Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Revelation 1:7-20 - Revelation - Part 2

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Revelation 1:7-20 - Revelation - Part 2 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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Amen. What a blessed morning indeed it
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is. I'm going to ask you to go ahead
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and turn in your Bibles to the first chapter of the of the Book
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of Revelation. We're going to start today at
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verse 7. Thank our sister Karen for that.
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Very gracious welcome to everybody.
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I too, welcome everyone that's here today.
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Let's just pray and get into the Word of God this morning.
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Amen. Father, we do thank you for this
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day. Every day is a wonderful day,
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Lord, because you have made it. You created it, Lord, and though
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every day may not look the same, every day might not be the same.
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We come with different challenges.
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It comes with different afflictions, and sometimes it
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comes with highs and lows. It can come with mountaintop
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experiences and sometimes valley experiences, Lord, But you are
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good all the time. You are faithful all the time.
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And we thank you, Lord, for the things that you provide for us.
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We thank you for this house, Lord, that you've given us to be
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able to worship together. And we thank you for the body of
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believers who fill this house, Lord.
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We thank you even as the song says, Lord.
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We just thank you, Lord, for your son Jesus Christ.
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Where will we be without your Son Jesus Christ?
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Lord and Father, this morning we ask for Your anointing to be
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upon each and every one of us. As we come to hear Your word,
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Your truth. As we come to hear you speak to
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us, Lord, we gather to hear from you.
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So I pray that you would use these lips, Lord, that you would
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stand in this body. Think with this old mind.
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Help me, O God today, strengthen me today in Jesus name I pray,
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Amen. So as we were in, we're going to
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continue in the book of Revelations.
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We're going to be starting picking up here in verse 7.
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And before we do that, you know, one of the things that John does
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in this section of the introduction of the Book of
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Revelation is that he gives us a very strong dose of Jesus
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Christ, a strong dose. So already it's one of my
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favorites. Thank you so much for the song,
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sisters, because that was so apropos.
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I couldn't keep my eyes dry back there singing that song.
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And now let the weak say I'm strong and let the poor say I am
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rich, not because of anything we did, but because of what he has
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done for us. Amen.
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So we remember that as we go through the rest of this, this
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book and, and, and, and just as a review, we I'm just going to
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read again what he says to us, what John says to us back here
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in the 1st chapter of Revelation when he talks about Jesus
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Christ. And he starts that right there,
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verse 5. He says in Jesus Christ, the
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faithful witness, the first born from the dead, the ruler over
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the kings of the earth, to him who loved us and washed us from
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our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to
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his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and
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ever. Amen.
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And then in the very next verse he says, Behold, he is coming
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with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced
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him. All the tribes of the earth will
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mourn because of him. Even so, a man or so let it so
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or so be it or let it be so. Before we go into this and begin
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to pick this out, I just want to mention how John throughout the
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scriptures have talked about Jesus Christ and his deity.
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But there's some things that actually leads up to this
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particular verse, if we can kind of connect some dots.
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For example, John was there with Jesus when Jesus was talking to
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them about leaving them about dying.
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And then he would, he would come back again and, and, and he
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said, I'm coming back to get you, but I, I am going to be, I
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am going to be crucified. I'm going to, I'm going to be
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killed by the hands of men and, and, and then he sees that their
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hearts are beginning to to fail them as a result of that.
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So he says, let not your heart be troubled.
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And he's saying the same thing to us, you know, as we as our
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hearts begin to sorrow sometimes because of the the things that
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we deal with and the things that we have to go through as we're
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waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to come back.
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He says to us, Let not your heart be troubled.
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If you believe in God, believe also in me.
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For in my Father's house there are many mansions.
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If there were not so I would have told you.
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But I'm going to go, and I'm going to prepare a place for
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you. And if I go and prepare a place
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for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, so that
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where I am, you may be also, and where I go, you know, and the
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way, you know. Thank God for Thomas who stepped
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up and said, Jesus, we don't know where you're going.
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How can we know? The way gave Jesus that
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opportunity to say to him, just like he says to us, I am the
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way, I am the truth. I am the life.
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Please don't let no one tell you that there's other ways to
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Jesus. There is not.
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He is the way, He is the truth and he is the life.
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And then he even goes a step further.
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He says no one just in case someone wants to doubt that.
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He says no one can come to the Father except by me.
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So now, so after that, Jesus does one other thing and I want
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to share it with you as he begins to talk to them about
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once again, the fact that he's going to be he's going to be
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leaving them and he's going to be going back to, to his
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glorified to be with his father, to be glorified with his father.
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But there's going to be an end before he comes back.
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There's going to be a, a end of times.
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And they asked him, they said, what are the signs of the end of
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times? And we want to talk about that a
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little bit, except, you know, what did what happens before
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Jesus comes back? And I want to read for you in in
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in the the book of Matthew, verse 24, starting in verse
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three. He says this now, as he said on
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the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately
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saying, tell us when will these things be?
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And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of
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the age? And Jesus answered and said to
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them, take heed that no one deceives you.
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We need to remember that. Take heed that no one deceives
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you. Don't let someone come and tell
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you that it's going to come on this day or it's going to come
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on that day. They don't know, they don't
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know. Don't let nobody deceive you,
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for many will come in my name, saying I am the Christ, and will
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deceive many. And you will hear of wars and
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rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled,
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for all these things must come to pass.
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But the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation,
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Kingdom against Kingdom, and there will be famines and
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pestilences and earthquakes in various places.
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All these are the beginning of sorrows.
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Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you.
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And we got to know the difference between the
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tribulation that we will receive from men and the great
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tribulation. There's a difference between
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those two. And he says they will deliver
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you up in to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated
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by nations for all nations for my name's sake.
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And then many will be offended, will betray one another, will
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hate one another. The many false prophets will
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rise up and deceive 1 deceive many, and because lawlessness
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will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
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But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
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He that doesn't turn back to perdition, he that doesn't give
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up on waiting for the Lord, He who does not allow himself to be
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sidetracked by false doctrines and be deceived by men and begin
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to believe in other philosophies and things of that nature.
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He who does not do that, but believes until the end and
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endures until the end, will be saved.
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And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the
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world as a witness to all the nations.
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And then the end will come. So as we look at that, he he
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gives us a preview there of what will happen before his coming.
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So he says, John says here in verse 7, he says here he says,
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behold that in other words, you know, take note.
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I'm about to say something really important that you need
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to hear. Listen up, He says he is coming
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with clouds. He is coming with clouds, and
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every eye will see him, Yes, and even they who pierced him.
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So if we look at this, we see here that this is first of all,
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we should take note that he's not talking about the rapture
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here. This is not the Rapture.
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He's not talking about him coming down through the clouds
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and then receiving us up. That's not what he's talking
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about because he says every eye will see him in the Rapture.
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The Rapture is a private event. Only those who believe in Jesus
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Christ, only those who are the church, will know when the
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rapture comes. Those who are not being raptured
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won't see the rapture. They will be able to notice that
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things have changed. People won't be here anymore,
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but they're not going to see Jesus coming.
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And for the rapture, so that's a private event, only the church
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will see that. And we want to be caught up to
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be together with him in the rapture.
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And we you read about that back in First Thessalonians 413
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through 18 and tells us all about the the event of the
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rapture. But this is referring to the
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second coming when Jesus returns with the church to bring
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judgment to set up his Kingdom. He's talking about the second
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coming here, him coming. And he says that when he comes,
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he's going to come with clouds. So we read about the signs of
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his coming, the things that are going to be happening in the in,
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in society, the hate that be going on, the love that will
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grow cold and the the tribulation people being in
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tribulation, people being hated because of the name of Jesus
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Christ. Yes, those are some of the
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signs. Even some of the cosmic things
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that may happen, the wars that may happen and the rumors of the
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wars, those are some of the signs.
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But that's not the end. And he says here that before he
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comes back, there's going to be a sign.
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There going to be a sign of that coming back.
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And he says, behold, they come with clouds.
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And notice there's a preposition here that I want you to pay
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attention to when he says with clouds, because there's other
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places where he talks about coming on the clouds, OK.
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For example, if you were to look at, if you didn't look back at
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Acts, this book like at the back of the book of Acts in the book
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of Acts, he says this in chapter 1, chapter one, verse 9, verse
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one, I'm sorry, first verse 9, I'm sorry.
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Chapter one, verse 9, he says this.
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Now when he has spoken these words.
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Now this is Jesus with his disciples when after he had
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arisen from the resurrection and after he has spoken with them,
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he was about to be ascended. He's about to ascend up into
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heaven. And he spoke some things to
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them, told him to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit before
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they go out and witness to him, which is a good, which is a
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really good piece of advice because we too need to be filled
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with the Holy Spirit before we go out and witness so that we
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have the strength to do that. But then he says here in verse
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9, he says, now he has spoken these things.
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While they watched, he was taken up, a cloud received him out of
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their sight. And while they look steadfastly
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toward heaven, as he went up, behold, 2 men stood by them in
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white apparel, 2 angels who said, Who also said, Men of
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Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
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This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will also
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come in like manner as you saw him go.
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So as he said, how, how did he go?
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He went up until he was received up from them by a cloud.
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He was received, a cloud received them.
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So we so when he talks about he will be coming with clouds.
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That's a little bit different than coming on the cloud.
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Now he's going to be coming literally on the clouds as well.
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Look at what it says over in Matthew chapter 24, Matthew
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chapter 24, Matthew 24, verse 30, it says this.
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Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then
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all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son
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of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.
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He left with the clouds. He's going to be coming on the
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clouds. So that's the literal aspect of
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him coming back on the clouds. But there's also a symbol or
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symbolic mention or reference to him coming back on the clouds.
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And that means he's going to be coming back with the clouds.
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As it says here, He's going to be coming with clouds.
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And if you look at what it says over in Daniel Chapter 7, Daniel
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Chapter 7 verse 13 says this. I was watching in the night
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visions and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the
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clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient of Days and they
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brought him near before him. So he's coming with the clouds.
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So that's a little bit different.
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Now He's coming with, he's going to be coming on physical clouds
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when they see him, when you see him coming down, he'll be on
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physical clouds, but he's also coming with clouds.
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And that clouds is actually a multitude of people.
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Look at what it says over in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
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one. Hebrews chapter 12 verse one.
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It refers to the clouds as being a cloud of witnesses, which is
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which are the the believer, those who are believing those
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faithful people, they were talking about this cloud of
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witness. This is therefore we also, since
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we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
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aside every wait and sin which so easily ensnares us, and let
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us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
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So there's a a, a, a coming with clouds coming with a multitude
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of believers. This reference is also made
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about coming with the clouds over in First Thessalonians or
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coming with the Saints and 1st Thessalonians.
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What it says so that so that he may establish your hearts
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blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of
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our Lord Jesus with what with all his Saints.
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So we are going to be coming back with him and this is what
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this verse is referring to his second coming.
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We the believers, the Saints and those who are dead in Christ
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will be coming back with him and that's going to be a blessed day
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and they see even those who pierced him.
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OK, every eye is going to see him.
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Like we said it's not going to be a private event when he comes
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back. He says every eye will see him.
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Every eye. That means it's going to be very
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public and he's not going to be like it says over in Matthew
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2426. It's not going to be like, well,
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you know the way I'll go over there in the desert because I
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think he's seen him come over in the desert or, or, or go over
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there in the inner room. I think, you know, somebody saw
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him in the inner room or something like that.
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No, it's not going to be that way.
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He's not working at Sheets. You know, he's not some guy
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that's working at Sheets. That's, you know, that was able
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to convince a whole bunch of people to believe in him and
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follow him around. You know, it's not going to be
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some guy walking. No, working in Walmart, That's
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not going to be it. You're going to see him coming.
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Every eye will see him coming. It's not going to be some
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obscure thing. So he says that when he that
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when he comes, every eye will see him and even those who
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pierced him. Now, that's kind of
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specifically, you know, talking about the Jews, OK, who, who
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pierced him, who rejected him, and they pierced him.
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Now, that's not to say that we as Gentiles didn't have a part
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in him being pierced, because we did.
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We had a part in that. Our sin is what took Him to the
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cross. Our sin is what held him on the
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cross. So it's not just the Jews, but
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it was the Jews who pierced them.
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And that's what he's referring to here when he says here that
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every, you know, they, even those who pierced him, there's
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over in Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10 where the God says, and
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I will pour on the House of David and on the inhabitants of
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Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication.
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Then they will look on him who they pierced.
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Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and
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grieve for him as one grieves for his first born.
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And that day there shall be a multitude, verse 11, a multitude
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of great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadid
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Rahman in the plain of Megiddo. So those who pierced him are
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going to be mourning. And then also all, every tribe
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of the earth, all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of
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him. So there's going to be a
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multitude of people who will see him coming.
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And it'll be like the, the, the, the, the tribes of the earth
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will get a chance to see him and they will mourn.
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They will mourn because they'll get a chance to see this one
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that they rejected, this one that they doubted is the one
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they're going to see his hands pierced his, his pierced hands.
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They're going to see the sides, his pierced side, and they're
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going to mourn. You're going to more it's going
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to be a sad day in that time with those who are still
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remaining after the time of the the seven day tribulation, 7
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year tribulation, by the way. So then he says in verse 8, he
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says I am I am alpha and the Omega.
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I am the beginning and the end says the Lord who is, who was
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and who is to come the Almighty. Now in some versions this is not
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written and read, in others it is so it's Jesus speaking here.
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Now there are some who think this is not Jesus speaking, but
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when he says I am the Alpha in the Omega, the beginning and the
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end says the Lord who is, who was and who is to come thee
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Almighty. This is Jesus Christ speaking
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in, in some of your versions, it's probably going to be read
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now. Now we know that it does refer
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to the to the to, to God the Father in the Old Testament,
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they've used it many times. That's him being the alpha Omega
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in the 1st and the last. But this is Jesus speaking and
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this is Jesus basically saying look I am God, I am God.
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And he says this throughout Revelations when he talks about
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being the alpha and the Omega, the 1st and the last.
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This is not the only place that he says this referring to
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himself. In fact, just a little bit
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further down, we want to see it again.
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Then in verse 9, he says I John, both your brother and your
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companion in the tribulation and Kingdom and patience of Jesus
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Christ. I John, your your your brother.
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He didn't say I John, your apostle.
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He didn't say I John your elder. He identified with them because
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see, they could he could have lifted himself up because he's
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the one that's getting his vision.
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He could have lifted himself up. They could have wanted to lift
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him up because of the vision that he was receiving that he
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was somebody special or somebody different or or he was a heavy
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hitter because hey, you know, I'm getting this vision directly
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from from Jesus Christ. But no, he said, I am your
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companion. I'm your brother and your
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companion. I am with you in this
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tribulation. I mean, John was going through a
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lot of persecution himself at this particular time.
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And the fact that he wrote this and where he wrote it from was
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another indication of the persecution that he was going
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through. He was on the island of Patmos,
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which we're going to talk about in a second.
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So he was exiled there because he was being persecuted by
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Domitian. So he says, but I'm with you in
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the tribulation. I'm with you in Kingdom.
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Not only am I Co heirs together with you, not only am I Co heirs
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together with you with the the inheritance that we have in the
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Kingdom of heaven, but also here I am AI am a a brother with you.
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I'm a companion with you as we live the Kingdom life right
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here, as we live the Kingdom life.
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And that's exactly what we, the church, should be doing.
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We should be thinking about, always thinking about that,
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living the Kingdom life. That's what makes us different
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or should make us stand out from the world so that the world
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would be able to see this Kingdom life and want a part of
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it. When someone asks you something
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about where you go to church, what do you believe?
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You know how come you don't speak like this or how come you
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don't like this? That's because they notice your
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Kingdom living. They notice your Kingdom living.
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They won't have to ask you that. If they saw everything that you
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did was just like the world, they wouldn't have to ask you
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that. But they asked you these things.
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They asked you to pray for them. Someone who may not ever say
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much to you any other time, but when they need something, they
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come to you and say, brother, would you pay for me?
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Sister, would you pray for me? This happened to my family or
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this happened to me or this happened to my my family member.
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They're saying that because they have seen the Kingdom living in
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your life and that draws them and gives opportunity to be able
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to share the Christ. So yes, I'm, I'm a Co I'm a, I'm
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a brother with you in the companion with you in the
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Kingdom, but also in patience. The patience in our suffering,
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the patience in our persecution, the patience in waiting for
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Jesus Christ to come back. We are all doing this together.
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None of us are doing this on an island by ourselves.
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That's why we need the church. That's why we need the church.
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I need you guys to help me, you know, because there's sometimes
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that you may get weary, get tired or, or, or, or sometimes,
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you know, you just don't feel as patient today as you did last
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week. Challenges in your life will
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start to, you know, make you question your patience.
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And we'll take your patience and we'll test your patience.
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But he says be patient as we're waiting for him to come because
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just like you said in verse 7, behold, he is coming, He's
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coming back. So we wait and we help each
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other to wait during this time. And then he says here he said
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was on, he said, I John, you know both your brother and
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companion in the tribulation and Kingdom and patience of Christ,
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Jesus Christ was on the island of Patmos for the word of God
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and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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There it is. That tells you right there that
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John was there because of the fact that he was testifying of
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Jesus Christ and was sharing, witnessing to the word of God,
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to the word of God that brought on the persecution in his life.
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And that's why he was on the island of Patmos.
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Now, the island of Patmos is just basically an island of a
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big rock and marvel. I mean, it was like hardly
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nothing there. It's about 10:10 to 13 miles
26:00
long or so, not very wide. But they, the Roman government
26:04
really sent people there because they were people who were
26:07
opposition either to their government or people who were
26:11
religious, you know, had a religion that was different from
26:14
worshipping Caesar. So if you challenge that, then
26:18
you would get, you know, you would get dealt with.
26:20
And for way to John was dealt with being one of the only
26:23
living apostles at this particular time and probably had
26:26
the loudest voice for Christ at this time.
26:29
They felt like they needed to get rid of him and they wanted
26:32
to deter him from preaching the gospel.
26:35
So they sent him to the island of Patmos.
26:37
So why he was there, think about it, while he was there on the
26:42
island of Patmos is where Jesus came to him.
26:45
He said I was in the Spirit. I was in the spirit on the
26:49
Lord's Day. Now some people might say that
26:51
the Lord's Day, that was Sunday. Some people say it wasn't
26:54
necessarily Sunday, It was just a day that Jesus manifested
26:57
himself and begin to share these things with John.
27:00
Whatever you may believe about it is fine.
27:02
This is no, this is no, it's not going to have any eternal
27:07
consequences if you believe it was Sunday or if you believe it
27:10
was just a day that the Lord manifested himself.
27:15
But he says, I was there on that day and I heard behind me a loud
27:19
voice as of a trumpet, you know, and, and, and, and when you
27:22
think about the Old Testament, the trumpets that when they
27:24
blasted, it got everybody's attention.
27:27
Everybody knew that there was something that they needed to
27:29
pay attention to. So I heard this loud voice.
27:32
So when, when, when he heard Jesus speak, it was so loud and
27:35
with so much authority. It was like a trumpet blast
27:39
gathering the men of war together the way they did in the
27:41
Old Testament. So it was something that you
27:43
needed to pay attention to and and and so he says here that
27:48
once he heard that blast and verse 11 says I am the alpha.
27:52
Did we go again? I am the alpha V Omega the
27:55
first, the last and what you see right in the book and send to
28:01
which are in Asia. I am the and I want you again.
28:05
The preposition, the word the. It doesn't say I am alpha and
28:09
Omega. I am last, first and last, he
28:12
said. I am V That means there's only
28:13
one. I'm the only one.
28:16
I am V first. There's no other.
28:18
I am the last. There's no coming after me.
28:22
I am the first. There's none preceding me and I
28:27
am the last. There's none coming after.
28:29
There's none proceeding me. I'm it.
28:32
I'm eternity. So Jesus says this and again
28:36
when you get people who question rather Jesus ever says that he
28:43
is God and you hear people sometimes they question, well I
28:46
never heard Jesus never said he was God.
28:49
Jesus never said take him to this verse, this verse.
28:54
He says it very clearly. I am alpha, any Omega, the 1st
28:59
and the last. Can't get that confused.
29:02
He's saying I'm God here. They all knew that that's what
29:04
he was saying. All the Jews that read this
29:06
letter knew that that's what he was saying because in the Old
29:09
Testament that's the way God pronounced himself.
29:14
He identified himself as that. And then he goes on here and he
29:18
says, send these, send this letter to Smyrna and to to
29:23
Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos. These are the seven churches
29:27
that are in Asia, to Pergamos, Theatara and Sardis,
29:31
Philadelphia, Laodicea. We're going to get into those a
29:35
little further down the road. We'll get into each one of those
29:38
churches. Then I turn, John said.
29:40
Then I turn to see the voice that spoke with me, and having
29:45
turned, I saw 7 golden stands, lampstands, and in the midst of
29:52
the seven lampstands 1 like the Son of Man, clothed with a
29:58
garment down to the feet, and girded about the chest with a
30:03
golden band. His head and his hair were white
30:08
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire.
30:15
His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace.
30:22
And his voice was the sound of many waters.
30:26
How powerful was that? Can you imagine John, first of
30:30
all, being 90 something years old, He's on this island where
30:34
he's doing hard labor and he gets this vision.
30:41
Jesus comes to him. And he comes to him in a way
30:45
that I'm sure really not only surprised him, but I'm sure it
30:50
startled him. I'm sure it even scared him to a
30:54
degree, the way that Jesus came to him.
30:58
But he had to be thinking at some point, You know, once
31:03
again, the Lord is using me. The Lord is using me again.
31:09
I'm in persecution. I'm being treated about as harsh
31:13
as you could possibly be treated.
31:17
I don't even feel useful anymore for the Kingdom, but yet the
31:21
Lord has come to me and he's using me.
31:23
Maybe some of you guys out there maybe thinking, I know sometimes
31:27
it hits me. Sometimes the Lord still, you
31:28
know, Lord, you still want to use me.
31:31
You still want to use me. Sometimes when we get a certain
31:35
age, we think that maybe the Lord doesn't use me anymore,
31:37
uses the young people, doesn't use me.
31:41
The Lord uses all of his servants.
31:44
He uses all of his servants. There's no servant that gets too
31:48
old. You don't retire.
31:50
I never read anything in the Bible where he had a retirement
31:52
plan, anything. If anybody does, please let me
31:56
know. But I've never seen anything in
31:57
the Bible where the Lord has a retirement plan.
32:00
He uses us as long as we're living.
32:03
As long as we're living, he can use us.
32:06
Doesn't matter what we've done. He said, Lord, he can't use me
32:08
because I've done this, can't use me because I've done that.
32:12
He's a God that forgives. He's the guy that offers grace
32:16
and mercy. So you have this image.
32:20
Now John has this image and he says, I, I saw the seven lamp
32:24
stands. And in the midst of the seven
32:25
lamp stands, there was one who look, there was one like the Son
32:29
of Man. And it goes on to describe what
32:33
the Son of Man look like. He said is he, he was clothed in
32:37
a white garment down to the feet.
32:40
That's usually symbolic of the priest, the priest in the
32:44
satchel that was across his chest.
32:47
It's a pro. It's symbolic of the priest, of
32:49
the righteous priest. Well, he is the high priest.
32:53
So we see the High John is looking at the high priest here.
32:56
It's majestic. He's looking at the majestic
32:59
high priest and he's and, and, and it says here that his head
33:03
was white. It was like snow.
33:07
It was like, it was like war and it was white.
33:10
We're not talking about just Gray here.
33:12
We're talking white Bible talks about in in in in proverbs about
33:17
the the Horry head or the Gray head being a symbolic of wisdom.
33:23
Well, Jesus is definitely all knowing.
33:26
He's omniscient. He's all wise.
33:30
Not only is this about his wisdom, but it's also about the
33:33
fact that he is pure. The white represents the purity
33:37
of Jesus Christ. I was looking out of my window
33:40
the other day and, and, and, and I have a in our backyard because
33:44
not much has been going through there.
33:46
The snow is just packed and it's pure white.
33:50
It's pure white, at least on that end that where my dog goes,
33:53
not so much. But this area that I was looking
33:56
at was pure white. And I was just looking at how
33:59
the sun was glistening off of that sun.
34:02
I can barely look at it. I could barely look at it.
34:06
So I imagine if John is is seeing Jesus Christ in all his
34:10
glory, seeing him in full glory and he's seeing his hair that's
34:15
white. And this is also another reason
34:19
why I don't particularly care for images, visual images of
34:23
Jesus Christ, these pictures of images of Jesus Christ, because
34:27
I've never seen anything in the Bible where it describes the,
34:30
the true features of Jesus Christ other than him and, and,
34:37
and descriptions like this. And it's only like maybe two
34:40
places in the whole Bible where he even gives a description of
34:43
Jesus. And in none of those
34:43
descriptions, you can't tell like personally what he looks
34:47
like. We know more about what he is on
34:50
the inside and who he is, his character, his integrity, his,
34:53
his glory. We know more about that.
34:56
And, and this is a reminiscent of that, you know, his head is
35:00
white like pure. So he has that purity.
35:02
But it also says his eyes are like a, a flame of fire.
35:05
They're not brown, they're not blue.
35:07
They are like a fleece said they were like a flame of fire, a
35:12
flame of fire. So these are like eyes that were
35:15
like that, that just didn't look at the surface, but these are
35:18
eyes that penetrated into the soul.
35:21
We can see into the spirit. It doesn't.
35:23
Nothing can be hidden from these eyes.
35:26
Everything is manifested in his sight.
35:29
There's nothing that he can't see and, and, and he judges in
35:33
his eyes, but he can see and he can judge righteously.
35:37
Even as it says over in Psalms 19, it says that the judgments
35:41
of the Lord are true and righteous all together.
35:45
He's the only one that truly always judges righteously the
35:50
only one. And he said his feet were like
35:52
fine brass and refined in a like, like they refined in a
35:57
furnace. His feet like fine brass.
36:00
That brass that, that, that, that durability, the durability
36:03
of brass, the, the, the stability of brass.
36:07
And not only that, but brass is also something that's trod in
36:11
the furnace. And we know that Jesus when he
36:13
walked in the earth, he was tried and yet he was still
36:18
without sin, tried. And, and just almost like that,
36:22
the verse right over in Psalms that says that he is tried in a
36:26
furnace of the earth. And it says that he is purified
36:31
7 times. And yet we know that Jesus was
36:35
tried on the earth, but yet he was still without sin.
36:39
He was still the righteous. And then says that his voice,
36:44
his voice was like the sound of many waters.
36:48
I don't know if I'm sure most people have been up to Niagara
36:50
Falls before. We used to go up to Niagara
36:53
Falls and we would be on the, the, the American side.
36:56
We would go over to the, the Canna, the Canadian side.
36:59
And we would see the falls from that position and over in the
37:03
Canadian side and get a little bit closer to the falls and,
37:06
and, and it's a little, and it's really loud.
37:08
It's really loud. Now I have never actually got in
37:11
the boat to go behind the falls and, and whatnot, but just being
37:16
around other waterfalls, you can just hear when you got the
37:19
multitude and the volume of water that goes down and, and
37:23
how it goes down and it hits, you know, and, and it's just
37:27
loud. It's loud.
37:30
And I said that this is how Jesus's voice was like the sound
37:33
of many waters. So not just like one Niagara
37:37
Falls, but many Niagara Falls, you know, and hearing that that
37:41
sound, that's how that voice sounded.
37:44
So of course it would unnerve John to some degree in the
37:47
Bible. It says here that in the verse
37:50
16, he says that he had in his right hand seven stars.
37:53
If we want to come back to that over in verse 20, but said he
37:56
had his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth when a a
37:59
sharp 2 edged sword and his countenance was like the sun
38:04
shining in its strength, the sun shining in its strength.
38:09
Who can look at the sun when it's not being hindered by no
38:13
clouds or nothing in front of it, just the pure sun.
38:18
Hardly anybody can look at it, and it's almost like when they
38:21
were up on the Mount of Transfiguration, when they
38:24
looked in Jesus's face and they saw the brightness of his face
38:28
when he saw him in his true glory.
38:31
Purity, once again, righteousness, holiness is pure.
38:36
The Bible says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at
38:42
all, no darkness. So when you have brightness and
38:47
light that has no darkness at all, it's light.
38:51
It's really, really bright. And this is the face of Jesus
38:55
shining so bright, you know he's out of his mouth was a was a
39:01
sword. And that's how that's his
39:03
weapon. That's his weapon.
39:05
His weapon is the word, the word of God that by itself is going
39:10
to slay his enemy, the word of God.
39:15
We want to come against our enemies.
39:16
Just use the word of God. There's nothing that makes the
39:21
enemy flee faster than the word of God.
39:25
So he has his two edged sword coming out of his mouth.
39:27
He doesn't carry his sword in his teeth.
39:29
This is the word that comes out of his mouth and it literally
39:34
slays his enemies. Verse 17 says in and when he saw
39:38
it, he fell at his feet as dead, fell his feet as dead.
39:43
And this is basically this is the response that one gets when
39:48
he comes into the presence of a mighty God.
39:53
It takes our strength, it takes our vigor from us.
39:58
We're weak in his presence. When we really get into the
40:01
presence of God, we can only, we can't do anything but just
40:04
falling down and worship him. Worship him.
40:08
You know how we hear people. And maybe I'm sure I've said it
40:10
myself a few times. Yeah.
40:12
You know, I'm going to ask God about that when I get to heaven.
40:15
You know, when I see Jesus, I'm going to ask him about this.
40:18
I'm asking about that. No, I'm not like the Jesus would
40:20
fall down like a dead man, just like John.
40:23
Just like John fall on my face, I'm not going to have no
40:28
strength to want to ask him anything.
40:30
He's not like he's a man that I can sit down and negotiate with.
40:35
It's glory, it's perfection, it's true holiness.
40:41
And to be in the presence of that, it takes your strength.
40:46
It takes your strength. So I can see him being concerned
40:52
and being afraid, and he must have been afraid.
40:55
Now we're talking about John who lived with Jesus, walked with
40:58
Jesus for three, 3 1/2 years. He knew Jesus, but yet when he
41:04
saw him in the fullness of his glory, there was something
41:07
different and he knew it. He said this.
41:11
This isn't the same guy we be eating fish with.
41:15
He looks different because he's seeing Him in the fullness of
41:20
His glory, just as we will one day we will see Him as he is.
41:28
And Jesus had to say to him, do not be afraid, brother, don't be
41:31
afraid, don't be afraid. Those are the four words that
41:36
I'm sure John loves to hear. He said it to him.
41:39
And so many other times when Jesus was walking on the sea and
41:42
they saw him, they thought it was a ghost.
41:43
He had to say, do not be afraid. So they saw him several times in
41:49
those situations where they had, he had to speak and say don't be
41:52
afraid. Don't be afraid.
41:55
And he says that to us because there's times that we may want
41:59
to be afraid, but he says to us, do not be afraid.
42:03
And, and, and, and, and, and he actually touched him.
42:05
He laid his right hand on him. He didn't have to.
42:08
He could have just commanded him to stand up, but he didn't.
42:11
He showed him compassion and and attention.
42:16
He laid his hand on him. Thank God for his touch.
42:19
He says I am the 1st and the last.
42:21
I am he who loves. I am he who who lives in and was
42:27
dead and behold am alive forever more.
42:32
Bless the Lord. You know.
42:33
So he's saying here I have strength, I have power over
42:36
death. And he proved that because he
42:38
got up out of the grave. So he does have power over
42:42
death. He told he, he, he told Ponty,
42:45
he said you don't have any power over me that God didn't give
42:48
you. I don't get, you know, you don't
42:50
take my life. I lay it down.
42:53
I lay it down and I'll pick it up again.
42:56
And he showed that he could do it because he rose up out of the
42:59
grave. And what A and what a, what,
43:02
what good news that is for us that he's the first, He's the
43:07
first to rise from the dead. He's the first born of the dead.
43:10
We come after him, we will rise after him.
43:15
And then in verse 19, I'm sorry, he also says here at the bottom
43:20
of that verse 18, Amen. I have the keys of death, of
43:25
hades, and of death. The devil doesn't have the keys.
43:28
He doesn't have authority in hell.
43:30
Jesus does. He has authority over hell and
43:36
you know, he, he, he, I know he thinks he does, but he doesn't.
43:40
Jesus has the keys of Hades, which is the abode of the death
43:43
and death. It's Jesus that will judge the
43:47
wicked and they'll be cast death.
43:50
Hades who are those who are dead in the earth, those who are dead
43:54
under the earth, those who are dead in the seas, He will cast
43:58
them into the lake of fire one day.
44:00
Verse 19 says write these things which you have seen and the
44:05
things which are the things which will take and the things
44:08
which will take place after this.
44:10
And there is the whole outline for the Book of Revelation right
44:14
there, right there, OK. It's about the things that are
44:20
the things you've seen. It's about the things that are
44:22
and the things that will take place after this.
44:25
And then verse 20 says the mystery and we're going to
44:27
finish up period of praise and worship team can come the
44:30
mystery of the seven stars, which you have seen in my right
44:34
hand in the 7 golden lamp stands.
44:38
He gives the he gives now the answer to some of those things.
44:41
Now there's some things that are in revelations that are symbolic
44:45
and some of those things, you know, there's different schools
44:48
of thought on how those things are interpreted.
44:51
But then there's things that the word of God will clearly tell us
44:56
what those meanings are. And this is one of those, one of
44:59
those things here, what are what is the true meaning of the seven
45:03
stars and the true meaning of the golden lampstands for the
45:07
meaning of the seven stars, what you have in your hand.
45:10
And he noticed there in his right hand, we believe that
45:13
those are the pastors of the churches because the seven
45:16
lampstands are the churches. So it's the seven.
45:20
So it's the seven stars, which are the the seven pastors of the
45:24
of the seven lampstands or the seven churches.
45:28
And he says they're in his right hand, which means that they're
45:31
being protected by the Lord. What a blessing that is to have
45:37
an elder or a pastor or just the people, the messengers of God
45:41
being protected by the Lord. What a blessing that is.
45:47
And we go out and speak on his behalf and we witness we're in
45:51
his hands, we're protected. But this is referring to the
45:53
seven pastors of those churches, the messengers of those
45:58
churches, and then the seven lampstands, which are what you
46:03
see, they are the seven churches.
46:05
And the lampstand is like the menorah, is like the menorah
46:07
that was in the Temple or first of all in the Tabernacle and
46:11
then later in the Temple. The menorah that those
46:14
lampstands, it was all of gold and it was the light that it
46:17
provided for the Tabernacle and then eventually for the Temple.
46:23
It was the light, just as Jesus Christ is the light of the
46:27
world. Jesus says I am the light of the
46:29
world. He believes in me, doesn't walk
46:32
in darkness, but she'll have the light of life.
46:35
He's the light of the world. And now he tells us over in
46:39
Matthew, he says you are the light of the world.
46:44
Let your light so shine so that men will see your good works and
46:49
glorify God who is in heaven. We are the light of the world,
46:56
so when we leave here, it's about being a light wherever we
47:02
are and letting that light shine so that others will have hope.
47:08
When our light shines, others have hope.
47:13
When our light shines, others have hope.
47:18
When there's a ship lost in sea, when he finally sees the
47:22
lighthouse and sees the light at the lighthouse, he has hope.
47:27
He has hope. I can remember sometimes being
47:31
on some very, very desolate roads, driving in some of the
47:35
back places. I've met a gentleman over here
47:38
who said that he lived in South Dakota for while we are Caden,
47:41
there you go. He said he lived in South Dakota
47:43
for a while, and I really wanted to talk to him a little bit more
47:45
about South Dakota. But there's some areas of South
47:48
Dakota that are just really, really desolate and dark.
47:53
And then all of a sudden you see a light off in the far distance
47:57
and you can tell I'm finally coming upon a town and you have
48:02
hope. And that's exactly the way it is
48:05
for us to where the church, we are the light that gives hope to
48:09
the world. So let our light shine.
48:13
And John eases us, and as he gets into the prophecies and the
48:18
church, first, he's going to get into the churches.
48:19
Next time we start in chapter 2, he's going to get into the seven
48:22
churches. Then after that, we'll get into
48:24
the prophecies, those things that are happening after this,
48:28
Amen. But he eases us into this, and
48:31
I'm so glad he does. He gives us a big dose of Jesus
48:34
Christ, Amen. Let's pray, Father, we thank you
48:41
for your word. We thank you for your goodness.
48:44
We thank you for all that you show us and teach us, Lord, how
48:48
you give us the way. How you show us the way, Lord
48:53
demonstrated even with your life.
48:56
And then as if that wasn't enough, Lord, you came and you
48:59
did the ultimate as you came, and you died for us, Lord, for
49:02
our sins. You shed your blood, Lord, and
49:07
you cleansed us of our sins, and you did it in your own blood, as
49:11
your scripture says. You washed us, You cleansed us,
49:15
You purified us. And I pray, Lord, that someone
49:20
tonight may have heard something that will cause them to want to
49:25
have that relationship with you, want to give their lives to you,
49:30
want to trust you for their salvation, Lord, that they don't
49:33
want to have to wonder if whether or not they have
49:36
salvation, but they can know that they have salvation, Lord,
49:39
if they have their, if they have the Son.
49:42
So I pray that someone will turn from their and repent from their
49:47
sins, Lord, just as we all need to repent every day, those who
49:51
are believers and those who are not.
49:53
And I pray, Lord, that someone will give their hearts to you,
49:56
Lord, and trust you for their salvation.
50:00
Let us be lights, Lord. If we haven't been lights, Lord,
50:03
up to this point, I pray that you will cause us to be lights,
50:08
cause us to desire, Lord, to let our lights shine in our
50:12
communities. Let our lights shine in our
50:15
homes. Let our lights shine in our in
50:18
our jobs, in our schools as young people.
50:21
Let our lights shine. Let people see that we are
50:24
different because we are of the Kingdom of God.
50:30
But we thank you for the sacrifice, Lord, that it took
50:34
for you to bring that gospel to us, to the to the world.
50:38
Lord, we thank you for that. So the night in which Jesus was
50:42
betrayed, he took the bread in his hand and, and it says that
50:47
after he gave thanks, he broke it and he said, take, eat, this
50:56
is my body which is broken for you.
50:58
Eat this in remembrance of me. Then he also took the cup and he
51:11
said this cup is a new covenant in my blood which was shed for
51:16
the forgiveness of sins for many.
51:21
And that blood that was shed 2000 years ago is still
51:24
cleansing people from sins even today is still cleanses.
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It's just as efficacious now as it was 2000 years ago.
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Thank you Lord, drink this as often as you drink it.
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And remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and
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drink this cup. Do show the Lord's death until
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he comes. Amen.
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Amen. The Lord bless you.
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The altar is open if anybody would like to come up.
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Someone like to give their hearts to Christ this morning,
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please come up and do so. Lord bless you.