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The Trumpet Will Sound · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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We can turn back for a time to our reading in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and we're going to look at verse 13 down to the end of the chapter.
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And so on.
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When you hear the word Advent, what do you think of what immediately comes to your mind?
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It's maybe not Easter time that comes to your mind when you think of Advent.
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It more particularly maybe draws to mind Christmas time as we think of Advent.
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We think of Advent calendars counting down the days.
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You open a slot on an Advent calendar to eat a chocolate as you're counting down the days coming up to Christmas.
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But there's more to Advent than that.
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Advent is not just a Christmas thing. Advent speaks about the coming of something.
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Advent is defined as the coming of an important person or thing.
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And we especially rate Advent to the coming of an important person.
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Not just at Christmas time when we remember the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the sense of his incarnation, his birth as he came into the world.
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But we have a greater sense of Advent now as well looking forward to another Advent that is to come.
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And here in 1st Thessalonians at the end of this chapter, chapter 4, we are reminded of another Advent that we are looking forward to, looking ahead to.
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And as we approach Easter time, it's something that draws our mind towards it.
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Because at Easter time, we remember that the Lord Jesus, as he came into this world, he came with a purpose.
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He came to give his life as a ransom for many.
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He came to lay down his life.
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He was put to death on the cross, just as he said he would.
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But he had also said that on the third day, he would rise.
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He would rise from the grave.
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And so it was.
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And it's that resurrection that gives us the hope of another Advent, of another coming of an important person.
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When we read here, the Lord himself will descend from heaven.
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It's the second coming of the Lord Jesus as he returns to come and judge the world.
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Advent has that sense then of a dawn of a new era.
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And indeed, the dawn of a new era came when the Lord Jesus came into this world in the first place.
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As he came to live in the world, to serve in the world, to show the world who he was.
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A world that rejected him.
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A world that turned away from him.
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A world that ultimately put him to death on the cross.
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But it was indeed the dawning of a new era.
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But we're also looking forward to the dawn of another era.
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An era of restoration.
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A time of healing.
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A time when the Lord will come to put right this whole world.
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And call his people home to himself.
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And it's described here as that Lord coming.
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Himself, the Lord himself will descend from heaven.
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And it's something that's described as having a sound with it as well.
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As you read there, he will descend from heaven with a cry of command.
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With the voice of an archangel.
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And with the sound of the trumpet of God.
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The sound of the trumpet.
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It's like a last post.
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A last call.
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When you hear this, you will know that this is the Lord's return.
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It may be a sound we've never heard before.
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We've never really thought how it might be.
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But one thing is for sure.
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That when this sound comes.
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When this trumpet sound comes.
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It'll be recognizable.
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It'll be clear what is taking place.
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It is the Lord's return.
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But what will that trumpet sound mean for you?
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And what will that trumpet sound mean for so many around us?
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If we are here to hear it.
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Is it something that you are looking for with expectation?
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That you know that when the Lord returns.
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If he comes while we are here on earth.
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That we are ready for it.
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Or is it something that leaves you with a sense of trepidation.
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A sense of fear.
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Because you know that well if the Lord was returning.
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I'm not ready.
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I'm not ready for the Lord's return.
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Well as you look at this passage here in 1 Thessalonians 4.
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It's one of the questions that the people in Thessalonica had.
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The believers in Thessalonica had.
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They had questions obviously about brotherly love.
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As you see in verse 9.
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How do you love one another?
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Who should you love?
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All of these things were questions that they had.
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And Paul here is answering these questions.
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Now concerning brotherly love.
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You have no need for anyone to write to you.
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For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
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So he's giving them instructions there.
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God has taught you that you are to love.
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One another.
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But it's clear then as you go on into verse 13.
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To the end of the chapter.
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That they had questions about another issue.
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And that was questions surrounding the Lord's return.
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What would it mean?
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What would it mean especially for those as they say in verse 13.
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Those who are asleep.
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Those who have already gone before them.
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What does it mean for them?
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What will it mean for us?
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They had so many questions around this.
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And they're similar to the kind of questions that we can have as well.
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As we think of our own lives.
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Our own eternity.
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All of these things.
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They make us ask questions.
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They make us wonder.
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What will the Lord's return mean?
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What does it mean for those who have fallen asleep before us?
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What does it mean in the sense of the grief that we have experienced?
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What does it mean looking to our future?
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And what does the resurrection mean in it all?
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What difference does the resurrection mean in it all as well?
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And the resurrection is the foundation of the hope that they find.
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Because the Lord has arisen from the grave.
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Because he has ascended to the Father.
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Because there is that knowledge that he will come.
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Again, come with that trumpet sound.
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And so as you look in this section.
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You find Paul answering the kind of questions and the issues that they had.
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And we're going to look at four different things from these verses.
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And the first is the concern that they have.
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The concern that they have.
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Then we see the compassion that they're shown.
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And then we see the call that goes out to them.
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And then the comfort that they can share.
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So there's these four things.
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The concern, the compassion, the call, and the comfort.
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So first of all, we see the concern.
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And that's the first thing to note here.
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That there is a real sense of concern for this matter.
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This morning we were looking at the book of Proverbs chapter 9.
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Where we were seeing the idea of wisdom and folly.
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And the choices that we can make in the midst of that.
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And in some ways we see that this concern is looking for wisdom.
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And turning away from folly in all of this as well.
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So behind the concern that they have here is.
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What does the idea of the resurrection mean?
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And what does death mean?
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What does the thought of the Lord's return mean?
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And they're concerned about these issues.
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They have a concern.
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And to have a concern is a good thing.
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Because if we're untroubled and unconcerned about these things.
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If they mean nothing to us.
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We just carry on in our foolishness.
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We're not seeking the wisdom of God in them.
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And so a concern here is a good thing.
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What does the idea of the resurrection mean to you today?
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What does the thought of the Lord's return mean to you today?
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Does it concern you?
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Because if it doesn't it should.
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And it's a good thing to have a concern about it.
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Because it's so easy to be something you just put away out of your mind.
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That you don't think about.
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You don't live in the reality of it.
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There can be so many things that we just push away.
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But we are to have a concern.
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Just like they had in Thessalonica.
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They had these questions.
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What do these things mean?
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What does it mean for those who have fallen asleep?
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What will it mean for us?
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They have these concerns.
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And so as Paul is writing to them.
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He's seeking in the midst of their concern.
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To bring comfort to them.
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So instead of being unconcerned about these things.
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He wants them to be concerned.
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But he wants them to have answers as well.
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And the church at Thessalonica.
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It's a church that has heard the gospel.
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It's a church where the gospel flourished.
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Where they heard it.
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Where they believed it.
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Where they had faith in the Lord Jesus.
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Where there were great examples of what a Christian church should look like.
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They were great examples to other Christians around them.
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But just because they were going on well in their sense of their Christian faith.
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Didn't mean that they didn't have questions.
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And the same is true of ourselves.
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And no doubt you have questions around the Christian faith as well.
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And what we see here is that one of the questions that troubled them.
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Was that of death.
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What does it mean?
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What happens?
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What does it mean for those who have fallen asleep?
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And it's a natural concern for us.
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Again to be unthroubled by that.
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Is to be foolish.
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But to be concerned is to then seek wisdom.
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And to find wisdom with God.
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And so they have these questions.
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And so you see the concern was adding to their grief.
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It was increasing their grief.
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Because they're thinking here are our people.
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Those who have passed away.
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Those who are believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And many of them would have maybe died in difficult situations.
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Under persecution.
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And the hope that they had.
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The faith that they lived.
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Was that it?
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Was it gone?
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Was it the end?
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Those who have fallen asleep.
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Is it just about life?
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Now and then there's nothing?
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What are the answers?
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Death leaves us with so many fears.
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And so many questions.
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And so where do we find the answers?
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Well Paul takes them to the word of God.
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And especially back to that thought of the resurrection.
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In verse 14.
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For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
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Even so through Jesus.
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God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
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And so here is the idea of the resurrection is behind it all.
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It is so important for us to be concerned.
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But to have an idea of what the resurrection means.
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The importance of the resurrection.
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Many people have reacted to the resurrection in different ways.
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And put it away as just nonsense.
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In the book of Acts chapter 17 verse 32 it says.
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Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead.
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Some mocked.
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Some mocked.
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Some mocked.
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But others said we will hear you again about this.
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So this was the response to the resurrection.
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This was the response to those who have fallen asleep.
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And the idea that they might rise again in the day of the resurrection.
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There was mocking.
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And that's the same as the world that we live in now.
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There's just mocking towards this whole idea of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Or the resurrection of the dead as we find it in scripture.
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If there is a hope of resurrection and life after this.
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It's of our own making.
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Our own design.
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Our own choosing.
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But it should lead us to concern.
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What does it actually mean?
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What does the scripture teach us?
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What does life mean?
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What does death mean?
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We should be concerned about this.
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And that's what they were.
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They were concerned.
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And they had questions.
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But there are answers to it as well.
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And that's why we read on here and see amongst this concern there is compassion.
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There is compassion.
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So how does Paul begin to address the issues that they have raised about death and the Lord's coming and the resurrection?
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Well he brings them, as you say, to the word of God.
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In verse 15.
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For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord.
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That we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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So he brings them to the word of God.
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And that is where we are to find the foundation of our hope.
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Just as we were looking at Proverbs this morning.
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Wisdom and folly.
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Folly is to listen to the ways of the world.
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Wisdom is to fear God.
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And to seek his word.
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To seek his commands.
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The word of the Lord is what informs us.
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And that's what he says here.
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In verse 13.
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We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers.
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So if they're uninformed, where are they going to find information that lets them be informed?
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The word of the Lord.
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For we declare to you by a word from the Lord.
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God has spoken on this issue.
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God has given us insight into this issue.
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It's the whole purpose for which he sent his son into this world.
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That he came to die for our sins.
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To be placed in the grave.
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But that on the third day he would rise again.
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Again.
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Are we uninformed?
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Are you uninformed about this tonight?
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Do you understand the significance?
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Or what it means?
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You hear the phrase, ignorance is bliss.
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But what does it mean?
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Well if you're unaware of something unpleasant.
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Or a situation that's going on.
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You cannot be troubled by it.
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Ignorance is bliss.
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They say.
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But is that the way we are to deal with these matters before us.
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Of life and death and eternity.
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Just to say ignorance is bliss.
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Just to bury our heads in the sand and think nothing of it.
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For many it is.
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For many that's the way to deal with it.
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Ignorance is bliss.
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Let's not hear what God the Lord has said about this.
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But let's just have our own ideas.
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Our own understanding of these matters.
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All you have to do is look around.
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And how often now do we see funeral services where there is no church connection?
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It used to be maybe just something on the mainland.
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But we're seeing it more in our own communities now as well.
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Where the church has no part to play in funeral services.
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Avoid the scriptures.
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Avoid what the word of God says about it.
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In the hope that ignorance will be bliss.
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We want nothing to do with that.
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There's no comfort in that though.
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If it's just our own thoughts.
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Our own ideas.
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Yes.
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But here Paul is reminding them.
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We declare to you by a word from the Lord.
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That there is compassion from the Lord.
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That there is hope in the Lord.
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When you think of funerals.
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You think well what's the most common song sung at funerals?
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We hear if we go to a funeral in church.
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We would probably answer well Psalm 23 is the most common song.
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Song.
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The Lord's my shepherd.
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There's hope in these words.
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There's everlasting life.
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There's that hope of dwelling with the Lord forever.
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But it's not for everyone.
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If you look online and you find the co-op funeral services.
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They actually have a top ten of most commonly sung songs at funerals.
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Most commonly used songs at funerals.
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And you have to go way down the list to number eight.
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Before you find anything with a Christian reference.
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Where the hymn, Abide With Me, is there.
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But you look down at the ones before that.
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They're all songs with no thought of God.
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There's nothing about God.
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The top one is Time to Say Goodbye.
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And then you have Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way.
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These are the kind of songs that people want to hear.
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They don't want the reality of God's word.
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They don't want the reality of death and judgment and the resurrection to come.
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They want to do it their way.
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But it's a very dangerous way to go.
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To be ignorant is to be uninformed.
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And it's to grieve without hope.
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It's to miss the hope that's on offer through this gospel.
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The compassion that there is with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Trying to avoid a subject like death is like trying to avoid a hole in your boat.
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And you're out at sea.
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The water's pouring in.
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It's not going to go away.
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And it's going to overwhelm at some point.
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Ignorance is not bliss then.
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And trying to avoid the subject of death.
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To be ignorant to it is avoiding the inevitable.
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That will overwhelm you at some point.
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And so there are questions.
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But the Bible is about answers.
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And answers found in the word of God.
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Answers found in the word himself.
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Who became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus.
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The phrase Jesus answered is something you hear so often through the gospels.
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Because people had questions.
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They gathered round him.
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They heard what he had to say.
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And so we are to be informed through the word of God.
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Not to be uninformed.
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But to be informed.
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So that we might see our desperate need in the midst of these realities of death.
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And the resurrection.
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And all of these things.
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And when we see the reality of our need of Jesus.
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And that's the third thing that we see here as we think of the call.
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Just like we were looking at this morning in the book of Proverbs.
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The two calls.
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That of wisdom and that of folly.
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Well here we are called again to the way of wisdom.
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Because the gospel calls us to faith.
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Do you have faith in hope of the resurrection?
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Because that's what Paul is getting at here.
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When he speaks about these things.
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When he says we do not want you to be uninformed.
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That you may not grieve as others do.
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Who have no hope.
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We want you to be informed.
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And to be informed is to hear what God the Lord is saying.
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So that when he says in verse 15.
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That we declare to you by a word from the Lord.
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Then he goes on to say that we who are alive.
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Who are left until the coming of the Lord.
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Will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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For the Lord himself will descend from heaven.
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With a cry of command.
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With the voice of an archangel.
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The sound of the trumpet of God.
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And the dead in Christ will rise first.
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Then we who are alive.
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Who are left.
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Will be caught up together with them in the clouds.
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To meet the Lord in the air.
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And so we will always be with the Lord.
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There is this call of the gospel.
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There is this hope of the gospel.
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And what Paul is saying here is that the gospel is good news.
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And it's good news in the midst of our grief.
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He doesn't say here Christians.
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You should never grieve.
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That would not be right.
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But what he says is.
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We do not want you to grieve as others do.
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Who have no hope.
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We all grieve at different points in our lives.
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But it's how we grieve.
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We are to grieve with hope.
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And we can only find that hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Paul doesn't say that we are to be uninformed about these things.
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So we do not do them.
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But he says I want you in your grief.
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To find that hope.
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And that's the call of the gospel.
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We see it with Jesus himself.
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When you look at the life of Jesus.
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Did he grieve?
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Of course he did.
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He grieved over sin.
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He wept over Jerusalem.
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As he looked at the people there.
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And he saw the way they were living.
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The way they were turning away from him.
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He wept over sin.
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And he wept over the consequences of sin.
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Which is death.
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Because of the death of Lazarus.
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His friend.
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He wept.
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But in the midst of that.
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He spoke to them.
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The good news that there is in the midst of it.
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What did he say?
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In John 11 verse 23.
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As he spoke to the sisters there.
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He said.
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Jesus said to her.
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Your brother will rise again.
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Martha said to him.
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I know that he will rise again.
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In the resurrection on the last day.
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Jesus said to her.
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I am the resurrection and the life.
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Whoever believes in me.
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Though he die.
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Yet shall he live.
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And everyone who lives and believes in me.
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Shall never die.
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Do you believe this?
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So in the midst of his weeping.
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Over the death of Lazarus.
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And the people that he was seeing.
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Around him.
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He spoke these great words.
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The resurrection.
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I am the resurrection and the life.
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Whoever believes in me.
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Though he die.
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Yet shall he live.
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That there is life in him.
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And he says.
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Do you believe this?
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And that's what we're being asked here.
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By Paul as well.
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This is what you are to believe.
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Do you believe it?
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You have your questions.
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We don't want you to be uninformed.
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We want you to come to understand.
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What this means.
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The coming of the Lord Jesus.
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It means that we will be with him.
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We will be gathered together.
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We will always be with the Lord.
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But it's in light of the fact.
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That he will come.
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That he will come.
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That he will come with the sound of the trumpet.
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The sound of the gospel.
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The call of the gospel goes out.
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And is going out today.
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But it's before that final call.
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That final sound of the trumpet comes.
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And so it's important to hear.
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The sound of the gospel.
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The call of the gospel now.
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Because when that sound comes.
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It will come.
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Unexpectedly the sound of the trumpet.
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Have you ever heard.
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A sound that's made you almost jump out of your skin.
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You hear a noise.
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You hear like.
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A fire alarm suddenly goes off.
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It makes you jump.
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You hear a balloon burst.
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It startles you.
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You hear the sound of thunder.
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A sudden clap of thunder.
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And it makes you jump as well.
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These are the kind of sounds.
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They have something in common.
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They come when maybe you least expect them.
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And that's the way the sound of the trumpet will be as well.
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Because we are told that when the Lord returns.
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He'll be coming like a thief in the night.
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When you least expect it.
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That this sound will go out.
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The sound of the trumpet.
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And so the gospel call should be the startling thing that we need just now.
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To make us jump.
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To make us consider all of these things that we are hearing before the sound of the trumpet comes.
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To think of eternity in light of the resurrection.
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And the coming of the Lord Jesus again.
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The advent of the Lord Jesus.
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And so we have this before us this evening.
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Where we are to look to the Lord Jesus.
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So from the call then we have the comfort.
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Where are we to find comfort in the midst of all this?
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Well Paul concludes this section in verse 18.
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Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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Encourage one another with these words.
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In other words he's saying talk about them.
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Ask your questions.
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Don't be ignorant.
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Don't think ignorance is bliss on these things.
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But ask your questions.
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Talk about these things.
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Encourage one another with these words.
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So that as we are going through our various trials in this life.
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As we are going through our questions.
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Our troubles surrounding death.
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The resurrection.
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The coming of the Lord.
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Encourage one another.
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Speak with each other about these things.
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And listen especially to what the Lord our God is saying about them.
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Because there we find comfort.
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There we find encouragement.
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Encouragement.
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Jesus before his own death.
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What did he do for his disciples?
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He gave them words of encouragement.
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As we look.
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We read this morning in John 14 as well.
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How applicable these words are here too.
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John 14 as he was speaking to his disciples.
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People who are filled with worry and anxiety and fear about what lies ahead.
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They know Jesus is going to the cross.
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They know something is going to happen.
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But what does Jesus do?
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He speaks to them and says let not your hearts be troubled.
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There is comfort for them.
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And how does he encourage them?
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He encourages them in their faith.
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Let not your hearts be troubled.
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Believe in God.
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Believe also in me.
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There is encouragement to faith.
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So he connected their trouble to truth.
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The truth of God who he is.
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Believe in God.
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Believe also in me.
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And that is where we can come to as well.
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With all our fears.
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With all our worries.
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To listen to the word of God that says do not let your heart be troubled.
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Believe in God.
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Believe also in me.
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Jesus goes on later to say in this world you will have many troubles.
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But he says be of good courage.
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For I have overcome the world.
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And so our greatest comfort is found.
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In knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
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That when it comes to these issues of life, of death, of the resurrection and the coming of the Lord.
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What is our greatest comfort?
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It is to know Christ through faith.
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To know what he has done for us.
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That at the cross he came to take away our sin.
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And that through faith in him we might not die but live.
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And live through him.
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There is a story I probably used to be forward here.
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But it is one that just so often reminds me of what it is to be in Christ.
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And what he has done for us.
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There is a story from many years ago when the pioneers in America were making their way across the states to a distant place where they were going to set up their homes.
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They were going out through the prairie lands.
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And as they were traveling they were using wagons thrown by either oxen or horse.
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And progress was slow.
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And going out into the prairies especially in the warmer months of the year.
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The place was dry and it was quite common for fires to be burning at different times.
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And as they were making their way.
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They were horrified to see a long line of smoke in the direction that they were going.
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A long line of smoke stretching for miles.
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And they recognized that the fire was coming towards them.
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And they were afraid of what was going to come and what they might do.
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But one person had understanding of what needed to be done.
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They thought well we can't outrun this fire.
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We can't get back to safety in time because we're going to be overwhelmed.
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But one man had the answer.
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And his answer was to set the grass around them on fire.
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Which seemed to make little sense to anybody else because they were trying to get away from fire.
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But what he did was start a fire behind them.
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In the direction that the wind was blowing.
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And so that the dry grass that was behind them started to burn away from them.
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And back the way that they'd come.
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And the fire again soon spread and burnt that ground.
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And as it burnt away from them.
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What was left behind was just a scorched land.
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And the man said now we gather where the fire has been.
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A little girl was afraid.
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And she thought well there's fire coming towards us.
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There's fire behind us.
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How are we going to be safe?
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But the man said to her.
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My child the flames cannot reach us.
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For we are standing where the fire has been.
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The fire couldn't go there because the ground was already burned.
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And so the fire that came went around them.
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Went past them.
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And that's the picture used of what it is to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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When we think of being uninformed in those who have fallen asleep.
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Uninformed in these issues of life and death.
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And the resurrection and the judgment to come.
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Where do we find our safety?
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Where do we find our refuge?
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Well it's by standing in the place that Christ has already been.
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That he has gone to the cross in our place.
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That he has gone to the grave in our place.
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That he has risen from the dead to give us the hope of the resurrection.
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And that he will come again with the sound of the trumpet.
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Are we ready for that day?
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Are you ready for that sound?
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There are many who are uninformed.
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Who are ignorant.
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Believing ignorance is bliss.
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But to be informed is better.
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And to be informed by the word of God.
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That these are issues we cannot avoid.
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But the issues that we can be ready for.
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As we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The trumpet sound will come.
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And to be ready is to be trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The one who is the resurrection and the life.
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And so may we find our safety in him.
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Let us pray.
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Lord our gracious God.
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We thank you for all that you have done for us.
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For every provision that you have made for us in life.
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And for eternity too.
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We thank you that in Jesus Christ.
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We have the one who has prepared a way.
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And who is even preparing a place.
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And that he will come again.
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And we know Lord that as your word says.
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He will come with that sound of the trumpet.
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He will come like a thief in the night.
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And we ask this evening Lord.
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That you would help us to be informed.
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And to be ready.
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And that even in our grief as we have it in times.
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That we would not be without hope.
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And that hope that is found.
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In the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So hear us Lord look down upon us.
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Bless us and keep us.
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As we ask all in his name.
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Amen.
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We will conclude by singing to God's praise.
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In Psalm 48a.
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The Sing Psalms Version.
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Psalm 48a.
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We are going to sing from verse 8 to 11.
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These three stanzas.
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To the tune Kilmarnock.
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Psalm 48a.
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At verse 8.
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As we have heard.
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So we have seen.
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God's city will endure.
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The Lord Almighty evermore.
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His city keeps secure.
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We contemplate your steadfast love.
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Within your house.
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O God.
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For like your name.
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Your praise extends.
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Through all the earth abroad.
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We will sing from verse 8 to 11.
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To God's praise.
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As we have heard.
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So have we seen.
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God's city will endure.
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The Lord Almighty evermore.
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God's city keeps secure.
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We contemplate your steadfast love.
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For like your name.
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For like your name.
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Your praise extends through all the earth abroad.
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All that you do is righteous Lord.
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God's city will endure.
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All that you do is righteous Lord.
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Mount Zion's joy is great.
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And who does thanks rejoice.
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As they your judgment celebrate.
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After the benediction.
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I'll go to the door to my left.
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We'll close the benediction.
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now may grace mercy and peace from god father son and holy spirit rest upon
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and abide with you all now and forevermore amen
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so
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so
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so
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so
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so
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so
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so
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so
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so
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so