Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace February 26, 2026

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Living Waters of Grace February 26, 2026 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
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County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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We need to be praying for our brothers and sisters, and I know
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sometimes we don't. We're thinking so much about
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here and now, my life and my family, my church, whatever my
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community, my city, and we need to be praying for those things.
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But we need to ask God to give us a mind to pray for those who
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are being persecuted right now. There's more Christians who have
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been martyred over the last 50 years and all the history of
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martyrdom from the beginning of the Church age.
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That's hard to believe. We don't hear about that on the
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nightly news. I personally don't watch much of
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the news anymore. I can't remember the last time I
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was encouraged by watching the news, but there was plenty of
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information available online. Whether it's genocide in Nigeria
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or persecution in China, Christians are being killed for
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their faith. Pastor Clark explains today that
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we in the United States are privileged not to face the
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intense persecution that other believers deal with.
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We bear the responsibility to pray for them continually.
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We must be prayerfully supporting our brothers and
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sisters now. Here's Pastor Clark in
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Revelation Chapter 2 with today's edition of Living Waters
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of Grace. And to the Angel of the Church
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of Smyrna, right these things, says the 1st and the last, who
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was dead and came to life. I know your works, tribulation
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and poverty, but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy of
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those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of
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Satan. Do not fear any of those things
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which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil's about to
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throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you
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will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I
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will give you the crown of life. The Church of Ephesus was a very
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good church, but it had one problem.
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It had left its first love. It no longer had passion and
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zeal and focus on their relationship with Jesus.
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And so when we're studying these churches, I don't want you just
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to think about the churches back way back then, but think about
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the churches that also exist today.
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How are we similar in some ways to these very churches we're
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studying? And that we we talked last week
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about the importance of having our first love restored with the
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Lord, that we're close to him, that that we're in love with him
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and that we want to follow him and, and seek his face and live
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in a way that's pleasing to him. We need the Lord to rekindle
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that love moment by moment, don't we?
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It's something we have to work at.
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It's something we have to be asking the Lord to do in our
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hearts because if we don't, we get cold.
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All of us. We we drift.
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And so Ephesus was a good, good lesson for us.
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Jesus said repent and go back and do your first work, lest I
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come and remove the lampstand or the light of influence from that
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particular local church. Now, Smyrna is a completely
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different type of church and when we study these seven
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churches, some are really messed up and some are actually being
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faithful in the midst of a very, very difficult time of
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tribulation. 2 churches that weren't actually even been given
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the admonition to repent was Smyrna in the Philadelphia
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church in Philadelphia. Those two churches weren't given
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the admonition that Ephesus was and some of the others.
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But Smyrna, just for a little bit geographical background
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here. It's the modern city of Izmir
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today, which is a gateway into modern Turkey.
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It was a beautiful, splendid city, was actually the most
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beautiful city at that particular time, had the highest
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population of Jews and and Asia Minor, and it was the only 7,
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only one of seven of the churches we're studying that's
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actually still in existence today.
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It's not called Smyrna anymore, it's called Izmir.
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It also was a city that had been destroyed prior to all this
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event occurring as we're studying here in Revelation
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approximately 7700 years earlier.
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This particular city was destroyed and, and the laden
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ruins for about 300 years and then it was rebuilt,
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reestablished and it became just an amazing city of influence,
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gateway city, as I said, into the modern day country of
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Turkey. It's the most brief of all the
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letters. I when I was starting to study
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this, I said, well, boy, I'm, I'm not going to have enough
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information here. It's only going to take about 10
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minutes. I'm going to have to go into
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program this after I got into this.
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No way that I run out of information.
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It's just amazing all the things that are written down about the
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what happened with this particular church.
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So even though it's very, very brief, only a few verses, very,
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very powerful things to say to us, these believers in verse 9
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says, he says, I know your works, your tribulation and
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poverty, they were going through really difficult times.
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Now for you today, it might be hard for you to wrap your mind
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around what that would be like in your situation right now.
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All of us have trials in our lives, right?
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Some degree of trial and tribulation.
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Not one of us here doesn't have something they're they're going
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through or thinking through how you going to get past it, how
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you going to deal with it, How you going to have the wisdom to
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know how to be influenced in the godly way through whatever it is
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that you might personally be going through individually.
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But the tribulation that these folks were going through is much
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more difficult than than what we're going through.
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They were basically being assaulted for their faith in
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Christ. They were being thrown in
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prison. They were being beat.
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Many of them died as martyrs for their faith.
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They were, because of their faith, not given the opportunity
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to earn a living. It would be like the companies
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that we work for today, that if they found out we were
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Christians, they would say you don't have a job unless you
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forsake and curse Christ. That's how tough it was.
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And because of that, the people were very poor.
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They didn't have much in the material wealth that we have
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been given the privilege to experience in our culture, our
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country. They were plundered and deprived
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of their right to work. And you think about living in
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those days. And I tried to think about some
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countries that are actually going through that right now as
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we speak. And I think of Indonesia.
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It's a beautiful, beautiful country, but it's basically
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overrun by Muslim rule. If you're found to be a
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believer, you will possibly be martyred and killed for your
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faith. Sudan, Nigeria, Afghanistan,
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Iraq, Iran, many, many of these countries as we speak are going
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through these kind of times. So we need to be praying for our
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brothers and sisters. And I know sometimes we don't.
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We're thinking so much about here and now, my life and my
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family and my church, whatever, my community, my city.
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And we need to be praying for those things.
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But we need to ask God to give us a mind to pray for those who
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are being persecuted right now. There's more Christians who have
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been martyred over the last 50 years and all the history of
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martyrdom from the beginning of the Church age.
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And it's hard to believe we don't hear about that on the
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nightly news. We'll hear about other types of
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atrocities, but you don't hear a lot from your local newscaster,
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your major television affiliates telling you that Christians are
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being martyred in many of these countries, China and other
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countries. It's been very, very difficult
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to live in as a as a believer. We're still given the privilege
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in our country to have freedom of religion.
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We have the right to assemble, to worship and to proclaim
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Christ in the media. We still have that privilege and
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the print, television, radio, we also have the ability to
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communicate our faith even in our places of employment.
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And that's a privilege I think so often that we take for
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granted. John was teaching us this
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morning and he said, you know, we should be praying that God
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would give us one person in our life this week that we might be
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able to share the gospel with and really be thankful that we
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have the privilege and we can do that without fear of being in
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prison, right? Yet these people in these
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countries and the folks in Smyrna, because of the
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persecution and because of the rules and the laws of Caesar,
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they spoke about their faith in Christ anyway.
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They didn't care if they lost their job.
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They didn't care if they were thrown into prison or beaten or
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even killed for their faith. And as I read that, I say, Lord,
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where's my heart and all this? If I was put in a situation
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right now, today, tomorrow, next week, where I had to lose my job
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because of my stand for Christ, would I be willing to stand up
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for my faith? We all say, yeah, we would.
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But when we're in that situation, only God knows what
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our hearts would actually do, right?
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But I believe that God gives us grace in the midst of the times,
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of the trials and the tribulations.
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We don't have the ability, so to speak, to think I'm tough, I'm a
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strong Christian, I can handle anything.
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I'll do this. That's foolish.
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But to realize, Lord help me, if I'm ever put in a situation like
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these folks in Smyrna, that I'll be found faithful to the end,
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not relying upon my strength, but upon the strength that only
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you can give me. And that's called dying grace.
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Many of the martyrs, when they gave their lives for Christ,
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they were freaking out up until the moment that they were taken
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to the torches. And once they were tied up and
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the fire was being lit and being lit, many of them said.
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And before they died, there was such a sense of God's presence
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and peace that they were excited about what was waiting for them
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on the other side of this world. And that's the grace of God
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provided for us, I believe, in the time of our most desperate
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need. There was one minister at that
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time, a very famous church father.
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You might have read about him as you studied church history and
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approximately 155. His name is Polycarp and he was
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a minister, but that later on after these days of Smyrna.
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But this persecution continued intensely up until the 3rd
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century until Constantine saw this vision in the sky of a
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cross. And he said he heard this voice
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saying by this you'll conquer. And that's when he became a
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Christian and he made Christianity the religion of the
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provinces at that time. And so the persecution stopped.
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That was a wonderful thing in some ways.
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But when the persecution stops, what happens is a church has a
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tendency to then become lukewarm and cold.
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That's just the way it is. But anyway, Polycarp, he was
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given this edict that he had to come into the Colosseum.
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It was during the times of The Olympian Games, similar to like
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right now what we have going on in Canada.
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And it was accustomed that he would have to or Christians,
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anybody, they'd have to give allegiance to Caesar, basically
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say Caesar is Lord. And there was no way Polycarp
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was going to do that. He refused.
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And so the crowds are crying out in the Coliseum for Polycarp
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because he was very influential at the time.
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Everybody knew his faith and how he lived.
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And they're all thinking like this guy, he's not going to
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stand for his faith when it's going to possibly cost him his
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life. This is what he replied whenever
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they told him you curse Christ, you make a sacrifice of Caesar
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or you die. This is what a polycarp said. 86
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years have I served him and he has done me no wrong.
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How can I blasphemy my king who saved me and he was burned at
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the stake by the Romans and Jews?
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How awesome. What an example to us of a hero
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in the faith. And so Jesus is encouraging them
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as he speaks to his church in Smyrna, He says to them that he
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is the 1st and the last who was dead and he came to life.
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So he's speaking to those who are facing martyrdom.
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He's saying, think about this, they crucified me, they killed
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me, but the grave could not hold me.
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The grave won't hold you guys either.
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If you're believers in Christ, no matter how you die, no matter
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what happens in your life, whether it's just your natural
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death, old age or disease or a tragedy or maybe for someone day
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martyrdom. We don't have to fear or worry
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because as Christ has been risen from the dead, we also shall
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rise in newness of life. And so he's speaking to them
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comfort and he says in verse 10 about the sacrifice that he
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made, He said don't fear the things that you're about to
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suffer and the deed. The devil's about to throw some
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of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have
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tribulation for 10 days. What Christ went through for you
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and me that the death of the tomb couldn't hold him.
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We read about that in the the Gospels during our daily Bible
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reading. I mean, they sealed that tomb
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up. They sent the soldiers there
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because they heard, hey, this guy, supposedly he's, they say
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he's going to raise. We've heard them say this about
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him. He said this about himself.
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So this would be on the safe side.
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Get down and really seal that tomb.
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I mean, a huge rock was, was pushed in front of it.
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How in the world you'd ever get that thing off would be a
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miracle in itself. But the seal, it made it
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impossible to do anything with that.
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I mean, that was a done deal. And yet that sealed tomb, that
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big stone couldn't hold him, could it?
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He walked out the third day and he was seen by over 500
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witnesses. He was alive from the dead.
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So he's encouraging them to be faithful and death.
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Don't, don't fear. He's exhorting them.
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Be faithful until death. And he says you'll be crowned
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with the reward of life. And you think about the trials.
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He says, I know your works, your tribulation, your poverty.
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Sometimes we think about trials. Why do we have them?
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We all go through them. But there's nothing like trials
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to purify us, is there? There's nothing like difficulty
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in life to get us on our face and say, Lord, help me.
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And that's humility. When a trial comes, God allows
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it because he knows it's going to bring us closer to him.
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Now we're freaking out. We don't like it.
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We want it to go away as quickly as possible.
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He understands our frame, our weakness.
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But he says don't be afraid that the trying of your faith works.
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Patience, try. Your faith will make you like
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me, and you'll shine like pure gold.
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If we're going to be glorified together with him, the apostle
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Peter tells us, we also have to suffer with him.
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And we always have to remember all of us, that in the midst of
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the trials and the struggles of life, God is with us, isn't he?
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He always is with us. He promises He'll never leave us
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or forsake us. Sometimes we feel like, God,
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where are you? I felt like that at times.
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I'm sure you have too. You're going through something.
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You're like, Lord, where are you in all this?
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But he's there, He's always there.
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He promises never to leave us. He walks through it with us.
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I like what Psalm 32 says. He says, behold, the eye of the
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Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy
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to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive and in
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falling. Our soul waits for the Lord.
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He is our help and our shield for our heart shall rejoice in
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him because we have trusted in his holy name.
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Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us just as we hope in you.
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He says that in these trials, in the midst of these trials,
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they're rich. And James says in chapter 2,
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verse 5, listen my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the
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poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom
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which He promised to them who love him?
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I think about the Christians in Haiti.
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You've seen him on TV, haven't you?
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They have lost everything. They didn't have anything to
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begin with. One of the most poor countries
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in the world. They have this horrendous
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earthquake that wipes out over 200,000 people.
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Many of them lost their children, their spouses, their
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loved ones, their friends, and I was blown away to see them
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assembling together, raising their hands and worshipping God.
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Poor, inheriting the Kingdom of God.
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He speaks about the adversary, the devil, and he is a real
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being. He is interested in destroying
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all of our lives. The Bible tells us the devil has
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come to seek and to kill and to rob and to destroy.
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He is involved in this world every day to keep it from
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knowing the truth of Jesus Christ.
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He is sending his emissaries out all the time to prevent you and
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me from growing in the grace and the knowledge of God.
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He wants us to be stunted, immature Christians.
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He wants us to live without our inheritance in this world, not
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experiencing the Kingdom of God within.
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He'll do everything he can to destroy your faith.
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The Lord allows him to work. That's the mystery.
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And the purposes of God are sometimes very, very complex for
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our human frail minds to understand.
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But the Bible tells us that God's ways aren't our ways.
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Neither are his thoughts. Our thoughts, for his ways are
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so much higher than our ways, and His thoughts so much higher
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than ours. There's a purpose in all these
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things, and God is ultimately glorified.
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And one day this enemy of our souls and the enemy of the
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Kingdom of God will be one day in that final judgment, pass
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into the lake of fire forever and ever, never to bother or
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hassle anyone again. But he's always working to
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trouble the church. His big focus is to destroy the
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Church of Jesus Christ. The good news is Jesus Christ
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says I will build my church and the gates of hell will not
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prevail against it. The enemy can take everybody
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out, but it can't stop the work of God moving on.
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And many of these people had given their lives in this day
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and Smyrna for the sake of the gospel, but it hasn't stopped
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the movement of the gospel. 2000 years later.
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He speaks about these people that are enemies of God and
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they're tools of the devil. It says these folks say they are
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Jews and they are not two different kind of Jews.
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Jews that have a heart for Messiah, Jews who are waiting.
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Jews even at the time of Christ crucifixion were sensitive, even
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though they couldn't understand that he at this time was the one
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they were waiting for. They had a vulnerable, a
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vulnerability of softness. Many of them eventually did come
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to believe on Christ because the early church was made-up
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primarily of Jews and they carried the worship of the
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synagogue right into the New Testament.
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Many of the symbolism and the pictures and the art and the
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design of the priestly garments and robes were carried through
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from the Jewish temple. It's interesting as we're
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reading right now in Exodus, isn't it the, the, the specific
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detail on how God wanted that Tabernacle built, the colors,
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the, the length of the, the material that was used, the
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embroidery and the, the symbolism, the type at this,
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this mind blowing of the, of the beauty of, of God and, and his
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Kingdom, his church. But there were obviously as
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there is today, not any Jews but Gentiles who cannot stand the
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gospel of Christ and they are the enemies of the gospel.
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I would say organizations like the ACLU.
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They are dead set against our freedoms as Christians and the
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message that we proclaim the person we believe in and trust
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in his Lord and Savior. Many, many people today on the
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liberal side of the agenda that are pushing all these teachings
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of of really ungodliness are against what we do here and what
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we do as churches in these last days, standing on the Scriptures
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and teaching the word of God and so.
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Because of the large population of Jews in Smyrna, the
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Christians were really overrun by all these people that wanted
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to destroy them. It was a tough place to be a
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Christian in. They were the main enemies of
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the gospel. Verse 10 he says to them again,
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don't fear these things which you are about to suffer.
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Luke chapter 12, verse 4, Jesus says to the disciples, My
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friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that
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have no more that they can do, but fear the one who has the
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power to cast 1 into hell. So Christ himself reminding us
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that we're not to fear what man can do to us.
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You know, there's this element of fear that we all have, a fear
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of disease, fear of failure, fear of financial ruin, fear of
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losing jobs. We all, we all struggle with a
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certain type of fear, but a fear of knowing that you're in the
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jail cell tonight. This is your last night on
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earth. And you know, tomorrow you're
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going to be thrown to the lions or you're going to have your
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head cut off because of your faith.
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And you're probably walking around pacing in the cell
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saying, Lord, I really believe you.
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But I really have to go through this.
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Is there another way out of this?
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You know, would you mind if I just, you know, I really believe
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in you, but would you mind if I just told him I didn't?
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I'm sure those things would go through all of our minds and our
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hearts, especially when our families, maybe we're at home
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and we knew that we wouldn't see them again until the next life.
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The struggle of having to wait for the Lord to bring everything
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to a final culmination in the last day.
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But I think about martyrs. I think about Stephen, the first
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martyr in the New Testament in Acts Chapter 7.
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This is what happened after he's being accused of treason and
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he's speaking out and proclaiming the gospel with all
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his heart, all his mind, all his soul is strength.
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Such conviction and fervor and love in his heart for the people
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he's speaking to. He's speaking to them about who
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Jesus is and what he did for them.
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It says that people were so angry they clenched their teeth.
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They just like, let me add them, let me get rid of them, just
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like they wanted to get rid of Christ.
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And it says, but he being full of the Holy Spirit.
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And that's the key, guys. No matter what we're going
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through in life, the struggles, the fears, the anxieties, the
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pressures at work or home or wherever, when we are filled
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with the Holy Spirit, we're overcomers.
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But when we're filled with our own vanity and pride and our own
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fear, we're basket cases. Stephen's full of the Holy
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Spirit. He gazes into heaven and God
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gives him a vision. He sees the glory of God and
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Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
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I love that Christ stood up. He it says right now he's seated
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at the right hand of Father ever living to make intercession for
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us his Saints day and night. He's praying for us all the
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time. But there's a limit, isn't
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there? What he's going to allow to
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happen to his kids. And so he sees what's going on
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with Steven and he couldn't help but to stand up.
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And one day he's going to stand up and not only stand up, but
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come back and put all things in order, and he's going to destroy
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wickedness from the face of the earth, and no one will ever
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raise their hand and one of his children again.
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What a day that'll be, huh? When are Jesus?
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We shall see when we look into his face, the one who saved us
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by his grace, the old song, What a day, glorious day that will
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be. And so Jesus, he stands in the
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right hand of the Father. And Stephen says, look, I see
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the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right
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hand of God. Thanks for being with us today
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here on Living Waters of Grace. We're in the Book of Revelation,
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and we find it fascinating how influential and involved the
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angels are in this book. They bring about whatever it is
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that God has instructed them to do, but it's through their
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actions that much of the judgements come on the earth.
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The angels are in submission to God as their authority, but He
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utilizes them in unique ways throughout this book.
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Like angels have a specific purpose from God, you have a
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unique purpose and plan too. God wants to use you in your
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life as a testimony to others and to bring others who are
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currently lost into the fold of God.
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God would love more than anything for all who are willing
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to come to Him for salvation, but He wants it to be their
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choice, not a forced situation. This is the way God works, not
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forcing himself on anyone, but giving each person free will.
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If you're interested in learning about this choice that's free
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and that it's a gift, go to calvarychapelonline.com and
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click on the About Us tab and then find the link for what we
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believe. We'd love to be a help and a
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resource for you as you walk through what it means to be a
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follower of Jesus. If you find the contact tab on
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our website, you can get in touch with us or submit a prayer
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request. We'd love to hear from you.
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That's all for today's edition and Revelation, but there's much
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more that Pastor Clark plans to share with us from this
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culminating book of the Bible. Stay tuned for that and make
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sure to mention this radio program to others.
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Invite them to tune into Grace FM 91.7 FM.
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They can stream worldwide at Grace Radio dot FM.
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This has been Living Waters of Grace.