Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / How are your Challenging trials? Ep 3443

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How are your Challenging trials? Ep 3443 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: Heavenly gracious God, as we come before your holy presence,
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  Speaker 1: we thank you. We give the honor and the glory
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  Speaker 1: for who you are and who you continue to be.
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  Speaker 1: We praise you, Lord. As we come before your presence,
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  Speaker 1: we ask you to allow your Holy Spirit to take
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  Speaker 1: today's message, make it real, make it real unto the listeners.
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  Speaker 1: As you continue to make it real for my individual life,
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  Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ's name we ask you and thank you. Amen. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Challenges of Faith Radio Program. I'm Gary McCants.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining. Thank you for joining. Let me
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  Speaker 1: ask you a personal question. You don't mind, do you?
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  Speaker 1: How are your challenging trials? You know, your trials. You know,
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  Speaker 1: because a lot of people ask questions and there's nothing
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  Speaker 1: wrong with the questions. But are you going to accept
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  Speaker 1: the answers? And the question a lot of people ask,
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  Speaker 1: may ask, is why do you suffer? Why do people suffer?
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  Speaker 1: And why do they have to die? Especially if God
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  Speaker 1: is good and loving like we as believers of the
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  Speaker 1: household of faith have said so. So how could he
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  Speaker 1: allow that? Well, you already know how that suffering and
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  Speaker 1: other challenges a lot of times leave you confused and
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  Speaker 1: angry and bitter, and maybe that's where you are. But
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  Speaker 1: you know, when you look at it, there's further proof
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  Speaker 1: that the adversary, you know, the spiritual enemy of our souls,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the devil, Satan, is at work in our lives.
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  Speaker 1: And so it should not be a surprise that evil
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  Speaker 1: is no stranger to us. You know, when you look
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  Speaker 1: in the Word of God, the Bible, and you read
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  Speaker 1: about suffering and evil, Habakkuk, And when you look at it,
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  Speaker 1: you notice that it's only three chapters long, only. But
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  Speaker 1: it's a book about the prophet. And what he did,
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  Speaker 1: he asked God why he wasn't punishing evil. And God
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  Speaker 1: had answered him by God saying that, and some say
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  Speaker 1: Habakkuk saying that he would punish evil, but that he
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  Speaker 1: was working it in his time, his time to do so.
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  Speaker 1: Do you notice that? In his time. A lot of times,
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  Speaker 1: and you know it's true, you and I don't understand
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  Speaker 1: God's timing. Now, you know that's true in our own
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  Speaker 1: individual life. You know you don't. But a lot of
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  Speaker 1: times you've got to remember, or we should remember, that
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  Speaker 1: God wasn't the one that created evil. Remember, God is just.
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  Speaker 1: Has he been just in your life? Has he been merciful?
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  Speaker 1: Has he been loving? Well, I can raise all 20
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  Speaker 1: in my hands. He said, Gary, 20, yeah, 20 of them.
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  Speaker 1: Think about it. A loving God gave us as humans
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  Speaker 1: free will when he created us. And because we're all sinful,
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  Speaker 1: you know, thinking evil thoughts, words, and deeds, we all
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  Speaker 1: experience evil and unfairness. Doesn't make a difference who you
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  Speaker 1: are with two legs unless you're a robot. AI, super intelligent.
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  Speaker 1: But you know what? It's still God is always in control,
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  Speaker 1: and he can even use that evil to do good.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when you look at James 1, verse 17,
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  Speaker 1: I know you wrote it down. It says that every
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  Speaker 1: good and perfect gift is from above. So when you
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  Speaker 1: really step back, you notice how you and I can
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  Speaker 1: also use our time of these challenging trials of suffering
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  Speaker 1: to look inside of us. Quit looking inside at everybody
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  Speaker 1: else on the planet. Look inside of yourself. And you
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  Speaker 1: notice how when you're really looking, we live in a
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  Speaker 1: fallen world where all of us are in need of
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  Speaker 1: a Savior. And when you're really paying attention, I know y'all,
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  Speaker 1: that's just what God provided. Because He loves us so
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  Speaker 1: much that He sent His Son, His only Son, Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: to die for the sins of our lives so that
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  Speaker 1: you and I can live forever in Heaven, you know, eternally.
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  Speaker 1: You know, with Christ, remember? Who was perfect, holy. But
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  Speaker 1: you notice, he suffered. And the suffering that he did
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  Speaker 1: was beyond imagination to pay the price for my sins
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  Speaker 1: and yours too. And give us eternal life. So, yes,
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  Speaker 1: good people experience challenging bad things here on earth. But
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  Speaker 1: we can rejoice in the fact that God, our loving God,
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  Speaker 1: has provided a place of, you ready for it? Eternal
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  Speaker 1: peace in heaven. And you also got to remember that
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  Speaker 1: because Christ suffered, he understands what you and I are
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  Speaker 1: going through and he has compassion on us. He not
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  Speaker 1: only gives us hope when we trust in him, but
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  Speaker 1: he helps us through those challenging, hard times. How? By
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  Speaker 1: accompanying us in our grief. And he surrounds us with
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  Speaker 1: supportive people. And those individuals that surround you, are they
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  Speaker 1: supportive of you? or they're taken away from you. And
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  Speaker 1: he allows you and I to feel his presence in
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  Speaker 1: our lives. So again, there's another question. Why do godly
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  Speaker 1: people suffer? You know, those who are in the right
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  Speaker 1: relationship with God. And you've got to remember, irrespective of
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  Speaker 1: having a relationship with God, it doesn't mean that you're
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  Speaker 1: not going to suffer. Remember now, there's a saying, you're
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  Speaker 1: either in a trial, coming out of one, or waiting
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  Speaker 1: for one. But you also got to remember that sin,
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  Speaker 1: you know, evil thoughts, words, and deeds affects everybody. And
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  Speaker 1: because of that, all of us experience pain and hardship.
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  Speaker 1: But the difference is that God promises to be with
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  Speaker 1: those who trust in Him. Psalm 34, 19 says, the
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  Speaker 1: righteous person, you know, that individual that's right with God
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  Speaker 1: because of Jesus Christ, may have many troubles, but the
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  Speaker 1: Lord delivers him from them all. And that doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: that this life that you and I are living down
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  Speaker 1: here on earth is not going to be easy. But
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  Speaker 1: that you and I are going to have help overcoming
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  Speaker 1: those challenging times. And you've got to please remember that
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  Speaker 1: God is with us through all the obstacles you and
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  Speaker 1: I daily face so that we don't have to face
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  Speaker 1: them alone. You and I can lean on Him in
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  Speaker 1: those tough, challenging times because we know we don't have
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  Speaker 1: to guess. We know that he cares for us and
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  Speaker 1: he's going to help us through any sorrow, any grief,
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  Speaker 1: any frustration that you and I are dealing with. And
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  Speaker 1: that alone gives us hope because even when we don't
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  Speaker 1: understand why things are happening, we know that in God's
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  Speaker 1: infinite wisdom, he can bring good out of these bad,
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  Speaker 1: challenging situations. And he can strengthen our faith or work
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  Speaker 1: things out behind the scenes that you and I don't
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  Speaker 1: see or understand. And you also got to remember that
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  Speaker 1: suffering It also allows you and I to help others
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  Speaker 1: in the same situation and pass on that hope that
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  Speaker 1: we have in Christ. So if you've accepted Christ as
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  Speaker 1: your Savior, you can be assured that He's always with you.
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  Speaker 1: Remember what the Word says in Deuteronomy 31, verse 6,
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  Speaker 1: that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you.
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  Speaker 1: So understand, He understands our struggles and He wants to
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  Speaker 1: help us. If we trust in him, you know, in
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  Speaker 1: 1 Peter 5, verse 7, it says, cast all your
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  Speaker 1: anxiety on him because he cares for you. Okay, before
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  Speaker 1: I continue, let me take a sip of my water.
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  Speaker 1: You don't mind, do you? Boy, that water's delicious. And
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  Speaker 1: then there's another question. Why do people die? Well, you've
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  Speaker 1: got to remember, when God created the world, you remember,
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  Speaker 1: he created it perfect. There was no death. But when
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  Speaker 1: the first two people on earth, you know, Adam and Eve,
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  Speaker 1: when they disobeyed God, sin entered the world, and we
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  Speaker 1: all have continued to sin since then. The Word says
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  Speaker 1: that the price of sin is death, and you can
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  Speaker 1: see that in Romans 6, verse 23. So unless Jesus
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  Speaker 1: Christ returns before you and I die, we will all
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  Speaker 1: die of physical death. But you know what? It doesn't
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  Speaker 1: have to end there. You say, what? Yeah, because even
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  Speaker 1: though our bodies are going to die, our souls are
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  Speaker 1: going to live forever. And yeah, is heaven real? Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: But also is hell real? Think about it. Our souls
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  Speaker 1: are going to live in one of those two places.
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  Speaker 1: Heaven is a glorious place and God's presence where there
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  Speaker 1: is no more suffering, no more pain, no more death.
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  Speaker 1: If you can ask your loved one that you know
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  Speaker 1: is absent from the body present with the Lord, if
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  Speaker 1: they want to return here, they probably look at you
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  Speaker 1: and I like be crazy. We're also going to have
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  Speaker 1: new bodies free of any ills or pains. But on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, hell... According to the word, it is
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  Speaker 1: a place of torment and punishment where the fire is
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  Speaker 1: not quenched. And you can see that in Mark chapter 9,
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  Speaker 1: verse 48. But you also got to remember, both places
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  Speaker 1: are eternal. We're going to live there forever. You know,
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  Speaker 1: there's a saying that there's going to be people in
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  Speaker 1: heaven that you may have thought shouldn't be there. And then...
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  Speaker 1: not going to be people there that you thought that
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  Speaker 1: they should just ought to be there. But you've got
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  Speaker 1: to remember, if we've accepted Christ into our lives, there's
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  Speaker 1: no reason to fear death. Because even though our bodies may,
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  Speaker 1: you know, succumb to that illness or whatever the case
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  Speaker 1: may be, Nothing, nothing, nothing can separate you from Christ. Nothing.
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  Speaker 1: Over in Matthew chapter 10 verse 28 it says, Do
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  Speaker 1: not be afraid of those who kill the body but
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  Speaker 1: cannot kill the soul. And you've got to remember that
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  Speaker 1: physical death is only a transition from this life here
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  Speaker 1: on earth with Christ to life in heaven with Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And as John 11 verse 25 says, He who believes
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  Speaker 1: in me, though he may die, He shall live. So
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  Speaker 1: we can also look forward to the day that you
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  Speaker 1: and I are going to see in heaven our loved
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  Speaker 1: ones who also accepted Christ. You do want to see
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  Speaker 1: them again, don't you? You do want to see them again,
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  Speaker 1: don't you? You know, I'm reminded of a clothing story.
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  Speaker 1: This pastor asked his congregation how many people wanted to
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  Speaker 1: go to heaven. Everybody raised their hand except this young man.
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  Speaker 1: The pastor thought, well, I know he wants to go.
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  Speaker 1: He asked the question again, same response. So finally the
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  Speaker 1: pastor asked the congregation, who all wants to go to heaven?
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  Speaker 1: Same response. The pastor asked the young man, don't you
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  Speaker 1: want to go to heaven? The young man said, yes,
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  Speaker 1: but I thought maybe he was talking about tonight that
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  Speaker 1: you were taking people.