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Our Lord’s Return What Then Msg 916 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: I would like you to place the outline of today's
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  Speaker 1: message at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Just slide it in
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  Speaker 1: there at the crease of 1 Thessalonians 4, where we
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  Speaker 1: will turn as I begin the message in a few moments.
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  Speaker 1: And once you've done that, locate 1 John chapter 2,
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  Speaker 1: the last two verses. which lead naturally into the first
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  Speaker 1: three verses of chapter three. Understand the chapter breaks in
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  Speaker 1: our Bible are not inspired of God. They have been
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  Speaker 1: added in later centuries and how helpful they are to
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  Speaker 1: assist us. But there were occasions when those who did
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  Speaker 1: the chapter breaks broke them at an incorrect place. It's
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  Speaker 1: the only time you'll ever hear me attempt to correct
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  Speaker 1: something that's in the Bible. But actually the chapter breaks
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  Speaker 1: are not a part of the Bible. They are simply
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  Speaker 1: added for assisting us in locating the scriptures. Now in
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  Speaker 1: this case, the chapter should have ended, if you will,
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  Speaker 1: the second chapter should have ended at verse 26 and
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  Speaker 1: then the third began at verse 28 down through the
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  Speaker 1: rest of it. I hope that doesn't trouble you. It's
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  Speaker 1: just an editorial thing that By the way, if you
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  Speaker 1: wanted to read it as it was originally written, there
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  Speaker 1: were no punctuation marks. There was no break. It was constant, constant, constant, constant.
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  Speaker 1: The manuscript running right after another, after another, after another
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  Speaker 1: in rows that were called the scrolls, the sacred scrolls.
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  Speaker 1: The graphe of scripture. And we are grateful that the
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  Speaker 1: Lord has preserved it for us in language that even
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  Speaker 1: we speak. To appreciate it even more and out of
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  Speaker 1: respect for our Heavenly Father and his word, will you
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  Speaker 1: stand with me as we read God's word? 1 John 2,
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  Speaker 1: verse 28. Now little children abide in him so that
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  Speaker 1: when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink
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  Speaker 1: away from him in shame at his coming. If you
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  Speaker 1: know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also
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  Speaker 1: who practices righteousness is born of him. See how great
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  Speaker 1: love the Father has bestowed on us that we would
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  Speaker 1: be called children of God. And such we are. For
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  Speaker 1: this reason, the world does not know us. Because it
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  Speaker 1: did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God.
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  Speaker 1: and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.
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  Speaker 1: We know that when he appears, we will be like him,
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  Speaker 1: because we will see him just as he is. And
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  Speaker 1: everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself
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  Speaker 1: just as he is pure. You may be seated. Please
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  Speaker 1: join me for a few moments of prayer. What a
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  Speaker 1: gripping thought we have just sung, our Father, when we
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  Speaker 1: read and sing that our name has been cleared. That
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  Speaker 1: you will present us faultless before the presence of your
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  Speaker 1: glory with a joy that is beyond description. That for
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  Speaker 1: you and for us, we have that relationship that gives
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  Speaker 1: us a sense of confidence at your coming. We do
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  Speaker 1: not shrink away in shame or fear, but we anticipate
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  Speaker 1: your son's return at any moment with great delight. We
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  Speaker 1: wait on tiptoe for that hour when the Lord himself
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  Speaker 1: will descend from heaven with a shout, With the voice
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  Speaker 1: of the archangel and the trumpet call of God. And
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  Speaker 1: the dead in Christ having risen first. We shall be
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  Speaker 1: caught up together with them in the clouds. To meet
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  Speaker 1: your son in the air. To be forever with him.
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  Speaker 1: What a relief that will bring. Until then our father
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  Speaker 1: we bask in your love. which will not ever let
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  Speaker 1: us go. We're thankful for that. Today, whatever may be
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  Speaker 1: the need in any heart occupying any seat in this
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  Speaker 1: place of worship, whatever may be that need, I pray
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  Speaker 1: that you will, in these quiet moments, bring a calm reassurance,
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  Speaker 1: reminding each one of us that you do all things well.
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  Speaker 1: And that nothing touches us that has not first passed
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  Speaker 1: through the fingers of our faithful God, whose hand is
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  Speaker 1: upon us. In fact, even though others walk away from
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  Speaker 1: their young, you will never walk away from us. As
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  Speaker 1: the prophet has written, can the mother of the nursing
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  Speaker 1: child leave her young? Yes, she may leave, but I
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  Speaker 1: will never leave you. I have graven you upon the
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  Speaker 1: palms of my hands. Your ways are continually before me.
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  Speaker 1: Even this day, this day, our ways are before you.
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  Speaker 1: Some anticipate with great delight the months that will unfold
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  Speaker 1: in the spring and summer of this year. Others look
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  Speaker 1: upon them with dread and discouragement. Bring us all together
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  Speaker 1: around the theme that someday all of the cares of
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  Speaker 1: this age will pass and we will be like him
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  Speaker 1: for we will see him as he is. Comfort us
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  Speaker 1: with those words. For those who have never come to Christ,
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  Speaker 1: terrify them. Frighten them. Keep them awake. Until they find
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  Speaker 1: faith and trust and hope in him whom to know
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  Speaker 1: is life everlasting. We give our gifts, our Father, that
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  Speaker 1: the message of your word may go forth here and
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  Speaker 1: across the states and the seas so that others may
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  Speaker 1: know of the love of our Heavenly Father. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: for giving us our occupation and from our wage we
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  Speaker 1: return to you what is already yours since you own
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  Speaker 1: it all. And we give gratefully in the name of
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  Speaker 1: our Savior Jesus. And everyone said, Amen. The return of
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  Speaker 1: Christ strikes fear or brings comfort. It does one or
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  Speaker 1: the other. Everything depends on whether one is ready for
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  Speaker 1: it or not. In Billy Graham's massive autobiography, almost 750
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  Speaker 1: pages long, he tells a story that probably most of
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  Speaker 1: us never knew before we read that autobiography. He tells
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  Speaker 1: of the time when the just-elected President John F. Kennedy
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  Speaker 1: was about to take office and he invited Mr. Graham
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  Speaker 1: to play golf with him in Florida. Graham writes in
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  Speaker 1: his book that as they were riding along on their
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  Speaker 1: way to the golf course, President Kennedy asked that the
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  Speaker 1: car be pulled over and stopped. The engine was turned
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  Speaker 1: off and Mr. Graham was surprised with the question. Is
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  Speaker 1: it true, asked Kennedy, that Jesus will return someday? I
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  Speaker 1: assured him it was true and that all churches, including
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  Speaker 1: his own, affirmed it in their creeds. Tragically, only three
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  Speaker 1: years later, the man was assassinated and Cardinal Cushing was
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  Speaker 1: speaking at the funeral service and he chose as his
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  Speaker 1: text 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16, as he read
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  Speaker 1: boldly before a listening nation in grief. For the Lord
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  Speaker 1: himself will come down from heaven with a loud command,
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  Speaker 1: with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet
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  Speaker 1: call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
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  Speaker 1: first A little less than 35 years later, Graham completed
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  Speaker 1: his biography. In doing so, the final pages, 729 and 730,
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  Speaker 1: end with these words. I don't know the future, but
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  Speaker 1: I do know this. The best is yet to be.
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  Speaker 1: Heaven awaits us and that will be far, far more
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  Speaker 1: glorious than anything we could ever imagine, as the Bible says.
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  Speaker 1: Dear friends, now we are children of God and what
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  Speaker 1: we will be has not yet been made known. But
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  Speaker 1: we know that when he appears, we shall be like
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  Speaker 1: him for we shall see him as he is. This
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  Speaker 1: is the hope of every believer. It is my hope,
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  Speaker 1: writes Graham. And I pray that it is your hope
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  Speaker 1: as well. I know that soon my life will be over.
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  Speaker 1: I thank God for it and for all he has
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  Speaker 1: given me in this life. But I look forward to heaven.
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  Speaker 1: I look forward to the reunion with friends and loved
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  Speaker 1: ones who have gone on before. I look forward to
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  Speaker 1: heaven's freedom from sorrows. And pain. Most of all. I
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  Speaker 1: look forward to seeing Christ. And bowing before him. In
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  Speaker 1: praise and gratitude. For all. He has done for us.
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  Speaker 1: And for using me on this earth. By his grace.
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  Speaker 1: Just as I am. You may not look forward to it.
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  Speaker 1: You may have been misinformed about it. After all, the
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  Speaker 1: media is full of all kinds of misinformation, exaggerations, and
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  Speaker 1: the comments of cynics who sneer at such silly things
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  Speaker 1: as what they call pie-in-the-sky, by-and-by. And if you're confused
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  Speaker 1: about it, it would be easy for me to say
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  Speaker 1: to many of you, welcome to the club that many
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  Speaker 1: of you are a part of. You would be hard-pressed
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  Speaker 1: to name the events as they will unfold, even though
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  Speaker 1: the Bible sets them forth in a manner you could
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  Speaker 1: almost turn into numerical order, first and then second and
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  Speaker 1: then third and fourth and right on down the line.
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  Speaker 1: That's why I wanted you to turn to 1 Thessalonians 4,
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  Speaker 1: 13 through 18. Here is Paul's explanation of what's ahead.
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  Speaker 1: And he takes away a lot of the mystery. Now
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  Speaker 1: some remains, of course. After all, it's an eternal home
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  Speaker 1: to which we go. But much of it is clear.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, we need to know it's an actual reality.
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  Speaker 1: It It isn't a distant dream. It isn't some mystical
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  Speaker 1: thinking of a theologian tucked away on the island of
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  Speaker 1: Patmos who gets carried away late one night with his writings.
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  Speaker 1: So much is believed wrongly these days about spiritual things.
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  Speaker 1: It was Mark Twain who once wrote, the trouble with
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  Speaker 1: the world is not that people know too little, but
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  Speaker 1: that they know so many things that ain't so. To
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  Speaker 1: unlearn wrong things is always harder than learning new things
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  Speaker 1: for the first time. So if it's possible for you
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  Speaker 1: to wash your mind free of all the stuff you
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  Speaker 1: picked up along the way that was gathered outside the
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  Speaker 1: Bible and just focus your mind on what Paul writes
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  Speaker 1: as he explains these events, you'll be able to put
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  Speaker 1: the order together rather simply. By the way, why is
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  Speaker 1: it he says we do not want you to be uninformed? Brethren,
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  Speaker 1: the answer is in the latter part of verse 13
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  Speaker 1: of this fourth chapter. So that you will not grieve
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  Speaker 1: as do the rest who have no hope. You see,
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  Speaker 1: when you know what is happening and when you know
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  Speaker 1: what is coming, your grief is not hopeless. Oh, we
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  Speaker 1: still grieve and there's everything right about tears. I, for one,
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  Speaker 1: believe a person does not get through grief without fully
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  Speaker 1: expressing it. And I think some Christians have been told
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  Speaker 1: incorrectly that tears have no place at a funeral. What
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  Speaker 1: a foolish statement to make. You've lost a loved one.
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  Speaker 1: You'll miss them throughout your earthly life. But you don't
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  Speaker 1: grieve as those who have no hope. Why not? See
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  Speaker 1: the word for in verse 14. He's going to explain why.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, here is an order of events that will unfold. First,
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  Speaker 1: for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
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  Speaker 1: Stop right there. If you do not, no wonder you're terrified.
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  Speaker 1: No wonder when the doctor comes with that awful report
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  Speaker 1: that it's terminal, that you break out in a cold sweat.
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  Speaker 1: No wonder you can't sleep in the middle of the night.
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  Speaker 1: You awaken and find yourself preoccupied with a thousand alien thoughts. Why,
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  Speaker 1: you've never... Believe that Jesus died and rose again. You say, well,
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  Speaker 1: that's just a belief. Yes, it is. It's called being
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  Speaker 1: born again. Believing right helps you think right. Thinking right
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  Speaker 1: helps you worry less. And worrying less helps you anticipate
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  Speaker 1: the greatest event just over the horizon. So let's make sure,
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  Speaker 1: first of all, that you believe that Jesus died and
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  Speaker 1: rose again. You've been born again. If you have never
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  Speaker 1: made that journey of faith, this is the moment to
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  Speaker 1: stop everything else. Ignore whatever else I may say and
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  Speaker 1: come to terms with that in your life. So that
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  Speaker 1: you might have this kind of hope about which Paul writes.
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  Speaker 1: To begin with, let's understand death. While much of it
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  Speaker 1: is a mystery, let's understand what occurs. We are made
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  Speaker 1: up of a body. People can see our body. We
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  Speaker 1: deal with our body. It's our body that ages. It's
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  Speaker 1: our body that is decaying and dying. We also have
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  Speaker 1: within us a soul and spirit. It's invisible. Let's put
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  Speaker 1: them together. Let's call them the soul spirit. The visible,
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  Speaker 1: the material is the body. The immaterial is the soul spirit.
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  Speaker 1: At death, they separate. They separate. We lovingly care for
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  Speaker 1: the body. We have professionals that embalm the body, that
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  Speaker 1: provide a dignified burial, and we place them in the ground,
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  Speaker 1: or they're cremated. The point is, the body is dealt with. However,
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  Speaker 1: at death... Since there is a separation, the soul spirit
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  Speaker 1: instantly goes to be with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5, 17,
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  Speaker 1: to be absent from the body of 5, 8. To
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  Speaker 1: be absent from the body is to be face to
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  Speaker 1: face with the Lord. So there's no purgatory. There's no
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  Speaker 1: probation period. There's no waiting to see if you were sincere.
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  Speaker 1: When death occurs, the body is laid away and the
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  Speaker 1: soul spirit is instantly with the Lord without a body.
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  Speaker 1: So your mother, your father, your relative, your loved one
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  Speaker 1: who died in Christ, the soul spirit of those individuals
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  Speaker 1: is now in the presence of the Lord, enjoying the
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  Speaker 1: benefits and blessings of heaven, but without a body. Their
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  Speaker 1: soul spirit awaits the resurrection of their old body, which
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  Speaker 1: will be changed. Let's read on. If we believe that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring
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  Speaker 1: with him, that's Christ, Those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: This is Paul's favorite expression for the death of a Christian.
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  Speaker 1: Believers are, if you will, asleep in Jesus. You'll see
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  Speaker 1: that on many a grave marker of a believer. Asleep
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  Speaker 1: in Jesus. Doesn't mean the soul is asleep. It means
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  Speaker 1: the body is waiting for its resurrection. So this is
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  Speaker 1: the believer who has died. Let's track that carefully. When
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  Speaker 1: the Lord returns in the sky to meet us in
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  Speaker 1: the air, some of us will be alive at the time.
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  Speaker 1: And there will be this marvelous reunion in the sky.
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  Speaker 1: But it will be preceded by the raising of the
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  Speaker 1: bodies of the believers who have died.
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  Speaker 2: Don't let me go too fast here.
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  Speaker 1: The dead believers' bodies are pulled out of the grave
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  Speaker 1: miraculously and joined to the soul and spirit that awaits them.
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  Speaker 1: We who are alive and remain will be caught up
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  Speaker 1: with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
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  Speaker 1: the air. So the dead believers... are made alive and
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  Speaker 1: glorified in their bodies and the living believers are taken
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  Speaker 1: from this earth to heaven and there is a whole
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  Speaker 1: molecular change in the bodily makeup. If you want to
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  Speaker 1: know what our bodies will be like, study the resurrected
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  Speaker 1: body of Christ. We'll be able to pass through space instantly.
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  Speaker 1: Matter means nothing. Gravity has no hold on a glorified
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  Speaker 1: body and there will be no presence of sin. In
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  Speaker 1: our bodies. There's an old hymn that ends. Then we
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  Speaker 1: shall be where we would be. Then we shall be
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  Speaker 1: what we should be. Things that are not now nor
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  Speaker 1: could be. Soon shall be our own. Some of you
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  Speaker 1: go what? It does sound a little like a tongue twister.
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  Speaker 1: The point is we will be changed. And the things
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  Speaker 1: we long to be. Namely sinless and perfect. Will then
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  Speaker 1: become a reality. We shall be what we would be.
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  Speaker 1: Now back to the subject at hand. Verse 15. This
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  Speaker 1: we say to you by the word of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: that we who are alive and remain that is on
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  Speaker 1: this earth until the coming of the Lord will not
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  Speaker 1: precede those who have fallen asleep. Now watch closely. This
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  Speaker 1: is the moment it will occur and it will be
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  Speaker 1: universally known. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with
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  Speaker 1: a shout. So there will be some kind of command,
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  Speaker 1: some kind of announcement coming from heaven or from himself,
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  Speaker 1: somehow there will be a statement said with volume. It
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  Speaker 1: will be a shout. Blended with that will be the
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  Speaker 1: voice of the archangel making his announcement. And with that
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  Speaker 1: will be the trumpet call of God. Trumpeters love that statement. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: finally our instrument gets the credit it deserves. The trumpet
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  Speaker 1: call of God. The point is there will be a
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  Speaker 1: clarion call that will be trumpet-like. And it will be
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  Speaker 1: a blast heard around the world and those without Christ
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  Speaker 1: are left on this earth for a dreadful future I
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  Speaker 1: will not get into. And believers on this earth will
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  Speaker 1: be caught up instantly to be with their Lord forever.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it says, We will be caught up together
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  Speaker 1: with them. That's the dead who have been raised. We'll
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  Speaker 1: be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord
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  Speaker 1: in the air. So we shall always be with the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Comfort one another with these words. How great is that?
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  Speaker 1: Comfort one another with these words. Invariably, when I have
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  Speaker 1: the privilege of serving people who have lost loved ones,
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  Speaker 1: I remind them of this very passage of scripture. It
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  Speaker 1: is one of the is a pastor's favorite text to use.
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  Speaker 1: This is the event that the grieving can look forward to.
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  Speaker 1: Your loved one will not remain in the grave. And
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  Speaker 1: let's say, terrible thought, your loved one was lost in
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  Speaker 1: battle or the body was exploded in a terrible event.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord will have no trouble bringing that body back together.
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  Speaker 1: He created you from nothing to start with. And he
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  Speaker 1: will create you from nothing as he brings you back.
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  Speaker 1: Recreate you in a glorified state. And we will always
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  Speaker 1: be with the Lord. Please notice that. No probation. No purgatory.
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  Speaker 1: No possibility of leaving. It is a permanent residence. We
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  Speaker 1: will always be with the Lord. This is not a
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  Speaker 1: childish fairy tale. This is not a fantasy. This is
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  Speaker 1: not some fanatical possibility. This is a reality. This is
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  Speaker 1: the event next week. This is our hope. This is
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  Speaker 1: our assurance. And we comfort one another with these words.
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  Speaker 1: The only ones not comforted are those who are not ready.
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  Speaker 1: And I repeat, you have life in which to get ready.
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  Speaker 1: Beyond life, you have no further opportunity to ready yourself
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  Speaker 1: for eternity. You take care of that now, rather than
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  Speaker 1: await eternity. So this comforting thought brings the believer great hope.
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  Speaker 1: Had a man say to me as we close the
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  Speaker 1: first service today that just last week his mother passed
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  Speaker 1: into the Lord's presence. Just this past week, a longtime
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  Speaker 1: friend of the Swindoll family lost his wife. Brief battle
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  Speaker 1: with cancer and... gone gone no just waiting the body
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  Speaker 1: is asleep in the grave the soul and spirit at
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  Speaker 1: the moment she breathed her last taken immediately to be
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  Speaker 1: with the lord now that'll get your attention won't it
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  Speaker 1: look at first john chapter two first john written by
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  Speaker 1: our friend who's written this letter, Aging John the Apostle,
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  Speaker 1: speaks to us affectionately as he analyzes Christ's appearing. Paul
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  Speaker 1: explained it, John analyzes it. The same Greek term that
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  Speaker 1: Paul used in verse 15 for the coming of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord is used here in verse 28, At his coming.
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  Speaker 1: See the end of verse 28. Same word. Parousia. At
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: his coming. So these are talking about the same event.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: The coming of Christ. Twice in the section we're looking
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: at refers to when he appears. See verse 28. Little
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: children abide in him so that when he appears. Again
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: in verse 2. Beloved, now we are children of God.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: It has not appeared what we will be. We know
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: that when he appears, identical phrases in English and in
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: the original language. So it's talking about that event that
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: is immediately on the horizon. No other event needs to
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: transpire on this earth for which that event awaits. It
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: is the next event in the future. Could happen at
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: any moment, at any time. Around April 14, I pray
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: intensely that it will arrive. Right now. Right now. All
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the old cares of this earth are passed away and
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: we're taking forever to be with the Lord. Talk about
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: people left with debt. It's going to happen at that time,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you. Now let's get down to business. Verse 28.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: He begins with an important command. Little children abide in him.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Let's stop right there. The command is not scintillating. It
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: is not a frenzy. There is no sensationalism about it.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: It is not over-the-top, cheerleading type stuff. It isn't fantastic.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: It is just saying, abide. Don't you like that? Just abide. Abide. Meno,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: M-E-N-O is the Greek term, and it means to continue.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: To just stay. Stay at it. Stay at what? Obedience.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Walking in the Spirit. Keeping short accounts with your Heavenly Father.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: It's a present imperative, so it's saying keep on abiding.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Keep on abiding. Keep on walking in the Spirit. The
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: best way I've ever heard it described is a long
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: obedience in the same direction. A long obedience in the
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: same direction. You don't have to suddenly do a deep,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: deep Bible study and eschatology to prepare for it. You
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: don't have to go to seminary to be ready for it.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: You don't have to stay close to the church and
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: And buy a home nearby. You don't have to come
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: to every service so that you'll be ready. All you
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: got to do is abide. Just abide. Just keep on
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: doing what you've been doing. That'll help you be ready
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: for it. I used to work in a machine shop
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: and one of the guys that ran a turret lathe
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: near me was named Tex. And about quitting time, old
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Tex was always washed up and ready to go. And
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: I said to Tex one day, hey, Tex, Are you
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: getting ready for quitting time? He said, Sonny, I don't
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: get ready. I stay ready. I stay ready. You know
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: how to stay ready for quitting time? Abide. Abide. What
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: are you doing? I'm abiding. I'm walking in the spirit.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: I'm doing my best not to fulfill the lust of
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the flesh. If that leaves you behind, Galatians 5, 19
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: to 23 will help you. It'll show you the works
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: of the flesh or the fruit of the spirit. You've
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: got your choice. The point is you will not shrink.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: How good is this? You will not shrink in shame.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: When you are abiding. So this brings us to the
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: reassuring reminder. Look closely. So that when he appears. By abiding.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: You will now be ready. This is a purpose clause.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: You abide for the purpose. That when he appears. You
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: will have confidence. And not shrink away from him. In shame.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: At his coming. Literally, the Greek says, in the presence.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Isn't that wonderful? You will not shrink away in shame
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: in the presence. You and I have been in the
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: presence of great people, but we have never been in
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: a presence like this. This will be a presence that
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: will leave you stunned, silent, lost in wonder and love
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: and praise. When he appears and we're caught up with him,
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: we prepare ourselves for that moment with confidence knowing that
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: event is sure to occur. Then who shrinks away at
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: his coming? Those who aren't prepared. Back to you who
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: have never trusted in Christ. No wonder it terrifies you.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: No wonder you're afraid. You're frightened with the thought. Or
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: if you're a believer and you're living in the flesh.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: No wonder you fear the thought of his coming and
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: calling you to be with himself. Well, the thought continues
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: in verse 29. If you know that he is righteous,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: then you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: born of him. There it is. If you've been born anew.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Make certain that that's taken place in your life. There's
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: nothing more important than your being sure that you have
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: a new birth. You've been born the first time from
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: your mother. You're born a second time spiritually by placing
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: your faith and trust in Christ. This causes John to
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: burst forth in.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: In words of wonderment and praise, he starts with the word, look.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: We read it here in this simple term, see? But
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: it's really, look, behold. See how great a love the
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Father has bestowed on us. How great a love he's
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: bestowed on us. Remember when we were in Ephesians 1?
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: Verse 8 tells us that he has lavished his grace
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: on us. I love the way that appears in the scriptures.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: I like to draw it out. Lavished his grace on us.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: He just unloads his grace on us in Christ. His
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: love is the same. He doesn't provide it. He bestows it.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: He unfolds it. He surrounds us. He envelops us. In
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: his love. He says look. Look at that kind of
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: love from the father. That he has bestowed it on us.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: That we. How do we know he loves us? He
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: calls us his children. He calls us his children. That
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: we should be called the children of God. And such
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: we are. Charles Wesley put it best. He wrote amazing love.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: How wonderful. Can it be that thou, my God, shouldst
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: die for me? And this statement of wonderment is followed
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: by a glorious promise. That's in verse 2. Beloved, see
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: this is for the believer. This is the comfort that
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: the believer has. Beloved, now, now we are children of God.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: And it has not appeared as yet what we will be.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Let's don't go any further. There are parts of the
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: future life that we don't know much of it. One
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: of the things we do know is that we won't
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: all have wings laying on clouds strumming a harp. What
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: a dingbat idea about eternity. I mean, does anybody look
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: forward to that? Please, since when do you have to
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: have wings when you've got a glorified body? Since when
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: does a harp make it great? I love beautiful harp music,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: but I don't want to play one throughout eternity. That's
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: not what it's about. Look at this. We admit that
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: there is much we do not know. We It has
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: not appeared as yet what we will be. But this
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: much is clear. Look at verse 2. But we know this.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: That when he appears, we will be like him. Isn't
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: that great? That's what it means to be glorified. Don't
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: answer out loud, but haven't you recently thought, why in
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the world do I keep doing that same dumb thing?
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Why on earth did I say that? Why do I
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: keep returning to that bad habit? Why do I lose
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: my patience over such and such? Why am I like that?
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: This is all part of the old life, the life
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: on this earth. The life that you can't get away from.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Remember the song I gave you? Then we shall be
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: what we would be. Then we shall be what we
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: should be. We're not there yet. But we do know
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: when this occurs, we'll be like him. Let me show
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: you what that means. Hold your place and look at
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15. Here we go. 1 Corinthians 15. which
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: is the great chapter on resurrection in the New Testament.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: Verse 51. I don't hear many pages turning or some
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: of you slumbering already. First Corinthians 15. It's right here
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: in the New Testament. Look at verse 51 of chapter 15.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: He begins with another announcement. Behold, look, I tell you
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: a mystery. We're in 1551. We will not all sleep. Now,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: what does that refer to? Death. The death of a believer.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: There we have it. We will not all die, but
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: we will all be changed. How long will it take?
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye. That's
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: the flash of light across the eye. How the light
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: will sometimes flash across an eyeball. It's not even the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: batting of an eye. It's the flash of light. The
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: twinkling of an eye. Here it is again. At the
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: last moment. trumpet for the trumpet will sound remember reading
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: this earlier the dead will be raised imperishable and we
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: will be changed he adds this for explains it now
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: perishable must put on imperishable and mortal must put on
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: immortality why why is it necessary for this bag of
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: bones to be changed and to immortality because it's a
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: bag of bones and it's getting baggier you got everything
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: you used to have but it's now four inches lower
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: so you're just you're just sagging you're just wrinkling you
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: just little by little you're wearing away you're decaying it's
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: called perishable perishable But at this moment, we will put
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: on imperishable. The skin will finally look like you wanted
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: it to look all your life. No cosmetics. You won't
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: need them. Perfect. The perishable must put on the imperishable.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: The mortal must put on immortality. When this perishable will
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: have put on immortality? When this mortal will have put
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: on immortality? Then... I love that. When? Then. Then will
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, death,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: where is your victory? Shakespeare didn't write that. He stole
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: it from Paul. The grave has no sting. The grave,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: not even death, has sting. Lasting jaws. Thanks be to God.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Verse 57. Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: Now back to verse 27. 2 of 1 John 3.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: We know that when he appears, we will be like
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: him because we will see him just as he is.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Sandy Patty, back years ago in the 80s, made popular
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: around the world Dottie Rambo's song we shall behold him
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: and for many of us it's one of our favorites
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: still to this day we shall behold him we shall
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: behold him face to face in all of his glory
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: at that point nothing else will matter At that point,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: all of the cares and worries and struggles and problems,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: all of the deterioration, all of the disabilities, how great
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: this will be. All the blind will see. All the
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: lame will walk. And we'll see him and we will
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: be like him. For we will see him.
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: As he is.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Lost in wonder, love and praise. For the first time
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: in all of time, standing on the brink of eternity,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: there will be a miraculous internal change. And the soul
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: spirit will emerge in a new body. And like unto
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: our Savior, we will populate heaven. I read this past
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: week that a massive block of white marble was finally
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: placed before the 16th century Italian sculptor Michelangelo. He smiled.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: He walked around this block of marble as he said
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: to himself, looking at this shapeless mass, my, isn't it beautiful?
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: One of his helpers standing nearby with no vision for
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: such said, well, all I see is a big block
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: of marble. That's all. To which the genius replied, oh,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: I forgot. You don't see what I see. I see
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: David in there. Well, I don't see him, said the helper. Well,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: that's because He is now in my own mind, but
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: I am going to translate him into this piece of marble.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: And then he began to chip away and how do
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: you know how to do it? One wag said he
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: just chipped away everything that didn't look like David. How
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: will our Lord make us like like himself? He'll just
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: take away everything that doesn't look like him. Isn't that great?
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Doesn't that give you hope? Everyone who has this hope
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: fixed on him, look at this, purifies himself just as
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: he is pure. Here's a fixed hope. It results in
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: an ethical and moral purity when you fix your hope
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: on the Savior's return. This isn't just a theological truth
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: to stand on and to live by. This is ethical, practical,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: personal counsel. You will purify yourself. Christ returns, seeing him
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: face to face, knowing you'll be changed inside out, spending
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: eternity with him. You will experience, as you focus on that,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: an internal cleansing experience. Sin will not seem that attractive.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: This is not a ceremonial cleansing. This is a moral cleansing.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Temptation will not seem nearly as alluring when you have
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: focused on your Savior's return at any moment. What a
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: grand series of verses. And this ends with, we will
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: be pure just as he is pure. It starts with
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: a command, abide. It includes a word of reassurance, confidence.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Confidence that is coming. It reaches its zenith with wonder.
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: His love is bestowed on us. It reminds us of
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: the promise that we will be like him. There will
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: be a likeness. And it concludes the climax. The value
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: of such a fixed hope is purity. Purity. In my
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: own life, when I have drifted into areas I have
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: no business messing around with, or when my lips have
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: spoken things they have no business saying, I can be
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: sure as I trace my steps, I lost focus on
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: the imminent return of the Savior. There's something pure about
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: that focus. Let's end this message differently. All right? Take
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: your hymnal and turn to number 755. While I was
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: concentrating on how best to conclude a message such as
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: this one, it occurred to me that we have right
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: here before us Dottie Rambo's marvelous lyrics. And because Sandy
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Patty isn't here, nobody's going to sing it, okay? But
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: we are going to read it. We're going to read
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: the two stanzas and then after we've read the second stanza,
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: we'll read the refrain. I don't want you to just
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: sit there and let someone else read it for you.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: I want your lips, your eyes to connect with these words.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Let's do this together. We shall behold him. Here we go.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: The sky shall unfold preparing his entrance. The stars shall
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: applaud him with thunders of praise. The sweet light in
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: his eyes shall enhance those awaiting. And we shall behold
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: him then face to face. The angel shall sound the
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: shout of his coming. The sleeping shall rise from their
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: slumbering place. And those who remain shall be changed in
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: a moment. And we shall behold him then face to face.
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: And we shall behold him.
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: We shall behold him. Face to face in all of
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: his glory. Oh, we shall behold him. We shall behold him.
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: face to face, our Savior.
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: And Lord, and we shall behold him, our Savior and Lord.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: Just sit quietly for a few moments following this time
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: of prayer. We anticipate that moment, and may it be
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: this very day, our Father, when your Son is dispatched
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: from heaven and gathers us up in the clouds to
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: meet him in the air, when our loved ones, all
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: those who have gone before us, all the saints, all
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: the martyrs, all the men and women of God, When
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: we're caught up with them in the clouds. That epical moment.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: Nothing else will matter. But Jesus Christ. Whom we shall behold.
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: Face to face. In his matchless name. In his glorious
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: name we pray. And everyone said.
• 48:41
  Speaker 3: Amen.
• 49:01
  Speaker 4: The sky shall unfold, preparing His entrance.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: The stars shall.
• 49:20
  Speaker 5: Applaud Him with thunders of grace.
• 49:44
  Speaker 6: The sweet light in his.
• 49:50
  Speaker 7: Eyes shall enhance those awaiting and we shall behold.
• 50:04
  Speaker 6: Him then face.
• 50:10
  Speaker 3: To face we shall behold him.
• 50:25
  Speaker 6: We shall behold him face to face in all of
• 50:37
  Speaker 6: His glory. We shall behold Him. Yes, we shall behold
• 50:55
  Speaker 6: Him face to face.
• 51:05
  Speaker 4: Our Savior.
• 51:14
  Speaker 3: The angels.
• 51:17
  Speaker 4: Shall sound.
• 51:23
  Speaker 6: The shout of his coming.
• 51:27
  Speaker 7: The sleeping shall rise.
• 51:52
  Speaker 6: We shall be changed in a moment and we shall
• 51:56
  Speaker 6: behold him then face to.
• 51:59
  Speaker 5: Face we shall We shall be hugging.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: Face to face.
• 52:51
  Speaker 5: Oh, yes, we shall be with him face to face.
• 53:50
  Speaker 8: The preceding message, Our Lord's Return, What Then?, and the
• 53:54
  Speaker 8: sound recording were copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 54:00
  Speaker 8: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 54:04
  Speaker 8: commercial use is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 54:11
  Speaker 8: is grateful to Music Services, Inc. and Word Entertainment for
• 54:14
  Speaker 8: permission to use Sandy Petty's performance of the song We
• 54:17
  Speaker 8: Shall Behold Him from her 1989 album The Finest Moments
• 54:22
  Speaker 8: with lyrics and music copyrighted in 1980 by Dottie Rambo,
• 54:26
  Speaker 8: New Spring Publishing, Inc., Brentwood Benson Music, and John T.
• 54:30
  Speaker 8: Benson Publishing Company. The rendition heard after this message can
• 54:34
  Speaker 8: be found on the Time Life Music Compilation CD titled
• 54:37
  Speaker 8: Sandy Petty Hymns of Faith, Songs of Inspiration, released in 2004.