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Max Lucado – An Urgent Message You Need to Hear Right Now · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Well, the flight to nowhere sold out in 10 minutes.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Qantas Airlines called it their fastest selling ticket in the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: airline's history. Cheap seats went for 575 bucks. First class
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: went for 2,675.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: And what.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Does a passenger get for the money? Seven hours of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: circling Australia landing in the same place you left. Chalk
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: it up to COVID-19. People are weary of being stuck
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: at home. In response to months of going nowhere, they
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: paid good money to, well, go nowhere. Forgive me for
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: being blunt, but I'm gonna keep my money in my
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: pocket and keep my feet on the ground. Flying in circles?
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: No, thank you. Flying toward a destination? That's better. And
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: that's biblical.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Embedded and inherent in the biblical teaching and the pages
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: of scripture is this promise that we are headed to
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: a better place. That we're not going to circle around
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: and come back to where we've always been. And we
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: can survive winter times like the one in which we
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: find ourselves now because we know that a glorious springtime
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: of glory awaits us. The book we're studying, the book
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: of Esther, invites this hope. It may surprise you to
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: hear the book of Esther described as a book that
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: gives hope about the end of history. When we think
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: of end times, we often think of prophetic books like
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the book of Daniel. the book of Revelation, the teachings
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24. So does the story
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: of the queen of Persia, the book of Esther, does
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: it contribute to this what's next conversation?
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: I would say yes.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Esther is a foreshadowing of final events. It does relate
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the history of exiled Jews in 5th century B.C. Persia
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: But it also reminds us of the timeline of humanity
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: in human history. If you need to widen the aperture
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: of your lens of scripture, back away for a bit
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: and look at the big picture of the book of Esther.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: And you will see how the three acts of Esther
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: mirror the three acts of human history. Here's a review
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: of the three acts of Esther. Act number one is crisis.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Crisis.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: The early chapters introduce us to the crisis in the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: nation of Persia, in.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: The city of Susa.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: The curtain of our drama opens onto this flamboyant display
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: of wealth. King Xerxes had everything. He had power. He
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: had money. He had wine. He had women. Well, all
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: but the one woman that mattered. Queen Vashti refused to
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: come into his man caves, camp man cave, and dance
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: around in front of a bunch of bibulous males.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: For that reason, she got the boot.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: The exit of Vashti triggered the entrance of Esther. And
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: she had enough woo, she had enough wow, that she
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: won the heart of the king and inherited the the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: throne of the queen.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: But there was a secret. She was a Jew.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: And her cousin, Mordecai, the other main character in the story,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: who worked in the palace, was also a Jew.
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  Speaker 2: And no one knew.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: King Xerxes did not know that he slept with a
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Jew and employed a Jew. And they probably never would
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: have known except for the villain of the story, Haman,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: who happened to be a Jew hater. And when Mordecai
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: refused to bow before Haman, Haman convinced the king, King Xerxes,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: to exterminate every Jew in the Persian empire.
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  Speaker 2: It was a crisis.
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  Speaker 1: And the crisis of Act I led to the confusion
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: of act too. Having decreed certain deaths for the Jews
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  Speaker 1: the king and Haman sat down to drink but the
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: city of Susa was bewildered. The king and his right
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: hand man were so insensitive and so unaware of the
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: value of people that they could declare a bloodbath and
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: then have a cocktail. The entire city of Susa not
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: just the Jewish nation, but the entire city. I mean,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: if Haman can turn his ire on an ethnic group,
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  Speaker 1: a minority group, well, who's next? He may have it
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: in for people who are left-handed, for farmers. So the
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: entire nation was on edge. When the king is a
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  Speaker 1: wimp and his chief of staff is a despot, anything
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  Speaker 1: can happen. Of course, you and I know something that
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: the people of Persia did not. We've read the story.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: We know the story. We know that God was busy
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  Speaker 1: at work. He was working behind the scenes. And out
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  Speaker 1: of this confusion came act three, and that is conquest.
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  Speaker 1: That's what we looked at last week. The tables were turned.
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  Speaker 1: Haman's plot crashed into the head first into God's providence.
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  Speaker 2: No one.
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  Speaker 1: Not even the king of Persia can stand against our king,
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  Speaker 1: the king of kings. Mordecai got this. Somewhere he got this.
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  Speaker 1: He came to understand. Remember his wake-up call to Queen Esther?
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  Speaker 1: He said, now, if you remain silent at this time,
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  Speaker 1: relief and deliverance for the.
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  Speaker 2: Jews will arise. It will arise from another place. That's
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  Speaker 2: what he told her.
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  Speaker 1: He was absolutely certain of the ultimate victory of God's plans.
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  Speaker 1: There was no question to Mordecai as to the outcome
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  Speaker 1: of the story. Yes, there was a crisis. Yes, there
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: is confusion. But overall, Mordecai could see the conquest. He
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: knew his God was a covenant-keeping God. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: where he got this. Maybe he returned to the teachings
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  Speaker 1: of his youth and he was reminded. He knew God
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  Speaker 1: would be their God and they would be his people.
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  Speaker 1: He knew God would gather them from all the countries.
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  Speaker 1: He knew God would send a king through them and
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  Speaker 1: to them from the tribe of Judah to rescue his
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  Speaker 1: people and establish his eternal kingdom. These were the covenants
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  Speaker 1: that God had made. And Mordecai came to believe that
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  Speaker 1: somehow God will keep this covenant and maybe he'll use Esther.
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  Speaker 1: But if Esther refuses, he'll find another way. The role
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  Speaker 1: of Esther was questionable, but the promise of God was not.
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  Speaker 1: The perseverance of God's children was never in question. Consequently,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: the victory was theirs. And we know the story. We
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: know that Esther did get on board. We know that
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  Speaker 1: that day that was certain to be a day of
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  Speaker 1: death in which all the people, all the Jewish people
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  Speaker 1: would be destroyed, turned into a day of victory in
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  Speaker 1: which all their enemies were destroyed. And the Jews who
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  Speaker 1: had lived in fear all of a sudden stood in strength.
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  Speaker 1: They who were a minority, a relegated minority to the
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  Speaker 1: margins of society, all of a sudden were center stage.
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  Speaker 1: And all the other nationalities were looking up to them.
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  Speaker 1: And two Jews, Mordecai and Esther, were right in the
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: heartbeat of the palace. It's no wonder that Jews to
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  Speaker 1: this day celebrate this triumph with the Feast of Purim,
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  Speaker 1: which we'll examine in detail next week. But there's more
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  Speaker 1: to this story than Hebrew victories. Don't let this account,
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  Speaker 1: the book of Esther, be simply a history book of
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: what God did. It is actually a playbook of what
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  Speaker 1: God is doing. And the three acts of Esther mirror
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  Speaker 1: the three acts of humanity.
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  Speaker 2: Let me show you what I mean. There was act one,
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  Speaker 2: a crisis. A crisis. Haman.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: entered the world of Persia, not, I'm sorry, he entered
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: the world of Persia as an advisor to the king.
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  Speaker 1: Our Haman, Satan, entered the Garden of Eden as a
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  Speaker 1: tempter to Adam and Eve. Now the Garden of Eden
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: was perfect. God found it so delightful that he would
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  Speaker 1: walk with his children in the cool of the evening.
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  Speaker 1: Can you believe that? Adam and Eve found it so
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  Speaker 1: safe they wore no clothing. Why would they? What did
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: they have to hide? And from whom did they need
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: to hide? They were one with creation. They were one
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  Speaker 1: with God. They were one with each other. It was
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful world. But then came the crisis. Adam and
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  Speaker 1: Eve broke rank. The wooing serpent whispered a better deal.
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  Speaker 2: I can get you more, he said. More power, more clout.
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  Speaker 1: Why, in my plan, you'll occupy the corner office of
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  Speaker 1: the universe. Here's what he said to them. You'll be
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  Speaker 1: like God. And that's all it took. Eve took the bait,
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  Speaker 1: Adam followed. Now Eve was perfect.
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  Speaker 2: Eve got... I'm sorry. Eden was perfect.
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  Speaker 1: Eden offered everything that they would ever need to know.
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  Speaker 1: Everything that they would ever need to have. Ecological harmony,
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  Speaker 1: relational purity, spiritual peace. Eden offered everything. But there could
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  Speaker 1: be more, whispered the Satan.
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  Speaker 2: And he whispers it still. And so.
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  Speaker 2: Crisis. Crisis came into the garden.
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  Speaker 1: And that crisis of Act 1 led to the confusion
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  Speaker 1: of Act 2. That's where we are right now, ladies
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  Speaker 1: and gentlemen. We are in Act 2. The world is
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  Speaker 1: a confused mess. Adam and Eve, as a response to
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  Speaker 1: the crisis, hid themselves. They sewed fig leaves together and
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  Speaker 1: made themselves coverings. Adam and his wife hid themselves from
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  Speaker 1: the presence of the Lord God among the trees of
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  Speaker 1: the garden. They went into hiding. They hid first. We've
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  Speaker 1: all been hiding since. They hid behind fig leaves and
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  Speaker 1: in the forest. We hide behind bottles of liquor or
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  Speaker 1: desks of work. We distance ourselves from our only hope,
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  Speaker 1: and that is our good and our faithful God. Even
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  Speaker 1: creation is cranky. Thorns and thistles, which were unknown in
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  Speaker 1: the Garden of Eden, they wormed their way into the creation.
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  Speaker 1: And nature gives food, but only in exchange.
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  Speaker 2: For the sweat and toil of Adam and Eve. and
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  Speaker 2: their children. It's a mess. It's a mess.
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  Speaker 1: Adam and Eve had two sons. Both brought offerings to God.
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  Speaker 1: God accepted the offering of the younger, Abel, but he
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  Speaker 1: rejected the gift of Cain, the elder, and Cain was upset.
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  Speaker 1: So Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
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  Speaker 1: And for the first time, the blood of a person
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  Speaker 1: was spilled onto the soiled How many drops of blood
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  Speaker 1: have been spilled since? All the wars, all the murders,
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  Speaker 1: all the fights, all the conflicts, all the bitterness, all
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  Speaker 1: the hostilities, all the rivalries.
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  Speaker 2: Squabbles and scourges.
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  Speaker 1: At one point, the Lord heaves this heavy sigh of,
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  Speaker 1: And he was sorry that he had made man on
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  Speaker 1: the earth the saddest sentence in scripture. He started over
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  Speaker 1: with a flood, hoping the flood would clean everything up.
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  Speaker 1: But the descendants of Noah went to Babel and they
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  Speaker 1: built a tower, still heeding the serpent's temptation that they
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  Speaker 1: could be like God And the result was and the
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  Speaker 1: result is babbling. Corruption runs riot. Sometimes it seems that
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  Speaker 1: Haman and Xerxes are still in charge.
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  Speaker 2: But they're not. They're not. How do we know? Because
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  Speaker 2: we've read the book. We know the difference.
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  Speaker 1: We know that our covenant-keeping God is at work. And
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  Speaker 1: just as Mordecai heard promises and they gave him faith, Today,
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  Speaker 1: we hear promises and they convince us that we're not
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  Speaker 1: on a flight to nowhere, but we're on a flight
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  Speaker 1: to somewhere that is unlike anything we have ever seen.
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  Speaker 1: And soon to come is Acts chapter 3. Act chapter 3.
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  Speaker 2: Act 3.
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  Speaker 1: And that is the conquest. The conquest. It's right to
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  Speaker 1: see God. as a loving father. It is right to
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  Speaker 1: see him as a caring shepherd. It is right to
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  Speaker 1: see him as a friend of sinners, but it is
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  Speaker 1: equally right to see him as the conquering king in
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  Speaker 1: the end of history, who will once and for all
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  Speaker 1: do away with Satan and everybody who has saluted him.
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  Speaker 1: He was decisive and dramatic in the days of Esther.
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  Speaker 1: He'll be even more so In these, the last days,
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  Speaker 1: let me tell you what history's next big event is.
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  Speaker 2: Best I can determine.
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  Speaker 1: The next big event in history is a moment in
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: which God will rapture. He will rescue his children from
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  Speaker 1: off the face of this planet.
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  Speaker 2: Here's the description. First Thessalonians.
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  Speaker 1: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with
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  Speaker 1: a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, with
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  Speaker 1: the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Will rise first.
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  Speaker 1: After that, we who are still alive and are left
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  Speaker 1: will be caught up together with them in the clouds
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  Speaker 1: to meet the Lord in the air. And so we
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  Speaker 1: will be with the Lord forever. A day is coming
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  Speaker 1: in which Christians, upon the signal of Christ, will be
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  Speaker 1: transported into the presence of Christ, never to depart. This
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  Speaker 1: rapture includes the resurrection of dead believers and the transformation
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  Speaker 1: of living believers. And it will occur in a moment,
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  Speaker 1: in the twinkling of an eye. This word, moment, In.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Greek is A-T-O-M-O-S. Sounds like atom. Minuscule.
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  Speaker 1: To the degree that an atom is small, that moment
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  Speaker 1: will be quick, friends. That's how long Jesus needs to
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  Speaker 1: resurrect and transform his church.
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  Speaker 2: It will happen so quickly.
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  Speaker 1: In a moment in the twinkling of an eye.
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  Speaker 2: How long is the twinkle of an eye? Somebody tell me.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's how long Jesus needs to inaugurate the final era,
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  Speaker 1: the era of conquest. Now think for a moment about
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: the implications of this sudden rapture. Think for a moment
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: what this planet is going to be like with all
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: of a sudden every God-fearing, Bible-believing, Christ-following, son or daughter
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  Speaker 1: of God, mysteriously gone. Can you imagine the chaos? Can
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: you imagine the questions? Every NGO will close. Christian schools
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  Speaker 1: will be empty. Christian lawyers, doctors, researchers, professors, all gone.
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  Speaker 1: The salt and light of society will be withdrawn. And
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  Speaker 1: the stage will be set for the master of deception
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  Speaker 1: Scripture calls him the Antichrist. The Antichrist. The stage will
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  Speaker 1: be set for him to step into the void and
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: offer answers and solutions, just like Adolf Hitler emerged on
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  Speaker 1: the scene of such political and economic chaos that entire
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: nations of people bought his lies. So the Antichrist will
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: step forward with pragmatic answers and promises to unite the world.
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  Speaker 1: He will use oratory. He will use satanic power. He
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: will offer easy solutions and make exorbitant pledges. He will
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  Speaker 1: inaugurate his era with diplomacy. The Old Testament prophet Daniel
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: says that leader will make a firm agreement with many people,
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  Speaker 1: for seven years. He will extend an olive branch to
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  Speaker 1: the nations. Most specifically, he will make an agreement with
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  Speaker 1: the nation of Israel. And Israel will agree. They will
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  Speaker 1: sign the treaty. Yet midway through the treaty, he will
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  Speaker 1: break it. And guess what will break loose?
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  Speaker 2: All hell. And he will.
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  Speaker 1: Cause astounding devastation And succeed in whatever he does. He
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  Speaker 1: will destroy those who are mighty. the holy people. He
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  Speaker 1: will cause deceit to prosper and he will consider himself superior.
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  Speaker 1: In the book of Revelation chapters 4 through 19, we
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  Speaker 1: have a description of everything that's going to happen in
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  Speaker 1: the second half of this tribulation. It will be unlike
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  Speaker 1: anything that the world has ever seen. Famine, death, cosmic disturbances. J.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: Dwight Pentecost was right when he wrote, no passage can
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  Speaker 1: be found to alleviate to any degree whatsoever the severity
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  Speaker 1: of this time that shall come upon the earth. The
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  Speaker 1: tribulation shall be the darkest hour in human history. In
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  Speaker 1: your heart, you should thank the Lord Jesus right now
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  Speaker 1: that you will not.
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  Speaker 2: Be here to be a part of it.
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  Speaker 1: Such a depressing chapter of human history, unlike anything that
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  Speaker 1: the world has ever seen.
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  Speaker 2: But I'm not finished. There is more news, good news,
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  Speaker 2: good news to share.
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  Speaker 1: Because at the end of this time of terrible tribulation,
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  Speaker 1: there will be a battle, a final battle in the
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  Speaker 1: Valley of Armageddon. And in that battle, the Antichrist will
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  Speaker 1: rally his troops to fight against the Lord Jesus and
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  Speaker 1: his army. Revelation 19 and verse 19. The Antichrist and
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  Speaker 1: his armies will suffer total and cataclysmic defeat at the
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  Speaker 1: hand of our King, Jesus Christ. And Jesus won't even
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  Speaker 1: lift a finger. He won't even lift a finger. Revelations 19,
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  Speaker 1: 15 says the sword of his word will smite the nations,
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  Speaker 1: as was prophesied in the book of Daniel. The Antichrist
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  Speaker 1: will be destroyed, but not by human power. The expression
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: of Haman alive in the tribulation will be defeated just
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  Speaker 1: as Haman was defeated in the days of Esther. Satan
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  Speaker 1: will be chained and Jesus will return to the earth
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  Speaker 1: as the king of kings and the Lord of lords
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  Speaker 1: to judge, to judge once and for all his enemies,
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  Speaker 1: Satan's deception, and he will set up a kingdom on
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  Speaker 1: this earth just as he has promised he will.
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  Speaker 2: Hear me, church.
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  Speaker 1: Our God will have his garden of Eden. And he
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: will set up a thousand year reign in which he
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  Speaker 1: will keep every covenant, in which he will display what
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  Speaker 1: he can do, in which his people will reign with him,
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  Speaker 1: in which there will be peace, in which there will
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  Speaker 1: be no racism, no pandemics, in which there will be
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  Speaker 1: no more murders, no more evil. There will be peace
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  Speaker 1: on this earth. Every covenant made by God will be kept.
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  Speaker 1: And at the end of those thousand years, Satan will
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  Speaker 1: be released and he will attempt one final coup. But
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: once again, he will be defeated and he will be
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: cast into an eternal fire that was created for the
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  Speaker 1: devil and his angels. And the world will be judged
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  Speaker 1: and the eternal kingdom of heaven will begin. So what's next?
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you what's next. Victory is what's next. The
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  Speaker 1: conquest of Almighty.
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  Speaker 2: God is what's next. Peace and harmony.
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  Speaker 1: For the child of God, there is no reason to fear.
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  Speaker 1: There is no reason to fear. You can have security
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  Speaker 1: about the victory. Yes, there was a crisis. Absolutely, we're
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: in the midst of confusion. But you can set your
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: heart on the coming And what happened as described in
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  Speaker 1: the book of Esther is being played out right now
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  Speaker 1: in the history of mankind. We are in the era
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  Speaker 1: of confusion. Would anyone doubt that? We are so confused.
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  Speaker 1: People all around us have no clue why they are
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  Speaker 1: on this earth or where they are headed. Ask most
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: people and they will tell you we're on a flight
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  Speaker 1: to nowhere. We're on a flight to nowhere. So you
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: might as well have a lot of drinks before the
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: plane lands because we're.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Not destined anywhere.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: The invisible enemy of sin and secularism has left us
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: dazed and bewildered.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: Even the brightest and best thinkers on our planet are
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: absolutely clueless about As.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: To what comes next. We have much no how. Hardly
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: any no why. That's why we're so confused. That's why
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: we take it out on each other. That's why there's
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: such bitterness and rancor. That's why there's such territorialism and
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: politicizing over everything. We're down deep scared.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: We're just scared.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: But in the midst of all the chaos and in
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: the midst of all the fear, there is a group
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: of people who has read the book, who has acknowledged, yes,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: there was a crisis, who is acknowledging, yes, this is
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: a time of confusion, but who is standing on the
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: firm hope that a conquest is coming because our covenant-keeping
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: God has never broken a promise.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Hence the church. Hence, the church.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: That's why we're here. To be the salt and the light.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: To be that quorum of people who.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: Don't cave in, who don't drink the Kool-Aid of fear.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: To be that group of people who behave like that
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: church behaved on that Sunday morning in London. No one
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: would have blamed that church had they not gathered. The
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: night before, Hitler's bombing raid had roared through the city
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: all night long. That morning, that Sunday morning, London was
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: a circle of fire. Walls were shattered. Buildings were destroyed.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Even the walls of this particular congregation in downtown London
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: were reduced to rubble.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: There was no roof. But still they came.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Members arrived to find their pews covered with rocks and dust,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: but rather.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: Than despair, you know what they did? They chose to worship.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: They stood in the center of what had been their
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: building and they began to sing, standing on.
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: Stones.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: They sang, the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: She is his new creation by spirit and the word.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: From heaven he came and sought her to be his
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: holy bride. With his own blood he bought her. And
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: for her life he died. Can you envision this circle
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: of brave souls? They set their faith on our unfailing God.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Even smack dab in the center of global chaos they worshipped.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Their song was an admonition of sorts. A declaration of
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: truth in the midst of a failing society.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: And that song... may.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: Very well have saved the life of a young American
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: reporter by the name of Ben Patterson. He had arrived
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: in London the day before of all days. He spent
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the night in a hotel with a pillow over his head,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: hearing the sirens, hearing the air raids, hearing the collapsing buildings, hearing.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: The screams of the wounded.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: He said at one point, he prayed, if this is
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: what modern civilization has brought us, then God, let me die.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: At some point, he dozed off. And he awoke to
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the unexpected sound of a singing church. And he climbed
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: out of the bed and he opened his window and
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: he looked out and he saw that congregation.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Gathered in the midst of the rubble. He later wrote
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: these words.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Suddenly I saw something in the world that was untouchable.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Something that had endured through the millennia. Something that was indestructible.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: The spirit and life and power of Jesus within his church.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: friends bombs are still dropped walls still collapse worlds still
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: are on edge pandemics still rage but in the midst
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: of it all guess what God has his people God
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: has his people God has his people who show up,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: who stand up, and who look up. Sometimes they gather
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: in rooms and wear masks. Sometimes they stay home, though
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: they would much rather gather in rooms, but they come.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: They stand in the presence of God in the midst
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: of a society that's gone crazy.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: They keep looking forward.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Because they've read the end of the story.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: They know it's confusion. They're not surprised at the chaos.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Troubled, yes. Discouraged. Fatigued, no doubt. But they don't give up.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Many years ago, I attended a San Antonio Spurs basketball
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: game It was the final game of the regular season
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: and it was unique. It was unique because the outcome
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: of the game did not matter. The Spurs had had
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: a terrific season and they had already secured their spot
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: at the top of the playoffs. They had such a
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: lead over the second place team that nobody could catch them.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: But they had to play the game because it was
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: on the schedule. Whether they won or lost didn't matter.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: They couldn't lose even if they lost. The game had
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: little or no interest to the sports world, but the
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: preacher in me saw a sermon illustration about to happen.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Christians occupy the same spot as the Spurs did.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: You see, folks, we've already won. We've already won.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Because of the death of Christ on the cross. And
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: the resurrection of Christ from the tomb. And the guarantee
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: of Christ to be at the throne. In the throne
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: room of God. In the presence of the Holy Spirit
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: around us. We cannot lose. We are guaranteed victory. No
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: one can snatch us from our father's hand. Yet we
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: still have a few contests. We still have a few events.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: The season's not quite over. So how do we behave
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: in the meantime? Well, I watched the Spurs to see
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: if they could say anything, teach me anything.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: Here's what they did. They showed up. They played hard.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: They had a great time. And they killed the opposition.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: Even in the postgame interview, Popovich said, I've never seen
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: them so relaxed.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: You know, something happens when you know you're going to win.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: You play harder. You show up. You stay strong. Friend,
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: I encourage you to do the same. In these last days,
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: just show up. Play hard. Have some fun. Stay happy.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: And be assured that the King of Kings will keep
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: his covenant and will have his conquest.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: Amen.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: We bless you, Lord, for the picture of the end
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: of times as you describe it.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: We thank you, Lord. It excites our heart.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: We bless you, Father, that you have not trapped us
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: on an airline, on a flight that has no landing
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: or that lands in the same place it begins because, Lord,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: we're ready to go not to nowhere but to somewhere
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: beyond anything that we could ever imagine.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: To that day we set our hearts. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Bye. You don't have to be mean. You
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: don't have to stay close.
• 38:03
  Speaker 6: As long as you're somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
• 38:13
  Speaker 5: I don't need to hold you near me Don't need
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: promises to keep Just the thought that you are breathing
• 38:22
  Speaker 5: Somewhere in this world I see.
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: Even if I'm not beside you Even if you never know.
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: There's a quiet kind of comfort just in knowing you
• 38:37
  Speaker 6: still glow.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: I don't need forever.
• 38:47
  Speaker 6: I just need you to exist.
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: You don't have to stay with me You don't have.
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: To feel the same Just as long.
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: As you're still out there Calling softly through my days
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: You don't have to look my way You don't have
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: to be my home It's.
• 39:12
  Speaker 6: Enough to know you're living In a world I'm.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: Not alone.
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: I won't chase you through the distance Won't disturb your
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: chosen life. I'll just keep you in.
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: My silence like a star that shines at night. Through
• 39:36
  Speaker 6: the dark and through the blue.
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: I still think of you.
• 39:50
  Speaker 6: You don't have to be my home.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: It's enough to know.
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: You're living in a world I'm not alone.
• 40:29
  Speaker 6: I don't need to be your light I don't need
• 40:33
  Speaker 6: to cross your mind All I need is just the
• 40:36
  Speaker 6: truth That you're somewhere.
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: Still alive.
• 40:44
  Speaker 4: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
• 40:59
  Speaker 4: to look my way You don't have to be my
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: home It's enough to.
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: Know you're living
• 41:11
  Speaker 6: In a world I'm not alone