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The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet Msg 1013 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: You'll find an outline for today's message in your worship folder.
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Speaker 1: And unusual though it may sound, I'd like you to
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Speaker 1: place the outline in the crease of your Bible at
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Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians 4. I'll not be reading from that passage,
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Speaker 1: but we'll get to it right away in the message.
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Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. That's where the outline goes. And
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Speaker 1: then locate, please, Revelation chapter 11. The last five verses,
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Speaker 1: if you will, please. Revelation 11, 15 through 19. Then
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Speaker 1: the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in
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Speaker 1: heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the
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Speaker 1: kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
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Speaker 1: will reign forever and ever. And the 24 elders who
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Speaker 1: sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces
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Speaker 1: and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God,
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Speaker 1: the Almighty, who are and who were, because you have
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Speaker 1: taken your great power and have begun to reign. And
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Speaker 1: the nations were enraged. And your wrath came, and the
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Speaker 1: time came for the dead to be judged, and the
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Speaker 1: time to reward your bondservants, the prophets and the saints,
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Speaker 1: and those who fear your name, the small and the great,
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Speaker 1: and to destroy those who destroy the earth. And the
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Speaker 1: temple of God, which is in heaven, was opened, and
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Speaker 1: the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. And
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Speaker 1: there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of
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Speaker 1: thunder and an earthquake and a great hail storm. It
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Speaker 1: was five years ago, two days from now, that a
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Speaker 1: gathering of people first met out here in the town
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Speaker 1: of Frisco. with the thought of just meeting together for
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Speaker 1: Bible study and not really having any firm or carefully
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Speaker 1: thought through plans for a church. Some of you were
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Speaker 1: among us. And while I'll not ask you to stand,
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Speaker 1: I'm always amazed at how many of the original group
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Speaker 1: has stuck it out through these years of growth and
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Speaker 1: change and adjustment of life. And we now witness all
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Speaker 1: around us his hand of grace upon us. And perhaps I,
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Speaker 1: more than anyone, am most surprised. God is doing a
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Speaker 1: great thing here. It will outlive all of us. And
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Speaker 1: it is all about him. And today we acknowledge that.
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Speaker 1: We could have planned a big celebration, but that, again,
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Speaker 1: doesn't quite fit our style. I do hope in the
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Speaker 1: not too distant future to say a few words about
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Speaker 1: plans for the future that I think will be of
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Speaker 1: interest to everyone, certainly as it relates to a master
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Speaker 1: plan for our property, our future as a church. As
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Speaker 1: I learned from Corey Tenboom years ago, it's important that
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Speaker 1: The more valuable something is to you, the more loosely
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Speaker 1: you hold it. So this is not about anyone in particular.
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Speaker 1: It is all about our God, who appropriately we sang today,
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Speaker 1: who reigns over what he is doing in this little
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Speaker 1: part of his world. So before this offering time, will
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Speaker 1: you join me for a brief few moments of prayer
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Speaker 1: as we bow together? We all simply want you to know,
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Speaker 1: our Father, the depth of our gratitude for touching lives
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Speaker 1: so deeply for these years we've been meeting. In some ways,
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Speaker 1: it seems like it was three weeks ago. In other ways,
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Speaker 1: it seems like it was ten years ago. But what
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Speaker 1: a simple beginning and what an inauspicious approach to the
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Speaker 1: beginning of a church. And you were there from the
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Speaker 1: start and you are still among us. And by your grace,
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Speaker 1: your spirit moves in our midst and we acknowledge that.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for allowing me and so many of us
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Speaker 1: to have had a part of this from the start.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for looking with favor upon us, for working
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Speaker 1: through the faithfulness and the generosity and the diligence and
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Speaker 1: the commitment of so many who have joined ranks with us.
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Speaker 1: And on this day, Lord, we give you our lives
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Speaker 1: afresh and anew again, We recommit ourselves to whatever it
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Speaker 1: is you have for us. And we pray that we
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Speaker 1: will continue to take our cues from you, not running
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Speaker 1: in fear of our times or worried over where we
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Speaker 1: are economically or politically or militarily. We will remember that
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Speaker 1: we are, in every sense of the word, citizens of heaven. Lord,
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Speaker 1: our giving today is a reflection of that. We've learned
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Speaker 1: to do this giving through you and we want to
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Speaker 1: emulate you in the way you give so joyously and
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Speaker 1: generously and continually to us. And we now do so
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Speaker 1: full of gratitude as we place ourselves before you first
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Speaker 1: and then our gifts given in your name and for
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Speaker 1: the glory of Christ in whose name we pray and
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Speaker 1: everyone said amen. When it comes to future events, the
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Speaker 1: Lord seems to prefer trumpets. Being an old saxophone player,
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Speaker 1: I've often wondered why he wouldn't have wanted to use
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Speaker 1: a saxophone or maybe clarinet. Nice mellow tone or maybe
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Speaker 1: delightful strains from a cello or a bassoon or maybe
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Speaker 1: the bombastic sounds of a big tuba or the pounding
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Speaker 1: of the timpani or chimes, beautiful chimes. But that's not
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Speaker 1: the way the Lord prefers. He's into trumpets. Trumpets. Years ago,
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Speaker 1: true story, at a Bible college, there was a very
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Speaker 1: popular Bible class taught to freshmen every year. And it
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Speaker 1: included truth regarding the future. Teacher happened to be an
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Speaker 1: excellent student of prophecy and always took delight in allowing
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Speaker 1: a little imagination to be added to what he taught.
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Speaker 1: which always helps when you're on subjects like the coming
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. However, he was true to the text,
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Speaker 1: and he found himself with great delight in that section
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Speaker 1: of 1 Thessalonians 4, where the Lord himself will descend
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Speaker 1: from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
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Speaker 1: with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ
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Speaker 1: shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
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Speaker 1: shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
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Speaker 1: to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we
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Speaker 1: ever be with the Lord. Well, as you can imagine.
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Speaker 1: These freshmen were on the edge of their seats as
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Speaker 1: he talked about there will come a day when that
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Speaker 1: final trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ, those
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Speaker 1: who have died knowing the Lord Jesus, along with those
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Speaker 1: alive on the earth, will be taken up to be
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Speaker 1: with the Lord in the sky, in the air, to
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Speaker 1: be forever with him, leaving on this earth those who
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Speaker 1: are left behind to deal with the chaos and the
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Speaker 1: confusion and ultimately death. all of the judgment that would
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Speaker 1: come upon the earth. Well, the upperclassmen happened to know
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Speaker 1: that particular day when the teacher was teaching that, so
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Speaker 1: several of them got their heads together and decided this
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Speaker 1: was the perfect time to carry out a practical joke
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Speaker 1: on one of the nerds in the first year class,
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Speaker 1: who found himself rather skeptical of this teaching, and when
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Speaker 1: they heard about it, they informed everybody but him that
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Speaker 1: on that particular night with the date given on the
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Speaker 1: notice everybody was to let him go sound asleep and
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Speaker 1: then all on the campus would leave. Everybody as he slept.
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Speaker 1: And they would leave faucets running in the bathroom and
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Speaker 1: lights on and computers glowing on their desks and beds unmade,
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Speaker 1: of course. Even some planned to put cars in certain
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Speaker 1: places along the streets of the campus with doors open,
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Speaker 1: lights on, radio on. And then someone who had the
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Speaker 1: voice of Michael the Archangel would stand in front of
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Speaker 1: the public address system that fed the entire campus and
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Speaker 1: would give a shout and then first chair trumpet player
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Speaker 1: from the band would step up and you'd blow this trumpet. Perfect.
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Speaker 1: The plan ran right on schedule. The campus was empty.
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Speaker 1: Even some in the cafeteria that early morning hour who
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Speaker 1: would normally be getting ready to prepare breakfast Left the
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Speaker 1: fire going under the skillet and left the sounds and
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Speaker 1: sights of life and nobody. As the trumpet blew, this
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Speaker 1: fellow sits up in bed. Not a soul is around.
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Speaker 1: Steps into the bathroom. Faucet is running. In fact, a
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Speaker 1: shower over in the corner is running and the door
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Speaker 1: is open and no one is there. He looks outside
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Speaker 1: and he sees down from the second floor several cars
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Speaker 1: in the parking lot. Nobody there. Not a sign of
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Speaker 1: life on campus. It was wonderful. I understand when the
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Speaker 1: story was finally told and he got the word back
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Speaker 1: that he didn't sleep very well for the next three weeks,
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Speaker 1: thinking that might be the night. We have our fun
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Speaker 1: with folks at times, and it is sort of a
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Speaker 1: cute story, unless, of course, you're going to be left behind.
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Speaker 1: And truth be told, more will be left than will
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Speaker 1: be taken. Because the Lord always does his work in
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Speaker 1: a remnant. Most have never believed. And among the vast
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Speaker 1: population of this earth pushing now into the several billions,
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Speaker 1: most don't know Christ. But that day will come when
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Speaker 1: that hour will arrive and there will be the voice
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Speaker 1: of the archangel and the sound of the trumpet And
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Speaker 1: according to 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16, those who have
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Speaker 1: died in Christ will be brought back from the dead
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Speaker 1: and their souls that are now with the Lord Jesus
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Speaker 1: will be joined with their now resurrected body and changed
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Speaker 1: to live for eternity. And along with the dead being raised,
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Speaker 1: we who are alive on the earth at the time
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Speaker 1: of the arrival of Christ in the clouds, We will
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Speaker 1: be joined with them and there will be this magnificent
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Speaker 1: family reunion as we are taken forever to be with
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Speaker 1: the Lord. What a grand thought that is. Unless, of course,
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Speaker 1: you're not one of those. Really makes you think. And
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Speaker 1: in case you are perhaps like the a first-year student
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Speaker 1: at the Bible College. In case you happen to be
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Speaker 1: given the skepticism, let me tell you that if that
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Speaker 1: is not going to happen, it's the first lie God
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Speaker 1: recorded in his word. And you and I know better
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Speaker 1: than that. Just because you're ignorant of it doesn't mean
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Speaker 1: it won't occur. From 1 Thessalonians, go back to 1
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Speaker 1: Corinthians 15 and look at verse 51. Very interesting twist
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Speaker 1: on all of this. Same subject, just looked at from
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Speaker 1: another angle. Where Paul says, behold, I tell you a mystery.
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Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15, 51. A mystery mystery. The Greek word musterion,
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Speaker 1: from which we get our English word mystery, does not
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Speaker 1: really mean something that's a riddle that nobody can figure out.
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Speaker 1: Musterion is like our word secret. It's veiled until you
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Speaker 1: know the answer and then it's open and understood. Behold,
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Speaker 1: I tell you a secret. What does that mean? It
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Speaker 1: means earlier than this moment it was not known. The
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Speaker 1: Old Testament prophets didn't know of the rapture of the church.
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Speaker 1: The Old Testament saints didn't talk about the Lord coming
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Speaker 1: for his own in the clouds to meet him in
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Speaker 1: the air. The Lord didn't tell us about what about
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Speaker 1: those who are alive on the earth at the time
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Speaker 1: of his coming. That's shrouded in a secret until this time.
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Speaker 1: He said, I tell you a musterion. And what is that?
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Speaker 1: He says, we will not all sleep. Meaning body sleep,
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Speaker 1: not soul. It's a good moment to stop and clarify.
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Speaker 1: At death, there's a separation. When a person dies, there's
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Speaker 1: a separation between the body and the spirit. We're made
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Speaker 1: up of both. I'll let the book represent the body.
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Speaker 1: I'll let this piece of paper represent the spirit. At
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Speaker 1: the time of death, the body remains on the earth
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Speaker 1: to be prepared for burial as the spirit is or
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Speaker 1: the soul goes immediately into the presence of the Lord
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Speaker 1: and remains there in conscious state. Soul doesn't sleep, nor
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Speaker 1: does the spirit. The body is now buried, or whatever
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Speaker 1: happens to the body at death, it remains on earth.
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Speaker 1: And the spirit, the soul, awaits the time when this
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Speaker 1: event will occur. At the time of the event, there's
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Speaker 1: a sound of the trumpet, there is the voice of
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Speaker 1: the archangel, There is the return of the Lord Jesus
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Speaker 1: in the clouds with us, bringing our spirits, if we
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Speaker 1: have died before this event, and the body will be changed,
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Speaker 1: as we're going to read, and made to last eternally,
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Speaker 1: since our current bodies would not be able to do that.
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Speaker 1: Our bodies bear the marks of age and wear and
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Speaker 1: decay and the effects of sinfulness, but at the time
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Speaker 1: of the future when we are changed, we'll be given life.
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Speaker 1: new kinds of bodies to go and be forever in
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Speaker 1: a conscious state with our Lord Jesus as events begin
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Speaker 1: to unfold on this earth. I'll get to that in
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Speaker 1: a moment, but look at the change in 1 Corinthians 15, 51.
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Speaker 1: I'll tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep,
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Speaker 1: meaning die, but we will all be changed. It will
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Speaker 1: happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.
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Speaker 1: That's like Light flashing across the pupil quicker than a wink.
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Speaker 1: The flash of an eye. At the last trumpet, for
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Speaker 1: the trumpet will sound. And the dead will be raised,
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Speaker 1: look at the word, imperishable. And we will be changed.
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Speaker 1: The body will be changed, its entire molecular structure will
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Speaker 1: go through a change so that it becomes like the
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Speaker 1: body of the resurrected Christ. Remember, able to pass through matter, space,
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Speaker 1: even time instantly since it is in a supernatural state.
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Speaker 1: Study the resurrected body of Christ and you will understand
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Speaker 1: your own future resurrected body, conscious, able to eat, able
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Speaker 1: to communicate, able to move about, able to think, but ageless, timeless, changed.
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Speaker 1: In fact, Paul uses the word must twice in verse 53.
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Speaker 1: This perishable must put on the imperishable. This mortal must
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Speaker 1: put on immortality, and When this perishable will have put
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Speaker 1: on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on immortality,
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Speaker 1: then will come to pass the saying that is written,
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Speaker 1: death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is
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Speaker 1: your sting? Oh, death, where is your victory? Paul didn't
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Speaker 1: get that from Shakespeare. Shakespeare got that from Paul. And
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Speaker 1: the death is no longer, death is no longer an enemy.
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Speaker 1: In fact, death vanishes. And this resurrected body is built
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Speaker 1: reconstructed and changed to last eternally. What a great concept.
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Speaker 1: What a great truth. Those who have died are not forgotten.
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Speaker 1: They are raised and changed. We who are alive and
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Speaker 1: remain are raised and changed as well as these And
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Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians tells us the dead will go first, and
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Speaker 1: then we will follow, and we will be caught up
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Speaker 1: with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
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Speaker 1: the air. Some will be driving cars. Some will be
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Speaker 1: flying airplanes. Some will be working on their studies at school.
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Speaker 1: Some will be sitting listening to a radio program or
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Speaker 1: watching television. Some will be sound asleep. Some will be
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Speaker 1: at the office or the shop working. But there will
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Speaker 1: be an immediate, sudden... Change that will come over the
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Speaker 1: whole world as the believers in Christ are taken up,
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Speaker 1: leaving only the unbelievers on earth. William Hendrickson writes, The
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Speaker 1: trumpet blast in this connection is certainly very fitting. In
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Speaker 1: the old dispensation, when God came down, as it were,
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Speaker 1: to meet with his people, this meeting was announced by
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Speaker 1: a trumpet blast. Also, the trumpet was used as a
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Speaker 1: signal of Jehovah's coming to rescue his people from hostile oppression.
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Speaker 1: It was the signal for their deliverance. He continues, From
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Speaker 1: all this, it becomes abundantly clear that the Lord's coming
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Speaker 1: will be open, public, not only visible, but also audible.
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Speaker 1: Scripture was written to be understood, and when it tells
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Speaker 1: us that the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout,
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Speaker 1: with a voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God,
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Speaker 1: it certainly must mean at least this, that in addition
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Speaker 1: to the shouted command of our Lord, a reverberating sound
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Speaker 1: will actually pervade the universe. This is God's trumpet. And
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Speaker 1: what will happen on earth? Well, of course, there will
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Speaker 1: be shock. There will be grief. There will be confusion.
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Speaker 1: There will be chaos, a number of accidents. There will
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Speaker 1: be an unexplainable and inexplicable series of events that will
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Speaker 1: happen to those who are left behind. Some will remember
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Speaker 1: messages like this that were preached but not believed. Some
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Speaker 1: will recall books they've read or stories they've been told
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Speaker 1: about such an event, but nevertheless, reality will set in quickly.
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Speaker 1: And to make matters even more difficult and complicated, the
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Speaker 1: judgments will begin on the earth. Revelation chapter 6 through
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Speaker 1: Revelation chapter 19 covers that period of judgments. If you
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Speaker 1: forget that, you will be woefully confused in trying to
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Speaker 1: unravel the complicated unveiling of Revelation. 6 through 19 has
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Speaker 1: to do with judgment. All of it yet future. None
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Speaker 1: of it to be dreaded by the Christian today. We
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Speaker 1: are taken up and then the judgments begin to run
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Speaker 1: their course. And they come in three phases. First, there
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Speaker 1: will be seals broken as the scroll of judgment is unrolled.
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Speaker 1: We've read of that. There will be seven seals broken.
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Speaker 1: The seventh will open or cause the sounding of seven
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Speaker 1: trumpets that will be sounded. And then there will come
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Speaker 1: the bowls. the worst of the three, a series of seven,
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Speaker 1: three sevens, seals, trumpets, bowls. And Revelation describes all of
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Speaker 1: this in symbolic, sometimes very difficult to understand terms. The
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Speaker 1: part we can't understand, we leave alone. The part we
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Speaker 1: can understand, we hope to clarify and and communicate. From
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Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15, therefore, turn back and in doing so,
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Speaker 1: you're going to be turning ahead in time. So let's
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Speaker 1: go back to the future as we go to Revelation
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Speaker 1: 11 and we've come to the seventh of the seven
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Speaker 1: trumpet judgments. It's a very unique section of scripture. Now
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Speaker 1: I've said with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, There
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Speaker 1: is the beginning of the pouring out of the bowls,
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Speaker 1: but it's not instant. There's a period. It takes a
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Speaker 1: while to get to the bowls. They come in chapter 16.
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Speaker 1: So between the 11th and through the 15th chapters, we're
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Speaker 1: given a number of scenes, yet future, that will be
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Speaker 1: a part of the judgment time. Not until you get
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Speaker 1: to chapter 16, however, will you read of the ultimate
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Speaker 1: in judgment, the bowls, which lead ultimately... finally to Armageddon,
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Speaker 1: the final battle. Now this is unique because in chapter 11,
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Speaker 1: beginning at verse 15, what we have, don't miss this,
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Speaker 1: is a full panoramic unveiling of Revelation 12 to 22
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Speaker 1: in five verses. John is given in this brief span
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Speaker 1: of time, this first vision at the seventh trumpet, sort
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Speaker 1: of a mural, a mural of events. If you've ever
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Speaker 1: been to the San Jacinto Monument here in our great
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Speaker 1: state of Texas, you have walked around the main floor
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Speaker 1: and you've seen the mural in color of the history
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Speaker 1: of the state. That which led up to the battle
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Speaker 1: and then on beyond that to where we are. And
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Speaker 1: the artist carries it as far as he could. Now,
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Speaker 1: what we have in Revelation 11, 15 to 19 is
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Speaker 1: a panoramic mural of events. And what makes it all
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Speaker 1: the also unique is that it's written as though it
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Speaker 1: has already happened. It's put in the past tense, even
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Speaker 1: though it's all yet future. Now, you are completely confused.
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Speaker 1: I hope not. Just remember, when you read of something
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Speaker 1: having been done, it is yet to happen, but in
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Speaker 1: John's eyes, it's done. Because when you move into the
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Speaker 1: realm of heaven, all of life is a panorama. You
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Speaker 1: see everything from the beginning to the ending. That's why
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Speaker 1: everything will ultimately work together for good, because you see
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Speaker 1: the tapestry of As it unfolds. Not till the loom
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Speaker 1: is silent. And the shuttle cease to fly. Will God
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Speaker 1: unroll the canvas. And explain the reasons why. The dark
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Speaker 1: threads are as needful. In the weavers skillful hands. As
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Speaker 1: the threads of gold and scarlet. In the pattern he
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Speaker 1: has planned. The tapestry will unfold. We look at it
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Speaker 1: on the knotted side. On the confusing side. God sees
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Speaker 1: it all from his perspective. And it is already happened. Now,
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Speaker 1: we're ready for Revelation 11, 15. I love stuff like this. Now,
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Speaker 1: verse 15. Then the seventh angel sounded. You can hear
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Speaker 1: the trumpet sounds and it says, and there were loud
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Speaker 1: voices in heaven. So John is now hearing the trumpet.
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Speaker 1: You may have forgotten, but chapter 8, verse 1, there
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Speaker 1: was silence in heaven for half an hour. Now there
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Speaker 1: are loud voices coming from heaven. And John is standing
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Speaker 1: and he's listening. And the seventh angel has the trumpet
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Speaker 1: and puts it to his mouth and he blasts that
28:44
Speaker 1: seventh trumpet. And with that come the loud voices. It
28:47
Speaker 1: doesn't tell us who was saying these things. Probably angels.
28:53
Speaker 1: The Greek text, interestingly, describes this in Romans. In the
28:58
Speaker 1: word phonai, megalai, we get our word phonograph from phonai.
29:03
Speaker 1: It means voice or sound. And megalai, we get our
29:07
Speaker 1: word mega from it. Grand or loud or strong. Loud voices, plural,
29:15
Speaker 1: were heard coming from heaven. Notice what they are saying.
29:20
Speaker 1: The kingdom of the world... has become the kingdom of
29:25
Speaker 1: our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign
29:30
Speaker 1: forever and ever. These loud voices come telling us that
29:37
Speaker 1: the kingdom has already come even though it hasn't yet
29:42
Speaker 1: come because in the mind or the sight of the
29:46
Speaker 1: angelic creatures it has already transpired. The king is already
29:51
Speaker 1: on his throne. Look at it again. The kingdom of
29:55
Speaker 1: the world is That's the one Satan has been in
29:58
Speaker 1: charge of and is currently usurping during this era of time.
30:05
Speaker 1: But at the kingdom of Christ, it has become his kingdom,
30:10
Speaker 1: the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And
30:12
Speaker 1: he will reign. Forever and ever unto the age of
30:16
Speaker 1: the ages, the Greek says. I want you to read
30:19
Speaker 1: for me verse 15, but I want you to read
30:22
Speaker 1: it louder than I'm reading it, okay? Because these are
30:25
Speaker 1: loud voices and you're going to now be angels without wings.
30:29
Speaker 1: You're going to be angels who are going to sound
30:31
Speaker 1: forth the message from heaven. And this is what John heard.
30:35
Speaker 1: We're going to start with the kingdom. We're going to
30:37
Speaker 1: read down to forever and ever. Here we go. Got
30:40
Speaker 1: your voice ready? Let's do it. The kingdom of the
30:43
Speaker 1: world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of
30:48
Speaker 1: his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. Read
30:53
Speaker 1: it again. The kingdom of the world has become the
30:57
Speaker 1: kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
31:02
Speaker 1: will reign forever and ever. When Frederick Handel read that,
31:09
Speaker 1: he decided to make it a part of a magnificent
31:12
Speaker 1: piece of music. Listen for the words as you listen
31:15
Speaker 1: to the music. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
32:15
Speaker 1: The Lord, the Lord God, give us this day. Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia.
32:17
Speaker 1: The kingdom of this world. Thank you. And peace shall
32:55
Speaker 1: reign forever and ever. And peace shall reign forever and ever.
32:57
Speaker 1: And peace shall reign forever and ever. And peace shall
32:58
Speaker 1: reign forever and ever. Forever and ever Alleluia, Alleluia Forever
33:22
Speaker 1: and ever Alleluia, Alleluia In the day Forever and ever Alleluia,
33:51
Speaker 1: transcript Emily Beynon Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Is it any
35:08
Speaker 1: wonder that the four and twenty elders fell down on
35:19
Speaker 1: their faces and worshipped God upon hearing that? You and
35:24
Speaker 1: I cannot even imagine as fine a work as George
35:28
Speaker 1: Frederick Handel wrote. And as meaningful as it was, and
35:31
Speaker 1: as biblical as it is, we can't imagine the sound
35:36
Speaker 1: of the angelic voices pouring out of heaven, having been
35:40
Speaker 1: silent for a period of time, now bursting forth with
35:44
Speaker 1: the news that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken over
35:49
Speaker 1: the kingdom of this world. Bob Thomas, in his fine
35:53
Speaker 1: work on Revelation, writes clearly, This world empire, once dominated
35:59
Speaker 1: by a usurping power, has now passed into the hands
36:05
Speaker 1: of its true owner. The whole theme of Revelation is
36:11
Speaker 1: the purging of evil from the world as it can become,
36:17
Speaker 1: so it can become the domain of the king of kings.
36:23
Speaker 1: This is the moment where Satan is set aside, driven away,
36:28
Speaker 1: locked in the abyss, and the Lord Jesus Christ sets
36:33
Speaker 1: up his throne, scepter in hand, with righteousness as his M.O.
36:40
Speaker 1: throughout that thousand-year reign yet future. These elders, as they
36:49
Speaker 1: have fallen on their faces, who are pictures of, symbols of,
36:54
Speaker 1: the believers in Christ, who fall before him in worship, say,
37:00
Speaker 1: now watch closely, look at the tense of the verbs
37:04
Speaker 1: in verse 17, we give you thanks, O Lord God,
37:08
Speaker 1: El Shaddai, the Almighty, who are and who were Because
37:18
Speaker 1: you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
37:23
Speaker 1: He's not yet taken it. He's not yet reigning. But
37:28
Speaker 1: as they see the scene unfold in its mural of prophecy,
37:34
Speaker 1: it is a completed, it is an accomplished fact. And
37:39
Speaker 1: they give God praise. I want you to observe something
37:42
Speaker 1: you may have missed. See in the middle of what
37:45
Speaker 1: they said, right in the center, because they say, oh
37:50
Speaker 1: Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were. The
37:55
Speaker 1: first time that statement was given is in Revelation 1.8.
37:59
Speaker 1: Take a look. Where the Lord says, I am Alpha
38:04
Speaker 1: and the Omega, who is, who was, and who is
38:08
Speaker 1: to come. El Shaddai, the Almighty. What is missing in
38:16
Speaker 1: verse 17 of chapter 11? Who is to come. Why?
38:20
Speaker 1: Because he's come. He is the one who is the past,
38:26
Speaker 1: who is the future, and who is the ever-present now.
38:32
Speaker 1: He is now come. He has now taken up his
38:36
Speaker 1: throne to reign. Now, At the end of the reigning
38:42
Speaker 1: of Christ, believe it or not, even after a thousand
38:45
Speaker 1: years of righteous rule, and what we would call on
38:50
Speaker 1: this earth perfect environment, the sinful heart of man remains sinful.
38:57
Speaker 1: And given an opportunity to return to evil, The nations,
39:02
Speaker 1: verse 18, will be enraged. And there will be this
39:07
Speaker 1: warfare that will break out against the Lord Christ. And
39:14
Speaker 1: we are told of it as if it were an
39:16
Speaker 1: unfinished fact. The nations were enraged. You see, they're seeing
39:20
Speaker 1: it on the screen. Your wrath came. So there is
39:24
Speaker 1: a finalizing of those who would rebel against him. And
39:29
Speaker 1: the time came. for the dead to be judged. That
39:33
Speaker 1: is seen in Revelation 20, 11 to 15, called the
39:36
Speaker 1: great white throne judgment. And we also read that this
39:42
Speaker 1: will all be a time, also be a time, when
39:44
Speaker 1: there will be the rewarding of bondservants and prophets and
39:48
Speaker 1: saints and and those who fear your name, small and great.
39:53
Speaker 1: And the Lord will make certain that all who are
39:56
Speaker 1: deserving of rewards will be so rewarded. Hebrews 6.10 says,
40:02
Speaker 1: The Lord is not unrighteous to forget your work and
40:04
Speaker 1: labor of love, which you have shown toward his name,
40:08
Speaker 1: in that you have ministered to the saints and do
40:10
Speaker 1: continue to minister. 1 Corinthians 3 talks about the rewarding
40:15
Speaker 1: of God's people. If they built on gold and silver
40:19
Speaker 1: and precious stones, there will be reward. If they built
40:23
Speaker 1: their lives on wood, hay, and straw, there will be
40:26
Speaker 1: the burning up of rewards. But the point is, there
40:29
Speaker 1: will be a day of reckoning and a day of rewarding.
40:31
Speaker 1: He writes of it as though it is past, it
40:33
Speaker 1: is all yet future. So not only will there be
40:37
Speaker 1: the removal of those who would destroy the earth and
40:40
Speaker 1: things pertaining to it, there will also be the judgment
40:43
Speaker 1: upon those and the rewarding of the saints. I'm intrigued
40:47
Speaker 1: by the tense. Forgive me being the word vulture that
40:51
Speaker 1: I am. I get to a passage that's all future,
40:54
Speaker 1: and I read about it written as though it's past.
40:57
Speaker 1: I thought, how can I communicate this to people who
41:00
Speaker 1: are trying to stay awake and trying to listen to
41:04
Speaker 1: all this exciting stuff that makes them wonder how it
41:06
Speaker 1: all fits together? I thought about an idea. There are
41:10
Speaker 1: three professions that are fairly well represented Here in this
41:14
Speaker 1: part of the United States. And we have some great
41:17
Speaker 1: ones in all three. Architects. Builders. And interior designers. They
41:26
Speaker 1: work together. Interesting thing about architects and builders and designers.
41:34
Speaker 1: All three of them are able to see the finished
41:40
Speaker 1: product in their minds. All of them. They don't see
41:45
Speaker 1: the cost. They see the finished product in their minds.
41:52
Speaker 1: You and I are so trapped in the cost that
41:55
Speaker 1: we can hardly dream with them. I have been with
41:58
Speaker 1: architects and I've talked to them about the design work
42:02
Speaker 1: they were doing as they were putting their dreams on paper,
42:05
Speaker 1: or really our dreams, and they would portray it and
42:10
Speaker 1: then they would stop drawing and they would say, no,
42:12
Speaker 1: let me tell you, this is the way it is.
42:16
Speaker 1: And they will describe it fully, fully aware of it
42:22
Speaker 1: and able to visualize it. I've had builders say, and
42:28
Speaker 1: the fireplace is here. I'm standing on dirt, and I'm
42:33
Speaker 1: looking at weeds, and I cannot see even one brick.
42:37
Speaker 1: They see the fireplace, and the mantle is here, and
42:42
Speaker 1: this is what the mantle will be, and this is
42:45
Speaker 1: how that takes shape, and it's all done. I've asked them,
42:50
Speaker 1: Several occasions when I'm fascinated by their ability to dream.
42:54
Speaker 1: With my money. And I say to them. Really now.
42:58
Speaker 1: Are you able to see this? I've never had one say.
43:03
Speaker 1: No actually I can't. I'm just trying to. I'm just
43:05
Speaker 1: kind of blowing this around for you. They all every
43:09
Speaker 1: time say. Oh it's as if it's done. It's complete.
43:14
Speaker 1: That is what we have in Revelation 11. 15. 15.
43:19
Speaker 1: down through 19. It's done. It's complete. And if John
43:25
Speaker 1: were to stand here beside me today and tell you,
43:28
Speaker 1: he would describe it for you, finished. And he would
43:32
Speaker 1: not even see the process of getting there. In fact,
43:35
Speaker 1: there would not be future. It would be this ever-present now.
43:43
Speaker 1: And by the way, folks, this is terribly important for
43:46
Speaker 1: people who live the life of faith. We are to
43:50
Speaker 1: see God's promises as if fulfilled, not something yet future.
44:00
Speaker 1: It ought to be that certain in our minds. Tozer wrote,
44:05
Speaker 1: we think of ourselves as inhabiting some parenthetic interval between
44:09
Speaker 1: the God who was and the God who will be,
44:11
Speaker 1: but in this ever-present now, we are lonely with that
44:14
Speaker 1: ancient and cosmic loneliness. Isn't that true? We speak of
44:20
Speaker 1: God of the past and we anticipate the God of
44:23
Speaker 1: the future. But what about now? John sees it now.
44:29
Speaker 1: And the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom
44:33
Speaker 1: of our Lord and of his Christ. And he is
44:35
Speaker 1: reigning forever and ever unto the age of the ages.
44:39
Speaker 1: It's finished. It's done. No wonder these elders fall on
44:44
Speaker 1: their faces as it is all enacted before them. as
44:48
Speaker 1: if in a dress rehearsal, portrayed in completed form. Interestingly also,
44:57
Speaker 1: those who are architects and builders and designers are never
45:01
Speaker 1: surprised when the drawing is finished. They saw it all.
45:07
Speaker 1: It's just now in front of us to see, but
45:09
Speaker 1: to them it's done. But that's not all John saw.
45:18
Speaker 1: He looked deeply into the portals of heaven, verse 19
45:22
Speaker 1: tells us. And he saw something that had never been
45:28
Speaker 1: opened even for the godliest of God's people. He saw
45:33
Speaker 1: the temple and he saw the altar. Being Gentiles and
45:40
Speaker 1: New Testament saints, we can't appreciate that. I wonder at
45:48
Speaker 1: times how many little Jewish children must have stood on
45:50
Speaker 1: tiptoes and longed to see behind the veil as that
45:59
Speaker 1: high priest with great trepidation would take that saucer of
46:05
Speaker 1: blood once a year and go into the holiest of
46:11
Speaker 1: all places on the planet and come to the ark
46:16
Speaker 1: Of the covenant. On each end were cherubim. A cherub
46:22
Speaker 1: and a cherub. Whose golden wings. Met at the middle.
46:28
Speaker 1: And into this grate. He was able to look. And pour.
46:35
Speaker 1: The blood. And then with. Equal care. Back out. It
46:44
Speaker 1: was no place. for the human eye to see. And
46:51
Speaker 1: were anything to be carried out inappropriately, he would die
46:57
Speaker 1: on the spot. But look, John, having heard the voices
47:04
Speaker 1: and having seen the reign of Christ, the temple of God,
47:08
Speaker 1: which is in heaven, is opened and the Ark of
47:15
Speaker 1: His Covenant opens appears. It's no longer shrouded in darkness
47:22
Speaker 1: and secrecy and veiled from the public. It's now seen.
47:28
Speaker 1: You know what I think this is saying? You think
47:31
Speaker 1: the message is coming from this? It is the openness
47:36
Speaker 1: and unbroken fellowship of the living God welcoming all of
47:41
Speaker 1: his own to come close. You who are sensitive in
47:48
Speaker 1: your spirit regarding spiritual things have at times sighed. You've
47:54
Speaker 1: sighed because you've not really been able to connect as
47:58
Speaker 1: your heart longs to connect with the living God. Paul
48:05
Speaker 1: writes that I may know him and the power of
48:07
Speaker 1: his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. The Amplified
48:11
Speaker 1: Bible says that I may progressively become more intimately acquainted
48:15
Speaker 1: with him. Paul's great goal in life is in Philippians 3.10
48:20
Speaker 1: that I might be so intimately related to him that
48:28
Speaker 1: there is not a shadow. There's not a hint of distance.
48:36
Speaker 1: We are intimately connected. That's what this portrays. The temple
48:45
Speaker 1: is open. The ark is revealed. Right there. As if
48:52
Speaker 1: to say, come near. Come close. Right now the closest
48:58
Speaker 1: we can get is to be in Christ. Nearer, still nearer.
49:03
Speaker 1: Nearer I cannot be. For in the person of his son,
49:08
Speaker 1: I am as near as he. Isn't that great? In
49:14
Speaker 1: the person of Christ, I am as near as Christ.
49:20
Speaker 1: to the Father. In this heavenly scene, that kind of
49:26
Speaker 1: closeness will be ours. Makes all other silly talk about
49:33
Speaker 1: heaven seem cheap, doesn't it? It will be a preoccupation
49:40
Speaker 1: with the person of the living God. There also he
49:49
Speaker 1: saw flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder
49:55
Speaker 1: and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. I think this
50:04
Speaker 1: reveals in these earthly scenes the judgments that are just
50:10
Speaker 1: on the horizon of the sounding of this, or the
50:15
Speaker 1: pouring out of the seven bowls of judgment. One man writes,
50:19
Speaker 1: God's great patience and tolerance of sinful mankind has just
50:24
Speaker 1: about reached an end. The nations are angry, but so
50:29
Speaker 1: is God. The actions predicted in this section are his
50:32
Speaker 1: rewarding the faithful, accompanied by his judgment and destruction of others.
50:38
Speaker 1: Accompanying this bold statement are a host of attention-getting natural
50:43
Speaker 1: activities to accentuate its importance. Lightning, thunder, hail, and an earthquake.
50:50
Speaker 1: We're going to be seeing a lot of these signs
50:52
Speaker 1: in the remaining chapters of Revelation, and so we will.
50:58
Speaker 1: But this is saying, psst, this is a preview of
51:03
Speaker 1: coming attractions. you have yet to see it unfold. Now,
51:16
Speaker 1: we've been all around the barn, and you have been
51:18
Speaker 1: so nice to stay awake, well, most of you, and
51:22
Speaker 1: to listen to this unfolding of the mural. We started
51:30
Speaker 1: with the sounding of the trumpet, and then we had
51:32
Speaker 1: the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus, where the kingdom of
51:36
Speaker 1: our Lord and of his Christ... had become real and
51:40
Speaker 1: he was reigning forever and ever. And we have moved
51:43
Speaker 1: from the adoration of the heavenly creatures to the anger
51:46
Speaker 1: of the nations against God, from the opening of the
51:49
Speaker 1: holy place into the temple to the judgment of those
51:52
Speaker 1: opposed to God. How in the world does this relate
51:57
Speaker 1: to me today? Seems to me there are two ways
52:04
Speaker 1: that this ties in with our current world. The first
52:10
Speaker 1: is the truth. Our Savior will return and receive us.
52:19
Speaker 1: You can count on it. Our Savior will return and
52:24
Speaker 1: receive us. We make a lot of jokes about stuff
52:30
Speaker 1: like this. I often say I'll be, I hope it's
52:32
Speaker 1: on April 14th. That's my desire. That's my desire. I
52:37
Speaker 1: hope it's right after I've gone into massive debt and
52:41
Speaker 1: then I'm taken into tribulation, somebody else can pay it
52:45
Speaker 1: all off. It's a great reason to build a great
52:49
Speaker 1: church and leave it to be paid off by the
52:52
Speaker 1: lost as they're having to face it. That's a great idea,
52:57
Speaker 1: by the way. That might ought to be our campaign.
52:59
Speaker 1: It just occurs to me. Our Savior will return and
53:04
Speaker 1: he will, he will return. receive us. We need to
53:09
Speaker 1: be so aware of that that just the sound of
53:12
Speaker 1: a trumpet makes us homesick. Huh? I was sitting here
53:16
Speaker 1: listening to Ralph Carmichael's great jazz band the other night,
53:21
Speaker 1: and he introduced the different sections, and then he said, here,
53:25
Speaker 1: I want you to meet the firing squad. And he
53:27
Speaker 1: had the trumpet section stand up. And I looked and
53:31
Speaker 1: I thought, boy, that's a great name. That blast of
53:35
Speaker 1: the trumpet. Do you live that near an awareness that
53:40
Speaker 1: it could be at any moment? Do you think? Do
53:44
Speaker 1: you think maybe before bedtime? You think maybe just before
53:48
Speaker 1: your feet hit the floor in the morning. Just that imminent.
53:54
Speaker 1: It's called the doctrine of imminency at any moment. At
53:59
Speaker 1: any moment. Our Savior will return. And he'll receive us.
54:08
Speaker 1: And we'll be with him forever. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians.
54:12
Speaker 1: Comfort one another with these words. Chapter 4 verse 18.
54:16
Speaker 1: Comfort one another. And I comfort you with those words.
54:21
Speaker 1: I know times are hard. I know it's tough. I
54:24
Speaker 1: know there are disappointments. I know your hopes have been dashed.
54:27
Speaker 1: I know your dreams have gone through shattering experiences. Welcome
54:31
Speaker 1: to the club. I have the same experiences. But he
54:37
Speaker 1: will return. And he'll call us by name and take us.
54:46
Speaker 1: There's a second truth. Our sovereign will reign and reward.
54:53
Speaker 1: Count on it. Our sovereign will reign and he will
55:00
Speaker 1: reward us. Frankly, we need to be so certain of
55:04
Speaker 1: his sovereignty that whatever problem arises, we immediately filter it
55:09
Speaker 1: through the truth that he is in control of all
55:13
Speaker 1: things nothing catches him by surprise nothing makes him fear
55:20
Speaker 1: or wonder what he's going to do it's all designed
55:24
Speaker 1: to shape us into the image of his son I
55:30
Speaker 1: heard a guy say the other day you know what
55:31
Speaker 1: I've got enough character to last for two lifetimes I'd
55:34
Speaker 1: like to just have a little relief in the testing
55:37
Speaker 1: well that's not God's opinion The character is still being
55:42
Speaker 1: shaped and formed. That's why your heart still sink. That's
55:47
Speaker 1: why hard times still drive you to your knees. Be
55:51
Speaker 1: assured of this. He will one day reign and he
55:55
Speaker 1: will one day reward. And the practical side of that
56:00
Speaker 1: is trust him now. Trust him. Rest in him. Come
56:10
Speaker 1: to me, said Jesus, all who are weary and overburdened,
56:15
Speaker 1: and I will give you rest. Rest in him. I know,
56:23
Speaker 1: I know you got your list of worries. I know.
56:26
Speaker 1: Your son's almost 35 and he isn't married. That's a
56:31
Speaker 1: big burden. I know. That's a great concern. You know,
56:35
Speaker 1: you still have yet to buy your first new car.
56:37
Speaker 1: I know that's a major problem. That's a struggle. And
56:40
Speaker 1: on the serious side, you may have just lost your job.
56:45
Speaker 1: Trust him. Trust him. He knows what he's about. Don't
56:49
Speaker 1: get mad at the company that let you go. Trust him.
56:55
Speaker 1: I know the x-ray didn't come out well. Don't blame
56:58
Speaker 1: that on the doctor or the fact that you didn't
57:01
Speaker 1: eat health food all through your last 40 years. Think
57:06
Speaker 1: of all that good candy you enjoyed in the 40 years.
57:11
Speaker 1: You're going to be with him. Trust him. Trust him.
57:16
Speaker 1: Trust him. Jesus shall reign where the sun doth its
57:25
Speaker 1: excessive journeys run. His kingdom from shore to shore. When
57:30
Speaker 1: moon shall wax and wane. No more. You sang it.
57:36
Speaker 1: Live it. He's reigning. He's reigning. He's in charge. The
57:46
Speaker 1: only ones I can imagine we have anything to worry
57:48
Speaker 1: about are those that are going to be left behind.
57:51
Speaker 1: And you better worry. I mean, you really don't have
57:57
Speaker 1: to worry. You just give your life to Christ. You
58:00
Speaker 1: come along with us. You know, you surprise all those
58:04
Speaker 1: people on the way up. They're going to say, you're here?
58:06
Speaker 1: You're here? You're going to probably say to some of us,
58:15
Speaker 1: you're here? Works both ways. Let's bow together. The kingdom
58:29
Speaker 1: of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
58:32
Speaker 1: and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.
58:42
Speaker 1: And he is now in charge. He knows what you're
58:46
Speaker 1: going through. Get past the anger. Get past the grudges.
58:52
Speaker 1: Get past the blame. Grow up. Place your hands in
59:00
Speaker 1: the hands of your sovereign Lord and you will be
59:02
Speaker 1: amazed how this current heartbreak you're living with will give
59:07
Speaker 1: you reason to rest and grow. Never saw anybody holding
59:15
Speaker 1: a grudge who was used effectively in the life of
59:18
Speaker 1: anybody else. You have the opportunity to be forgiven and
59:27
Speaker 1: You simply turn your heart over to the Lord Jesus Christ.
59:32
Speaker 1: Believe on the Lord Jesus. You'll be rescued. You'll be saved.
59:41
Speaker 1: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No
59:44
Speaker 1: one comes to the Father but through him. Forget about
59:48
Speaker 1: all this moral living. Forget about all this, you know,
59:51
Speaker 1: giving up all your sins. Forget about all this purifying
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Speaker 1: or cleaning up your life. You can't do that. You
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Speaker 1: need Christ. He's a specialist in all of that. Start
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Speaker 1: at the cross and work forward. Thank you, Lord God,
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Speaker 1: for your word that lives and abides forever. Thank you
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Speaker 1: for truth to live by and to die with. Thank
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Speaker 1: you for hope that takes us through life and beyond
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Speaker 1: the grave. Thank you for exhortation that comes from in
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Speaker 1: the application of these great truths. Find in us ready
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Speaker 1: hearts to believe and ready minds to receive it. Now
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Speaker 1: to him who is able to guard you from stumbling
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Speaker 1: and present you faultless before the presence of his glory
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Speaker 1: with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior,
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Speaker 1: be glory and majesty, dominion, power forever and ever unto
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Speaker 1: the age of the ages. In the magnificent name of Christ.
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Speaker 1: We all pray. Everyone say it. Amen. All rights are
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Speaker 1: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
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Speaker 1: strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles Arswendal, Inc. is
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Speaker 1: grateful to Stonebriar Community Church for permission to use their
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Speaker 1: 2013 performance of The Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah, composed by
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Speaker 1: George Friedrich Handel, edited by Walken Shaw, published by Novello
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Speaker 1: & Company, Ltd.