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The Model Life: Alertness, Part 9 · CCC West Covina

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Take your Bible, if you would, to the 1st or the 5th chapter of
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First Thessalonians. This is our 39th message in the
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book of First Thessalonians. We have quite a few yet to go,
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and so we want you to be able to master and understand the book
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of First Thessalonians. It surely revolves around
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modeling the way. If you haven't been with us or
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you have forgotten, chapter 1 is all about the model church and
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what the model church truly looks like and acts like.
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That's in chapter 1. When you embark on chapter 2,
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you begin with the model leader in that church.
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And what does a model leader look like?
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How does a model leader impact the church?
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That was in verses 1 to 12 of chapter 2, and then we moved on
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to the model follower that's in verse 13 of chapter 2 to the end
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of that chapter. What does the model follower
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look like? You know as well as I do, you
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can't be an effective leader unless you're an effective
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follower. Great followers make great
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leaders. And So what does the model
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follower look like? That's at the end of Chapter 2.
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When you come to Chapter 3, you embark on what we called the
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model friend. What is a true friend, what they
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look like? That's what Chapter 3 is all
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about. And then you come to Chapter 4
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and Chapter 5. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 is all
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about the model life. In order to be a model friend, a
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model follower, a a model leader, a model church, you must
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be the kind of person that models the life of Christ.
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And So what does the model life look like In all of chapter 4
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and chapter 5 deal with what the life of the believer actually
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lives out. And so you begin in chapter 4
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verse #1 with the model life being the life of abstinence.
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You abstain from sexual immorality.
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We spent several weeks there because the Lord wants us to be
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a pure model, a holy model. And that's where it all begins,
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right? You're instead of pardon to God
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for his purposes. And so he wants a holy church.
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And the holy church is filled with people who are committed to
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abstaining from sexual immorality and living a holy
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life. So the model life is 1 of
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abstinence. And then we moved on to verse #9
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of chapter 4. The model life is 1 of
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aspiration, that is to to love abundantly and to live
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appropriately. Then we moved on to verse #13 of
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chapter 4. And the model life was one of
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anticipation, 1 of anticipating the return of Christ for His
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church. And then you come to chapter 5.
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In chapter 5, you have the model life, which centers around the
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word alertness. The model life is awake,
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vigilant, alert, sober minded, clear thinking.
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That is the model life. And we've spent nine weeks on
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the 1st 3 verses of First Thessalonians, chapter 5.
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We will move on to verse #4 and following this morning.
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But Christ was concerned about this alertness among His people.
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In fact, He said in Mark's Gospel, the 13th chapter, these
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words in verse 33, take heed, keep on the alert, for you do
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not know when the appointed time will come.
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It's like a man away in a journey who, upon leaving his
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house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one
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his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.
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Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know when the master
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of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight or
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when the rooster crows, or in the morning, in case he should
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come suddenly and find you asleep.
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But what I say to you, I say to all be on the alert.
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There's something about the model life that screams
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vigilance, awakeness, alertness, and therefore Paul addresses
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that in verses 1 to 12 of chapter 5.
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Peter was saying something similar when he said in first
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Peter chapter one verse #13 Therefore prepare your minds for
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action, Keep sober in spirit, be alert, be awake, be conscious,
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be vigilant, fix your hope completely on the grace to be
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brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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Peter said the same thing in chapter 3 of the second Epistle
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of Peter. Peter says it this way, but the
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day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will
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pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with
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intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
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Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort
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of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
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looking for and hastening or looking for with a vigilant
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spirit alert to the coming day of God?
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And so Peter jumps from the day of the Lord to the day of God,
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which is all very, very important, because we made it
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very clear to you that when you look at the return of Christ,
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you must see it from a broadview, a broad perspective.
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You must look at the return of Christ by looking at the day of
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Christ, the day of the Lord and the day of God.
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All three are unique and distinct.
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If you confuse them then you mess up your eschatology.
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So you must uniquely distinguish them one from the other.
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The Day of Christ is about the rapture of the Church and the
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reward of the Christian. That's First Thessalonians
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4/13/18, living in anticipation of that.
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The day of the Lord when you come to 1st Thessalonians 5 is
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about the retribution of sinners and the redemption of Israel.
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And then when you come to the day of God, which is as Peter
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says at the end of his epistle, and Second Peter chapter 3, the
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day of eternity, the day of God and the day of eternity are one
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of the same. The day of God deals with the
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the righteous rule of the king for all eternity because man's
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day is over and now it's God's day.
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It's called the Day of God. So you must distinguish it in
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those three things to understand the broad scope of the return of
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the King. So as you go to 1st
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Thessalonians chapter 5, he says you need to be on the alerts
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because it models the kind of life that Christ wants you to
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have. And so we say that there are
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four unique aspects to that. In chapter 5, verses 1 to 11 #1
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you need to be reminded #2 need to be responsible #3 need to be
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refreshed, and #4 you need to be reliable.
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We've covered the first one. Being responsible.
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Being responsible to what? First of all, the times and
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seasons and epics #2 to be reminded of the term, the day of
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the Lord, what it means #3 be reminded of the thief that comes
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in the night #4 to be reminded of the terror that's going to
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come suddenly upon those and destroy them.
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And then #5 to remember the thrill of that.
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Because you, he says in verse #4 but you brethren, are not in
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that darkness. We spent nine weeks or excuse
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me, 8 weeks covering that aspect.
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In the first three weeks, if you weren't with us, you can go
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back. You can download it from, from
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our website. Listen to those sermons because
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it's very important to know this.
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Why is it important to know this?
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Because you remember Paul was in Thessalonica for three Sabbaths
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and maybe a little bit beyond that before he was chased out of
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Thessalonica. So it wasn't there long, but
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it's but but why he was there. A church was born and there were
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a few numbers of of believers and what he taught them
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primarily was about the second coming of the Messiah.
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That's what chapter 4 and chapter 5 deal with primarily.
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And that's why every chapter ends with something about the
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coming of the Christ. Why?
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Because all new believers must understand primarily the second
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coming of the Messiah. Outside of soteriology,
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eschatology is the greatest doctrine to be taught, learned
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and known. Because everything about today
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resides in the blessed hope of the coming, the Messiah.
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Every cure to your your mental issues focuses in on one thing,
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the blessed hope, the coming, the Messiah.
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Everything about your emotional issues is, is squelched when you
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understand the second coming, the Messiah.
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Everything about your relational issues is squelched when you
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understand the second coming, the Messiah.
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Every issue that you have in your physical life, in your
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mental life, in your emotional life, is all seen in proper
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perspective when you understand the return of the King.
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That's everything. It is our blessed hope, it's
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what we anticipate, it's what we are alert to as model citizens
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in God's Kingdom. And that's what keeps us going
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from day-to-day, knowing that Jesus is coming again.
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And so he says, be reminded, be reminded as to the times and
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epics, be reminded as to the day of the Lord.
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In fact, he says, I don't have much to say to you because I've
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already taught you this. Knowing that in those three
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weeks or three weeks plus that he was there, that he taught
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them about the second coming. He taught them about the day of
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the Lord. He taught them about the return
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of the King. So they would understand those
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aspects because it would take them through the tribulation and
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persecution that they would face.
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Read the epistles, read the apostle Paul.
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What was his hope amidst all his heart?
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I miss all of his pain. I miss his shipwrecks, his snake
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bites, his imprisonments. It was what the blessed hope of
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the coming of the Messiah, that is the answer to every one of
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your issues. That is the answer.
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Now, you might not believe that. You might not get that.
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I'm just telling you, the emphasis the Bible puts on it,
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it is so crucial and so clear and so important that you can't
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afford to neglect it. Why?
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It keeps you looking above and not below.
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It keeps you living in anticipation, and it keeps you
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always, always focused on the one thing that matters, Jesus
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Christ our Lord. And the reason we have the
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issues we do is because we're focused on who yourself.
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You're focused on me, my disappointments, my heartaches,
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my problems, my pains. And so we so we become so
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inwardly focused that we can't begin to even look up and see
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Jesus is coming again. Whether we like it or not, we
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are living the life of Ecclesiastes.
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We're living Solomon's life. We're living below the sun.
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We're not living beyond the sun. We're living below the sun.
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And Solomon's whole book of Ecclesiastes about what happens
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to you mentally and emotionally, physically and spiritually, when
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you live life below the sun. But when you live life beyond
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the sun, everything about Solomon's life was different.
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It was changed. That's where we need to be
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living our lives. So let's move on.
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And our outline to point #2 it's taking us 8 weeks to get here.
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It won't take us 8 weeks to finish, I promise.
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But we want to move on to the point #2 not only are you to be
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reminded of what it means to be alert, but you need to be
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responsible when it comes to being alert.
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And that responsibility falls into three key phrases. 1A
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witness, 2A watchman, and 3A warrior.
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Every person who is alert is a witness, a watchman, and a
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warrior. Look what it says.
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First Thessalonians 5 verse #4 But you, brethren, are not in
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darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, for
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you are all sons of light and sons of day.
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We are not of the night, nor of darkness.
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So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert,
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awake, and sober. For those who sleep do their
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sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
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But since we are of the day, let us be sober.
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Wow, so important. What is he doing?
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He is telling them about the responsibility be a witness, a
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watchman and a warrior. He begins by telling them that
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they are a witness. He says you are children of the
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day. You are not children of the
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night. Children of the Night Live in
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darkness. Children of the day live in the
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light. Children of the night who live
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in darkness are drunk and sleep, but children of the day who live
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in the light are alert, awake and sober.
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So important. So he says, you, because you are
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sons of light and sons of the day.
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This is who you are. Live this way because the alert
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life lives responsibly because you're a witness.
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Turn back to me, if you would, to the first chapter of the book
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of Acts. Let me show you how Jesus said
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this Acts chapter one verse 6. So when they had come together,
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they were asking him saying Lord is that this time you are
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restoring the Kingdom to Israel. Why would they ask that
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question? Because he spent 40 days talking
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to them about things pertaining to the Kingdom.
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You read about that earlier in chapter 1.
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So by by nature they would ask, well, if you're talking to us
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about the Kingdom, when are you going to restore the Kingdom?
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Is now the time that you're going to do that?
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That would be the natural progression of thought.
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He said to them, verse 7, It's not for you to know the times or
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epics which the Father has fixed by His own authority.
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In other words, it's a fixed time.
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The Kingdom is a fixed time, and God by His own authority, God
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the Father by His own authority has determined that fixed time.
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Now listen to what He says next. He says, But you will receive
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power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be
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my witnesses. You shall be my witnesses.
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There's something about Christianity and the Spirit of
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God residing within you that makes you into something, that
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you become something that you were not before you were saved.
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Yes, you are a new creation, but you are now a witness.
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You really can't be a You can't go out witnessing unless you are
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a witness. You can't go out serving unless
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you are a servant. You can't go out and live
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Christ's life unless Christ lives in you.
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You see, to be is always more important than to do.
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We forget that we think doing is more important than being.
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No, no, being leads to doing. Who you are is the most
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important aspect of your life, and who you are is defined by
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the fact that you are a witness, you are a testimony, you are a
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living light to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So he says, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, listen, don't be
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concerned or consumed with revealing me or ruling an
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eternity as much as you should be concerned about revealing me
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to humanity. That's what Jesus is saying.
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Until I come reveal me to humanity, you are going to be my
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witnesses. So now Paul says in First
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Thessalonians chapter 5, you are not of the night, you are not of
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the darkness, you are of the light.
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Therefore shine bright as children of the light, because
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the people in darkness need to know the way.
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So when he speaks about darkness, he's speaking about
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mental darkness and moral darkness.
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He's speaking about those who are ignorant of the truth and
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those who are not just indifferent to the truth, but
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immoral to the truth. Those are the ones in darkness.
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Now to understand this, turn back with me if you would, to
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John's Gospel, the 1st chapter, John chapter 1, John chapter one
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verse #4 says in Him was life, and the life was the light of
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men. The light shines in the
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darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
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Christ is the light of life, but those in the darkness did not
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comprehend it. Go to chapter 3, verse #19 This
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is the judgment that light is coming to the world, and men
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love the darkness rather than light, for their deeds were
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evil. For everyone who does evil hates
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the light, and does not come to the light for fear that his
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deeds will be exposed. You ever wonder why the friend
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of yours, the family member of yours, the person you're sharing
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Christ with, does not embrace Christianity?
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It's because they love the darkness.
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They love their sin. They do not love the light and
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they love the sin so much is because they don't want to have
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their sin exposed to the light, so they don't come to the light.
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And then over in chapter chapter 8, he says these words I am the
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light of the world. Verse 12 He who follows me will
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not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.
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He who follows me will not be in the darkness, but will be in the
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light. This is how John says it over in
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first John. First John chapter 1 He says
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these words. Verse 5 This is the message we
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have heard from him and announced to you, that God is
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light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
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If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk
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in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
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But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we
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have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
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his Son cleanses us from all sin.
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Look what it says over in first John chapter 2 verse #9 The one
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who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the
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darkness. Until now.
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The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is
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no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his
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brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does
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not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded
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his eyes. So John makes it very clear.
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Paul makes it very clear that you are not children of
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darkness, but children of light, and you need to be responsible
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as a witness to shine forth that light.
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So important. As you recall, everything about
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the Old Testament pointed to the arrival of the Messiah, and the
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Messiah was described as a light.
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All you got to do is go back to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah
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Chapter 9, Isaiah chapter 4140240649, 60, chapter 60.
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It's all about this arrival of the light of the Messiah.
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Why? Because earlier on in the book
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of Numbers chapter 24 verse #17 it says that a star shall rise
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out of Jacob or a light shall shine out of Jacob with a
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scepter in his hands. And that that became the the key
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verse to describe the arrival of the Messiah as as a light.
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Malachi would say that when the sun SUN of Righteousness
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appears, then you will receive the healing that you need
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spiritually to live appropriately.
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It was all about the coming light.
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So in Luke's Gospel, in the 2nd chapter of of Luke's Gospel,
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Simeon says this when he holds the Christ child in his hands.
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For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have
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prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation
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to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.
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Earlier Zechariah the priest, the father of John the Baptist,
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said in verse 78 of chapter 1 of Luke, because of the tender
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mercy of God, with which the sunrise from on high will visit
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us. He quotes from the book of
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Isaiah then and says to shine upon those who sit in darkness
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and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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Peter called the Messiah the day star in the Book of Revelation
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chapter 2 and chapter 22 he is called the bright morning star.
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So everything was about light and the brightness of the
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Messiah that that's why it talks about in Psalm.
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I think it's Psalm 50 or or Psalm 51.
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My memory is not clear on that just yet.
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But it's all about Zion. And the meaning of Zion means
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sunny that that that the Lord will shine forth from Zion.
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Why? Because that's where the glory
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of the Lord dwells. That's what the Prince of God
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is. And so Zion is equated, which is
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Jerusalem, which is Mount Zion, which is Mount Moriah is a
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testimony to the shining 4th of the Messiah.
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And so when when the Messiah came, the glory of the Lord
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would shine all around, which is the the Prince of God manifested
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in brilliant light. Everything is about light,
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everything is about brightness, everything is about the shining
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4th of the Messiah. And so now because we are
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Christians, we are children of the light, we are sons of the
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day. We are sons of the light.
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We're not sons of the night, we're sons of the day.
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So he says, listen, you need to be responsible in your witness
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to shine forth the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
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because Christ reigns within you.
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Remember over in Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4,
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Paul says this in verse #17 So this I say and affirm together
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with the Lord that you walk no longer.
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Just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind
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being darkened, in their understanding excluded from the
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life of God because of the ignorance that is in them,
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because of the hardness of their heart.
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And they having become callous, have given themselves over to
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sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with
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greediness. But he says you did not learn
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Christ in this manner. And then over in chapter 5 verse
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#8 Paul says these words for you were formerly darkness, but now
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you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, walk
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as children of light. Remember what Jesus said in in
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in John chapter 12 when he gave this invitation, John's Gospel,
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the 12th chapter, the 46th verse.
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I have come as light into the world so that everyone who
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believes in me will not remain in darkness.
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So listen, everybody in the world falls into two categories.
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One of the other light or darkness, night or day, drunk or
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sober, alert unto Christ or sleep from Christ.
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But everybody falls into one or two categories.
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Either a children, a child of the darkness, or you're a child
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of the light. And those who come to the light
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don't walk in darkness anymore because they follow the light of
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life. That, that, that is just so
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important to understand this, that that's why the Bible says
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in Matthew chapter 5, you are the salt of the earth.
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You are the light of the world. It's part of your identity.
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Why as salt of the earth do you retard corruption?
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Because you are the light to the world.
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Therefore you retard corruption by revealing Christ.
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That's how it happens. And so therefore Christ says you
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are the light of the world, so important and those he says, he
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says you are the sons of light. You are the sons of day.
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You need to understand that term because it's a Hebrew idiom and
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it begins to to help you understand what it means to be a
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a son of the day or a son of the night.
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Because to say something or someone was the son of something
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would say that you are equal in nature to that aspect.
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It is the dominant influence of your life.
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So in Judges chapter, Judges chapter 19, it says that the
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wicked people were the sons of the devil or the sons of Belial.
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That means that their nature was equal and equivalent to that of
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the devil. All their wickedness
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characterized their lives. That's why the Bible says in
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Mark's Gospel, the 3rd chapter that James and John were called
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the sons of Thunder. It doesn't mean that James and
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John had a mother and father name Mr. and Misses Thunder and
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that they were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Thunder.
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No, they they were equal in nature to equivalent to a
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thunderous, violent, aggressive act.
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And all you got to do is read the book of or the Gospels and
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realize that they were a thundering crew.
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In chapter 4 of the book of Acts, Barnabas was called the
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son of encouragement. It doesn't mean his father and
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mother or Mr. and Mrs. Encouragement.
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It means that he is a son characterized by encouragement.
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That's his life. His life was characterized by
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being and encouraging individual.
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The Bible says in John 17 that Judas was the son of perdition.
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But what does that mean? That means that his nature was
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one of destruction. His nature was one of perdition.
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His nature was one of damnation. That was His nature, and He
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acted in accordance with that. Ephesians 2 verse 2 says that
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before we were saved, we were the sons of disobedience.
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That is, our lives were by nature disobedient to the things
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of God. Over in Matthew chapter 15, or
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excuse me, 13 verse #38 the tares, the unbelievers are
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called the sons of the wicked one.
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That is, they have a nature that's equivalent in kind to the
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DNA of Satan himself. So here Paul comes along and
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says, the reason you're going to escape the day of the Lord, the
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reason why that destruction is not going to come up on you is
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because you're not in darkness. You're in daylight because
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you're sons of the light. You're not sons of darkness, you
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are sons of the day. In other words, your nature is
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equivalent and like that of our Lord who is light, it's speaking
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to the nature of the Christian You are sons of light.
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You are sons of day. Therefore, be responsible as a
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witness to live out the nature of your calling, simply because
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this is where Christ has placed you as a citizen in His Kingdom.
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Be responsible to live as a child of the light, child of the
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day, so incredibly important. In verse 6 He says so then let
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us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert, awake,
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vigilant, sober minded. Let us not sleep.
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In other words, let's not be insensitive or in a coma,
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spiritually speaking. Let's not be insensible nor let
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us be drunk. You ever seen a drunk person?
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They, they, they, they wander aimlessly around because they
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have no direction. That's the unbeliever.
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But the believer is sober minded.
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He's in his right mind, he is alert, he is awake.
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He is vigilant because he's not drunk.
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But the unbeliever is described in a drunken stupor.
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So Paul is just basically saying this, listen, be, be responsible
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as a as a witness, because that's who you are.
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You're sons of light, you're sons of the day.
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That's why you escape the coming wrath of God, the day of the
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Lord. That's why you have to worry
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about those things that that's set aside for the children of
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the darkness. That's set aside for the for the
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unbelieving person. It's not set aside for the
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believing person. Oh no, only for the unbeliever.
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And over in the book of Romans, Paul says something very
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similar. Romans chapter 13 he says verse
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11 do this, do this knowing the time that is already the hour
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for for you to awaken from sleep.
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For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
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So the same thing be alert, be a vigilant, don't be asleep, be on
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the watch. You're a watchman.
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You're awake, you're alert. Why?
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Because your salvation is nearer than it's ever been before.
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What does that mean? I'm already saved.
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It means that yes, you are saved And, and, and judicially,
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you're, you're born again. You're justified before Christ.
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You're sanctified in Christ, but you're yet to be glorified.
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That's going to happen when you see him face to face, you'll
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have this glorified body. You'll have this perfect body.
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So your salvation, the completion of your salvation is
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yet future. It will one day happen.
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And when it does remember this, it's soon going to happen
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because it's closer than it's ever been before.
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It's soon coming, Paul says, and he says just 2000 years ago.
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So if it was close 2000 years ago, how close must it be today?
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And so he says, awake from your sleep because your salvation is
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nearer than it's ever been before.
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The night is almost gone, verse 12 and the day is near.
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Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the
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armor of light. Paul knows that we have this
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tendency to slip back into the night.
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We have this tendency to to slip back into, into the darkness.
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We had this tendency to, to not live as a witness to the light
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as we should. That will always be a struggle
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until we receive our glorified body.
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That's why we sin and that's why we confess our sins, right?
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So Paul knows this. So Paul is just reminding those
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in Rome about what it is that should be happening in their
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lives. Awake from your sleep, awake
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from the stupor you are in. Be vigilant, be on your guard,
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be a witness. Put on the armor of light.
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What's the, what's the armor of light?
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Christ is light. Christ is your armor.
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Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying.
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In fact, he says it later. He says this, he says verse 13.
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Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and
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drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not
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in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and
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make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
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See put it on the armor. Light is put in the Lord Jesus
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Christ. It's walking in obedience to to
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the light of the world because that's who we are.
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See, we can do that because that's in our spiritual DNA.
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We are children of the light, not children of the night,
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children of the day, not children of darkness.
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And so we can put those things on.
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We can, we can live that way simply because of what God
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himself has done in our lives. Your conduct, your conduct must
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demonstrate of the condition of your character.
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And that's Paul's exhortation to be responsible because the day
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of the Lord's not going to come upon you.
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You're going to escape that. You're going to escape that
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time. You're going to escape that
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terror, you're going to escape that thief, you're going to
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escape all of that. So therefore, act responsibly,
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act responsibly, be alert, be awake, be vigilant, be the
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witness you were called to be, be the watchman you need to be,
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and make sure you're the warrior you should be.
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And he goes on and says these words in First Thessalonians
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chapter 5. He says, But since we are of the
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day, let us be sober or alert or vigilant, having put on the
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breastplate of faith and love as a helmet, the hope of salvation
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for God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining
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salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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He says you're a warrior, you're a warrior in God's army and you
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need the helmet of hope, which is your salvation.
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You need the breastplate of faith and and love because
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you're in a battle and you war every single day and you must be
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responsible as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So Paul's call is this, the day of the Lord is coming.
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And I told you about this, but the thrill of this is that
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you'll escape that. You're going to miss it because
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who you are by nature, child of the day, the child of the light.
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And, and my, my plea to you today is, do you know that
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you're a child of the light that you walk in the light as he is
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in the light that, that, that your nature demonstrates the
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Christ that you are. You are the brightest light in
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your workplace because light exposes sin, does it not?
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The brighter you shine, the more sin you'll expose.
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You know that, right? Just try looking in the corners
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of your house and shining light underneath the furniture.
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You'll expose all the dirt that's there.
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Turn the light off. It's like it doesn't exist.
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Oh, but it's there. Turn the light on.
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Oh wow, look how dirty it is there.
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And the brighter you shine for Christ, the more sin is exposed
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all around you. And people don't like that.
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That's why they hate Christ. Can you imagine Christ walking
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into your church, Christ walking into your house, and he's the
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light of the world. He'll expose everything that's
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evil in there just by simply His presence, because He dwells in
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unapproachable light. And He is.
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In him is no darkness at all. And so whenever he walked into
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the temple, whenever he walked with his men, wherever he walked
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into a room, the light would shine bright because He is the
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light of the world. How about you?
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Have you embraced the light? Have you come to the saving
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grace of the light? Are you still wandering around
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in darkness, groping around in the night, trying to find your
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way through life, trying to find your way to heaven, trying to
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find your way out of the muck in the mire you find yourself in?
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Or if you embrace the light of the world, Jesus Christ Himself,
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and giving your life to Him that He might guide, direct and lead
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you from this day forward. I would trust that that's the
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case. Let's pray together.
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Father, we thank you for today. It is a great day.
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It's a great day, Lord, because you gave it to us.
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That's number one. You gave us this day and we are
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grateful. And not only did you give us
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this day, you give it gave us this day for a purpose.
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And today's purpose was was to worship, worship the King of
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kings and Lord of Lords. And in our worship, understand
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what your word says to each and every one of us.
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That meant we might respond in a way that brings glory to you and
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your Kingdom. We want to do that, Lord.
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What a great day. What a great day to walk as
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children of the light. Children of the day to be alert,
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sober minded, awake, vigilant. This is the coming day of the
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Lord. We thank you Father, that you've
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saved us. If there be one among us that
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has never embraced the light, may today be that day.
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May you go before us, Lord, in a great and mighty way for the
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glory of your Kingdom. And may this week be one that
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Lord, we are able to shine brighter and brighter until the
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coming day You take us home to be with you.
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Then at home with our family, the light shines bright.
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That at a workplace or vacation or school, the light just shines
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brighter and brighter. And that, Lord, you use us as a
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witness for the glory of Your great Kingdom.
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To you come again, as you most surely will, in Jesus name,
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Amen.