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The Glory of God Is Coming Back | Mikel Cary · Prophecy Watchers

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  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, Dr. Michael Carey here, and I just got
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  Speaker 1: back from Israel a few weeks ago, and while I
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  Speaker 1: was there, my wife and I had an experience that
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  Speaker 1: I honestly haven't been able to get out of my mind.
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  Speaker 1: Early one of the mornings, we had the opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: go on to the Temple Mount for a private tour
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  Speaker 1: with a very prominent rabbi and former member of the Knesset.
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  Speaker 1: And if there were 25 people, including security and employees there,
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  Speaker 1: I'd be surprised. And at one point, I even found
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  Speaker 1: myself standing maybe 10 feet from the place where the
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  Speaker 1: Holy of Holies once stood in the days of the temple.
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  Speaker 1: And as I stood there, taking all of it in,
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  Speaker 1: something began to stir in my heart that I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to share with you. And it's one of the most
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  Speaker 1: dramatic and prophetic events in the entire book of Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: But it's also one of those passages that I think
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  Speaker 1: that people read and then they move right past without
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  Speaker 1: really stopping to understand the gravity of what God was
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  Speaker 1: showing the Apostle John. And I think that when you
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  Speaker 1: see this in the light of the greater biblical narrative,
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  Speaker 1: that you'll realize that this is one of the most
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  Speaker 1: consequential moments in all of Bible prophecy. Now, let me
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  Speaker 1: give you some context for what we're talking about today.
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  Speaker 1: When you come to Revelation chapter 14, we're presented with
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  Speaker 1: another series of prophetic visions that God gave to the
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  Speaker 1: apostle John that are set within the framework of the
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  Speaker 1: second half of the tribulation. So as the chapter opens,
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  Speaker 1: we find the Lamb of God at the very center
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  Speaker 1: of everything that's happening as the 144,000 are standing in
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  Speaker 1: front of heaven's throne. After this, John's vision shifts And
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  Speaker 1: he sees three angels, one after another, each sent to
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  Speaker 1: the world with messages of repentance, judgment, and the fact
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  Speaker 1: that there are eternal consequences for rejecting God. The first
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  Speaker 1: angel comes with a message of repentance. The second angel
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  Speaker 1: brings a message of destruction against Babylon. And the third
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  Speaker 1: angel brings one of the most consequential warnings in the
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  Speaker 1: entire Bible, which is do not align yourself with the
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  Speaker 1: Antichrist by taking the mark of the beast because the
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  Speaker 1: consequences are eternal. But there's another side to this vision
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  Speaker 1: because in the same experience, God also speaks to those
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  Speaker 1: who chose Him no matter what that decision cost. In
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 14, beginning in verse 12, it says this, here
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  Speaker 1: is the patience of the saints. Here are those who
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  Speaker 1: keep the commandments of God and faith of Jesus. Then
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  Speaker 1: I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Right,
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  Speaker 1: blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from
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  Speaker 1: now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest
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  Speaker 1: from their labors and their works follow them. And to
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  Speaker 1: be honest, this is one of those portions of Scripture
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  Speaker 1: that always weighs on my heart when I read it.
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  Speaker 1: Because I can't imagine the suffering that these tribulation saints
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  Speaker 1: will endure during the second half of the tribulation as
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  Speaker 1: millions and millions of them are slaughtered and beheaded by
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  Speaker 1: the Antichrist. Then I have to remember that even in
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  Speaker 1: the most evil of times, that God sees, that God
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  Speaker 1: remembers everything that the righteous endure. He sees their faith.
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  Speaker 1: He sees their pain. He sees their sacrifice. And none
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  Speaker 1: of it is wasted. as they forfeit their lives for
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  Speaker 1: the sake of Christ. But this is where the vision
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  Speaker 1: begins to turn, because John's attention shifts from what's taking
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  Speaker 1: place on earth to the one who's coming to set
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  Speaker 1: everything right. In Revelation chapter 14, picking up in verse 14,
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  Speaker 1: it says this, then I looked, and behold, a white cloud.
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  Speaker 1: And on the cloud sat one like the son of man,
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  Speaker 1: having on his head a golden crown and in his
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  Speaker 1: hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of
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  Speaker 1: the temple crying with a loud voice to him who
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  Speaker 1: sat on the cloud, thrust in your sickle and reap
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  Speaker 1: for the time has come for you to reap for
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  Speaker 1: the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who
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  Speaker 1: sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the
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  Speaker 1: earth and the earth was reaped. Now, there's a lot
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  Speaker 1: in this passage, and there's so much that I want
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  Speaker 1: to show you, but we're only going to be able
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  Speaker 1: to get to a little bit of it today. So
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  Speaker 1: how about we just start walking through it and see
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  Speaker 1: where we go. Verse 14 says this, Then I looked,
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  Speaker 1: and behold, a white cloud. And on the cloud sat
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  Speaker 1: one like the Son of Man, having on his head
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  Speaker 1: a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, this passage is the beginning of the fulfillment
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  Speaker 1: of what God showed the prophet Daniel. Check this out.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel chapter 7 verse 13 and 14 says this, I
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  Speaker 1: was watching in the night visions and behold one like
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  Speaker 1: the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.
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  Speaker 1: He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought
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  Speaker 1: Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion
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  Speaker 1: and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
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  Speaker 1: languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion
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  Speaker 1: which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is the
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  Speaker 1: one which shall not be destroyed. So what we have
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  Speaker 1: is a picture of Christ coming in judgment, enveloped in
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  Speaker 1: the glory cloud of God that the ancient rabbis referred
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  Speaker 1: to as the Shekinah or the Shekinah glory, which is
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  Speaker 1: a word that doesn't appear directly in the Old Testament scripture,
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  Speaker 1: but it's taken from the Hebrew word that means to dwell,
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  Speaker 1: and it's used to describe the visible, tangible, manifest presence
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  Speaker 1: of God. For example, in Exodus chapter 40, verse 34
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  Speaker 1: and 35, we see the Shekinah glory. It says this,
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  Speaker 1: Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the
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  Speaker 1: glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was
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  Speaker 1: not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the
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  Speaker 1: cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: filled the tabernacle. And what's fascinating to me is that
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  Speaker 1: in ancient Jewish thought, the Shekinah glory wasn't seen as
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  Speaker 1: a theological idea or a spiritual concept. They described it
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  Speaker 1: as something very, very real. They described it as a
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  Speaker 1: living byproduct of God's presence that's filled with His life,
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  Speaker 1: it's filled with His greatness, and it's even filled with
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  Speaker 1: His emotions. In other words, It's the visible, it's the
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  Speaker 1: relational presence of God that goes wherever God goes. It's
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  Speaker 1: kind of like the light that emanates from the sun.
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  Speaker 1: It's something that's distinct and unique, but you can't separate
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  Speaker 1: it from the sun. And in ancient rabbinic commentaries like
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  Speaker 1: the Talmud and the Midrash, the Shekinah is described as
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  Speaker 1: being alive. It's described as having wept over the destruction
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  Speaker 1: of the temple. It mourned over Israel whenever they were
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  Speaker 1: taken into exile, and it rejoiced when God's people lived
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  Speaker 1: righteously before the Lord. My point being that the Shekinah
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  Speaker 1: is filled with the glory of God, and we see
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  Speaker 1: it all through the Old Testament in times of great blessing,
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  Speaker 1: but we also see it in times of great judgment.
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  Speaker 1: because there was a moment in Israel's history when the
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  Speaker 1: abiding glory of God departed from the earth, and you
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  Speaker 1: have to see this if you're going to truly grasp
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  Speaker 1: what God is showing John in Revelation 14. And this
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  Speaker 1: account is quite possibly one of the most sad and
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  Speaker 1: tragic accounts in the entire Bible. By the time we
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  Speaker 1: get to Ezekiel chapter 10, Israel's rebellion had become so
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  Speaker 1: deep and their idolatry had become so pervasive that it
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  Speaker 1: had even found its way into the temple. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: a few chapters earlier, in Ezekiel chapter 8, God gave
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  Speaker 1: Ezekiel a vision of the temple and said, I want
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  Speaker 1: you to see what they're doing in my house. And
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  Speaker 1: what Ezekiel saw was horrifying. There were idols in the temple.
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  Speaker 1: He saw the elders of Israel secretly burning incense to
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  Speaker 1: false gods. He saw the women of the nation fully
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  Speaker 1: engaged in pagan festivals. And he saw the men standing
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  Speaker 1: in the temple of God with their backs to the
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  Speaker 1: Holy of Holies, bowing down and worshiping the sun towards
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  Speaker 1: the east. In other words, they had taken the very
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  Speaker 1: place where the tangible and visible glory of God was
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  Speaker 1: dwelling with His people and they turned their backs to
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  Speaker 1: God to worship other gods. And I want you to
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  Speaker 1: feel the weight of that moment because as we arrive
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  Speaker 1: in Ezekiel chapter 10, the glory of God doesn't just disappear. Remember,
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  Speaker 1: this is a visible manifestation of God's living presence. It
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  Speaker 1: was something that was seen. It was something that was felt.
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  Speaker 1: It was something very tangible. And it's filled with God's emotions.
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  Speaker 1: It's filled with God's purposes. And as the glory of
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  Speaker 1: God leaves in Ezekiel, I can see the heart of
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  Speaker 1: God in it. Ezekiel chapter 10, verse 18 through 19
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  Speaker 1: says this, Then the glory of the Lord departed from
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  Speaker 1: the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.
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  Speaker 1: And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from
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  Speaker 1: the earth in my sight. When they went out, the
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  Speaker 1: wheels were beside them, and they stood at the door
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  Speaker 1: of the east gate of the Lord's house. And the
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  Speaker 1: glory of the God of Israel was above them. See,
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  Speaker 1: God moves and He stops. He moves and then He
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  Speaker 1: stops again. It's almost as though God is lingering at
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  Speaker 1: every major point of departure and it's as though the
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  Speaker 1: glory itself is mourning what's happening. The glory itself is
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  Speaker 1: looking to God's people and God is giving his people
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  Speaker 1: opportunity after opportunity. to see what's taking place and repent.
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  Speaker 1: Yet in Ezekiel's account, nothing happens, so the glory moves again.
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  Speaker 1: And Ezekiel is watching this happen as he follows the
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  Speaker 1: glory of God out of the temple. I mean, can
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  Speaker 1: you sense the weight of what's happening? The glory of
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  Speaker 1: God moves from within the temple to the threshold. Then
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  Speaker 1: it stops. And then it moves to the eastern gate,
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  Speaker 1: which is the very direction that the people were facing
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  Speaker 1: as they turned their back on God to worship idols.
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  Speaker 1: So even in the middle of their idolatry, God is
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  Speaker 1: moving towards His people so that they can see what's happening.
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  Speaker 1: And then we come to Ezekiel chapter 11, beginning in
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  Speaker 1: verse 22, and it says this, So the cherubim lifted
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  Speaker 1: up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the
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  Speaker 1: glory of the God of Israel was high above them.
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  Speaker 1: And the glory of the Lord went up from the
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  Speaker 1: midst of the city and stood on the mountain which
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  Speaker 1: is on the east side of the city, which is
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  Speaker 1: literally the Mount of Olives. And notice that the passage
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  Speaker 1: says that the glory of God stood on the mountain
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  Speaker 1: before it was gone. What a tragic scene. The visible,
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  Speaker 1: the tangible, the physical presence of God that was resting
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  Speaker 1: in the temple leaves the temple and it goes through
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  Speaker 1: the cord, it goes through the gate, and then it
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  Speaker 1: literally stands on the Mount of Olives. But here's what
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  Speaker 1: I want you to see. The glory of God that
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  Speaker 1: left that day coming back and that brings us to
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  Speaker 1: what John saw in Revelation chapter 14 look at Revelation
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  Speaker 1: 14 14 again it says this then I looked and
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  Speaker 1: behold a white cloud and on the cloud sat one
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  Speaker 1: like the Son of Man and if you remember in
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  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 24 Jesus said then the sign of the
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  Speaker 1: Son of Man Now, this statement would have stirred up
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  Speaker 1: something very powerful in his disciples because he was saying
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  Speaker 1: that the visible sign of his second coming would be
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  Speaker 1: that same presence that led Israel through the wilderness, the
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  Speaker 1: same presence that filled the tabernacle in the wilderness, the
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  Speaker 1: same presence that filled Solomon's temple, will be seen breaking
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  Speaker 1: through the heavens. And even further, Jesus said that as
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  Speaker 1: this sign appears in the heavens, that the nations of
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  Speaker 1: the earth will mourn, that they'll beat on their chests
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  Speaker 1: out of a sense of overwhelming grief and rage, and
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  Speaker 1: they will see the glory of God, and they will
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  Speaker 1: feel the weight of the judgment that's coming as Jesus
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  Speaker 1: Christ returns to establish His messianic kingdom. In fact, I
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  Speaker 1: believe that when this happens, the very atmosphere on earth
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  Speaker 1: is going to be supernaturally charged with divine emotion and
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  Speaker 1: all the inhabitants of the earth are going to feel
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  Speaker 1: what God feels. I mean, think about it. As the
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  Speaker 1: Shekinah glory begins breaking through the veil that separates the
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  Speaker 1: eternal from the temporal, and it begins breaking into our world,
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  Speaker 1: and people begin to see it coming through the heavens,
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  Speaker 1: the emotional tidal wave is going to be something that
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  Speaker 1: this world has never seen. As multitudes who've given their
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  Speaker 1: lives to Christ are overwhelmed by the greatness of God,
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  Speaker 1: and His holiness. And others, those who follow the Antichrist,
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  Speaker 1: will be overtaken by misery, they'll be overtaken by anguish,
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  Speaker 1: they'll be overtaken by a sense of judgment, and their
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  Speaker 1: hearts are going to be filled with rage against God.
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  Speaker 1: And we're not told whether this sign is going to
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  Speaker 1: be something that takes place in moments or in hours
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  Speaker 1: over the course of days or even longer, but I
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  Speaker 1: can assure you that it will be incredible and it
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  Speaker 1: will be completely unmistakable as having come from God. But
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  Speaker 1: we can't stop there. Or we're going to miss the
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  Speaker 1: one that's sitting in the middle of all of it.
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 14, 14 says this, Then I looked, and behold,
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  Speaker 1: a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like
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  Speaker 1: the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown,
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  Speaker 1: and in his hand a sharp sickle. Now, notice the phrase,
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  Speaker 1: one like the Son of Man. This is incredibly important,
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  Speaker 1: because in John chapter 5, verse 22, the Bible says this,
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  Speaker 1: For the Father judges no one, but has committed all
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  Speaker 1: judgment against to the Son. Now if you skip down
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  Speaker 1: to verse 27, it finishes with this, and has given
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  Speaker 1: him authority to execute judgment also because he is the
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  Speaker 1: Son of Man, which is huge. And this is something
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  Speaker 1: very important because so many people picture God as being
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  Speaker 1: distant or being detached somewhere far off in the cosmos
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  Speaker 1: and just watching humanity from some eternal vantage point. But
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  Speaker 1: that's not who God is. The statement, son of man,
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  Speaker 1: reminds us that the God who will judge this world
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  Speaker 1: is the same God who stepped into our humanity and
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  Speaker 1: gave himself for us. If you remember, Philippians chapter 2
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  Speaker 1: beginning in verse 5 says this, have the same mindset
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  Speaker 1: as Christ Jesus who being In very nature, God did
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  Speaker 1: not consider equality with God something to be used to
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  Speaker 1: his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking
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  Speaker 1: the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness,
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  Speaker 1: and being found in the appearance of man, he humbled
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  Speaker 1: himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: or because of this, God exalted him to the highest
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  Speaker 1: place and gave him the name that above every name,
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  Speaker 1: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow
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  Speaker 1: in heaven and on earth and under the earth and
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  Speaker 1: every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the
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  Speaker 1: glory of God the Father. Now, let's keep moving through
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  Speaker 1: our text. In Revelation 14, 14, Then I looked, and behold,
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  Speaker 1: a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like
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  Speaker 1: the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown,
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  Speaker 1: and in his hand a sharp sickle. So in this passage,
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  Speaker 1: we see Jesus Christ, all God and all man, seated
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  Speaker 1: on the Shekinah glory with a golden crown on his
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  Speaker 1: head representing his deity and his eternal kingdom. And even further,
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  Speaker 1: the phrase having on his head a golden crown in
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  Speaker 1: the Greek is referring to the crown of one who
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  Speaker 1: has conquered or a crown of victory. Now, this crown
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  Speaker 1: also represents his holiness, which is the standard by which
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  Speaker 1: all things are measured. And the sickle is so much
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  Speaker 1: more than a tool of destruction because it represents his
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  Speaker 1: perfect discernment and the ability to separate what's holy and
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  Speaker 1: righteous from those things that are wicked. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: at his coming, Jesus is going to separate the righteous
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  Speaker 1: from the wicked. In fact, he spoke about this in
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  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 13, when he said, he told the parable
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  Speaker 1: of the wheat and tares in order to give us
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  Speaker 1: insight into how the kingdom of God works. And in
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  Speaker 1: this parable, Jesus said that righteousness and wickedness will coexist
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  Speaker 1: until the final harvest. But when the time of reaping comes,
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  Speaker 1: he will separate one from another and everything will be
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  Speaker 1: set right. Think about what the prophet Joel said about
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  Speaker 1: this time of divine judgment. In Joel 3, beginning in
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  Speaker 1: verse 12, he says this,' Let the nations be weakened'
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  Speaker 1: and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat,' for there I
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  Speaker 1: will sit to judge' all the surrounding nations.' Put in
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  Speaker 1: the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down,
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  Speaker 1: for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their
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  Speaker 1: wickedness is great. And if you drop down to verse 16,
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  Speaker 1: it says this, The Lord also will roar from Zion
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  Speaker 1: and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and
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  Speaker 1: the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a
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  Speaker 1: shelter for His people and the strength. Now, let me
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  Speaker 1: interject a side thought here, because I can't tell you
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  Speaker 1: how many times I've heard people try to argue that
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  Speaker 1: if God were good, if God was just, if God
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  Speaker 1: is these things, why does he allow such great wickedness
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  Speaker 1: to continue? And my answer is this. The fact that
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  Speaker 1: righteousness and wickedness exist at the same time doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: that God is absent. It simply means that while the
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of God has been inaugurated on this earth, it
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  Speaker 1: has not been consummated yet. In other words, we're living
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  Speaker 1: in the time of the tension between what's already here
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  Speaker 1: and the things that are still to come. And right
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  Speaker 1: now we're living in a window of grace, not because
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  Speaker 1: God overlooks the wickedness of the world, but because He's
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  Speaker 1: giving people opportunity and He's giving this world time to repent.
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  Speaker 1: 2 Peter 3.9 tells us the heart of God. It says,
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  Speaker 1: but that all should come to repentance. So the reason
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  Speaker 1: that God holds back His judgment is not because He
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  Speaker 1: doesn't care, but because He is merciful and wants to
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  Speaker 1: give this world every moment and every opportunity and every
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  Speaker 1: chance to turn their heart. And what's sobering is that
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  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter 14 shows us when this window of grace
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  Speaker 1: actually closes. Because the glory that departed is coming back,
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  Speaker 1: but this time, judgment is coming with it. Look at this,
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 14, 15. And another angel came out of the temple,
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  Speaker 1: crying with a loud voice to him who sat on
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  Speaker 1: the cloud. Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the
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  Speaker 1: time has come for you to reap, for the harvest
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  Speaker 1: of the earth is come. Now, notice that this angel
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  Speaker 1: comes out of the temple, which means that the judgment
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: that is coming originates from the holiness of God, and
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: it's the fulfillment of His promises. It's the fulfillment of
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: His covenants with mankind throughout the ages. And this statement,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: for the harvest of the earth is ripe, means that
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: the time of waiting is coming to an end, It's
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: the time when wickedness has reached its fullness and it's
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: reached its appointed limit. The passage concludes with this. Revelation 14,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: 16 says this. So he who sat on the cloud
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: was reaped. Making this divine act the catalyst for the
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: bold judgments that destroy the illusion of global control that
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the Antichrist has established by this point. It dismantles the
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: arrogance and the pride that drive the beast system, and
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: it exposes the fact that no one can escape God.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: And in this moment, when Jesus thrusts his sickle in
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the earth, it's the moment that the holiness and the
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: justice of God prevail. And the earth will reel and
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: everything that is built on deception or lies will crumble
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: under the weight of God's holiness and the glory of
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. In fact, Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14 says this,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: But the time is coming when the earth shall be
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: as the waters cover the sea. And maybe that's really
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: the picture that I want to leave you with today.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Because the story doesn't end with an empty temple. It
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: ends with a glorious Christ. It ends with a visible
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and tangible return of God's glory that will fill the
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: earth as the waters cover the sea. And when it does,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: every eye will know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Well,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: let's stop there for today. But before you go, I
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: want to pray a prayer of blessing over your life.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: It's called the Aaronic Blessing. Let's pray. The Lord bless
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: you and keep you. The Lord make his face to
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: lift his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Well,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: God bless, and I look forward to seeing you next time.