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Your Invitation · CCC West Covina

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Today we find ourselves back in the 1st chapter of John's
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Gospel. This is the 16th week in John
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chapter one. We will probably be here for 20
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weeks just in the 1st chapter, and I promise you that we will
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not be 20 weeks in every chapter of John's Gospel.
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If that was the case, we will not be done till at least eight
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years from now. But no, we we will make sure
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that we do all we can to explain to you the truth, explore the
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truth, and extract all that we can from the pages of Scripture.
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We have seen the word of truth in John chapter one.
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We have heard the witness to the truth, that's John the Baptist,
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and today it's time for you and me to welcome that truth into
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our lives. John is going to give us by way
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of an invitation to come and respond to the one that you have
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recognized. You see, once you recognize who
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Christ is, you must respond and you will either receive Him or
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you will reject Him. Those are the only two options.
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And the question is, have you received Him or are you still
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rejecting Him? And John, by way of invitation,
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invites you to come. In fact, all throughout John's
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Gospel there are a various number of invitations.
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For instance, as the Lamb of God, Christ invites you to come
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and be cleansed. That's in John chapter one.
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In John chapter 6, Christ, the bread of life invites you to
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come and eat. In John chapter 8, Christ is the
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light of life. He invites you to come and see.
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In John chapter 10, Christ is the door to life.
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He invites you to come and enter also in John 10.
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He is the Good Shepherd of life. He invites you to come and be
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protected and be cared for. In John Chapter 11.
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It is the resurrection and the life that invites you.
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He invites you to come and live so you will never die.
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In John chapter 15 he is the true vine that says come, come
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and grow, come and be fruitful but you must come.
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In John Chapter 7, he is the water of life, and as the water
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of life he says come and drink. The Bible is replete with
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invitations. In fact, probably the greatest
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of all the invitations is recorded in the last chapter of
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the last book of your Bible, and that is in the Book of
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Revelation. So I'm going to invite you to
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turn there with me this morning by way of introduction to our
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study of John, chapter 1, verses 9 to 13.
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The Book of Revelation is the unveiling of the Christ.
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That's what Revelation means, the apocalypsis.
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It is the unmasking, the unveiling, the complete
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revealing of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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And there is no book that does that better than the Book of
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Revelation. And so John is going to tell you
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about the end of the beginning, or if you like, the beginning of
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the end. Either title works for the Book
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of Revelation. What began in Genesis chapter 1
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ends in Revelation chapter 22. And Solomon made it very clear
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in Ecclesiastes 7-8 that the end of a matter is better than its
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beginning. So at the end of Revelation 22,
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it's a lot better than it was in Genesis chapter one verse #1
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because the end of the matter is better than its beginning.
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So whatever the plan of God is, the end is going to be better
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than the beginning. At the very end of John's
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gospel, after he's unveiled to us the Lamb of God, after he's
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unveiled to us the, the, the Pantocrator, the Almighty one,
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as he describes him, as he unveils to us the the beauty of
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the Christ in all of his glory, in all of his splendor.
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He ends with an invitation. And that invitation is a, is a,
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is a response to who you've recognized in is it just like
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our Lord to make sure that you understand that you're invited
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to come. The invitation is recorded in in
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verse #17 of Revelation 22 and then surrounding verse #17 that
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invitation are several incentives that move you to
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respond to the invitation. Here is the invitation.
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The Spirit and the Bride say come and let the one who hears
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say, come and let the one who is thirsty come.
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Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
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John is concluding this, this incredible unveiling of the
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Messiah with an invitation, with a plea for the Spirit of God and
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the bride to say come. I believe that's really asking
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and praying for the Lord to come quickly.
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But the invitation to the Sinner is said this way.
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Let the one who was thirsty come.
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Let those who are dry and barren come.
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This is the prerequisite to repentance.
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The person who recognizes the dryness and bareness of his
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soul. It's like what Christ said in in
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Matthew 5 verse #6 when he said, blessed are those who hunger and
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thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
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And John comes back and and picks up on that and says,
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listen, if you are thirsty, come, whoever wishes come.
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And the reason you're wishing and wanting to come is because
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you've recognized the thirst that you have based on the
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identity of of the Christ, the Messiah.
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And so the Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
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Lord shall be saved. So, so if you're thirsty because
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you're barren and dry, if you, if you, if you want to come,
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come because this is the time, the time is now to come to the
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Lord. That's the invitation.
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Christ would say it this way in Matthew 11.
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He would say, Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
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laden, and I will give you rest again.
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For those who are weary, come. For those who are thirsty, come.
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For those who are hungry, come. For those who want assurance of
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their destiny, come. Whoever wishes to take the water
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of life, come. What's the water of life?
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Well, Christ defined that in John chapter 4 when he spoke to
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the Samaritan woman, when he said the water that I give
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springs up into eternal life. The water of life is eternal
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life. Whoever recognizes that only
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Christ can give it, come, for the invitation is yours.
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See, the gift of God is not achieved, it's received.
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You can't achieve eternal life. It's the gift of God.
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And so the gift of God is received, not achieved.
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So at the very end of the book of the Bible, the Book of
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Revelation, he offers this invitation and then he gives all
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the incentives surrounding the invitation.
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I'm going to give you #5 first, then #4 #3 #2 and then #1
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because number one leads us back to John chapter 1 #5 Is this
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because of the availability of his grace?
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That's that's how the Book of Revelation ends.
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Isn't it interesting that the Book of Revelation all about
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judgment, all about tribulation, all about turmoil, all about
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wars and rumors of wars, all about earthquakes, all about
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pestilence, all about famine. He offers grace, so it says in
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verse #21 the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
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Amen. You come to Him because of the
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availability of His grace. Salvation is by grace through
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faith. Salvation is not earned.
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It's given by God to those who are undeserving.
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So you respond to the invitation because of the availability of
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grace #2 you respond to the invitation because of the
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certainty of His coming. That's the next verse up.
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Verse #20 He who testifies these things says, yes, I am coming
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quickly, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, the certainty
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of His coming. That's what the Book of
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Revelation is all about, the second coming to the Messiah.
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Because He's going to come. You need to respond because you
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don't know when He's going to come, but you got to be ready
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for Him to arrive. So because of the availability
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of His grace, because of the certainty of His coming, and #3
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because of the finality and veracity of the Scriptures,
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that's the next two verses up where he says, I testify to
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everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book.
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If anyone adds to them, God will add to Him the plagues which are
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written in this book. If anyone takes away from the
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words of the book, of this prophecy, God will take away His
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part from the tree of life, from the holy city, which are written
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in this book. The finality of Scripture,
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there's nothing to add to it. There's nothing that doesn't
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cover. It's completely sufficient.
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It's completely adequate. Everything that pertains to life
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and godliness is in this book. All 66 chapters, excuse me, 66
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books, and all the chapters that entail those books, he says,
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come because of the finality in the veracity of Scripture, the
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certainty of His coming, the availability of His grace.
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And then you need to come because of the exclusivity of
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heaven, because heaven isn't for everyone.
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So he says this way up in verse 14.
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Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the
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right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the
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city. Outside of the dogs, sorcerers,
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the immoral persons, the murderers and the idolaters, and
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everyone who loves and practices lying.
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This is not an inclusive list. It's a glyph that's
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representative of people who are sinners.
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Earlier in Revelation, we have another list.
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Book of Ephesians we have a list.
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Book of Galatians, we have a list.
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Book of First Corinthians 6, we have a list.
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They are not inclusive list, but they are representatives of
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people who habitually rebel against God.
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So he says you need to come because of the exclusivity of
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heaven. It only comes to those whose
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robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
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It's only comes to those who have been set free from their
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sin and understand the forgiveness of sins.
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Because those who don't repent and those who don't come to Him
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by faith are excluded from heaven.
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So you come to Him because of the availability of His grace,
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the certainty of His coming, the finality and veracity of
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Scripture, and the exclusivity of heaven.
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But here's the key. 1 You come to him because of the identity
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of Christ. You come to him because of who
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He is. That's why you respond to the
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invitation. You receive invitations in the
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mail, invitations to weddings, invitations to parties,
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invitations to baby showers, invitations to anniversaries.
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One of the main reasons you go is based on who's doing the
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inviting. Because if somebody you don't
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like is inviting you, you're not going.
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If somebody you admire invites you, you're probably going to
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go. But the key to the invitation is
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who's doing the inviting? Well, the one who gives the
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invitation is the Messiah himself, the Christ.
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And so the identity of the Christ is the main reason you
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respond to the invitation. Yes, His grace is available.
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Yes, He's coming again. Yes, Scripture is final and
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true, and yes, heaven is exclusive.
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But the one who offers the invitation, This is why you
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come. And that's in verse #13 and
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verse #16 where he says I am, I am that that unique phrase, ego
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a me that's used all throughout John's Gospel to describe the
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four Hebrew confidence that maketh the name of God all the
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way back in Exodus chapter 3, the memorial name of God.
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I am that I am. Moses asked, who do I say sent
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me? You tell him I am sent you.
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This is the Deliverer, the Redeemer, This is the one who
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gives the invitation. I AM and I AM is the Alpha and
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Omega, the beginning of the end, the first and the last.
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Just three different ways to describe the Infinity, the
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eternality, the immensity of the I AM.
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He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning of the end, the
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1st and the last. In other words, he's before
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everything, He's after everything, and he's the center
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of everything in between. He is the everything.
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The reason you come and respond to the invitation is because he
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is the alpha and the Omega, the 1st and the last, the beginning
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and the end. This is who he is.
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He exists outside the realm of time.
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He's the creator of time. Therefore it's imperative that
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you come and then down in verse 16 it says I Jesus.
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That's that's the name that God the Father gave to his son.
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You should call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
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from his sin. Well, why?
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Why give him the name Jesus? Because Jesus is the I am and I
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am is a Redeemer and a deliverer.
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So you will call his name Jesus. And then he says, I, Jesus have
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sent my Angel to testify to these things for the churches.
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I am the root and descendant of David.
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I am the I am the source of David's life in line and I am
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the son of David's life in line. I am the root and I am the
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descendant of David speaking to his deity and his humanity.
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I am behind all that David is that I've come from the line of
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David because I am the alpha and the Omega, the beginning of the
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end, the first and the last. I am the great I am.
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And then he says this the bright morning star.
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I, I end the fulfillment of numbers 2417.
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That star shall rise out of Jacob with a scepter in his
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hand. He says that's me, I am the
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star. I am Malachi 4 verse #2 I am the
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sun of righteousness, SUN who arise with healing in his wings.
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And because I am the sun that rises with healing in his wings,
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you need to come because I am the bright morning star.
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He says in the book of Luke or Zacharias says of the Messiah,
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he says the sunrise from on high will visit us to shine upon
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those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
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Zacharias writes that to his son John, who became John the
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Baptist because he needed to know that the light of the world
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had come. And then of course, Peter says
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the second Peter 119 the day star, when he rises in your
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hearts, that's when you are saved.
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Why do you respond to the invitation?
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Because of the identity of the one who gave the invitation,
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which leads us back to John's gospel, John chapter one, that
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Christ is the light of life. And John says that he was not
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the light. But he came to testify about the
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light, the bright morning star, the day star, the sunrise from
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on high, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Numbers 2417.
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This is he. And So what you have in John's
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gospel is the unveiling of the deity of Christ.
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Remember, we told you weeks ago, weeks ago, probably 16 weeks ago
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by now, that every gospel is an embellishment of one phrase in
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the Old Testament. John's gospel is the
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embellishment of the phrase recorded in John, excuse me,
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Isaiah 35 four, which says behold your God.
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And John is fulfilling that by saying behold your God.
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This is who he is. Matthew is the fulfillment of
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Zechariah 99. Behold your king because Matthew
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is all about the royalty of the Messiah.
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Luke's the fulfillment of Zechariah chapter 6 verse #12
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which says behold a man because Luke is all about the humanity
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of Christ. And Mark is the fulfillment of
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Isaiah 42 one behold my servant, because Mark's all about the
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humility of the Christ. And here John says, behold your
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God. I'm going to show you the word
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of truth. I'm going to give you the
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witness to that truth, because I need you to welcome that truth
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into your life. This is your invitation.
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This is what John says in verse #9 of chapter 1.
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There was the true light, which coming to the world enlightens
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every man. He was in the world, and the
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world was made through him, and the world did not know him.
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He came to His own, and those who were his own did not receive
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him, but as many as received Him to them.
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He gave the right to become children of God, even to those
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who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor the
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will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.
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John says this is your invitation, you come.
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Why? Because of His revelation, he is
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the true light Alathemas used 28 times in the New Testament, and
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23 of those times it is used in John's Gospel.
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For instance, in our text he is the true light.
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John 19 and John 6. He's called the true bread in
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John 15 is called the true vine in John 8.
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He is called the truth that will set you free in John 14.
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He says I am the way I am the truth, I am the life. 7 times
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Jesus says in John's gospel his words are true.
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Christ isn't John 1717 as he prays to his Father in heaven.
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Sanctify them in truth, for your word is true.
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There is so much about truth at the end in John 18 Pilot asks
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that great question, What is truth?
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Wrong question. It's who is truth?
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See, God is the embodiment of truth.
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Therefore everything that the embodiment of truth says is
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true. So whatever Christ says is true.
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So Pilate got it all wrong. What is truth?
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Christ is truth. He is the Alathanus.
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He is the true light. That's what it says that
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enlightens every man in the world.
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Now think about that. How does the true light
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enlighten every man in the world?
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Do you mean that everybody who has ever existed understands the
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true light? Yes, to some degree in one of
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two ways or one of both ways, through creation and through
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conscience. Romans chapter 1.
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You know these verses, Romans chapter one, verse 18.
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For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
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ungodliness and in righteousness of men who suppress the truth in
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unrighteousness. So, so the wrath of God has
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revealed to those who push down the truth, who, who suppress the
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truth, who don't want to be held accountable to the truth, who
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don't want to see the truth for what it is.
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Because truth is light and light exposes sin.
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Because that which is known about God is evident within
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them. For God made it evident to them,
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You see, that He is a true light that enlightens every man,
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because God made it evident to every man who lives.
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Why? Because eternity has been set in
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the heart of man. That's what Solomon tells us.
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In other words, man knows there is an eternity.
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Man knows there is something after death.
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He might not know what it is, but he knows there's something
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beyond the grave because eternity has been set in the
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heart of man. He goes on to say this in verse
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#24 since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes,
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His eternal power and divine nature have been what?
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Vaguely seen. That's not what it says.
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Clearly seen. Clearly seen white, because he's
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the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the
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world. So his attributes, his eternal
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power, have been clearly seen. If there's a design, there's a
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designer. If there's a creation, there's a
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creator. That's clearly obvious, so he
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says it, it all being understood through what has been made, so
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that they are without excuse, no excuse.
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For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or
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give thanks, but they became feudal in the speculations and
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they're foolish. Heart was darkened, profession
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to be wise. He became fools.
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People later say in verse #25 they exchanged the truth of God.
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What's that? The trueness of who God is.
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The truth of God for a lie and worship and serve the creature
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rather than the Creator who is blessed forever.
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Amen. You see, creation has
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enlightened every man that comes into the world, and God is the
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creator of all things, and therefore He is made man without
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any excuse. Fact.
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It says in verse #32 although they know the ordinances of God,
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even though those who commit these sins know the ordinances
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of God, they know the law of God, they know the statutes of
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God, they know them, and those who practice such things are
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worthy of death. They know God's law so clearly
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that if they break God's law, they know they're worthy of
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death. But says they not only do the
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same, but also give hardly approval to those who practice
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that. Isn't that interesting.
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He is a true light that enlightens every man that is
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coming to the world number one by creation, but #2 by
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conscience. Romans 214 says these words.
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For when Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively
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the things of the law, these not having the law, are a law to
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themselves. In that they show the work of
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the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing
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witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else
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defending them on the day when according to my gospel, God
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would judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
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So when John says this is the true light that enlightens every
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man that comes into the world, he does that through his
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creation and in their conscience.
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Everybody knows there is a God. Everybody believes there is a
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God. There is no such thing as an
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atheist nor an agnostic. No matter what they claim, they
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do not exist on this planet. Why?
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Because the true light has enlightened every man that comes
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into the world and therefore man knows that.
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So what does he do? He just pushes down the truth.
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He pushes it away. Why?
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Why would he do that? Would John explain that to us in
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John 3? This is the judgment verse 19,
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that the light is coming to the world and men love the darkness
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rather than the light. For the deeds are evil.
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For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to
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the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
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See that they hate the light because they love the darkness.
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They love their sin, they love their rebellion, they love their
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immorality, they love their fornication, they love their
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homosexuality, they love their their rejection, they they love
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everything. That's the antithesis of God.
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They love that because they hate the light, because the lights
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turned on. What does it do?
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It exposes what sin, and they don't want their sin to be
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exposed. So they suppress the truth
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because they love the darkness. How sad is that?
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But no, John says he enlightens every man that comes into the
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world. They says he was in the world
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and the world was made through him and the world did not know
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him. It doesn't mean they didn't know
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he existed, because they do. It doesn't mean they don't know
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that he lived and died and even rose again.
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They do. They know that, but they don't
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know him. They don't know the true God.
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They know him intellectually because they understand that
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there is a God. They know him informationally
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because they can collect information about him, but they
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did not know him influentially, nor do they know him intimately
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because they will not allow that God to rub off on them and alter
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their life and change everything about their life.
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They will not do that because that would require of a
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pentance, a turning from that which they love so dearly, their
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sin. So He says he he came into his
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own. Who's that?
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That's Israel in his own did not receive him.
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Wow. He came into his own and his own
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did not receive him. Came to his own people, the
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nation. Listen to what JC Rile says
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about this. He says Christ is to the souls
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of men what the sun is to the world.
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He is the center and source of all spiritual light, warmth,
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life, health, growth, beauty and fertility.
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Like the sun, He shines for the come and benefit of all mankind,
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for high and for low, for rich and for poor, for Jew and for
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Greek. Like the sun, He is free to all.
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All may look at him and drink health out of his light.
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If millions of mankind were mad enough to dwell in caves
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underground, or to bandage your eyes, their darkness would be
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their own fault, and not the fault of the sun.
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So likewise, if millions of men and women love spiritual
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darkness rather than light, the blame must be laid on their
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blind hearts, and not on Christ. We see in these verses the
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desperate wickedness of man's natural heart.
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We have in the words of Christ. Christ was in the world, and the
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world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.
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He came into His own, and His own received Him not.
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He came to the very people whom He had brought out from Egypt
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and purchased for His own. He came to the Jews whom He had
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separated from other nations, and to whom He had revealed
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Himself by the prophets. He came to those very Jews who
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had read of Him in the Old Testament Scriptures, seen Him
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under types and figures in their temple services, and professed
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to be waiting for His coming. And yet when He came, those very
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Jews received him not they even rejected him, despised him, and
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slew him. Well may the natural heart be
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called desperately wicked. He preached the gospel message,
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He performed great miracles, He presented himself as God, the
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Messiah, and they rejected him. They watched, they saw, they
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heard, and they rejected. How wicked, how depraved is the
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heart of man? John says.
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He enlightened every man that comes into the world, but they
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did not know him. How sad is is that?
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And I wonder, I wonder today if you know him for who he really
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is, for who he truly is. Paul would say that everything I
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have accomplished, everything I have done in life is nothing but
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human excrement, dung, compared to the surpassing value of
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knowing Jesus Christ. My Lord, that's how you know you
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know Christ. Everything else you do is dung,
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human excrement. It means nothing compared to the
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value of knowing Christ. That's why Paul would say that
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was the verse 8, the Philippians 3 first ten.
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He would say, oh, that I may know Him in the power of His
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resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.
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There was never enough hours in a day to get to know his God
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intimately. His cry was to know the true
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God, the true light that enlightens every man.
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God through the prophet Isaiah said that my people are
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destroyed for a lack of knowledge, other words, they
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don't know me. He says these words in Isaiah
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6/6 For I delight and loyalty rather than sacrifices into the
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knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
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You know some things about Israel never changed.
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Jeremiah says this way. Jeremiah Chapter 9 verse #1
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Jeremiah is prophesying, prophesying right before Israel
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goes into their 70 year captivity.
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Isaiah has already prophesied. Jeremiah is honing in on that
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time which they're going into captivity and listen to what
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Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 9 verse number 10, that my head
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were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might
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white white. Excuse me, weep day and night
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for the slain daughter of my people.
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Oh, that I had in the desert a wayfarers lodging place that I
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might leave my people and go away from them.
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Here is Jeremiah the prophet who proclaimed the truth of God.
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And nobody listened, nobody responded.
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The invitation will be given over and over and over again.
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And there was rejection after rejection after rejection.
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There was no one who would receive that invitation.
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And Jeremiah comes to the place in life, we says, oh, you know,
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if I, if I had a lodging place in Palm Springs that I would go
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there and leave my people. If I had a, a condo in Maui, I
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would go there and leave my people just to get away from
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them to be in a place of relaxation because they have
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rejected the Messiah over and over and over again.
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This is this. For all of them are adulterers.
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An assembly of treacherous men calls out their sin.
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I live among the people who are adulterers.
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They've committed spiritual adultery.
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They've committed physical adultery.
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They have turned their back on their God.
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This is who they are. They're treacherous men.
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They bend their tongues like their bow.
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Lies and not truth prevail in the land.
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They're all liars. They're all treacherous.
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They're all adulterers, Calls them out all by name, because
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that's what they are. He describes them because you
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see, all true prophets call out sin.
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That's what they do. Jeremiah did it, Isaiah did it,
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Malachi did it, Hosea did it, Jonah did it, you name it.
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John the Baptist did it, Jesus did it, Paul did it, Peter did
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it, John did it, and the list just goes on and on.
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All true prophets call out sin. That's what we do Amen.
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Why? Because we don't want you to
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live in sin. We want you to be redeemed from
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your sin. So here is Jeremiah calling out
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his people. You are adulterers.
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You are liars. You are treacherous men, and
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they proceed from evil to evil. These get worse.
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Not get any better, in spite of all my preaching.
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Not getting any better. Why?
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Here's the answer. They do not know me, declares
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the Lord. That's why they just don't know
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who I am. Wait a minute.
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They know God. He redeemed them from Egypt.
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He took them to the wilderness. He got them day by day.
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He did many miraculous works among them.
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How do they not know him? Oh, they know of him.
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They know about him, and they've seen all of his miracles.
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They've seen all that he's done. But they didn't know him
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intimately. They didn't know him
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influentially. They didn't know him So the fact
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that he rubbed off so that they would say what he says, they
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would walk the way he walked, they would live the way he lived
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would note they wouldn't do that.
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Why? Because they loved the darkness
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rather than the light. For the deeds were evil.
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That's why. That's why David says to Solomon
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in First Chronicles 28 verse #9 As for you, my son Solomon,
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know, know the God of your father.
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Serve him with a whole heart, a willing mind.
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For the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of
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the thoughts. If you seek Him, he will let you
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find him. But if you forsake him, He will
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reject you forever. Know your God, that's the
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invitation. Do you know Him?
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Have you come to Him? Do you recognize who He is that
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you will come to Him and bow the knee before Him and turn from
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your sin and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior.
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This is your invitation in John's gospel as he begins
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having already given you at the identity of the word in verses
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1:00 to 5:00 and then given you the the ministry of of the man
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who who gave witness to that word.
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Now he says you need to respond. You need to receive Him, for as
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many as received Him to them give you power to become the
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children of God. Are you a child of God this
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morning? You understand what that means?
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All my friends, don't let another day go by without
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embracing the Christ as Messiah, as Lord, as King of your life.
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Respond to the invitation by receiving Him, not rejecting
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Him. Let me pray with you.
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Thank you Lord, for today and the opportunity we have to look
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at you. We're so much yet to uncover, so
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little time it seems to do so. But maybe we take what we've
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learned today, apply it to our lives, that we might live for
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the glory of the King until you come again, as you most surely
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will, in Jesus name, Amen.