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807. Bible Study: Habakkuk 1 (Why does God allow Evil?) · Faith by annm2705

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Today we are continuing with a new book, Habakkuk, and this
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Habakkuk is a prophet to the nation of Judah.
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His time frame came right after the prior one that we did well,
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Obadiah. There is some question about
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whether that was longer ago or more recent for Obadiah, but
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anyway, this is the next one in the sequence of when he was when
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it was written. And this is about 605 BC, so
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thousands of years from today. But anyway, I will read what the
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study guide has as far as the introduction to the book, and
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then we will get started with a prayer after the introduction.
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So have you ever wanted to ask God if you're really in control?
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Why does evil so often win? If so, you'll identify with
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Habakkuk, who entered into a great debate with God.
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Now I'm thinking when I hear that, I mean, this is the
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question everybody asks. A lot of people are like, if God
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is good, why is there evil? That's a question that people
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have asked for thousands of years, and I've over time, I
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believe I understand why. And this book will get us
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through that as well. And the other thing that I
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thought of when I read this, who entered into a great debate with
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God, Job did that also. And again, it was because Job
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was experiencing evil things, and so he was questioning God
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because he felt like he didn't deserve it.
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And it turned out for Job's instance, that Job was actually
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being tested by God. And it was the spiritual battle
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that we're told about. It was Satan saying if I do
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these things to him, he will turn away from you.
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And God was saying he knew Job's heart and he knew he wouldn't,
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but he did allow Satan to do these things.
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And that's a reality that we need to accept, that God does
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allow us to be tested. And I don't know how often that
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happens. You know, sometimes when evil
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happens, it's a consequence. Sometimes it's a testing of our
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faith. But a testing of our faith is
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only to make us stronger in our relationship with God.
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It's when we have that decision, when we have to decide, are we
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going to reject God at this point or are we going to get
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closer to God? And I do think, I mean, I
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personally have experienced that and I didn't know what it was,
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but that's how I found out what it was by opening the Bible to
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the Book of Job exactly during the time I was experiencing it.
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So it was very interesting. A coincidence.
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Yeah. I don't think things are
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coincidences anymore, anyway. Continuing in the introduction,
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Habakkuk, whose name may mean wrestler, grappled with God
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about questions as relevant today as ever.
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How can a just God ignore injustice?
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Why does God allow the wicked to prosper?
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Can a good God use evil to accomplish his purposes?
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Habakkuk struggled to understand how God works, but in the end,
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he became convinced that he could trust God no matter how
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bleak or confusing the circumstances appeared to be.
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What was happening During this time?
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Sin was rampant in Judah. People were worshipping idols,
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sacrificing their children to Pagan gods, and ignoring God.
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The wicked king Jehoiakim not only refused to listen to God's
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prophets, but also burned their writings, arrested several of
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them, and even murdered one. Jehoiakim foolishly positioned
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Judah between two warring superpowers, the declining
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Assyrian Empire and the rising Babylonian Empire.
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The historical background to the book of Habakkuk is found in
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Second Kings chapter 23 through 24 and Second Chronicles chapter
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36. Most prophets spoke to the
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people of God. It says OK, this is what to look
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for in Habakkuk. Most prophets spoke to the
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people on God's behalf. Habakkuk wasn't unique that he
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spoke to God on behalf of the people.
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As you read, notice his complaint to God, God's
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unexpected and unwelcome answer, and the hope Habakkuk finally
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discovered. So this is going to be an
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interesting one. And there's a Latin, there's
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only three chapters in here. I don't know how far we will get
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in this because there's a lot of things that I will probably talk
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about, but we will see. Anyway, let's start with a
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prayer. Dear Lord, please be with us as
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we read through this. Please let the Holy Spirit give
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us wisdom, understanding and application.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So the prophecy that Habakkuk
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the prophet received here, it starts with Habakkuk's
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complaint. How long?
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How long, Lord, must I call for help?
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But you do not listen or cry out to you violence, but you do not
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save. Why do you make me look at
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injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
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Destruction and violence are before me.
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There is strife and conflict abounds.
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Therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails.
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The wicked hem in the righteous so that justice is perverted.
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Here's the Lord's answer. Look at the nations and watch
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and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something
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in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.
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I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetus people
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who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their
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own. They are a feared and dreaded
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people. They are a law to themselves and
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promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than
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leopards, fiercer than wolves. At dusk their cavalry gallops
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headlong. Their horsemen come from afar.
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They fly like an eagle swooping to devour.
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They all come intent on violence.
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Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners
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like sand. They mock kings and scoff at
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rulers. They laugh at all fortified
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cities by building earthen ramps.
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They capture them. Then they sweep past like wind
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and go on. Guilty people whose own strength
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is their God. OK, I'm going to pause right
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here because this is something over the years that I've been
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studying the Bible and something that Bible scholars do say also,
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which I've found I not by many, but I found some that are saying
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this that are coming more and more.
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Is that so Babylon. So God is saying, whose own
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strength is their God, the one that they worship?
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Now Babylon is, I believe it is this spiritual entity and it may
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be a mixture of a multitude of evil things that people
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worshipped back then. And these spirits are eternal
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beings and they come in by, they are called by different names in
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different cultures. But if you look into them, you
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will see there are similarities, ancient Mesopotamia, Babylonian,
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they are names. We talked about this in prior
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chapters. There, there is a male entity
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that is called Marduk or Baal or I guess there's, there's
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multiple things. And, and I guess a Poly, I don't
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know, there's a, there's a lot of different entities that are
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referred to as the male side of things.
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And I do think it's, I do think it's Satan.
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And then there's a female side. And it's really interesting
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because the female side is referenced in a lot of different
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cultures too. And it's like the Ashtara Inana
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Ishtar. And if you look at the Queen of
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heaven, all of those entities where they could perhaps be
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different things, but the question to me is, are they
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really something different or is it Satan masquerading as an
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Angel of light? I we won't know the answer to
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that until God. You know, someday maybe we'll
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we'll know about it. But you get into the Book of
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Revelation and you read about the woman riding on the beast,
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and the beast is something that comes up out of the abyss.
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So it's something demonic and it had a past and it has a present
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and it has a future. So it's something eternal and
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it's different from the spirit of Babylon.
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And the Babylon spirit is mystery.
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Babylon is described as the prostitute, the mother of
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harlots, the, you know, the abomination.
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It's idolatry and and basically idolatry and sexual things.
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And, and it's interesting again that these names, Ishtar, Inana
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are often kind of androgynous type beings.
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And I believe that this same spirit is influencing our world
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today with this whole gender confusion that's happening
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across the world. And, and I believe it is that
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spirit of that ancient spirit of Babylon that is working in our
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world today. And whether it's another evil
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spirit that's in, you know, that's a an ally of Satan or if
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it's Satan himself masquerading as something.
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But these people who worship Babylon, didn't, you know, they
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had some sort of experience. It wasn't a figment of their
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imagination or this wouldn't have grown so big.
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So they were experiencing something.
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But what they didn't do is they didn't realize that it was evil.
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They were being deceived, just like today, people who buy into
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this gender fluidity are being deceived.
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And I believe it is this ancient spirit of Babylon.
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And God warns us, you know, to come out of her my people fleet
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because her sins pile up to the heavens.
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And there is this ancient entity that I believe is spiritual and
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this is the God of the Babylonians.
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And I, you look at who was the God of the Babylonians and it
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was Marduk. And, and there's, like I said,
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these names. Look into it.
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So this, you know, why would God say that?
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They think it's a God, but it's not.
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It's an evil entity. So God is answering this.
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God is clarifying this. And this book was written back
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in 600 BC. So we have information that we
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should be using today to realize that what Paul says is true.
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We battle not against flesh and blood, but against these
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principalities in the, in the spirits in the heavenly, the
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spirits of darkness in the heavenly realms.
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And they do have access to the heavenly realms.
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But at a certain point, which I don't believe has happened yet,
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they are cast down because in the Book of Revelation it talks
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about the dragon who is Satan. You know, his tail sweeps out
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several of the stars and the stars are representative of
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angels and sweeps them to the earth with them.
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They were cast out and there's a period of 3 1/2 years before
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Jesus returns because it says like woe to the earth because
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Satan has been cast down and his wrath is coming upon the earth.
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And that period is 3 1/2 years that this happens, which we are
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not in. This is going to be like a time
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period that has never been before and never will again.
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It's going to be a severe time. So it's a short duration of time
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compared to eternity, but it'll probably feel like forever for
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those experiencing it. Anyway, I don't want to get too
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far into all of that. Let's go back into Scripture
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again. So Habakkuk has another
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complaint. He said, Lord, are you not from
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everlasting? My God, my holy 1, you will
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never die. You, Lord, have appointed them
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to execute judgement. You, my rock, have ordained them
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to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look
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on evil. You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
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Why then, do you tolerate the treacherous?
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Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more
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righteous than themselves? You have made people like fish
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in the sea, like creatures that have no ruler.
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The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks.
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He catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet.
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And so he rejoices in his and is glad.
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Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his
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dragnet. For by his net he lives in
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luxury and enjoys the choices food.
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Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without
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mercy. So this made me think about the
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love of the love of money is the root of all evil.
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Money isn't evil. Money is a tool, but the love of
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it is what is what gets our priorities out of alignment.
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And that's what Babylon, if you pay attention to what Babylon
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does, not necessarily the ancient city, but there's a
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spirit behind the city. And it says in Revelation the,
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the mystery Babylon, it, it made wealth for all these people and
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it does, it does get destroyed. And but it it was behind those
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who made the merchants rich. And, and so we have to look at
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this, think about like Hollywood, think about musicians
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who there are many of them who are, I think Beyoncé even says
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something takes over her in her music and she's has some very
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evil things that she does in her music and she's very misguided.
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So I mean, we should pray for people who are under this
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deception, who are under the the spell of the spirit of Babylon.
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And but it does clearly say about how it is connected with
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with luxury. Even here in Habakkuk's
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complaint, he's talking about, you know, there's a there's a
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connection with luxury. Now, God is not against money,
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but it's the stewardship. It's what we do with our money
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that God does care about. Does money become our God?
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Does money, Do we do anything to become more wealthy, to acquire
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more things? Is that what our focus is?
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Or do we use the resource, the treasure that God gives and God
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blesses people with it sometimes as well?
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Do we use that for the benefit of others?
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Are we using it the way God would want us to use it?
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Or are we using it for our own purposes?
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And that's something I think all of us need to reflect on,
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especially in the US where we have, you know, we have a a
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wealthy nation. And I believe we have a wealthy
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nation because it was established with God as the
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foundation. And I believe that we still have
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people who respect God and worship God within the United
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States. And I believe that if the people
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come together and pray and and repent, then we can maybe remain
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as the United States. But if we don't have repentance,
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I believe that very similar to what happened to God's own city
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of Jerusalem, where he will reign from, He let the
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Babylonians conquer it. And I think that's where we are
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today. If you look at what's happening,
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there is a religious group that wants to conquer and hates the
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United States. They actually call the United
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States the Big Satan, and they call Israel Little Satan.
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And their goal is to conquer all.
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And in fact, their Mahdi is the description of what the Mahdi
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does matches the description of the Bible of what the Antichrist
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does. And we need to be aware of that
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because I can see this happening right now.
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You just have to look in the news of what's happening in the
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world and you will see this. And something that I want to
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mention now since I touched on that topic was that the the last
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book of the Bible was written in 90 AD.
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And within the Bible it says if an Angel or any other entity
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comes and tells you a gospel different than what has been
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preached to you, let them be accursed.
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So any revelation of something new and different than what's in
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the Bible has a warning attached to it that it is something from
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the evil 1. And so any religion that came up
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after 90 AD that doesn't use the Bible as the the basis of truth,
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that is deception. And we have to be careful about
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it because if we are truly close to the time of Jesus's return,
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he will be separating the believers and the unbelievers.
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And anyway, I won't get so much on to that.
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But let's get back to this. Let's see how far we are in
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time. We have 20 minutes, so I'm going
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to. Go over the questions and
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answers from the study guide and and may wrap this up.
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I don't want to make these too long because people won't listen
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that long. So let's go.
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What was prophecy? The Hebrew word for this word is
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related to a Hebrew verb meaning to lift or carry and is possibly
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to be understood as either lifting up one's voice or
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carrying a burden. Such Old Testament prophecies
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often contained a message of doom.
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That's why people didn't like it, because it wasn't positive
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news. Was God ignoring Habakkuk's
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prayers? Habakkuk may have prayed as long
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as 12 years for justice without any response.
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During his wait, Habakkuk learned something about God's
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timing. God wasn't ignoring His prayer,
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but was answering it by working behind the scenes where Habakkuk
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could not see his actions. What should we do when God seems
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to ignore us? We should persevere in our faith
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and keep talking to God. We may argue, plead, and reason
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with God, but we must also listen, reflect, and seek wisdom
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about His ways. Sometimes we are simply
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uninformed about what God is doing.
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In time, if we persevere, we will be amazed at what He has
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done and be utterly amazed centuries later.
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The apostle Paul quoted Habakkuk to support his point that God
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will judge, judge those who reject Jesus in Acts chapter 13
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verse 41. So I think I had that chapter
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mentioned here. I don't know.
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Oh yeah, Acts 1341, He says this verse says, look, you scoffers
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wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your
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days that you would never believe even if someone told
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you. So that's where Paul is quoting
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and he was talking. Maybe I should read about what
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Paul was talking about in here, because that is I think I will.
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So from starting with Acts 13, verse 13, I'm going to read
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through that on down to the end, I guess.
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From Pathos, Paul and his companions sailed to Purga in
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Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
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From Purga, they went to Pisidion, Antioch.
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On the Sabbath, they entered the synagogue and sat down.
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After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of
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the synagogue sent word to them saying, Brothers, if you have a
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word of exhortation for the people, please speak.
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Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said, Fellow
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Israel, Israelites, and you Gentiles who worship God, listen
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to me. The God of the people of Israel
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chose our ancestors. He made the people prosper
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during their stay in Egypt. With mighty power, He led them
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out of that country for about 40 years.
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He endured their conduct in the wilderness.
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And He overthrew 7 nations in Canaan, giving their land to His
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people as their inheritance. I'm going to pause here for a
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minute. He overthrew 7 nations.
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I'm wondering, I remember in the Book of Revelation when it talks
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about the beast and there are 7 heads on the beast, I wonder if
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these nations are being led by certain principalities or
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spirits of those areas and this is God's ultimate.
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You know, they keep coming back. Spirits are eternal, and so
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they're actually coming back again, but it's interesting that
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there were seven nations. I just noticed this as I'm
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reading it right now in Canaan. Giving their land to the his
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people as their inheritance, continuing on and from Acts.
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All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges
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until the time of Samuel the prophet.
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Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son
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of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled 40 years.
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Again, this 40 is like this period of time.
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It's like a period of time of testing.
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After removing Saul, he made David their king.
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God testified concerning him. I have found David son of Jesse,
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a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him
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to do. So David was obedient to God
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from this man's descendants. God has brought to Israel the
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Savior Jesus, as he promised before the coming of Jesus John,
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repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.
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As John was completing his work, he said, Who do you suppose I
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am? I am not the one you were
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looking for, but there is one coming after me whose sandals I
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am not worthy to untie. Fellow children of Abraham and
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you, God fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of
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salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and
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their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him
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they fulfilled the words of the prophet that are read every
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Sabbath. Though they found no proper
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ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him
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executed. When they had carried out all
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that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and
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laid him in a tomb. But God praised him from the
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dead, and for many days he was seen by those who travelled with
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him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to
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our people. We tell you the good news.
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What God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us their
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children by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second
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Psalm. You are my Son.
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Today I have become your Father. God raised him from the dead so
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that he will never be subject to decay.
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As God has said, I will give you the holy and sure blessings
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promised to David. It is also stated elsewhere, you
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will not let your Holy one see decay, and that's written in
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Psalms 16 verse 10. Now when David had served God's
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purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.
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He was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.
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So the Bible talks about falling asleep and that's what it just
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always when people die, it's not a permanent death because
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there's going to be a resurrection that happens.
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The first resurrection is when Jesus returns.
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The second resurrection is all of those who rejected Christ,
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and that will occur 1000 years later according to the Book of
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Revelation. That's when the dead who
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rejected Christ, who rejected God, will be raised up from the
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dead and will be judged. Final judgement so every single
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person, this is something we should all know.
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We all were created to be eternal beings.
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The question is, are we rejecting God or we surrendering
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to God? Do we identify God as our Lord?
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Like he said here about David was obedient to him.
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Are we willing to live by God's laws?
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That shows God we love him. It doesn't get us into heaven.
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It just shows God that we love him, that we are obedient, that
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we respect his laws. That's what obeying the commands
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that God has given is to God. Jesus is the one who made.
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He is the Savior. He's the one who made it
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possible. We can't ignore Jesus and expect
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to be in God's Kingdom. God's, you know, just as it says
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in Acts 13, verse 33, you are my son today.
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I have become your father. And he said another time when
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Jesus was baptized, he said, this is my son.
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You know, some whom I'm, I don't know, I can't remember the
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verses, the actual, actual words, but he was very proud and
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you know, really, you know, it made, you know, verbally said
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this, Gosh, I need to look that up.
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This is my son who I am. I don't know if it's like proud
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of or something, but he exalted Jesus basically.
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So going back to the book of Acts, but the one whom God
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raised from the dead did not see decay.
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Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that though that
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through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
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That's what Jesus sacrifice did on the cross.
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It gave us the ability to have our sins forgiven and the
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ability to receive the Holy Spirit.
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The Holy Spirit comes through Jesus.
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Jesus requests the Holy Spirit from the Father and gives it to
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whomever he wants. That's why Jesus is the way, the
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truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except
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through Him. So we cannot reject Jesus.
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We cannot reject Jesus as the Son of God and expect to be in
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God's Kingdom because we need the Holy Spirit.
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Jesus said in John chapter 3 that unless you are born again,
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born of the Spirit, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
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So we need the Holy Spirit within us, and that's what Jesus
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will do. So if we reject or deny Jesus,
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we don't get the Holy Spirit. So Jesus is very crucial to us
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being in the Kingdom and we have to remember we are eternal.
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So God says if you seek me you will find me.
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So if you have questions about all this, start seeking God,
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start praying to God, pray to the Father and ask the Father to
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reveal the Son. Because a lot of people believe
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in God the Father, but they are not sure about Jesus.
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So ask God the Father to reveal truth about the Son.
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And like it says in Scripture, if you seek me you will find me.
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So God will do it. I believe that continuing in
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scripture through him referring to Jesus, everyone who believes
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is set free from every sin. A justification you were not
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able to obtain under the law of Moses.
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See, our actions can't do it. We can't get into God's Kingdom.
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Jesus is the way. Take care.
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What the prophets have said does not happen to you.
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And that's where Paul says this. Look, you scoffers, wonder and
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perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you
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would never believe even if someone told you.
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As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the
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people invited them to speak further about these things On
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the next Sabbath, When the congregation was dismissed, many
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of the Jews and devout and and devout converts to Judaism
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followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them
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to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath, almost the
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whole city gathered to hear the word of God.
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So I will stop there. Actually, I'll just continue on
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so there's only a few more verses.
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When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy.
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They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse
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on him. This is like how evil works.
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As soon as you know, people are about to be set free through
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Jesus, but then evil comes and just heaps abuse.
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And and I can tell you like my own story that happened to me
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where when I started seeking bad things started happening to me.
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And that's where I was pleading kind of like guess like Habakkuk
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like to God, like why, you know, I'm doing all of this now.
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Why is this happening? And God answered my prayers
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where by me opening the Bible to the book of Job, I was being
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tested and I didn't know, I didn't know about the spiritual
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realm. I didn't know about the battle
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between the, you know, darkness and light.
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I didn't know all that stuff. And so God revealed those things
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to me when I started seeking him, when I was pleading with
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him. Like, why is this?
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Like I had, I wanted to be good, I wanted to be a better person.
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That's what I was seeking, but I didn't understand, and God
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revealed those things to me, going back to Acts.
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For this is what the Lord has commanded us.
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I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring
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salvation to the ends of the earth.
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When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the
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word of the Lord and all who were appointed for eternal life
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believed the word of the Lord spread through the whole region.
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But the Jewish leaders incited the God fearing women of high
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standing and the leading men of the city.
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They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and
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expelled them from the region. Now you have to think about
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this. Why?
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Why would somebody do this? Like why would they persecute if
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this is being offered to people and it's the gift of salvation
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and it's the entry into God's Kingdom and it's it says why it
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was jealous because the Jewish people, it was jealousy.
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The Jewish people had a certain way that they were teaching.
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This was different than what they had been teaching.
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They were rejecting it. They rejected Jesus.
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And so that's that's a part of actually being humble.
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Like people can reject Jesus and be forgiven.
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It says that in the Bible, they can reject the Son of man and be
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forgiven when they come in repentance.
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They can't be forgiven of the rejection of the Holy Spirit,
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though the Spirit of God, but they can be forgiven because
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people, you know, come against these kinds of things.
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And God understands that. And God is forgiving.
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He's merciful. And so if people have rejected
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Jesus in the past, when they, you know, come to know the truth
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and say, oh, I'm so sorry God for doing this.
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God Forgives. So it doesn't matter what
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religion people are. And when they come to know
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Jesus, if they don't reject him and they feel bad about
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rejecting him in the past, God Forgives.
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So continuing on. So they shook the dust off their
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feet as a warning to them, and they went to Iconium.
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And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy
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Spirit. So they were doing the work that
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Jesus asked them to do and they were filled with joy.
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Just think about that. They were just rejected, but
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they had joy. They were filled with the Holy
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Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to enter
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the Kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit Spirit brings all sorts
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of things. You can read Galatians chapter 5
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and see that that's part of it, the fruit of the Spirit.
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So if you you want to know if you have the Spirit, read
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Galatians chapter 5 because that'll tell you what your life
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will become like if you have the Holy Spirit or if you are still
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being guided by the flesh. And there's interesting that a
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verse came up recently that that we are, we consist of a spirit
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and a soul and a body. And I was really confused by
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what's the difference between a spirit and our soul and they are
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different. So the spirit is our connection
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to God, the soul is our being. Like in other scripture it says
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what good is it to gain the whole world but forfeit your
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soul? So we can be very successful in
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this world and obtain things. But the most important thing is
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where is our soul destined? That's the question we need to
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ask ourselves. That's what we need to get
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straightened out. In Romans chapter 8, verses 6
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through 9, it says the mind governed by the flesh is death,
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but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace.
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So again, if you go to Galatians chapter 5, you will see the mind
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governed by the flesh and what those actions are, and you will
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see the mind governed by the Spirit, led by the Spirit.
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So in verse 7, in Romans chapter 8, it says the mind governed by
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the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law,
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nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of
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the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the
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realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if
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indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.
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And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not
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belong to Christ. So this is again reinforcing
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that we need the Holy Spirit. There's a connection between
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having the Holy Spirit and having life or having the Holy
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Spirit or not having the Holy Spirit and experiencing death
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and death is really like darkness is the separation from
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God. It's it's eternal torment.
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If you study it more in the Bible of what that actually
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means. So it it's a time to really look
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at ourselves In Matthew 16, verse 26 and and Mark chapter 8
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verse 36, it says that what good is it for someone to gain the
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whole world yet forfeit their soul.
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And Matthew says, what good is it for someone to gain the whole
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world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in
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exchange for their soul? We're going to be placed
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somewhere and our. Decision about whether we will,
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you know, surrender to God. Basically let God be the Lord of
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our life. Let the Holy Spirit lead us.
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If we don't let the Holy Spirit lead us, we're destined for
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darkness. So anyway that I think that oh,
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actually I didn't complete all of the questions and answers
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because we got started on Acts chapter 13.
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So I'll continue on. Why would God include ruthless
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and impetus Babylonians in this plan?
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Because God is sovereign, He can use all things, even great evil,
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intentionally done by people to work out His loving purposes for
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the world. Calamities that come our way or
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that we ourselves cause are providentially woven into God's
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plan. Who were the Babylonians?
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Babylonia was a nation northwest of the Persian Gulf in modern
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Iraq. The Babylonians rose to power
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between 6:12 and six O 5 BC, conquering both the Assyrian and
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the Egyptian empires in the process.
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They were ruthless in their quest for power.
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Still, as bad as they were, God used them to correct Judah.
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In 586 BC they conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple,
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and took people into captivity. Can people be appointed by God
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without being aware of it? Certainly many of us has have
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been surprised to learn that God chose us for a specific task,
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our mission. Often we see God's work in us
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long after the fact. We must be open to being
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commissioned by God to do His work in the world.
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God has a purpose each and every one of us, and when we let the
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Holy Spirit lead us, we start to enter into that purpose.
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Why would God use wicked people to do His own work?
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God is sovereign over all things, even the wicked.
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He was sovereign over the Babylonians, even though they
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did not know Him, and He used them for His purposes in the
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world. Still they were responsible for
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what they did. The Babylonians were ordained to
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punish. Judah eventually became so
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greedy for violence and destruction that God turned that
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very destruction against them. Why would anyone worship a net?
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The net symbolized power. A fisherman used a net to
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encircle an area so no fish could escape.
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Since no nation could escape the Babylonians, some ancient
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artwork pictures their enemies captured in fishnets.
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The proud Babylonians worshipped their own strength, military
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power became one of their gods. And that's the end of the
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questions. Well, no, there's one more.
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So does God use evil to do good? When Habakkuk asked God to end
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the corruption in Judah, he didn't expect God to do it using
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such severe discipline. True, King Jehoiakim and his
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cronies had grown wealthy by injustice and extortion, even
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enslaving their own people and arrogantly burning the writings
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of Jeremiah, another prophet who pleaded for justice.
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But if Judah was bad, the Babylonians were worse.
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Their Chariots and horsemen trampled defenders.
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Their armies laid siege and starved cities into submission.
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Their soldiers raped their victims, even torturing pregnant
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women and infants. I want to pause here because
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what happened on October 7th, 2023 matches this description.
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And if my theory is correct about the Babylonian Spirit
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guiding people and deceiving people, then the Babylonian
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spirit was alive and active in Hamas and this is exactly what
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they did. You can, you can find this stuff
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out like they are finding infant formula that was not given to
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the people of Gaza and was put into warehouses by Hamas.
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It was kept away from people, so people who were not receiving
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the goods that were sent to them by other nations.
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There's a lot of evil here. The soldiers, the people that
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you know, broke through the fence on October 7th, 2023.
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They did rape their victims and they tortured pregnant women and
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infants. There is one account, I mean,
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they videoed this stuff too, so it, it's, you know, I guess
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verifiable. They even put a baby in an oven
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and baked a live baby in front of the mother.
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That's one of the things. There was another account of a
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soldier actually cutting open, you know, womb and now.
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So this is exactly what it said that Babylon did.
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Now this army of destruction was coming towards Judah.
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This was God's justice. So again, I really think that
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Hamas is the spirit of the Babylonians.
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Eventually, God enlarged Habakkuk's vision.
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Habakkuk saw that God is in control even when it appears He
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is not. God directs peace people and
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nations, often without their knowledge, for his good
46:08
purposes. When evil comes, it may be God's
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judgement on people's sins. But God's severe judgement, like
46:17
a surgeon's scalpel, works not to hurt but to heal.
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Similarly, people may intend to harm us and appear to succeed,
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but God may intend for good to accomplish his sovereign
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purposes. Ultimately, God does what he
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commands us to do. Do not be overcome by evil, but
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overcome evil with good. That's from Romans chapter 12
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verse 21. So we just finished chapter 1 of
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Habakkuk and our next time we will go into chapter 2.
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It's just there's so much in here that applies to us today
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and points of reflection. So if this was helpful to you,
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please subscribe and please share this with other people.
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It's so important for us to stay in the Word.
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There's so much horrible stuff that we see in the news today,
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and we need to keep grounded in Scripture.
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We need to keep our eyes focused on Christ and get through all of
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this. So please join me every day as I
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try to get in the Bible.