Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / An Interlude Earthly Restraint and Heavenly Worship Msg 313 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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An Interlude Earthly Restraint and Heavenly Worship Msg 313 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We're in Revelations six, beginning at verse nine down to
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Speaker 1: the end of the chapter. If you have a bible
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Speaker 1: or someone near you, just scoot over a little closer
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Speaker 1: to them, and I follow along as I read for
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Speaker 1: us Revelation six nine to seventeen. And the scene is
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Speaker 1: not very pretty. When the lamb broke the fifth seal,
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Speaker 1: I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who
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Speaker 1: had been slain because of the word of God and
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Speaker 1: because of.
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Speaker 2: The testimony which they had maintained.
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Speaker 1: And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, how long,
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Speaker 1: o Lord, Holy and True, will you refrain from judging
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Speaker 1: and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth.
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Speaker 1: And there was given to each of them a white robe,
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Speaker 1: and they were told that they should rest for a
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Speaker 1: little while longer until the number of their fellow servants
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Speaker 1: and their brethren who were to be killed, even as
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Speaker 1: they had been, would be completed. Also, I look when
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Speaker 1: he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake,
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Speaker 1: and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair,
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Speaker 1: and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars
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Speaker 1: of the sky fell to the earth as a fig
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Speaker 1: tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
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Speaker 2: The sky was.
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Speaker 1: Split apart, like a scroll when it is rolled up,
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Speaker 1: and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
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Speaker 1: Then the kings of the earth, and the great men,
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Speaker 1: and the commanders, and the rich and the strong, and
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Speaker 1: every slave and freeman hid themselves in the caves and
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Speaker 1: among the rocks of the mountains. And they said, to
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Speaker 1: the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us, and
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Speaker 1: hide us from the presence of him who sits on
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Speaker 1: the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb. For
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Speaker 1: the great day of their wrath has come. And who
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Speaker 1: is able to stand join me in prayer?
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Speaker 2: Will you please.
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Speaker 1: In our day of ease and comfort, our father, Where
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Speaker 1: many live their lives bored and spoiled, we come upon
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Speaker 1: a scene like this, and we're chagrined. It's frightening to
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Speaker 1: read sobering settings like this one. But it's all part
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Speaker 1: of your plan, and it is as real before us
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Speaker 1: on the page of this ancient book of prophecy.
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Speaker 2: It is as real.
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Speaker 1: As if it has begun to transpire. Sober us with
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Speaker 1: the fact, our Father, that there are many in fact,
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Speaker 1: most who have never come to faith and tragically don't
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Speaker 1: even realize there's a savior available who has paid the
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Speaker 1: price for their sins in full. Give us from this
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Speaker 1: not simply a new respect for you, but an urgency
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Speaker 1: for those who've never met your son. We hear more
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Speaker 1: truth this day than most will hear in their lifetime.
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Speaker 2: We have a.
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Speaker 1: Bible that's marked where most have never read the first
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Speaker 1: verse of any part of the Bible. We concern ourselves
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Speaker 1: with these plans you have set in your word for
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Speaker 1: the future, and most simply think.
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Speaker 2: They die, like like an animal, to move from nothing
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Speaker 2: into nothing. How wrong.
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Speaker 1: I'm grateful Father today for the for the number of
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Speaker 1: children you touched and nurtured during these days of this
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Speaker 1: week past. Thank you for each little life, each mind,
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Speaker 1: each set of hands and feet and fingers, and each will,
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Speaker 1: each one gifted, shaped and prescribed by You from the womb,
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Speaker 1: gifted to their families to be nurtured and loved, and
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Speaker 1: directed and disciplined, and then released to live the life
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Speaker 1: you have for them to live. May this week make
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Speaker 1: a difference in their lives and in the lives of
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Speaker 1: the many who served faithfully to teach them and to
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Speaker 1: encourage them and to love them, and to laugh with them,
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Speaker 1: and to lead them to Christ. What a harvest in
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Speaker 1: just one week. Our Father, we thank you for this
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Speaker 1: land in which we live. For our flag, for our
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Speaker 1: women and men who wear uniforms, for our commander in
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Speaker 1: chief and his wife and family, for the Cabinet, for Congress,
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Speaker 1: for those who serve in city and state government. Thank
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Speaker 1: you for those who name the name of Christ, whose
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Speaker 1: influence is felt through their lives and their words, and
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Speaker 1: their thoughts and their decisions. Thank you for those who
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Speaker 1: sit on the bench making decisions for other lives that
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Speaker 1: are in trouble. We pray that you will, our Father,
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Speaker 1: place your people in strategic locations that they might fill
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Speaker 1: the role of your ambassador in that position. And our Father,
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Speaker 1: we pray that you will open our eyes and ears
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Speaker 1: and hearts, even as you did those junior hires in
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Speaker 1: their lives in Colorado. Thank you for touching them and
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Speaker 1: teaching them, helping to shape them further. Watch over them
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Speaker 1: and us as we turn to your word and discover
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Speaker 1: new truth that replaces our ignorance. Notege that's necessary for
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Speaker 1: living well. May we see what's here, not read into it?
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Speaker 1: What is not here, not miss what is implied. May
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Speaker 1: we take it to heart. May we be more than
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Speaker 1: fascinated by prophecy.
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Speaker 3: May we be challenged by these words.
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Speaker 1: Now, these are our gifts to you, or Father, and
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Speaker 1: they're not ours originally. You've given them to us by
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Speaker 1: giving us health, our occupation, by allowing us to earn
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Speaker 1: a living, and by using now these gifts for your purpose.
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Speaker 1: We pray that you will speed them on their way
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Speaker 1: to serve the reasons for which we give them, that
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Speaker 1: the name of Christ, the Word of God, the mission
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Speaker 1: of this Church, the vision you have for us as
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Speaker 1: a people to reach our neighborhood, our region, our city,
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Speaker 1: our state, our world.
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Speaker 2: That's why we give our gifts. Today.
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Speaker 1: We thank you for the unselfishness of each contributor in
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Speaker 1: this offering. In the name of Christ, all of us pray.
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Speaker 1: Everyone said, Amen, Prophecy is a lot more fascinating than history.
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Speaker 1: Seemed like all of us would rather know where we're
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Speaker 1: going than remember where we've been.
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Speaker 2: I mean, you teach a class on.
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Speaker 1: History, you're doing well to get a corporal's guard to
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Speaker 1: show up. But if you tell people you're talking on prophecy,
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Speaker 1: they seem to come out from under the rocks. We're
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Speaker 1: all interested in where we are going. We want to
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Speaker 1: know the way. I won't know how to get there.
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Speaker 1: Albert Einstein was traveling by train to his destination and
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Speaker 1: he was sitting in his car reading his book as
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Speaker 1: the conductor came through.
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Speaker 2: To punch the tickets.
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Speaker 1: When he got to this world renowned physicist, he stopped
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Speaker 1: and waited as the old gentleman began to search through
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Speaker 1: his pockets in his coat and shirt pocket and no ticket.
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Speaker 1: And he opened his autachet and no ticket, and even
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Speaker 1: looked in his wallet, and by then the conductor said,
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Speaker 1: you know, you really don't need to concern yourself with that.
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Speaker 1: We all know who you are. You don't need to
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Speaker 1: worry about a ticket. And the conductor went on to
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Speaker 1: the next passenger in the next About five minutes after
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Speaker 1: finishing his rounds, the conductor walked back through the car,
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Speaker 1: and to his surprise, Einstein was on his hands and
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Speaker 1: knees looking under the seats in front of him and
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Speaker 1: his own seat, and he conductor leaned over and he said,
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Speaker 1: you know, sir, you don't need to worry about the ticket.
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Speaker 1: I don't need to see it, and Einstein looked up
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Speaker 1: and said, my good man, I'm not trying to find
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Speaker 1: my ticket for you to see it. I want to
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Speaker 1: know where I'm going. We all want to know where
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Speaker 1: we're going. And it isn't something new. It isn't just
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Speaker 1: for twenty first century curiosity seekers. We've been wanting to
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Speaker 1: know where we're going since Jesus walk the earth. For example,
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Speaker 1: in Matthew chapter twenty four, his own disciples wanted to
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Speaker 1: know the plan for tomorrow that if you look at
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Speaker 1: that chapter, you'll see the setting takes place on the
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Speaker 1: Mount of Olives.
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Speaker 2: We who have traveled to the Holy.
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Speaker 1: Land can just picture in our minds the gentle slope
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Speaker 1: of the Mount of Olives that.
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Speaker 2: Includes, of course, the little garden.
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Speaker 1: Named gethsemone wine press, and it goes on up to
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Speaker 1: its peak. And when you get up there, somewhere at
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Speaker 1: that height, you're able to turn and look and see
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Speaker 1: a lovely skyline of the city of.
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Speaker 2: Modern Jerusalem.
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Speaker 1: It looked different, no doubt, in ancient days, but the
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Speaker 1: slope was there. Nevertheless, Jesus were told in verse three,
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Speaker 1: is sitting on that slope on the Mount of Olives.
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Speaker 1: I'd picture him as sitting there on the ground. In
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Speaker 1: those days, teachers taught sitting down. I found in my
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Speaker 1: growing and learning years that some of my best teachers
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Speaker 1: taught while sitting down. He was among those he was
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Speaker 1: mentoring and teaching. And Verse three tells us, while sitting
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Speaker 1: on the mount of Olives, the disciples came and privately
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Speaker 1: pulled him aside and asked not one question, but really
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Speaker 1: three questions. The first is a when question, quen is
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Speaker 1: always a question of time, and the last two are
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Speaker 1: what questions. Look at their questions, tell us when will
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Speaker 1: these things happen? And what will be the sign of
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Speaker 1: your coming? And implied, what will be the end of
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Speaker 1: the age, meaning the final judgment and the consummation of
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Speaker 1: all things you've just been talking about. What's going to
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Speaker 1: happen in the future. We'd like to know the whole plan?
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Speaker 1: Tell us dates, give us the events, Let us know
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Speaker 1: all of this, since you know everything, Lord, we want
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Speaker 1: to know where we're going. We want to know when
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Speaker 1: we're going to get there. Interestingly, Jesus never attempts to
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Speaker 1: answer their first question. In fact, more than once he
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Speaker 1: warns people against setting dates, even though some to this
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Speaker 1: day still set dates. Let me give you a tip
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Speaker 1: about that. Never follow a teacher who sets dates regarding prophecy.
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Speaker 2: That person is not reliable.
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Speaker 1: Jesus himself said, not even the angels know the precise moment.
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Speaker 1: So believe me, neither do we who were on this
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Speaker 1: earth know the precise date or date. I remember when
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Speaker 1: doctor Walverd was with us at a conference at Mount
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Speaker 1: Herman out in northern California. We were on a panel,
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Speaker 1: doctor Campbell and doctor Walverard and I, and the questions
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Speaker 1: came regarding prophecy, and doctor Campbell and I both you know,
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Speaker 1: very quickly passed the question over to the master of prophecy.
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Speaker 1: And the man wanted to know about a certain individual
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Speaker 1: who had written.
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Speaker 3: A book and had set the date, and the book.
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Speaker 2: Was selling at that time like hotcakes. Walward said, don't
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Speaker 2: buy the book.
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Speaker 1: The man's wrong, and the fellow responded, but you know
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Speaker 1: the date hasn't come yet, he said, trust me, he's wrong,
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Speaker 1: And sure enough the date came, and doctor Walfrid wrote
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Speaker 1: the man the day after the date he had said,
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Speaker 1: I don't.
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Speaker 2: Believe the man answered the letter.
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Speaker 1: As I recall, they usually have all kinds of complicated
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Speaker 1: answers as to why it didn't happen, that Equinox was
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Speaker 1: not with the plan. But they misfigure it's going to
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Speaker 1: be a year later. In nonsense, no answering of predicted dates.
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Speaker 2: Don't go there.
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Speaker 1: But how about the sign of your coming? Verse four
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Speaker 1: begins his answer, I'll see to it that no one
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Speaker 1: misleads you. I remember our study last time, the Rider
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Speaker 1: of the White Horse, the bloodless conquest that he represented.
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Speaker 2: Here we have it.
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Speaker 1: Many will come in my name, saying I am the Messiah,
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Speaker 1: I am the Christ.
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Speaker 2: The word means anointed.
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Speaker 1: I am the anointed one, And they will mislead many.
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Speaker 1: As that tribulation begins, there will be one who will
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Speaker 1: stand and announce himself as having come back from the dead,
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Speaker 1: and that will attract attention. He will sign treaties and
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Speaker 1: peace packs, and he will promise the moon as he
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Speaker 1: solves the Arab Israeli conflict, and all kinds of things
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Speaker 1: will happen as a result, even miraculous things, as he
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Speaker 1: has power from Satan himself, and people will follow him
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Speaker 1: by the hordes.
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Speaker 2: They will follow him.
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Speaker 1: His promise of peace will come like the rider on
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Speaker 1: the white horse. Peace when there is no peace or
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Speaker 1: six and you will be hearing of wars and rumors
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Speaker 1: of war. See that you're not frightened, for these things
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Speaker 1: must take place. But that is not yet the consummation
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Speaker 1: of all things. Now we have the rider of the
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Speaker 1: red Horse, remember the one who came with the sword
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Speaker 1: in the days of assassination and warfare and bloodshed. Bloody
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Speaker 1: conquest will follow the blood less promise of peace. And
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Speaker 1: he's describing the opening of the second seal in verses
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Speaker 1: six and seven. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
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Speaker 1: against kingdom.
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Speaker 2: It won't be a local war.
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Speaker 1: It will be a worldwide series of conflicts, and people
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Speaker 1: will die in various places. He adds the opening of
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Speaker 1: the third seal, Remember that the black horse and the
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Speaker 1: rider representing famine poverty. There will be times of famines.
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Speaker 1: And then, just with the word earthquakes and a few
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Speaker 1: words that follow, he refers to the fourth seal, the
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Speaker 1: Rider of the Ashen or the pale horse of death.
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Speaker 1: There will be natural phenomena that will go out of control,
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Speaker 1: and there will be massive deaths. In fact, we will
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Speaker 1: see again in a moment in revelation, six of fourth
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Speaker 1: of the Earth's population will perish. But he says all
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Speaker 1: these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
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Speaker 2: It gets us.
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Speaker 1: Through halfway through this tribulation era, right in the middle.
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Speaker 1: He refers in verse fifteen, when you see the abomination
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Speaker 1: of desolation, seems a strange way to title.
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Speaker 2: Someone might help.
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Speaker 1: If I give you this, the abomination who causes desolation,
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Speaker 1: it would clarify.
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Speaker 2: There will be one who will step on the scene.
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Speaker 1: He'll be the same as at first, but his nature
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Speaker 1: will it changed, and he will turn against the ones
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Speaker 1: he signed the peace pacts with.
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Speaker 2: This is not the first time in history that's happened that.
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Speaker 1: This will impact the world, and desolation will follow.
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Speaker 2: He describes in verse.
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Speaker 1: Nine the open of the fifth seal, as we will
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Speaker 1: see in a moment.
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Speaker 2: Then they will deliver you to tribulation.
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Speaker 1: And will kill you, and you will be hated by
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Speaker 1: all nations because of my name. It's a picture of
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Speaker 1: martyrdom and the vengeance that will follow upon the murderers
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Speaker 1: of the martyrs. And then there's the sixth seal down
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Speaker 1: in verse twenty nine of chapter twenty four of Matthew.
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Speaker 1: Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will
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Speaker 1: be darkened and the moon will not give its light,
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Speaker 1: stars will fall from the sky, and the powers.
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Speaker 3: Of the heavens will be shaken.
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Speaker 1: Let me caution you not only about following people who
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Speaker 1: set dates, but be careful about those who spiritualize.
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Speaker 3: Passages like this.
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Speaker 1: I don't know how many of the references I sought
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Speaker 1: said this is certainly not to be taken literally. And
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Speaker 1: then they launch into the most incredible set of allegories
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Speaker 1: and spiritualization of the passage. Of spiritualizing the passage, and
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Speaker 1: you say, it's easier to believe it literally than to
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Speaker 1: believe the you know, the stuff that you're describing that
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Speaker 1: it all represents. We believe Jesus is answering literally what
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Speaker 1: they're asking. On your way to revelation, stop off at
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Speaker 1: Acts Chapter one. Jesus goes to the cross and pays
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Speaker 1: the price for sin, and he is buried, and then
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Speaker 1: he is raised from the dead forty days he remains visible,
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Speaker 1: seen by these who were his followers, and then he
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Speaker 1: comes to the place of his ascension. Don't miss the chronology.
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Speaker 1: He dies, he's buried, he's raised, he's on the earth
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Speaker 1: and seen, and then he comes to the place of
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Speaker 1: ascension again, surrounded by his followers. Verse six of Acts
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Speaker 1: one just before he ascends, when they had come together,
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Speaker 1: they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this
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Speaker 1: time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? What do
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Speaker 1: they want to know? They want to know where they're going.
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Speaker 1: They want to know the future. They remind me of
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Speaker 1: the little fellow that can't make the first or second
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Speaker 1: string of the basketball squad. He sits on the end
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Speaker 1: of the bench, bugging his coach with now, Coach, now,
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Speaker 1: now can I go in? It's the elected disciple. Now, Lord,
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Speaker 1: now are we going to be able to see these
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Speaker 1: things come to pass? Look at his answer. He said
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Speaker 1: to them, it is not for you to know the
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Speaker 1: times or the epochs. Kronos and chiros interesting Greek words.
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Speaker 1: We got a word chronology or chronometer. It's the idea
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Speaker 1: of the duration of time. Cairos is the event itself
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Speaker 1: that it leads up to. If you earn a degree,
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Speaker 1: you are going through the krunos of time in learning
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Speaker 1: and growing and studying. When you come to graduation, you've
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Speaker 1: come to the cairos of your graduation. The ethical moment,
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Speaker 1: he says, here, I'm not going to give you the
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Speaker 1: exact time or to date. The date of the final Cairos,
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Speaker 1: it's not for you to know that. Now one your
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Speaker 1: way to revelation, stop off at first Thessalonians five. Well,
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Speaker 1: we'll get there. Just want you to see one more.
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Speaker 1: I want you to follow the thought that through time
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Speaker 1: there has been the continued interest in future things the disciples,
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Speaker 1: even at the ascension. And now Paul, who steps on
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Speaker 1: the earth scene is saved at on the road to
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Speaker 1: Damascus and has this wonderful ministry, begins to write this
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Speaker 1: is his first letter he ever wrote. That is an
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Speaker 1: inspired letter from the pen of the apostle Paul. And
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Speaker 1: he's already answering them. They're concerned about the day of
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Speaker 1: the Lord. They're concerned about the end time. They wonder
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Speaker 1: if it's going to come upon them. And he says
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Speaker 1: in verse one of chapter five, now as to the
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Speaker 1: here we go again, Kronas and Cairos, as to the
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Speaker 1: times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of
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Speaker 1: anything to be written to you, for you yourselves know,
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Speaker 1: because he has taught them this over the past four
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Speaker 1: to six weeks. You yourselves know full well that the
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Speaker 1: day of the Lord will come, just like a thief
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Speaker 1: in the night. How many of you have ever gotten
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Speaker 1: a phone call from a thief before he came to rob.
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Speaker 2: How about a letter.
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Speaker 1: I'm just sending you a letter to let you know
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Speaker 1: while you're in Hawaii on vacation, three o'clock on Tuesday morning,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to come over and rob you. No thiefs
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Speaker 1: come in the night when you least expect them, and
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Speaker 1: they come suddenly as well as silently. And he says,
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Speaker 1: all of this is going to come like a this judgment.
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Speaker 1: Time will come like a thief in the night. In
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Speaker 1: fact verse three, while they are saying peace and safety,
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Speaker 1: there's the white horse again. Sudden destruction will come upon
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Speaker 1: them like labor pains upon a woman with child, and
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Speaker 1: they will not escape. Now, Revelation six, you recall where
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Speaker 1: we've been. The white horse representing a bloodless conquest verses
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Speaker 1: one and two, a bloody warfare in verses three and four.
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Speaker 1: On the red horse, the black horse is famine and
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Speaker 1: poverty and death. The ashen horse the color of a cadaver,
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Speaker 1: a corpse. Death comes with hades, and authority is given
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Speaker 1: Verse eight was given to them over a fourth of
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Speaker 1: the earth. Don't spiritualize it, don't read into it. Something
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Speaker 1: it doesn't say. If it says a fourth, it means
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Speaker 1: a fourth.
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Speaker 2: An enormous number.
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Speaker 1: Of people will be slain as a result of the
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Speaker 1: pestilence and what he describes as the sword.
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Speaker 2: And the famine and pestilence. Verse nine.
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Speaker 1: We follow along with the seals as they are broken,
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Speaker 1: the judgments as they unfold when the lamb, Remember the
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Speaker 1: lamb is the only one qualified to take the scroll,
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Speaker 1: and he now breaks the fifth seal. I saw underneath
24:37
Speaker 1: the altar, the souls of those who had been slain.
24:42
Speaker 2: Why were they slain.
24:44
Speaker 1: Because of the Word of God, because of the testimony
24:49
Speaker 1: which they had maintained. These are believers, These are Christian people.
24:55
Speaker 1: These are followers of Jesus who love the Word of
24:59
Speaker 1: God and their testimony about him as well as of
25:03
Speaker 1: his change in their lives.
25:05
Speaker 2: They have maintained that, and they've been killed. They cried
25:10
Speaker 2: out with a loud voice. Appause a moment. Remember where
25:13
Speaker 2: we are. We're in the third heaven.
25:15
Speaker 1: John is looking yet future and a scene, and suddenly
25:19
Speaker 1: he sees.
25:20
Speaker 2: A mass of martyrs.
25:24
Speaker 1: They have been slain. Verse nine tells us, and they
25:29
Speaker 1: are crying out with a loud voice. It's almost as
25:32
Speaker 1: if they are praying for vengeance while they are in heaven.
25:36
Speaker 1: Whether it's prayer or not is immateial. The point is
25:38
Speaker 1: they are calling for vengeance, and they cried out with
25:43
Speaker 1: a loud voice, How long, o Lord, Holy and True,
25:47
Speaker 1: reminding him of his purity and his justice, his righteousness?
25:53
Speaker 1: How long Lord will you wait to bring vengeance? How
25:58
Speaker 1: long will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood
26:02
Speaker 1: on those who dwell on the earth. Again, pause, let's
26:06
Speaker 1: identify this judgment. Most of my sources said that the
26:12
Speaker 1: judgment is martyrdom, but that doesn't make sense. The Lord
26:18
Speaker 1: is meeting out judgment on this earth. Why would he
26:21
Speaker 1: kill his own people. That's not the best title. I
26:26
Speaker 1: would say vengeance against the murderers of the martyrs. That's
26:32
Speaker 1: what will follow, and that's what they're asking for. In fact,
26:35
Speaker 1: they're anxious. They're anxious now that they are in the
26:40
Speaker 1: presence of the Lord. They want vindication for their lives
26:45
Speaker 1: having been taken. Lord, take the lives of those who
26:49
Speaker 1: took us from this earth, And the Lord says, wait.
26:55
Speaker 1: There was given to each of them a white robe.
26:59
Speaker 1: The Greek word means a long flowing robe that goes
27:02
Speaker 1: down to the feet. Stole is the word. It's a
27:08
Speaker 1: beautiful reward for their lives lived in such jeopardy and danger,
27:13
Speaker 1: and finally to the point of death.
27:17
Speaker 2: And they were.
27:17
Speaker 1: Told that they should rest rest a little while longer.
27:23
Speaker 1: So they are now rewarded for their work. God honors
27:26
Speaker 1: them for being in his presence, having died the ultimate death.
27:33
Speaker 2: And he says, wait a little.
27:35
Speaker 1: Longer until the number of their fellow servants and their
27:39
Speaker 1: brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been,
27:45
Speaker 1: would be completed. Also, it's a little chilling, isn't it.
27:50
Speaker 1: What's he saying? There are more yet to be martyred.
27:59
Speaker 1: There will be the others who will follow in your train.
28:04
Speaker 1: Pull your place here and look at Revelation thirteen, which
28:09
Speaker 1: is probably the most complete chapter on this creature called
28:13
Speaker 1: the Beast, or as John describes him in his letters
28:17
Speaker 1: Antichrist Revelation thirteen, verse thirteen, referring to the right hand
28:30
Speaker 1: man of the Antichrist, called the false Prophet. He performs
28:34
Speaker 1: great signs, so that he even makes fire come down
28:37
Speaker 1: out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
28:40
Speaker 1: He gets his power, of course, from Satan himself. And
28:44
Speaker 1: he deceives those who dwell on the earth because the
28:46
Speaker 1: science which it was, because of the science which it
28:50
Speaker 1: was given him to perform in the presence of the beast,
28:54
Speaker 1: meaning the Antichrist, telling those who dwell on the earth
28:57
Speaker 1: to make an image to the beast who had the
29:00
Speaker 1: wound of the sword and.
29:01
Speaker 2: Has come to life.
29:03
Speaker 1: Watch closely, and it was given to him to give
29:06
Speaker 1: breath to the image. So this idol comes to life,
29:12
Speaker 1: to the image of the beast, so that the image
29:14
Speaker 1: of the beast would even speak, and cause as many
29:17
Speaker 1: as do not worship the image of the beast to
29:21
Speaker 1: be killed. And he causes all the small and the great,
29:26
Speaker 1: the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves
29:29
Speaker 1: to be given a mark on their right hand or
29:34
Speaker 1: on their forehead. He provides that no one will be
29:39
Speaker 1: able to buy or to sell except the one who
29:43
Speaker 1: has the mark, either the name of the beast or
29:47
Speaker 1: the number of his name. And the eighteenth verse ends.
29:53
Speaker 2: With six six six. We've read a lot about this.
29:58
Speaker 2: You've heard a lot about this.
29:59
Speaker 1: This obviously as a form of if you will future credit,
30:05
Speaker 1: where if you hope to do business, sell and buy,
30:09
Speaker 1: be able to purchase your groceries be able to have
30:12
Speaker 1: a say or a hand in the economy of the day.
30:15
Speaker 1: You need this mark that comes from the one leading
30:18
Speaker 1: the whole world system. Those who do not have such
30:23
Speaker 1: a mark will be taken. Look at Revelation twenty verse four.
30:30
Speaker 1: Then we'll go back to the sixth chapter. Revelation twenty
30:33
Speaker 1: verse four. John looks yet future beyond all of that.
30:39
Speaker 1: Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and
30:41
Speaker 1: judgment was given to them.
30:42
Speaker 3: And I saw the souls. Here are martyrs.
30:44
Speaker 2: Again.
30:45
Speaker 1: I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
30:48
Speaker 1: because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the
30:52
Speaker 1: word of God.
30:53
Speaker 2: Does that sound familiar.
30:54
Speaker 1: You just read those words in Revelation chapter six, verse nine,
31:02
Speaker 1: the testimony and the Word of God nine ten eleven.
31:07
Speaker 1: Those who had not worshiped the Beast or his image,
31:12
Speaker 1: those who had not received the mark on their forehead
31:16
Speaker 1: and on their hand. And these martyrs came to life
31:21
Speaker 1: and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. We need
31:27
Speaker 1: to pause here out of honor for those who have been.
31:33
Speaker 3: Martyred.
31:39
Speaker 1: We who travel and have had the privilege of traveling
31:42
Speaker 1: to beyond our shores often stand before steel and bronze
31:49
Speaker 1: statues in honor of certain martyrs. Sometimes the statues are
31:55
Speaker 1: in honor of a large group of those who paid
31:59
Speaker 1: the ultimate price. Sometimes there are trees that had been
32:03
Speaker 1: planted in their names, and trees on a there's a
32:06
Speaker 1: plaque that's been attached are fixed to the trunk of
32:10
Speaker 1: the tree in honor of that are those people. I've
32:13
Speaker 1: seen gigantic rocks that serve as rugged mute reminders of.
32:19
Speaker 3: Lives that have lived and passed.
32:22
Speaker 1: Grave markers, gray slate stones across portions of England, Scotland,
32:31
Speaker 1: lands like Germany and Switzerland, places in even the far
32:41
Speaker 1: East where those who followed the name of Christ paid
32:45
Speaker 1: the price. Nations will give an answer for martyring these
32:52
Speaker 1: great men and women. I thought of it when I
32:56
Speaker 1: read the name Todd Beemer, who loved Lord Jesus Christ,
33:03
Speaker 1: had been raised to serve him, And while on that
33:07
Speaker 1: third plane, that fourth plane that went down in the
33:13
Speaker 1: countryside of Pennsylvania, saving that from being yet another a
33:18
Speaker 1: missal of murder, I thought of him. Ever known one
33:25
Speaker 1: who was a martyr, Some given their lives in the
33:30
Speaker 1: Philippines who are missionaries China will give an answer for
33:38
Speaker 1: the millions they have killed, and Iran and Iraq.
33:45
Speaker 3: They called believers in Christ.
33:49
Speaker 2: Infidels.
33:51
Speaker 1: The beast will call them the ultimate infidels.
33:55
Speaker 2: You'll see that they're killed.
33:58
Speaker 1: These martyrs in verses nine, ten and eleven are asking
34:03
Speaker 1: for the vengeance that Romans twelve has promised. Don't you
34:08
Speaker 1: do your own avenging? Vengeance is mine. I will repay,
34:13
Speaker 1: says the Lord. This is not popular preaching. Ours is
34:20
Speaker 1: an easy day of great comfort. And God is a
34:23
Speaker 1: god of mercy and goodness and grace and love and forgiveness.
34:26
Speaker 1: He is that He is also to complete the picture
34:31
Speaker 1: of his character.
34:32
Speaker 4: Just.
34:34
Speaker 2: And holy and wrath.
34:40
Speaker 1: And they cry for that on behalf of those whose
34:45
Speaker 1: lives have been taken. It's very sobering thought. I'll never
34:49
Speaker 1: forget that day.
34:50
Speaker 2: I read that.
34:52
Speaker 1: The martyrs of the twentieth century outnumber all the martyrs
34:56
Speaker 1: of the first through the nineteenth. Some of all those imagine,
35:04
Speaker 1: this will be a day of enormous martyrdom, but there
35:08
Speaker 1: will be vengeance. It seemed as though it opens the
35:12
Speaker 1: door to the sixth Seal. Back in Revelation six, verse twelve.
35:18
Speaker 1: I looked when he broke the sixth Seal, and I
35:21
Speaker 1: watched closely.
35:23
Speaker 2: You've never heard of anything like this in your life.
35:27
Speaker 2: In your lifetime. There was.
35:31
Speaker 1: The Greek says a seismus megas. We pretty well got
35:37
Speaker 1: those words down seismograph seismographic a shaky see the seventh
35:43
Speaker 1: ver or the thirteenth verse. The figs were shaken. Scioh
35:47
Speaker 1: is the is the Greek verb, and seize moss comes
35:51
Speaker 1: from that root. It's translated earthquake. There was a mega shaking.
35:58
Speaker 1: This is the big one. If you were in California,
36:05
Speaker 1: you would probably heave a sigh relief, since you're thinking
36:09
Speaker 1: it's gonna come tomorrow. Big ones may come, but not
36:13
Speaker 1: like this one. This is the mega seismos. There was
36:19
Speaker 1: a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth
36:25
Speaker 1: made of hair.
36:28
Speaker 2: What does that mean?
36:30
Speaker 1: In the old days, sackcloth was worn by mourners. It's thick,
36:35
Speaker 1: rough fabric and black because it was made from the
36:39
Speaker 1: black wool of sheep, and coarse because it represents that which.
36:44
Speaker 2: Is painful, harsh.
36:50
Speaker 1: He's saying that the sun is eclipsed. John's not a scientist.
36:54
Speaker 1: This is the only way he knows to put it.
36:58
Speaker 1: It's as if you were to put a a book
37:02
Speaker 1: or a piece of thick cloth between yourself and the sun,
37:06
Speaker 1: and then try to see the sun. It blocks it out.
37:11
Speaker 1: And then he describes the moon becoming like blood. The
37:17
Speaker 1: ash that comes from the volcanic eruptions that are a
37:21
Speaker 1: part of this enormous earth shaking will pass across the
37:29
Speaker 1: skies and blot out, even discolor the normal color of
37:33
Speaker 1: the Moon. I did check with one scientist who describes
37:39
Speaker 1: the scene, doctor Henry Morris, from his book The Revelation Record.
37:46
Speaker 1: The great earthquake described here for the first time in
37:49
Speaker 1: history is worldwide in scope. Seismologists and geophysicists in recent
37:55
Speaker 1: years have learned a great deal about the structure of
37:58
Speaker 1: the Earth and about the cause and nature of earthquakes.
38:02
Speaker 2: The Earth's solid crust.
38:03
Speaker 1: Is traversed with a complex network of faults, with all
38:10
Speaker 1: resting upon a plastic mantle whose structure is still largely unknown.
38:16
Speaker 1: Whether the crust consists of great moving plates is a
38:20
Speaker 1: current matter of controversy among geophysicists, so the ultimate cause
38:25
Speaker 1: of earthquakes is still not known. In all likelihood, the
38:29
Speaker 1: entire complex of crustal instabilities is a remnant of the
38:35
Speaker 1: phenomena of the great Flood, especially the breakup of the
38:40
Speaker 1: fountains of the Great Deep. In any case, the vast
38:45
Speaker 1: worldwide network of unstable earthquake belts around the world suddenly
38:52
Speaker 1: will begin to slip and fracture on a global basis,
38:56
Speaker 1: and a gigantic earthquake will end Hue. This is evidently
39:02
Speaker 1: and naturally accompanied by tremendous volcanic explosions, spewing vast quantities
39:08
Speaker 1: of dust and steam and gases into the upper atmosphere.
39:13
Speaker 1: It is probably these that will cause the Sun to
39:16
Speaker 1: be darkened and the moon to appear blood red. Verse thirteen,
39:22
Speaker 1: John adds the stars of the sky fell to the
39:27
Speaker 1: earth as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when
39:32
Speaker 1: shaken by a great wind.
39:34
Speaker 2: The winds that would.
39:35
Speaker 1: Sweep across the Middle East would often come before the
39:39
Speaker 1: figs were ripe, and they would strip the tree of
39:43
Speaker 1: its figs, and they would fall. And that's the only
39:47
Speaker 1: way John knew to describe what he calls the skies
39:51
Speaker 1: are the stars falling to the earth. Now, again, John
39:56
Speaker 1: is not a scientist. He's describing as it appears. There
40:00
Speaker 1: were There were meteors and asteroids that he saw plunging
40:05
Speaker 1: from the blackness of space onto planet Earth. If it
40:10
Speaker 1: were a star, one would incinerate the Earth before it
40:14
Speaker 1: ever reached us because of its heat.
40:17
Speaker 2: But these are the This is.
40:19
Speaker 1: A meteor and and asteroid shower that that pours down
40:24
Speaker 1: on the Earth, along with the the tremors, and the
40:28
Speaker 1: and the dread and the torment of the earthquakes.
40:32
Speaker 2: Or the earthquake.
40:34
Speaker 1: Look a look at the scene in verse fourteen. The
40:36
Speaker 1: sky was split apart like a scroll. Uh, let me
40:43
Speaker 1: see if I could describe it. They ever put a
40:44
Speaker 1: ever put a diploma that you just chose not to
40:48
Speaker 1: frame in your bottom drawer and.
40:50
Speaker 2: Just rolled it up and tied it with a little ribbon.
40:53
Speaker 1: And one day you thought, I think I'll look at that,
40:56
Speaker 1: And so you take it out of the drawer and
40:58
Speaker 1: you pull the ribbon off, and you pull apart. What
41:00
Speaker 1: happens when you let go of it, it snaps back
41:04
Speaker 1: into its roll form. In this case, it's split apart
41:09
Speaker 1: like a scroll. It pops apart like a snap, if
41:13
Speaker 1: you will. And in that phenomenal moment, please observe, every
41:18
Speaker 1: mountain and every island were.
41:21
Speaker 3: Moved out of their places.
41:27
Speaker 1: Pause and let that sink in. And now he describes
41:35
Speaker 1: a frightful setting. He looks at the people. Do you remember,
41:41
Speaker 1: of course you do, when September eleven had come and
41:45
Speaker 1: you finished staring in disbelief at your television set. Or
41:49
Speaker 1: maybe you were in New York, or you were near
41:53
Speaker 1: the Pentagon when the planes crashed and it dawned on
41:59
Speaker 1: you as it did on me. This is no accident.
42:02
Speaker 1: This is a planned attack. Remember the panic. Remember what
42:08
Speaker 1: it did suddenly to people. It paralyzed us. Trips were canceled.
42:14
Speaker 1: Travel was either completely canceled or certainly was postponed. Airports
42:20
Speaker 1: stopped working, they were shut down. Many modes of travel
42:25
Speaker 1: were affected, and the economy was impacted. Investors stopped releasing
42:30
Speaker 1: their money, and it threw a curve and all of
42:34
Speaker 1: the economy about us. And some say we still live
42:37
Speaker 1: in the backwash of that moment of panic, when we
42:41
Speaker 1: realized this is changing everything. Can you imagine the impact
42:46
Speaker 1: of something worldwide? Now you're better equipped to understand. Verse fifteen,
42:52
Speaker 1: he describes all the strata of life, the kings of
42:56
Speaker 1: the earth, and the great men, and the commanders that
42:59
Speaker 1: would be military commanders, the rich and the strong. This
43:02
Speaker 1: is describing all of those who normally would be secure
43:06
Speaker 1: in their positions on their thrones with their three and
43:10
Speaker 1: four stars of rank. Of these people who are wealthy
43:13
Speaker 1: and never have to worry about tomorrow's meal. Now we've
43:16
Speaker 1: got rich and strong, and even the slaves and free men.
43:20
Speaker 1: We've got blue collar and white collar workers describing all
43:24
Speaker 1: of them. And they are, as a result of this,
43:26
Speaker 1: hiding themselves in the caves and among the rocks of
43:30
Speaker 1: the mountains. Mankind has been hiding since Adam and Eve
43:35
Speaker 1: send in the garden. Remember, it's one of our preferred
43:40
Speaker 1: ways of staying away from from the presence of something frightening,
43:51
Speaker 1: and in this case it's the presence of God. Sweet
43:55
Speaker 1: put it well, what cinners dread most is not death,
43:59
Speaker 1: but revealed presence of God. And so they cry out
44:06
Speaker 1: to the mountains and to the rocks fall on us,
44:12
Speaker 1: hide us from what, From the presence of Him who
44:17
Speaker 1: sits on the throne, and from.
44:19
Speaker 2: The wrath of the Lamb. What an interesting juxtaposition of words.
44:25
Speaker 2: Wrath lamb all our lives.
44:29
Speaker 1: We thought of him as the lamb of God who
44:32
Speaker 1: takes away the sin.
44:33
Speaker 2: Of the world, and he is that, the precious.
44:37
Speaker 1: Lamb whose blood was spilled and as a sheep led
44:41
Speaker 1: to the slaughter.
44:42
Speaker 2: So Messiah will be led to his death.
44:45
Speaker 1: And we see him as the servant hearted savior, but
44:50
Speaker 1: now we see him in his wrath.
44:55
Speaker 2: Don't dodge it, don't don't read it away from the text,
44:58
Speaker 2: don't don't soften. Let it say it.
45:03
Speaker 1: That is the future of those in that era who
45:06
Speaker 1: will be begging, pleading to hide, if not simply to
45:12
Speaker 1: have their lives taken rather than space the presence of
45:18
Speaker 1: him who is on the throne.
45:20
Speaker 2: Why do they do this?
45:21
Speaker 1: The last verse tells why and asks the haunting rhetorical
45:26
Speaker 1: question for the great day of their wrath is come.
45:30
Speaker 2: Who is there?
45:32
Speaker 1: We'll look in verse sixteen, the one on the throne
45:36
Speaker 1: and the lamb strange to read the godhead referred to
45:41
Speaker 1: in the plural, But that's the way they will see it,
45:43
Speaker 1: that's the way they will understand it. Morris goes on
45:48
Speaker 1: the Earth's crust highly unstable ever since the Great Flood
45:51
Speaker 1: will be so disturbed by the impacting asteroids, the volcanic explosions,
45:56
Speaker 1: and the worldwide earthquakes, the great segments of it will
45:59
Speaker 1: actually begin to slip and slide over the Earth's deep
46:03
Speaker 1: plastic mantle. Geophysicists for many years have been fascinated with
46:08
Speaker 1: the idea of continental drift. Although strong evidence has been
46:13
Speaker 1: accumulating against any such phenomenon occurring in the present age,
46:18
Speaker 1: several have published theories of a past naturalistic catastrophism involving
46:24
Speaker 1: what they call the Earth's shifting crust. Some such phenomenon
46:29
Speaker 1: may actually be triggered under this judgment of the sixth
46:33
Speaker 1: Seal dwarfing, the damage occasion by all.
46:37
Speaker 3: The mighty earthquakes of the past.
46:43
Speaker 1: There's no longer a place to hide. This is no
46:47
Speaker 1: longer something you read about in Turkey or some distant
46:52
Speaker 1: land like Afghanistan. This is here, this is now. It
47:04
Speaker 1: makes us quiet, doesn't it. All of this describing the
47:10
Speaker 1: bombardment of meteors and asteroids, the belching fourth of the
47:17
Speaker 1: lava from the volcanoes, and the gases that spew into
47:21
Speaker 1: the atmosphere. You know, most of you have never gone
47:28
Speaker 1: through even one earthquake. You can't even imagine if.
47:38
Speaker 2: You've never gone through it.
47:39
Speaker 1: Strangely, though I've been through it seems dozens. I haven't
47:44
Speaker 1: words to describe them, though mine were just six point
47:47
Speaker 1: two and five point eight and four point nine. What
47:53
Speaker 1: I watched as I drove down streets that once were
47:56
Speaker 1: occupied with sturdy, stable buildings. Streets are blocked off. And
48:03
Speaker 1: friend of mine called and said, the end of his
48:05
Speaker 1: street has burst into fire. As the street opened and
48:09
Speaker 1: the gases were ignited, and like a torch that was
48:15
Speaker 1: just a six point one in one little place. It
48:25
Speaker 1: is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
48:27
Speaker 1: the living.
48:28
Speaker 3: God if you are without Christ, who.
48:33
Speaker 1: Is able to stand Those who know the Lord Jesus.
48:38
Speaker 1: Does not mean they will not die, but it means
48:44
Speaker 1: for them it will be eternal rewards in glory. Will
48:49
Speaker 1: some come to know Christ during that era? Obviously, next
48:52
Speaker 1: time we're together, we'll see over one hundred and forty
48:55
Speaker 1: thousand who early on come to the Savior. But how
49:01
Speaker 1: difficult it will be. You'll be marked out by the
49:06
Speaker 1: absence of the mark. You'll have no credit. You'll be
49:11
Speaker 1: the ultimate infidel in the eyes of the general public.
49:19
Speaker 1: Couple of final serious thoughts. I see here a couple of.
49:24
Speaker 2: Lessons that linger.
49:27
Speaker 1: The first lesson I see is divine balance. Today we
49:34
Speaker 1: emphasize his mercy and his grace, and his love and
49:37
Speaker 1: forgiveness and we should. It is still an era of grace.
49:41
Speaker 1: The arms are still open, the opportunity is still the
49:45
Speaker 1: yours mine to turn our lives over to the Lord Jesus,
49:49
Speaker 1: to trust him and not ourselves.
49:52
Speaker 2: But I also see now in this scene.
49:54
Speaker 1: Justice and vengeance and righteousness, and the Lord, Lord God
50:00
Speaker 1: finally saying.
50:01
Speaker 2: That is enough. That's enough.
50:08
Speaker 1: There's divine balance. I also see, secondly, the lingering lesson
50:12
Speaker 1: of human reality. Check the local bookshelves on your favorite bookstore.
50:20
Speaker 1: Check out the section on success. The books are everywhere.
50:26
Speaker 1: Words like success are used all across the globe. The
50:30
Speaker 1: great goal for the graduate is success. And I wonder
50:34
Speaker 1: how many times the word potential has been used in
50:37
Speaker 1: commencement speeches, as graduates are told of their potential, and
50:44
Speaker 1: the world is before you to take it on and
50:48
Speaker 1: to carry out your calling now that you have received
50:51
Speaker 1: your academic training. Nothing wrong with that. But then there
50:55
Speaker 1: will be no potential. There will be torment, will be helplessness.
51:01
Speaker 1: There will be the sweeping fear and panic and dread,
51:06
Speaker 1: and the inescapable.
51:10
Speaker 2: Presence of disaster.
51:15
Speaker 1: Remember the three words that were used to describe the
51:18
Speaker 1: opening bombardment of the Iraqi War, stop and think seems
51:24
Speaker 1: like it's three years.
51:25
Speaker 2: Ago, doesn't it.
51:26
Speaker 1: It was shock and awe, oh yeah, amazing. We were
51:31
Speaker 1: told it would be of biblical proportions and we don't
51:33
Speaker 1: even remember.
51:34
Speaker 2: The three words.
51:35
Speaker 1: A few weeks later I heard a report.
51:39
Speaker 2: On a swarm of insects.
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Speaker 1: He said, the swarm is like a pestilence of biblical proportion,
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Speaker 1: And I wondered, if you ever read the biblical proportion,
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Speaker 1: so you would know that that is a little bit
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Speaker 1: of an exaggeration. This this is a biblical proportion. And
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Speaker 1: I wonder what the reporter will have then to use
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Speaker 1: his words to describe it. The great day of wrath
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Speaker 1: is calm, and who is able to stand? I'd like
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Speaker 1: you to bow with me very sobering moment here, Just
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Speaker 1: sit quietly right there, will you? Are you absolutely certain
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Speaker 1: your name is permanently.
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Speaker 3: Etched in God's book?
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Speaker 2: You say, Chuck, I don't know the name.
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Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes, you can know that, and you can
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Speaker 1: have the assurance of it. And as you go to
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Speaker 1: sleep every night, not knowing what tomorrow may bring, you
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Speaker 1: have the calm assurance that if you pass from this life,
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Speaker 1: to be absent from the body is to bring you
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Speaker 1: into the.
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Speaker 2: Presence of the Lord.
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Speaker 1: One of my longtime friends who I knew since the
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Speaker 1: very early seventies, passed into the Lord's presence this week.
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Speaker 1: His son called me, so, I just want you to
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Speaker 1: know that my dad's gone home. If you're without Christ,
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Speaker 1: I won't take the time to describe your home. It's dreadful,
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Speaker 1: and if you die in that condition, it's unimaginable. So
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Speaker 1: let's just take care of it now that we have
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Speaker 1: the opportunity. Let's just turn our lives over to the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, like those little children did this past
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Speaker 1: week vacation Bible School.
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Speaker 2: Just give him your life right now.
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Speaker 1: Don't try to bargain with him. Don't try to work
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Speaker 1: your way there. You'll never be good enough to earn
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Speaker 1: his holiness and righteousness. Nothing in my hands. I bring
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Speaker 1: the old hymn simply to thy cross.
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Speaker 2: I cling.
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Speaker 1: Come to the Savior. Even as I pray our Father,
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Speaker 1: we acknowledge that you are our sovereign Lord. You are
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Speaker 1: the potter, We are the clay. You are the master.
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Speaker 1: We are the servants. You are the one who knows
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Speaker 1: the end from the beginning. We only know now and
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Speaker 1: a little bit of yesterday but you have it all planned,
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Speaker 1: and you've never once lied to your people, and today
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Speaker 1: is no exception. Use this as an urgent call to
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Speaker 1: those who've never made their decision for the Savior. May
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Speaker 1: they trust in Him alone, By faith alone, we commit
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Speaker 1: them to you. May they know no rest and no peace,
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Speaker 1: no relief until they I have settled this with you,
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Speaker 1: and give us not a smug complacency, but a sense
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Speaker 1: of urgency to reach those who've never met your son.
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Speaker 2: Before the day of wrath dawns.
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Speaker 1: Unto him who is able to guard us from stumbling
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Speaker 1: and present us faultless before the presence of His glory
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Speaker 1: with exceeding joy to the only wise God, our great Savior,
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Speaker 1: be glory and majesty, dominion, power, both now and forevermore.
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Speaker 2: In his great name we.
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Speaker 3: Pray, and all God's people said.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 4: The preceding message, more Seals Broken, More Life Shaken and
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Speaker 4: Taken was copyrighted in two thousand and three, two thousand
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Speaker 4: and six, and twenty twenty four, and the sound recording
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Speaker 4: was copyrighted in twenty twenty four by Charles Rswindahl, Inc.
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Speaker 4: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 4: commercial use is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles
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Speaker 4: Arswindall Inc. Is grateful to Tyndale House Publishers for permission
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Speaker 4: to quote from the book The Revelation Record by Henry Morris,
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Speaker 4: copyrighted in nineteen eighty three,