40:47
Speaker 1: haven't even turned. You're saying, honey, why don't you turn?
40:49
Speaker 1: I'm tired of listening to this guy. Turn to Titus
40:52
Speaker 1: chapter 2. You're not going to get the whole story
40:55
Speaker 1: if you don't see it with your own eyes, okay? 2.11, Titus.
40:59
Speaker 1: The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.
41:04
Speaker 1: All men and women, all humanity, the grace of God
41:08
Speaker 1: is bringing salvation to you today in this message. Jesus
41:13
Speaker 1: Christ died for you, rose from the dead for you,
41:17
Speaker 1: has gone back to the Father. The Father is satisfied
41:20
Speaker 1: that his death paid the penalty for your sins. This
41:23
Speaker 1: is your moment to receive it. If you have not
41:26
Speaker 1: received him, do that now. This is your moment to
41:30
Speaker 1: come to Christ. What a marvelous opportunity to invest in
41:36
Speaker 1: the grace of God. It's appeared to all, and you've
41:39
Speaker 1: heard it now. Have you done that? Only you know that.
41:44
Speaker 1: We can't tell when we bury you if you've done that.
41:48
Speaker 1: You have to do that on your own. You can't
41:50
Speaker 1: do it because your mother did it or your husband
41:53
Speaker 1: has come to faith or your wife. It's an independent
41:58
Speaker 1: decision on your part. This is what drives me in
42:01
Speaker 1: life is to passionately offer this message of grace to
42:06
Speaker 1: the whole world. This is my moment to tell you
42:09
Speaker 1: it's available. Second, He says, instructing us, that's the grace
42:18
Speaker 1: of God, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires.
42:24
Speaker 1: So between now and when Christ comes for us, we
42:27
Speaker 1: are to continue resisting living a corrupt lifestyle. Are you
42:35
Speaker 1: resisting that? I mean, you don't want to be caught
42:38
Speaker 1: in a compromising situation, do you? Oh, you'll be taken up. Yeah,
42:44
Speaker 1: you're secure, but you'll lose rewards for spending your life
42:48
Speaker 1: like that. That's a dumb way to spend your life.
42:51
Speaker 1: Why would the redeemed want to live like the unredeemed?
42:55
Speaker 1: Grace says deny ungodliness and worldly desires. Say no to
43:03
Speaker 1: the enemy's attacks and temptation. That's the way to live. Now,
43:08
Speaker 1: here's a third example. Verse 12 concludes to live sensibly
43:13
Speaker 1: and righteously and godly in this present age. Are you
43:16
Speaker 1: living your life in a sensible, godly manner? I can't
43:20
Speaker 1: tell by looking you look like you are, but are you?
43:24
Speaker 1: I mean, are you doing that? Now, don't go crazy
43:30
Speaker 1: with this teaching. Some hear this and, oh, they climb
43:34
Speaker 1: up on a rooftop and get on a white gown
43:37
Speaker 1: and quit their jobs and I've always wondered why they
43:42
Speaker 1: put on a white gown. What good is that? You
43:45
Speaker 1: don't need a white gown. Just wear your own clothes
43:48
Speaker 1: if you want to get up there. That's dumb, getting
43:53
Speaker 1: up on a rooftop. Why do you have to get
43:55
Speaker 1: up on a rooftop? The dead are going to come out,
43:57
Speaker 1: and then you're going to follow. It doesn't help to
43:59
Speaker 1: be on the 106th floor of some office building. I've
44:02
Speaker 1: had people say, well, we're closer to heaven. Hey, that
44:05
Speaker 1: baby will fall in an earthquake. Trust me. So wherever
44:08
Speaker 1: you are will work. Don't feel like you have to
44:10
Speaker 1: climb up somewhere. That's not sensible. Live a sensible life.
44:15
Speaker 1: That means if you've got a job, work it. Okay?
44:20
Speaker 1: You got a family? Take care of them. You got
44:23
Speaker 1: little kids? Hey, spend time with them. You got teenagers?
44:28
Speaker 1: Pray for grace. You got responsibilities? Carry them out. That's
44:34
Speaker 1: a sensible lifestyle. Now watch. Look at the next verse.
44:40
Speaker 1: looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the
44:44
Speaker 1: glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. Any day,
44:52
Speaker 1: any moment, you may be asleep. Believe me, you'll wake up.
44:56
Speaker 1: You may be awake. You may be working. You may
45:00
Speaker 1: be worshiping. You may be dying. You may be in
45:05
Speaker 1: the midst of some laborious struggle or some emotional battle,
45:11
Speaker 1: some physical disease, at any moment, he could come. Isn't
45:18
Speaker 1: that exciting? Just think, every morning you wake up, today, Lord, today.
45:29
Speaker 2: And everything will change in the ecstasy of his presence.
45:38
Speaker 2: we'll spend forever with Him.
45:39
Speaker 1: Isn't that great? We'll all be glorified, so we'll all
45:44
Speaker 1: get along with each other. That's a great thought, too.
45:48
Speaker 1: Your old nature will drop off, and we'll see the
45:51
Speaker 1: real spiritual you, and we'll spend it with Him. I
45:58
Speaker 1: read a wonderful story of three men who loved to
46:01
Speaker 1: fish and hunt together. They happened to be in northern
46:05
Speaker 1: India during this particular hunt. What two of the three
46:09
Speaker 1: men didn't know is that the oldest of the three
46:12
Speaker 1: had come to Christ several months earlier, and he had
46:14
Speaker 1: never told them yet. He had begun to grow in
46:17
Speaker 1: the scriptures and get a little teaching about the future
46:20
Speaker 1: and discovered about death and destiny, as you have heard today.
46:25
Speaker 1: He was anxious for the moment to tell them, and
46:28
Speaker 1: it came this morning, early before dawn. They set around
46:32
Speaker 1: a fire, and one of the fellows said, you know,
46:36
Speaker 1: just sort of spontaneously, well, what was the most exciting
46:41
Speaker 1: moment of your life? And immediately after the question, one
46:45
Speaker 1: of the younger fellows said, well, I think it had
46:47
Speaker 1: to be when I was hunting in Africa. I shot
46:54
Speaker 1: a tiger that was lurching about to pounce. Another one
46:59
Speaker 1: said it was when I was above the Aleutians in
47:02
Speaker 1: Alaska and there was this grizzly that began to hunt me.
47:07
Speaker 1: It took three shots and he fell finally at my feet.
47:11
Speaker 1: The older gentleman waited till the last and he said,
47:13
Speaker 1: those are all very exciting moments, but mine will come
47:19
Speaker 1: immediately after I die. He's right. Nothing on this earth
47:26
Speaker 1: will compare to the ecstasy of seeing him whom to
47:32
Speaker 1: know is life eternal. It's not a great. It could
47:39
Speaker 1: be your hope or your dread. Let's bow together. Let's
47:49
Speaker 1: sit quietly before the Lord as that rain softly falls,
47:57
Speaker 1: reminding us of the scriptures. As the rain comes down
48:00
Speaker 1: and the snow from heaven falls, and doesn't return without
48:03
Speaker 1: watering the earth and making it bring forth and bud,
48:06
Speaker 1: even so will my word be that goes forth out
48:09
Speaker 1: of my mouth. It shall never return empty, but it
48:13
Speaker 1: shall accomplish why I sent it and the purpose for
48:17
Speaker 1: which it was given. I won't beg you and I
48:22
Speaker 1: won't embarrass you, but I will offer you an opportunity
48:26
Speaker 1: to turn your life over to Christ right now. You've
48:31
Speaker 1: heard enough. I don't need to repeat it. But this
48:35
Speaker 1: is your moment to give your heart to the Savior.
48:40
Speaker 1: You bring nothing of your own works. He's not interested
48:44
Speaker 1: in how religious you have been or promised to be.
48:47
Speaker 1: That doesn't help. You come by faith alone in Christ
48:53
Speaker 1: alone because of the grace offered in the plan of salvation.
49:00
Speaker 1: It's yours now. for the taking. Our Father, we do
49:09
Speaker 1: give you great praise for that truth that we shall
49:14
Speaker 1: behold him, for we shall see him as he is.
49:19
Speaker 1: And we will be with one another and what a
49:21
Speaker 1: grand and glorious reunion that will be when the one
49:26
Speaker 1: who paid it all for us brings us unto himself
49:32
Speaker 1: and shares with us a dwelling in the heavenlies This
49:39
Speaker 1: has a way of putting everything in perspective. It decreases
49:43
Speaker 1: our worries. It causes the things that we thought were
49:47
Speaker 1: significant to sort of fade into the distance. And it
49:52
Speaker 1: brings us face to face with you in all of
49:56
Speaker 1: your glory. I pray for those who have not yet
50:00
Speaker 1: come to know the Savior. I pray that you will
50:03
Speaker 1: cause their misery to increase. May their nights be increasingly
50:07
Speaker 1: more sleepless. May they know no relief. May they lose
50:12
Speaker 1: their appetite and their joy of living until you, through
50:17
Speaker 1: your Holy Spirit, brings them to faith in Christ. I
50:26
Speaker 1: pray for those who know the Lord Jesus that you
50:29
Speaker 1: will help us know how to live sensible, responsible lives.
50:33
Speaker 1: Guard us from foolish and fanatical extremes with this information.
50:40
Speaker 1: Help us to be informed without feeling smug. Get us
50:46
Speaker 1: connected with the real world that has lost its way
50:51
Speaker 1: and open our mouths to speak boldly and courageously yet
50:57
Speaker 1: lovingly to those without Christ. May this make a difference
51:02
Speaker 1: in the way we work at our careers, the way
51:06
Speaker 1: we rear our families. the way we plan for our future,
51:11
Speaker 1: the way we spend our money, the way we invest
51:16
Speaker 1: our time. Father, we're yours and we are grateful that
51:22
Speaker 1: you have claimed us as your own. And we look
51:26
Speaker 1: forward to how you're going to use this message in
51:28
Speaker 1: the future, even in our own lives, in the wonderful
51:34
Speaker 1: name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And everybody said Amen.
51:39
Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
51:45
Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.