Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 906. Bible Study: Job 18 (Communication with Others, Having Oil in the Lamp, Judgement)

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906. Bible Study: Job 18 (Communication with Others, Having Oil in the Lamp, Judgement) · Faith by annm2705

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  Chapter 18 from the book of Job first, let's pray.
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  Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through this chapter.
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  Please open our eyes, our ears, our hearts to what you have to
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  say and guide us as we read this through this with the
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  understanding from the Holy Spirit, we ask this in Jesus
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  name, Amen. So chapter 18, I will read
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  through this chapter first, then I will mention a few things that
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  I noticed while reading this. And then I will go through the
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  study Bibles question and answer.
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  And then I will get into a little bit more of a deeper
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  topic as it as some of the things that Bill Dad Job's
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  friend brought up that apply to us and something that is
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  relevant to the return of Jesus or being prepared for the return
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  of Jesus. So that's what we're going to
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  get into today. We'll start.
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  Let's get started then Bildad the shoe height replied.
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  When will you end these speeches?
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  Be sensible and then we can talk.
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  Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your
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  sight? You who tear yourself to pieces
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  in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake, or
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  must the rocks be moved further? Or must the rocks be moved from
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  their place? The lamp of a wicked man is
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  snuffed out. His flame of his fire stops
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  burning. The light in his tent becomes
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  dark. The lamp beside him goes out.
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  The vigor of his step is weakened.
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  His own schemes throw him down. His feet thrust him into a net.
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  He wanders into his smesh. A trap seizes him by the heel.
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  A snare holds him fast. A noose is hidden for him on the
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  ground, a trap lies in his path. Terrors startle him on every
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  side, and dog is every step. Calamity is hungry for him.
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  Disaster is ready for him. When he falls, it eats away part
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  of his skin. Death's first born devours his
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  limbs. He is torn from the security of
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  his tent and marched off to the King of Terrors.
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  Fire resides in his tent. Burning sulphur is scattered
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  over his dwelling. His roots dry up and his
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  branches wither above. The memory of him perishes from
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  the earth. He has no name in the land.
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  He is driven from light into the realm of the darkness and is
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  banished from the world. He has no offspring or
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  descendants among his people, no survivor where he once lived.
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  People of the West were appalled at his fate.
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  Those of the East are seized with horror.
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  Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man.
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  Such is the place of one who does not know God.
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  That's the end of chapter 18. So we see here very quickly that
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  Bildad, who's supposedly a friend of Job's, he starts out
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  just saying, when will you end these speeches?
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  Like he doesn't want to hear Job's defense.
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  He's already got it set up in his own mind.
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  He's accusing Job. He thinks he knows what he
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  really doesn't know because he doesn't know what we do.
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  From chapters one and two, that it was actually Satan that got
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  allowed to do this, to Job, to test Job, not because Job did
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  anything wrong, but just to test Job.
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  So then we can see something about communication with people
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  here too, and what's appropriate and what's not.
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  Job is suffering on his bed and these people were supposed to be
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  helping him. Now there's three of them and at
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  first they came and they sat down with Job and they just
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  didn't even speak for seven days.
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  But then one of them had an experience.
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  So I think it was Illa Fast was the first one who spoke.
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  And he told Job about this shadowy figure that came to him
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  in the night and, you know, started really saying these
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  negative things about humans. And he apparently didn't have
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  any discernment about what kind of spirit that was that he had
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  that experience with. And we know from chapters one
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  and two that God let Satan do these things.
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  So that was probably through discernment and through what we
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  know in chapters one and two, that was probably an evil spirit
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  that was influencing Ilifa's thoughts.
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  And then he was taking on the the characteristics of the
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  character of Satan himself. Like Satan is the accuser.
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  That's what they're doing to him.
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  They're not being supportive, they're not building him up.
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  They're doing all these other things.
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  And and then there's you can see like here's some pride too.
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  He's like he's saying, why are we regarded as cattle and
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  considered stupid in your sight? Well, he's offended his pride.
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  He thinks he's a lot greater than he doesn't think he's
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  stupid. He doesn't think he's like
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  cattle and he feels like because he's expressing it, he feels
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  like that's what job thinks of him.
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  So he's he's not thinking about Job.
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  He's thinking about himself. He's thinking about what he's
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  just expressing his offense to all of this.
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  It's not, this is not, you know, godly, this is not, you can see
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  the enemy is like getting some ground here with his friends who
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  are supposed to be there. And that's what the enemy does.
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  They'll they'll wait till somebody's at their lowest point
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  and then just try and like pile on a bunch of other stuff on top
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  of them because the enemy seeks to kill, to steal, kill and
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  destroy. But Jesus came to give us life.
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  So that's the opposite speaking life into someone is something
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  that Jesus would do something from God.
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  But you know, stealing, killing and destroying is something the
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  enemy does and accusing is something the enemy.
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  He's the accuser. He's called the accuser.
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  So when we start seeing those things and other people coming
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  against us, who is probably the spirit behind that?
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  You, if it's not warranted, like if we didn't do something that
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  needs to be called out, then you know, we have to be humble
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  ourselves and listen to what somebody has to say.
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  But if they are completely off and they are not speaking the
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  truth, you know who's behind it because we see it in Job.
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  So I think this is really helpful so that we can be
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  discerning when we interact with other people.
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  These people are Job's friends. These are not his enemies.
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  And look at what they're doing. So that shows you how the Evil 1
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  can influence even close friends to do those kinds of things.
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  So then he's, you know, he's offended and then he's, you
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  know, blaming Job. He's like, you're the one who's
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  tearing yourself into pieces. You know, don't blame God.
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  Just like this study Bible says it'll tell us that.
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  And then from verses 5 all the way through the end, he just
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  talks about evil and what happens with evil.
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  And is he implying that Job is evil?
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  I mean, why would he be bringing all this stuff up if he didn't
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  think Job, you did something, you're hiding it from us.
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  You're really evil and and you know, this is again not helpful.
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  So let's go to what the study Bible says.
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  Was Job tearing himself to pieces?
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  Bildad was or how was Job tearing himself to pieces?
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  Bildad was using sarcasm, throwing Job's worms back in his
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  faith face. Job had accused God of tearing
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  him to pieces, but Bildad was trying to set the record
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  straight. He claimed that Job was tearing
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  himself to pieces by refusing to admit to the many charges
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  against him. Then it says what was death's
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  first born. This is a poetic description of
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  a dreaded disease. What is the king of terrors?
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  The king of terrors is death, described here in a way that is
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  somewhat similar to Paul's description of death in the New
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  Testament as the last enemy. Some ancient myths portrayed
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  Death as the king of the underworld ruling over its
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  terrors, and Bildad may have been referring poetically to
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  that here. Whether or not he actually
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  believed the myths. Well, it's kind of interesting
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  because it says eats away parts of his skin.
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  Death's first born devours his limbs.
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  Whether or not he knows it is he actually describing what Satan
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  does? He seeks to steal, kill and
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  destroy, and he could use a lot of different means to do that.
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  So Death's first born, I don't know.
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  Would that be Satan? Maybe, Possibly, maybe not, I
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  don't know. He is torn from the security of
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  his tent and is marched off to the King of terrors.
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  Well, who might be the King of Terrors?
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  It could, you know, maybe there's somebody else besides
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  Satan, but it's somebody aligned with Satan.
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  If it isn't Satan himself, something evil, it's not God.
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  So this is talking about the evil person.
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  He is marched off to the King of Terrors.
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  And we see that in the Book of Revelation where it talks about
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  these, it talks about death in Hades.
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  And I don't know if I had that. I had it called up.
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  OK so it's listed a few times. So in Revelation chapter one
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  verse 18, I am the living one. I was dead and now look, I am
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  alive forever and ever and I hold the keys of death and
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  Hades. So death and Hades are mentioned
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  together. This is Jesus talking.
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  I am the living one. I was dead.
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  He died on the cross. And now look, I am alive forever
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  and ever. And as Paul had said, as it was
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  referenced in the study Bible in First Corinthians 1526, that was
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  the last enemy to be destroyed was death.
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  I might just go to that verse to, you know, get more
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  information on that if I can, if the OK, I've got too many tabs
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  open. All right, so it's slowed down
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  and it's not going there right now, but let's see.
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  First Corinthians 1526, One Corinthians 1526, OK, that says
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  the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
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  And then it says right after that, four, this is Paul
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  talking. Four, he has put everything
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  under his feet. Now when it says that everything
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  has been put under him, it is clear that that does not include
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  God Himself, who put everything under Christ.
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  When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject
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  to Him, and who put everything under him, so that God may be in
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  all. So to read a few sentences
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  before the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
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  It says For as in Adam all die, so physically humans will die
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  because of sin, because the wages of death is sin.
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  So our body dies, but so in Christ all will be made alive.
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  We are made alive through the Spirit.
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  That is how we are made alive. When we have the Holy Spirit, we
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  are born again. We are made alive.
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  Jesus said no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are
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  born of the Spirit. So when we receive the Holy
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  Spirit, we are then made alive spiritually, even if and when
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  our body dies. And I say if because when Jesus
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  returns, there will be some who are alive when Jesus returns.
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  And those people won't experience the physical death.
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  They'll just be changed at that very moment, which is pretty
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  cool for anybody who's alive when Jesus returns.
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  So going back to what Paul says, so all will be made.
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  So in Christ all will be made alive, but each in turn Christ
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  the first few fruits, Then when he comes those who belong to
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  him, then the end will come, when he hands over the Kingdom
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  to God the Father. After he is destroyed, all
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  dominion, authority and power, for he must reign until he has
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  put all his enemies under his feet.
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  The last enemy to be destroyed is death, and we'll see that
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  that happens. That's going to happen at the
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  very end of the Millennium, at the end of the thousand years
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  after Jesus reigns. That's the final judgment.
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  So there's, there's quite a bit of time now before the final
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  judgment, but there's an earlier, it's not necessarily
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  judgment, but there is an earlier rescue maybe or
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  resurrection is probably a better word.
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  Those who died in Christ and those who believed they will
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  rise from the dead and those who are living at that time when
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  Jesus returns will also be changed instantly and brought to
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  him. So during this Millennium time
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  frame, when Jesus is reigning on earth, there's there will be
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  mortal and immortal people, people who still can physically
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  die, and then there will be people who can no longer
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  physically die, which is really, it's going to be a different
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  time. Like this is going to be the
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  coolest time ever for anybody who's well, we all have
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  experienced life on earth. So whenever this Millennium time
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  frame begins with Jesus reigning as the king over the entire
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  earth, it is going to be so cool to see because everything that
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  has been damaged, destroyed is going to be restored, including
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  people. And there's going to be more
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  people who will populate the earth.
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  So but yet it's still not where it's before we get to eternity.
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  So this is still like here on earth.
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  That's the very next big segment of time that's going to happen
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  is when Jesus returns and then he starts ruling here on earth.
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  But during that's OK. So we talked about a couple
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  times where death in Hades was talked about in the first
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  Revelation one. But then when the seals start
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  happening, I believe this is the fourth seal.
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  It's Revelation 68 and yes it is the 4th seal.
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  I would say when the Lamb opened the 4th seal verse 7, I heard
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  the voice of the fourth living creatures say come.
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  I looked and there before me was a pale horse.
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  We know it when studying wrote the Book of Revelation that the
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  horse and the horses that come out for each of these seals are
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  actually spiritual entities. We learned that from context it
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  within the whole Bible. So other prophets talk about
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  horses being spirits. So it's writer was named Death
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  and Hades. So Death and Hades are kind of
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  like together was following close behind him.
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  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by
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  sword, famine and plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.
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  So again, nothing happens without God allowing it to
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  happen. But he is giving Death in Hades
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  the ability to have power over a fourth of the earth to kill by
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  sword, famine and plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.
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  So this is, you know, part of when it's when it happens during
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  the, this is before Jesus returns because I believe it's
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  the 6th seal when Jesus returns. Because if you look throughout
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  Scripture and prophecy, all of the description of what happens
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  at the 6th seal matches when the day of the Lord occurs.
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  So that is the day that Jesus comes back.
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  That is the day that people will be resurrected.
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  So then in Revelation 20 this is talking about right before the
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  final judgement day. So in Revelation 20 it verse 13
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  it says the sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and
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  Hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person was
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  judged according to what they had done.
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  So death in Hades also seems like a place.
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  So in the the 4th seal, it sounds like they're people, but
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  then in this it sounds like they're a place.
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  And again, what I think is we don't know all of the spiritual
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  stuff, just no one has. God hasn't revealed it to us.
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  But just like Jesus said to Nicodemus and John chapter 3,
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  I'm trying to tell you about earthly things and you don't
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  understand. How can I explain spiritual
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  things? So I think there's some things
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  in the spiritual realm that we don't know.
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  But does that do exist? And then in Revelation 20, verse
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  14, the very next sentence, it says then death and Hades were
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  thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second
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  death. So here again, death and Hades,
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  if they were a place, they could be thrown into the lake of fire.
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  But then would a place, I guess a place could have a death too.
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  So is it spiritual? I don't know what death in Hades
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  is, but it does sound like it's a place.
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  And I think Hades has always been regarded as a place of
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  death like it was. There was this rich man that
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  Jesus told a parable about and he was in Hades and he wanted
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  Abraham to come and put a drop of water on his tongue, but he
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  was separated by a great chasm. I think it said that he couldn't
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  get, he could see Abraham, but he couldn't get there.
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  Like it was a definite place of, I guess, people who rejected
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  God, where they were being held. So very interesting things, but
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  that going back to chapter 18, it's in reference to an evil man
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  and what Bildad is saying in verse 13.
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  It eats away parts of his skin, deaths first born, devours his
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  limbs. He is torn from the security of
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  his tent and marched off to the king of terrors.
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  Then what's interesting is that the very next sentence or verse
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  15, it says fire resides in his tent.
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  Burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.
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  To me that's very interesting because this is Revelation 20,
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  verse 14. Then death and Hades were thrown
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  into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second
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  death and it when it talks about the false prophet and I forgot
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  where there was OK Revelation 20, verse 10 And the devil who
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  deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning, burning
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  sulfur. So see there's fire and sulfur
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  and that's what Bildad's talking about.
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  Fire resides in in his tent in his place of dwelling, burning
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  sulfur scattered over his dwelling.
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  So all of. All of evil, that's where all of
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  evil is going. And it says again, verse 10, it
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  says they were thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the
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  beast, which is actually a group of seven or ten nations and the
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  false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and
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  night forever and ever. So if anybody tells you like,
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  you know, hell is like a party place or anything like that, or
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  they say that it doesn't exist or just be weary, be warned
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  about them. Don't believe what they have to
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  say because that contradicts the Bible.
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  Because the Bible tells us that anyone who goes there will be
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  tormented day and night forever and ever.
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  And that's a place of like eternal punishment.
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  Like punishment goes on forever and ever.
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  And I think, you know, it's, it's not beneficial for people
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  to tell people that doesn't exist because if you're headed
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  that way, which all of us are, unless we reach out to God and
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  ask, you know, ask God to come into our life, ask for the Holy
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  Spirit. I mean, we're all headed on that
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  path because of sin. That's the wages of death is
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  sin. That means that every person who
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  doesn't repent of their sin and turn to God and rejects God,
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  they're they're going to be separated from God and they will
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  be in this place. And it does exist.
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  The Bible tells us that it exists.
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  And it's not helpful or loving or caring to anyone to tell them
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  to ignore this because do you want anyone to end up there or
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  do you want them? Would you rather want them to be
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  in God's Kingdom where we are? We will become brothers and
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  sisters to Jesus and we will inherit the Kingdom of God.
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  And the Bible refers to those people who are right with God
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  that then they're called like Princess and Queens and kings.
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  And there's like, I mean, like all of these things.
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  I mean, the, the description of what God has in store for his
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  children is absolutely amazing. And if anyone would want to
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  forfeit that, I look at what people today strive for in terms
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  of amassing wealth and success and luxury.
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  And they live for that. And they may do evil things to
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  get that. And they think they've arrived
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  when they have that here on earth.
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  But they're being so short sighted because if they've done
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  things in an evil way to obtain those things, they're going to
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  lose every bit of it. And they will not even be in
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  God's Kingdom unless they repent and turn to God and turn away
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  from all of that. So people are just so deceived
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  by what they can achieve here in the world.
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  But what we can achieve here in the world is so much less than
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  what God has in store for us. So don't let people talk you out
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  of your inheritance by making everything in the world seem
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  more important than it truly is. Because just like I, I don't
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  know if it was Job. There's are several other
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  prophets that said this. I think I've heard it from
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  multiples of of them where they say naked eye came into the
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  earth and naked eye will leave even Solomon, the wisest man, he
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  was like, you know, what do you do?
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  You work for all this, you accumulate all this, and then
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  you turn it over the next guy and who knows, you know what
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  his, you know, who knows who he is or he benefits from something
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  that you did. But you know, you don't take
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  anything with you. So it's not really, it's
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  meaningless. It's all meaningless.
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  And and you know, Solomon wraps up his, it's Ecclesiastes where
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  he talks about the importance. It's really our relationship
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  with God that's the most important thing.
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  So don't let things of the world get you sidetracked from what
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  God has in store. And that's why some of this
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  brings to mind things that are important to us today.
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  So Illafaz, while he was, his communication wasn't great.
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  You know, he's being influenced either.
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  He well, let's see, Illafaz was. But Bildad, I don't know if just
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  because he's in the company with Illafaz and he's hearing these
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  things. So he's jumping on the same, you
• 24:52
  know, wagon is his friends, you know, where they're all coming
• 24:56
  against Joe because I don't think any of them have really
• 24:58
  said anything positive to job and they were being influenced
• 25:03
  and maybe they're being influenced by one another too.
• 25:07
  And they're accusing and they have pride because they get
• 25:09
  offended because they're focused on their self and what do they
• 25:13
  look like? You know, that they're trying to
• 25:15
  defend themselves. And then they there's anger that
• 25:18
  gets involved and it says don't let you know.
• 25:21
  Anger is a foothold of the death.
• 25:24
  So if we are wanting to respond to someone in a way that has
• 25:32
  some anger in it, we should definitely postpone that.
• 25:37
  We should pause. Maybe we need to sleep on it and
• 25:40
  have a discussion another day because you don't want to give
• 25:45
  the enemy a foothold in anything.
• 25:48
  And and that's what it says that anger is.
• 25:51
  So if if you feel anger coming on, it's probably good not to
• 25:56
  let it take hold. So ecclesiastic Ecclesiastes
• 26:03
  Chapter 7 verse 9 says do do not be quickly provoked in your
• 26:09
  spirit for anger resides in the lap of fools.
• 26:15
  So if you let yourself get upset and angry, you're really foolish
• 26:20
  because you're giving the enemy of God a foothold.
• 26:24
  You're giving him some claim, some, you know, way to operate
• 26:31
  through you in this communication.
• 26:34
  Also, we see that name calling is unproductive.
• 26:37
  You know, vengeance is God. So, you know, if he feels like
• 26:40
  you're calling us stupid or something like that.
• 26:43
  I mean, people do go to resort to name calling when they get
• 26:48
  angry and that doesn't do anything.
• 26:52
  I mean, you, you have to kind of go back to what is this purpose
• 26:56
  of having a disagreement or a conversation with someone?
• 27:01
  I mean, if you're just trying to win an argument, are you really
• 27:04
  winning? And what are you winning?
• 27:06
  What is the end result? What do you want to achieve from
• 27:10
  it? And it's it's easy to say it
• 27:12
  when you're not in the middle of an argument when you have all of
• 27:15
  that those thoughts going in your head.
• 27:17
  You have to that's why Paul says take captive your thoughts.
• 27:22
  You know, don't let it go spiral and go out of control that you
• 27:26
  know the Holy Spirit is what is who gives us self-control.
• 27:33
  So when we rely on God, if we pause and maybe even just say a
• 27:38
  quick prayer like, God, please help me with this right now.
• 27:40
  I need your help. You know, maybe the Holy Spirit
• 27:43
  will say, OK, just be quiet. Don't say anything more.
• 27:45
  Stop right now. Don't don't keep like fueling
• 27:48
  this argument here. Then his friend does talk about
• 27:54
  a lamp and about light and about, you know, oil is what
• 27:59
  makes their lamps. I mean, back in that time, the
• 28:01
  oil, the olive oil was what made the lamps continue to burn.
• 28:07
  And and they just, you know, they have a lack of
• 28:10
  understanding. They, they don't really know
• 28:12
  what's going on, but they're speaking like all of them, even
• 28:15
  Job. I mean, well, Job is kind of
• 28:17
  saying, I don't know what's going on with me.
• 28:19
  But his friends are all, they're like, oh, no, there's something
• 28:21
  bad that's happened that you did something wrong and you need to
• 28:25
  repent of it. But they're not right and there
• 28:29
  then, then Job is in error too, because he's thinking all of
• 28:34
  this is coming from God. He's thinking that God's angry
• 28:37
  with him, but God wasn't angry with him.
• 28:40
  He was just testing him. God was approving of him.
• 28:43
  But he let these things happen. And Job just didn't expect that.
• 28:47
  He didn't really know about that.
• 28:50
  And then the other thing about it is as we see through these
• 28:53
  back and forths and there's so many chapters that this one said
• 28:57
  this, then this one said this, and it's just going back and
• 28:59
  forth and all these people. Everybody has to have the last
• 29:02
  word. Like when you have the last word
• 29:05
  again, what are we accomplishing?
• 29:08
  What is the purpose? Is the purpose to say, oh, I
• 29:11
  won. And if you won, what did you
• 29:14
  win? You get like bragging rights for
• 29:19
  having defeated somebody in an argument.
• 29:21
  I mean, is that are you going to like, is that going to make you,
• 29:25
  like happy forever? If you ruin a friendship and you
• 29:29
  say, well, I won that argument, though.
• 29:31
  Well, what if you keep winning arguments like that with
• 29:34
  everybody, you know, and then you end up all by yourself?
• 29:36
  Where does that leave you? You know, it just doesn't.
• 29:39
  Sometimes we just get so wrapped up in a moment that we don't
• 29:42
  think about like, why? Why are we even doing this?
• 29:47
  So having the last word, is it really that important?
• 29:50
  And just remembering self-control is a fruit of the
• 29:53
  Spirit and that God can help us when we're in these situations
• 29:56
  like this. We don't have to keep on going
• 29:58
  back and forth about this. And that's something that is
• 30:00
  learned. I mean, it's just learned
• 30:02
  through Scripture that self-control comes from the Holy
• 30:04
  Spirit. And if we have the Spirit of
• 30:07
  God, he doesn't take over our body.
• 30:11
  He still lets us have free will, but it says all we have to do is
• 30:16
  resist the devil and he will flee.
• 30:20
  So it's not like we have to go into this, you know, arm
• 30:22
  wrestling, this physical combat. It's resist like that is how
• 30:28
  powerful it is, how powerful his influences are in us.
• 30:33
  So if we could just pause, I mean, that's resisting.
• 30:36
  Just pause and say, God help me. Help me respond to this person
• 30:41
  right now. Like don't let me get wrapped up
• 30:44
  in this stuff that's going to let the enemy have control over
• 30:49
  me. I don't want to give the enemy
• 30:50
  control. I want the Holy Spirit to have
• 30:53
  control over me. It's a decision all the time
• 30:57
  when we are like surrendered to God.
• 31:00
  It's a decision. That's our toughest thing yet
• 31:03
  that we have the, the, the hardest thing we ever have to do
• 31:07
  is make a decision to choose what God would want to remain in
• 31:12
  God's will. That's our hardest decision.
• 31:15
  It's not like we have to run a marathon, a physical marathon
• 31:20
  and be fit enough to run a marathon.
• 31:23
  It's not like we have to lift 300 lbs and put it over our
• 31:28
  head. I mean, that's, you know,
• 31:30
  incredible human strength. But this what God is talking
• 31:34
  about is like it's, it's a choice.
• 31:37
  It's not a choice, It's a decision.
• 31:39
  It's a decision that we make that he gives to us and all we
• 31:42
  have to do is resist evil and it will flee.
• 31:47
  It's not that hard in reality, when you think about it, Is it
• 31:53
  that hard? Is it easier to make a decision
• 31:57
  or is it easier to bench press £500?
• 32:02
  You know, like, I mean, seriously, what is really
• 32:05
  harder? And and we just like get too
• 32:10
  wrapped up and stuff that we don't think about these things
• 32:15
  clearly. And and then anyway, so kind of
• 32:19
  getting a little bit way too far off the subject, but what I
• 32:22
  wanted to talk to next was about what Bill Dad said about a lamp
• 32:27
  of a wicked man has snuffed out. Now, the things that he said in
• 32:30
  verses 5 through 21 are are true.
• 32:35
  It's just that they're not applicable to, to Job's
• 32:40
  situation. And he does, he says at the end,
• 32:44
  surely such is the dwelling of an evil man.
• 32:47
  Such is the place of one who does not know God.
• 32:50
  Well, he's talking about the burning lake of sulfur.
• 32:53
  So one who does not know God, such is the place of one who
• 32:58
  does not know God, the burning lake of sulfur.
• 33:02
  So it's probably really wise for us to get in the word and to
• 33:09
  know God. I mean, read scripture and know
• 33:13
  who God is. No communicate with him like we.
• 33:17
  This is written down for us. So we know who God is, but then
• 33:20
  we communicate with him on a personal level.
• 33:23
  And we don't want to be in the burning lake of sulfur, but
• 33:27
  that's where an evil man lives and that's where one who does
• 33:33
  not know God. That's what Bildad said, one who
• 33:36
  does not know God. So I want to get into the the
• 33:39
  part about the lamp because when I read it, that one word just
• 33:43
  kind of stood out because the lamp is something that is talked
• 33:47
  about in in the Bible and in a lot of different places.
• 33:56
  So I went through and I searched and there are 34 times that a
• 34:02
  lamp is just is mentioned in the Bible.
• 34:05
  And I think this helps because what does a lamp mean in the
• 34:10
  Bible? And it means a lot of different
• 34:13
  things, but in a symbolic sense, like here's one verse, second
• 34:21
  Samuel 22, verse 29, You Lord, are my lamp.
• 34:27
  The Lord turns my darkness into light.
• 34:31
  So symbolically, the light that somebody holds is the Lord.
• 34:37
  And that's that's one example of a lamp.
• 34:40
  What is a lamp? And then it says you, Lord, keep
• 34:44
  my lamp burning. My God turns my darkness into
• 34:49
  light. That's in Psalm 18, verse 28.
• 34:52
  So again, it's, it's my lamp, but it's God who keeps the lamp
• 34:58
  burning. And I think that's really
• 35:00
  important too, especially when we get into the book of Matthew,
• 35:05
  chapter 25 where he talks about the 10 virgins and keeping their
• 35:09
  lamps burning. Well, it's in Psalm 1828.
• 35:14
  It says you, Lord, keep my lamp burning.
• 35:17
  My God turns my darkness into light.
• 35:21
  So it's through God that our darkness goes away.
• 35:24
  It's through the Holy Spirit that our darkness goes away.
• 35:28
  That's how we are changed. And then in Psalm 119105, your
• 35:36
  word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
• 35:42
  So the word of the Lord, Scripture, the Bible, is a lamp
• 35:47
  for my feet. It keeps us a light on my path.
• 35:50
  It shows us the right way to go. And then this is the Lord saying
• 35:57
  in Psalm 132, verse 17 here, I will make a horn grow for David
• 36:03
  and set up a lamp for my anointed one.
• 36:07
  The light, Jesus is the light in Proverbs 623 for this command is
• 36:15
  a lamp. This teaching is a light, and
• 36:19
  correction and instruction are the way to life.
• 36:24
  So it's really interesting because Jesus is the way, the
• 36:27
  truth and the life. So, and Jesus is the word, the
• 36:32
  word teaches us for this command is a lamp.
• 36:36
  This teaching is a light and correction and instruction are
• 36:40
  the way to life. So you can see some similarities
• 36:46
  about this and about the lamp being, you know, it's definitely
• 36:52
  God, the Holy Spirit, you know, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
• 36:57
  the lamp. But it's it's more than that
• 37:00
  too. It says the in Proverbs 39, the
• 37:05
  light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the
• 37:10
  wicked is snuffed out. So it's like all of us have a
• 37:13
  lamp. All of us are like a, if you
• 37:17
  want to say like a host, like for a spirit.
• 37:21
  We a spirit will like we are body, soul and spirit.
• 37:30
  That's what we are made of. So our soul is what lives on for
• 37:34
  eternity. It's our being, our nature, our
• 37:38
  personality. But then we have a spirit that
• 37:43
  it, it would be dead if it weren't for the Holy Spirit to
• 37:48
  bring us life. And then when we received the
• 37:52
  Holy Spirit, it's like, it is like a wedding.
• 37:55
  It is like a husband and a wife who come together and become one
• 38:00
  in spirit. That's what Jesus prayed to the
• 38:03
  Father before he died. He said, Father, make them one
• 38:06
  as we are one as we are one in spirit, like the Father and the
• 38:11
  Son had this wonderful communication and this
• 38:14
  connection, the spiritual connection.
• 38:17
  And we see that this can happen. This happens with people, this
• 38:21
  happens in marriages that the two spirits become one.
• 38:26
  And that's why it also tells us to be what they call equally
• 38:29
  yoked, which is like for animals back in the day.
• 38:33
  The harness that the animals ward, that was a yoke that they
• 38:36
  put on them to work together so that they're working together
• 38:41
  and they're going down the same path and they have the same
• 38:45
  motivation. Because if you have somebody who
• 38:49
  doesn't want to follow the same path, you're going to have, you
• 38:52
  know, how many, how are you going to stay on a narrow path
• 38:55
  if you got 1 going, I want to go on the wide path.
• 38:59
  And then another saying I want to stay on the narrow path and
• 39:01
  you've got people yoked together with a harness because they're
• 39:05
  married and then they're trying to go to two separate ways.
• 39:09
  There's going to be a lot of problems in that marriage if
• 39:13
  you're not equally yoked. And I think if we were not
• 39:18
  Christians before we got married through Christians, like Born
• 39:22
  again Christians, then we see that's how a lot of them turn
• 39:27
  into divorces because we're not submitted to Christ and we're
• 39:33
  not submitted to each other. And so there's just a whole
• 39:36
  bunch of chaos in there and people don't take what the Bible
• 39:41
  says seriously about how important it is to be equally
• 39:45
  yoked. It probably doesn't mean that
• 39:48
  everything is going to be perfect if you are equally
• 39:51
  yoked, because as humans, we all, we're not going to be
• 39:54
  perfect until Jesus returns. So everybody's still going to
• 39:57
  have tendencies towards sin. But if people are truly
• 40:01
  surrendered to God and truly obedient to Him.
• 40:07
  Then when we do something sinful, we're convicted of it by
• 40:12
  the Holy Spirit and we repent of it, and then we get back on
• 40:16
  track. And that's the way both people
• 40:19
  should be in a marriage if they are equally yoked.
• 40:24
  And so if we are a host of the Spirit, we are a lamp, and then
• 40:31
  the oil is the Holy Spirit that lights us, then everything
• 40:38
  should be smoother. Everything should be smoother, I
• 40:42
  guess really is what I'm saying. But if we are the lamp, I mean,
• 40:45
  there's all this symbolism where we are somewhat of a lamp
• 40:48
  because the lamp reflects what is put inside of us.
• 40:53
  So what kind of spirit do we have?
• 40:56
  Do we have a spirit of darkness or do we have a spirit of light?
• 41:02
  So it says Proverbs 2020. If someone curses their father
• 41:07
  or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
• 41:11
  That's pretty harsh. And I don't know, you know, a
• 41:16
  whole lot of detail about that. But we should respect our father
• 41:20
  and mother because, you know, maybe they weren't perfect
• 41:23
  people and maybe they were, maybe they were perfect people.
• 41:26
  And respect comes really easy. And then maybe for some people,
• 41:30
  they weren't, they were, they could have been abusive or
• 41:33
  something like that. And but The thing is, the way I,
• 41:36
  I look at this is that God used them to bring about the
• 41:43
  children. And so even if they were not
• 41:47
  good people or godly people, still God enabled them to bring
• 41:55
  you about or to bring a person about.
• 41:58
  So it doesn't. We should just be thankful for
• 42:02
  that because God gave us life through our parents, so that we
• 42:07
  should always respect our parents because that's how we
• 42:09
  got here. And anyway, Proverbs 20, verse
• 42:15
  27, the human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on
• 42:23
  one's inmost being. That's really an interesting
• 42:27
  statement. You might have to read it a few
• 42:28
  times. The human spirit, So our spirit
• 42:33
  is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's inmost
• 42:39
  being. It's like everything about us.
• 42:42
  It it, it, it amplifies what is all about us.
• 42:47
  The human spirit amplifies. It's the lamp of the Lord that
• 42:51
  sheds light on one's inmost being.
• 42:55
  Then this this is talking about a godly wife and it talks about
• 42:59
  she sees that her trading is profitable and her lamp does not
• 43:03
  go out at night. So in other words, you could
• 43:08
  maybe paraphrase this saying that you know, the her actions
• 43:14
  are are good or profitable and the light her lamp does not go
• 43:19
  out at night. It's, you know, filled with the
• 43:21
  Holy Spirit, with the with God, God's presence like she's doing.
• 43:26
  You know, her actions are showing that she is filled with
• 43:30
  the Spirit in Matthew 515. Neither do people light a lamp
• 43:36
  and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand
• 43:40
  and it gives light to everyone in the house.
• 43:43
  Just the beauty of a light within a person can shine light
• 43:48
  to everyone. And this is this is such a
• 43:52
  beautiful verse. Matthew 622.
• 43:57
  The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your
• 44:01
  whole body will be full of light.
• 44:04
  I think here we really need to pay attention to what we allow,
• 44:10
  what we look at, what we allow into our eyes because says the
• 44:14
  eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your
• 44:17
  whole body will be full of light.
• 44:20
  Like what are we looking at? What are we?
• 44:22
  Are we, you know, in the word of God?
• 44:24
  Are we seeking God or are we going down paths that aren't
• 44:29
  going to bring about light, but maybe bring out darkness?
• 44:34
  And it's kind of an interesting, interesting thing that's said
• 44:39
  about lamps. And then in John chapter 5 verse
• 44:42
  35, it says John was a lamp that burned and gave light and you
• 44:47
  chose for a time to enjoy his light.
• 44:51
  So people are described as lamps also.
• 44:56
  And this in Revelation 1821 and 22, it also talks about lamps.
• 45:06
  And also in I didn't, this didn't come up, but there were
• 45:09
  the 10 lamp stands that were holding lights and those were
• 45:12
  the 10 they represented the 10 churches.
• 45:17
  And the, I guess the, the candles were the lights were the
• 45:22
  10 churches in the Book of Revelation.
• 45:25
  So the light is it's always like from God.
• 45:30
  It's something that amplifies God and that's kind of what we
• 45:34
  are if we choose to be, if we choose to our decision, if we
• 45:43
  choose God, if we choose the Holy Spirit, then we will
• 45:46
  amplify his light. So in Revelation 1823, this is
• 45:54
  this is talking about Babylon and it says the light of a lamp
• 45:58
  will never shine in you again. I believe this is after the
• 46:02
  destruction of Babylon. The voice of bride and
• 46:06
  bridegroom will never be heard in you again.
• 46:09
  Your merchants were the world's important people.
• 46:13
  By your magic spell, all the nations were led astray.
• 46:18
  So this is this is the finality of Mystery Babylon.
• 46:25
  What will happen? Mystery Babylon will be crushed
• 46:29
  and there's no lamp. The light of the lamp will never
• 46:34
  shine in you again. So that's from the Book of
• 46:38
  Revelation. But then when we get into the
• 46:41
  Kingdom of God or the city of Jerusalem, the new city of
• 46:45
  Jerusalem in Revelation 2123, it says the city does not need the
• 46:50
  sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it
• 46:56
  light and the Lamb is its lamp. The lamb is Jesus symbolically.
• 47:04
  So this is pretty interesting about God being the light and
• 47:08
  Jesus being the lamp. Jesus is in the image.
• 47:14
  Well, we are in the image of God.
• 47:16
  We reflect the image of God. Jesus is the Son of God and he
• 47:22
  reflects the Father. He said, if you've seen me,
• 47:24
  you've seen the Father. So all of this is really
• 47:28
  interesting with the lamp and the light in Revelation 22,
• 47:32
  five, there will be no more night.
• 47:35
  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun,
• 47:40
  for the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign
• 47:45
  forever and ever. So there's a lot about lights
• 47:50
  and lamps, and then there's also a lot about oil.
• 47:55
  And to talk about oil, in every instance of the Bible, there's
• 47:59
  way too many times. It's in the NIV version, it's
• 48:02
  211 times. So I went through all of those
• 48:07
  and I just have a few of them to go over.
• 48:12
  There aren't very many of them. But oil is really important
• 48:15
  because it is literal and it's also symbolic.
• 48:18
  And again, this also relates to us and preparation for the
• 48:23
  return of Jesus. So that's why it's important.
• 48:26
  And the reason or how I got here is because of talking about the
• 48:30
  lamp. Well, how it how does the lamp
• 48:32
  stay lit? How do we keep oil?
• 48:34
  And what about the 10 virgins? You know, half of them had oil,
• 48:37
  half of them were prepared, but the other half went had to go
• 48:40
  out and get oil, buy oil, but they didn't have it with them.
• 48:45
  And then the door was shut and they couldn't get in.
• 48:48
  And it does seem like this is this is kind of very similar to
• 48:54
  the flood of Noah, when the doors were shut and then the
• 48:59
  rain started and those who were on Noah's ark were safe.
• 49:04
  There were only eight people and the ones who were outside were
• 49:08
  outside and they perished from the flood.
• 49:13
  Is this also symbolic of what's going to happen when Jesus
• 49:17
  returns? The virgins, these are like, the
• 49:20
  virgins are people who have, you know, prepared.
• 49:22
  So let's just say maybe they're called Christians.
• 49:24
  Let's say they're called Christians in the parable.
• 49:29
  And some of them have oil and some of them don't.
• 49:32
  They have lamps. They all fall asleep.
• 49:35
  But then when it gets close, they start waking up, which it
• 49:38
  really seems like we're in that time of waking up right now.
• 49:41
  So that's another reason why this is really timely to talk
• 49:44
  about it. But then what about the oil?
• 49:47
  You know, half, half of them don't have enough oil.
• 49:51
  So what does that say to us? Why would Jesus tell that
• 49:54
  parable to us? Why would he want us to pay
• 49:58
  attention? Why would this be documented for
• 50:00
  thousands of years that, you know, to tell us about the oil
• 50:06
  and to warn us? Because it says that, you know,
• 50:12
  the virgins. So they've somewhat prepared
• 50:15
  themself for the bridegroom to return.
• 50:19
  But then when he comes, they're not ready.
• 50:22
  They don't have enough and they're not prepared.
• 50:26
  And he comes like a thief in the night.
• 50:28
  Some sometimes describes Jesus as that.
• 50:32
  It says, you know, like the believers aren't, He's not going
• 50:34
  to come like a thief in the night.
• 50:35
  But those who you know, aren't prepared, he is going to come
• 50:39
  like a thief in the night. Well, of course, because if they
• 50:42
  had known when he was coming, they would have prepared.
• 50:45
  But there's a lot of people, there's a lot of Christians
• 50:47
  today, today who are not prepared for the return of
• 50:52
  Jesus. And, and that's kind of why I'm
• 50:56
  talking about it right now, because there's too much going
• 50:58
  on in the world to not be prepared right now, especially
• 51:02
  we should always be prepared. But right now with what's
• 51:05
  happening in the world, it's not a good time to risk this.
• 51:09
  And anyway, so oil was mentioned, like I said, over 200
• 51:17
  times in the NIV version. And there was anointing oil and
• 51:23
  that was like for a special purpose.
• 51:25
  But then I just want to read some verses that I that stood
• 51:31
  out to me because and I'll tell you why they stood out to me and
• 51:35
  how they are relevant to us. So in Exodus 37, verse 29, they
• 51:41
  also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant
• 51:46
  incense, the work of a perfumer. So the there was an anointing
• 51:52
  oil and we see that when kings were anointed, they used a
• 51:58
  special oil and anointing oil. It wasn't the same olive oil
• 52:01
  that was used in their offerings.
• 52:04
  But then I noticed something that was really interesting
• 52:06
  about offerings. If it was a thing, a
• 52:10
  thankfulness offering or something that was just, it
• 52:14
  wasn't like a mandatory offering.
• 52:17
  It was a voluntary offering that olive oil was used in it.
• 52:21
  But then when it came to sin a sin offering, no olive oil was
• 52:29
  used on it, which is interesting.
• 52:32
  So it's like oil and sin are not in the same offering.
• 52:39
  So if you have oil in your lamp, oil and sin are not compatible.
• 52:47
  So that means that if you are not prepared, that means
• 52:51
  probably that you have sin in your life that you haven't dealt
• 52:55
  with, that you haven't repented of.
• 52:59
  Here's the here's an example. It says.
• 53:01
  So this is about offerings. It says Leviticus 5 verse 11.
• 53:08
  If however, they cannot afford 2 doves or two pigeons, they are
• 53:12
  to bring as an offering for their sin 1/10 of an IFA of the
• 53:17
  finest flower as a sin offering. They must not put olive oil or
• 53:24
  incense on it because it is a sin offering.
• 53:29
  So if you look back in Leviticus, they'll tell you
• 53:30
  about all these different offerings and they mixed oil
• 53:34
  with these different offerings except for the sin offering.
• 53:39
  And then there was another offering.
• 53:41
  I forgot now what they were. Let me I have to go back because
• 53:45
  it was the guilt offering. I guess it was the sin offering
• 53:49
  and the guilt offering. But the burnt offering, the
• 53:52
  grain offering, and the fellowship offering all had
• 53:55
  olive oil in it. So we see that sin and olive or
• 54:01
  sin and oil don't mix in. Leviticus 712 says if they offer
• 54:08
  it as an expression of thankfulness then along with
• 54:12
  this think offering they are to to offer thick loaves made
• 54:17
  without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made
• 54:22
  without yeast and brushed with with olive with oil and thick
• 54:28
  loaves of finest flour well needed and with oil mixed in.
• 54:32
  So oil is mentioned like 3 times in this one sentence and then
• 54:36
  it's also twice was it say it says without yeast and elsewhere
• 54:42
  in the Bible and I didn't look it up but a while ago I had
• 54:45
  looked this up. Yeast represents sin also.
• 54:50
  So when they're making these things, it's without yeast, so
• 54:54
  without sin. And then you get to put the oil
• 54:57
  in it. Like sin and oil.
• 54:59
  Do not mix Leviticus 712. Leviticus 511.
• 55:04
  Then here's another verse where you see that sin and oil do not
• 55:10
  mix in Leviticus 10 verse 7. Do not leave the entrance to the
• 55:17
  tent of the meeting or you will die because the Lord's anointing
• 55:22
  oil is on you. So they did as Moses said.
• 55:28
  Now that takes some thinking. Do not leave the entrance of the
• 55:30
  tent of meeting or you will die because the Lord's anointing oil
• 55:34
  is on you. So they're anointed by God.
• 55:38
  So you would think that would be a good thing.
• 55:41
  But again, this is also something else that I've
• 55:46
  realized in reading Scripture was that if you pay attention to
• 55:52
  how they did their offerings, they had to be outside the city.
• 55:55
  There was a certain area where, you know, things of death or,
• 55:59
  you know, sacrifice would be done outside.
• 56:02
  It couldn't, It had a proper place and there was a whole
• 56:05
  procedure about clean and unclean.
• 56:08
  And, and I think all of these things are really talking to us
• 56:11
  symbolically about talking to the Israelites, but in Scripture
• 56:15
  talks to us about sin and how it, it's outside, it's outside
• 56:20
  of God's Kingdom. It's not in God's Kingdom, it's
• 56:24
  separate, it's outside death. All of that is outside.
• 56:28
  And these were so many different examples of that in physical,
• 56:33
  literal happening events, but it was symbolic of something that
• 56:39
  God was telling us about his Kingdom.
• 56:42
  And again, sin and oil doesn't mix.
• 56:46
  So if you go outside the tent of the meeting, like the tent of
• 56:50
  meeting was consecrated, it was holy.
• 56:52
  It was holy to the Lord. So you're safe inside if you're
• 56:56
  anointed, the anointing oil is on you.
• 56:58
  But it says don't leave the entrance of the tent of the
• 57:01
  meeting or you will die. So it's like sin cannot be in
• 57:08
  the presence of holy or holy cannot be in the in the presence
• 57:11
  of sin. Because think about it so many
• 57:14
  times when people in the in the Bible would have an interaction
• 57:19
  with God and then they would be fearful that they were going to
• 57:23
  die because of his presence. Like God told Moses what he
• 57:30
  needed to do before he could meet him on the mountain, that
• 57:35
  he had to go through this preparation.
• 57:37
  And God also told him, don't let anybody even touch the mountain
• 57:42
  or they will die because this the mountain is holy.
• 57:47
  So these these things, like I think this is the whole thing
• 57:51
  that sin separates us from God. That's what the enemy got.
• 58:00
  Adam and Eve, they influenced all the way back then.
• 58:04
  Satan influenced Adam and Eve to sin to rebel against God.
• 58:11
  And then God had to leave because he couldn't be in the
• 58:15
  presence or he would, or they would die.
• 58:18
  And that's probably the enemy knowing because somehow the
• 58:21
  enemy Satan can go on earth and he can go into the heavenly
• 58:25
  realms. Like we know from the book of
• 58:26
  Job. He can be in God's presence.
• 58:30
  And because he's a different being, he's a supernatural
• 58:34
  being. But somehow whatever way that
• 58:36
  God created us, we can't be in the presence of God or we would
• 58:43
  burn up because we are unholy. Like I think it was Ezekiel said
• 58:50
  something about like, I'm a man of unclean lips and his lips had
• 58:55
  to be purified by burning. An Angel put a coal to his mouth
• 59:00
  and then his lips were purified. So there's like a burning, like
• 59:05
  God refers to it as a refining of silver.
• 59:08
  Like you have to burn out all of the impurities.
• 59:11
  So a lot of this is symbolism, but it's it's a message from
• 59:16
  God, like holiness cannot be in the presence of sin.
• 59:20
  And so God goes through, he's not being mean.
• 59:23
  He's not being mean to people saying, you know, touch this and
• 59:26
  I'll kill you. He's he's saying don't touch
• 59:30
  this because if you do, you will die because of the holiness
• 59:34
  that's there, because of God's presence.
• 59:37
  That was just like the ark of the covenant.
• 59:39
  God's presence was in the ark of the covenant and only certain
• 59:42
  people were consecrated and prepared to carry it.
• 59:46
  And people who were not did die. People who treated holy things
• 59:53
  unholy with in an unholy manner, they died.
• 59:56
  There were two of I don't know if it was Aaron's sons.
• 1:00:00
  I can't remember who they were, but they were priests.
• 1:00:03
  They were prepared and they were.
• 1:00:07
  Doing they were treating things on whole.
• 1:00:10
  They were in the holy place and consecrated for that, but they
• 1:00:13
  were not treating it appropriately and they they did
• 1:00:18
  die because of their rebellion. And the same thing with Ohio.
• 1:00:24
  I forgot what his name was who was who went to Uriah or
• 1:00:30
  something. Maybe, I can't remember if
• 1:00:32
  that's the are you ooze or something ooze.
• 1:00:35
  I don't remember his name, but he went to steady the Ark of the
• 1:00:39
  Covenant with his hand and he died.
• 1:00:41
  And David was like, God, why'd you do that?
• 1:00:44
  But he wasn't supposed to touch it.
• 1:00:46
  He had been warned and he was being disobedient.
• 1:00:49
  And it's not just because of it. It's kind of like an electrical
• 1:00:53
  outlet. Like you can tell somebody don't
• 1:00:56
  stick your finger in the electrical outlet or you will be
• 1:00:59
  electrocuted and you will die. But people do it or they did it.
• 1:01:05
  You know, that's that's the same thing like God says, don't do
• 1:01:08
  this or you will die. So then why do we do it if he
• 1:01:13
  says don't? And so this is like his
• 1:01:16
  protection against us, not against us, his protection of us
• 1:01:22
  because we are sinful, because we do have sin and we won't be
• 1:01:25
  without sin until we are perfected and we become immortal
• 1:01:30
  when Jesus returns. So right now we all have sin in
• 1:01:33
  us. So we really cannot be in the
• 1:01:35
  presence of God. And Scripture shows us that.
• 1:01:39
  So this oil, oil doesn't mix with sin.
• 1:01:43
  So having oil, that's the like the Holy Spirit, it's anointing
• 1:01:49
  and you can't have sin it you got to get the sin out.
• 1:01:53
  And that's what God does for us. But he doesn't take away our
• 1:01:58
  free will. So we have to be agreeable to
• 1:02:00
  that. That's what God allows us.
• 1:02:04
  If he wanted to, he could, but he gives us free will so that
• 1:02:08
  it's a choice that we make. So then I also save this part
• 1:02:13
  about Samuel when he anointed Saul, the first king of Israel.
• 1:02:19
  I'll so I'll read a little bit of that.
• 1:02:21
  This is from First Samuel chapter 10.
• 1:02:26
  OK. Then Samuel took a flask of
• 1:02:28
  olive oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him,
• 1:02:32
  saying, has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his
• 1:02:35
  inheritance? Now the people chose Saul.
• 1:02:39
  They wanted a king and God, you know, said, OK, I'm I'll anoint
• 1:02:44
  you. And he had Samuel anoint Saul.
• 1:02:48
  And then Samuel said, the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully
• 1:02:52
  upon you and you will prophecy with them.
• 1:02:55
  So prophesying was a sign of having the Holy Spirit.
• 1:02:58
  And that's what happened with Saul.
• 1:03:00
  And it says, here's the other part that's really important
• 1:03:02
  because it applies to us as well.
• 1:03:04
  And you will be changed into a different person.
• 1:03:09
  When the Holy Spirit comes upon a person, you will be changed
• 1:03:13
  into a different person. Verse 9 says, as Saul turned to
• 1:03:18
  leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were
• 1:03:24
  fulfilled. That day.
• 1:03:25
  When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of
• 1:03:29
  prophets met him. The Spirit of God came
• 1:03:31
  powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.
• 1:03:35
  When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying
• 1:03:39
  with the prophets, they asked each other, What is this that
• 1:03:43
  happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
• 1:03:48
  A man who lived there answered And who is their father?
• 1:03:51
  So it became a set a saying is Saul among the prophets.
• 1:03:57
  So we see a huge change for someone who has the Holy Spirit.
• 1:04:03
  Now here's where so if if anointing is God choosing
• 1:04:11
  someone or anointing someone or the anointing of the Holy
• 1:04:14
  Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is given to a
• 1:04:17
  person, the next a few things that I'm going to talk about are
• 1:04:21
  really going to disturb some people.
• 1:04:25
  And I just want you to pray about it because I don't know if
• 1:04:30
  you're going to see what I see in this.
• 1:04:32
  And all I want from the Bible is the truth.
• 1:04:35
  And so I want to, I want to share these things because a lot
• 1:04:39
  of people don't like sharing them because, because maybe,
• 1:04:45
  well, we'll talk about it. So disobedience, we are allowed
• 1:04:51
  to have to be disobedient. God doesn't want us to be, but
• 1:04:56
  disobedience is a result of free will.
• 1:04:59
  If God wanted to, he could force us to be robots and to do
• 1:05:05
  whatever he says. But would that really show God
• 1:05:11
  what our desires are? If you force somebody, if you
• 1:05:16
  force somebody to love you, does that?
• 1:05:19
  I mean, it just does not show whether you really love a person
• 1:05:25
  or not. If it's forced, you know that
• 1:05:28
  that's not love. Love is the freedom to choose
• 1:05:32
  that, the freedom to choose to love somebody.
• 1:05:35
  So if God loves us, he has the free will to do that and he
• 1:05:40
  chooses to love us. He loved us first.
• 1:05:44
  He sent his son to die for us so that we could be in his Kingdom
• 1:05:49
  with him. But then he wants to say, are do
• 1:05:54
  you love me back? You know, do you really love me
• 1:05:57
  back? Do you appreciate, are you
• 1:05:59
  grateful for what I did for you? All of this that I've done for
• 1:06:03
  you? I've got this Kingdom planned
• 1:06:04
  for you. I sent my only son to die for
• 1:06:07
  you, to make a way for you because sin made it impossible
• 1:06:11
  to be in my presence. Otherwise you would have died.
• 1:06:14
  I mean, that's pretty much what I get from the the Bible, from
• 1:06:16
  what we read, is that sin cannot be in the presence of God.
• 1:06:20
  So he had to do something about it.
• 1:06:22
  And people were disobedient every time they chose, they did
• 1:06:26
  not choose God's way, they chose evil.
• 1:06:32
  So God had to do something and the only way that it would work
• 1:06:36
  was to have his Son be the the substitute sacrifice for us, the
• 1:06:44
  one who made the way. That's what Jesus did for us.
• 1:06:48
  So we still have free will, but it tells us in Scripture, do not
• 1:06:54
  grieve the Holy Spirit. So we can receive the Holy
• 1:06:58
  Spirit from God just like Saul, right?
• 1:07:01
  Because Saul did. And Saul even have evidence of
• 1:07:04
  the Holy Spirit. He was prophesying.
• 1:07:06
  He was a changed man. That's what the Holy Spirit
• 1:07:09
  does. But even though the Holy Spirit
• 1:07:12
  changes us, he doesn't force it on us.
• 1:07:15
  We still have a choice. We can still say I, I'm God, I'm
• 1:07:20
  not ready for that. I don't want that.
• 1:07:21
  I don't want to do that. I want to do my way.
• 1:07:23
  I don't want your way. We still, God lets us do that
• 1:07:27
  and God lets Saul do that. God gave everything to Saul,
• 1:07:31
  apparently from what the Bible says, you know, like he was, he
• 1:07:34
  was very attractive. He had all of these qualities.
• 1:07:37
  He was very kingly looking. I mean, he was the the perfect
• 1:07:41
  picture of what a king would be. And Israel was so excited about
• 1:07:45
  having him as their king. They didn't need a king.
• 1:07:48
  They had God, but they wanted somebody on earth that they
• 1:07:52
  could, you know, see, just like all the other nations did.
• 1:07:56
  And God, God let their free will to their desire for this king.
• 1:08:02
  He let that happen. He wasn't thrilled about it.
• 1:08:04
  He wasn't excited about it. And he warned, I think it was
• 1:08:08
  through Samuel or that he, I don't know, I think it was
• 1:08:11
  Samuel that did the warning that said, hey, this is not going to
• 1:08:15
  go really well for you because you're putting a human over you
• 1:08:19
  and it's not going to go well. And he said all the things that
• 1:08:22
  would happen, which did happen, but they said, oh, we want a
• 1:08:26
  king anyway. So they got a king.
• 1:08:28
  So God did it did help. He gave the Holy Spirit to Saul.
• 1:08:34
  There was evidence of the Holy Spirit because he prophesied.
• 1:08:37
  That's like one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:08:41
  But then Saul still had his free will.
• 1:08:46
  And what Saul did was he would do some of what God said.
• 1:08:51
  God would say go wipe out all these evil people.
• 1:08:54
  And then Saul would go to do it and he would wipe out a bunch of
• 1:08:57
  them. But then he would say, oh, but
• 1:08:59
  this would be good to use later and this plunder, this would be
• 1:09:03
  good. But that's not what God said.
• 1:09:05
  God did not say they could. He could have any of that with.
• 1:09:08
  He could not take any of that, but he would take some things
• 1:09:12
  and reserve some things because in Saul's mind, this is still
• 1:09:15
  good, like we can still use this, but God was like, no, no,
• 1:09:20
  you were supposed to get rid of everything.
• 1:09:21
  So Saul did that over and over and over again.
• 1:09:24
  He was not obedient to God. He did what he thought was the
• 1:09:28
  best. He wasn't trying to be mean to
• 1:09:31
  God or trying to be disobedient. It's just that he wanted to do
• 1:09:36
  what he he wasn't going to submit to God.
• 1:09:39
  He wanted to do what he wanted to do.
• 1:09:42
  Finally God got he just was had enough.
• 1:09:45
  I think Saul grieved the Holy Spirit and this is a very
• 1:09:49
  concerning verse for all of us. I think because if especially if
• 1:09:54
  we have the Holy Spirit and I mean, I just can't get past
• 1:10:00
  this. So this is where I mean you pray
• 1:10:01
  about it because there are different opinions about this.
• 1:10:04
  But what I read is it causes me to have caution about this
• 1:10:11
  because I would not want the Lord to take away the Holy
• 1:10:15
  Spirit because of my free will, because I keep choosing things
• 1:10:20
  against God after he's given me his Holy Spirit.
• 1:10:25
  Now when I read these, this, these parts of Scripture, I
• 1:10:28
  mean, this is stuff that we really need to take seriously.
• 1:10:31
  If you are a Christian, if you believe you have the Holy
• 1:10:34
  Spirit, and if you continue to sin, you really need to pray
• 1:10:40
  about what I'm going to say. Because the only reason I'm
• 1:10:44
  saying this is to build you up. Because if you see what I see in
• 1:10:50
  this, then hopefully you will get closer to God and not
• 1:10:56
  further from God. Because I'm concerned about
• 1:11:00
  Christians who treat sin lightly and just say I've got grace.
• 1:11:07
  We're going to talk about grace in a minute too.
• 1:11:10
  And somebody probably just shut me off or turned off this
• 1:11:13
  podcast when I said that because because it gets people.
• 1:11:17
  But those who continue to listen that you really truly love God
• 1:11:22
  and you want to you want to remain close to God, that's
• 1:11:28
  probably who will stay listening in this podcast.
• 1:11:31
  And those who want to do their own thing like Saul probably
• 1:11:34
  turned off the podcast right now.
• 1:11:37
  So let's just continue. Maybe no one's listening to me
• 1:11:40
  now, but anyway, first Samuel 16 verse 14.
• 1:11:46
  Now the spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul and an evil
• 1:11:52
  spirit from the Lord tormented him.
• 1:11:56
  That's what happened to Saul. He kept being disobedient to God
• 1:12:01
  after he had the Holy Spirit and God sent an evil spirit to
• 1:12:08
  torment him. Now we know that God does not
• 1:12:12
  take pleasure in tormenting anyone, so I don't believe that
• 1:12:19
  God did this for any other reason than God wanting Saul to
• 1:12:26
  become repentant and turn back to him.
• 1:12:31
  Because God will allow evil to come into a person's life and
• 1:12:37
  disrupt it. But with the intention that
• 1:12:42
  maybe when they hit rock bottom, when they see that it's not good
• 1:12:46
  without me, meaning without God, then they will turn back and the
• 1:12:55
  reconcile the relationship with God.
• 1:12:58
  And, and that's the only reason that I see in Scripture.
• 1:13:01
  I mean, there is, I guess there is ultimately judgement when God
• 1:13:04
  knows their heart and everything is against God.
• 1:13:07
  But at one point Saul must have, there must have been something
• 1:13:13
  in him where God allowed his spirit.
• 1:13:15
  He must have had some sort of surrender to God or God wouldn't
• 1:13:19
  have given him the spirit. But he did.
• 1:13:22
  He gave him the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit departed from
• 1:13:26
  him. It wasn't just like the first
• 1:13:28
  time that Saul did anything wrong, but Saul had this habit
• 1:13:31
  of doing it over and over again. And finally the Spirit of the
• 1:13:36
  Lord, it said in another verse, and I didn't copy that one.
• 1:13:39
  Was it the IT had departed from Saul?
• 1:13:44
  In fact, actually I think it's first Samuel chapter 18, verse
• 1:13:48
  12. Saul was afraid of David because
• 1:13:52
  the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul.
• 1:13:59
  So Saul was aware of this. He was aware he didn't have the
• 1:14:02
  Holy Spirit anymore, and he was aware that David did have the
• 1:14:07
  Holy Spirit. And David would come in and play
• 1:14:10
  music and would calm Saul and the evil Spirit would.
• 1:14:15
  You know, I don't know how that happened, but that's what the
• 1:14:18
  Bible says. And so then in in Ephesians
• 1:14:22
  chapter 4, verse 30, it says, and do not grieve the Holy
• 1:14:27
  Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of
• 1:14:31
  redemption. So why would it tell us not to
• 1:14:34
  grieve the Holy Spirit of God? And how can we grieve the Holy
• 1:14:39
  Spirit of God if the Holy Spirit is oil and sin and oil don't
• 1:14:46
  mix? To me, it seems like sin would
• 1:14:50
  grieve the Holy Spirit. Now we were sealed with the Holy
• 1:14:55
  Spirit for the day of redemption.
• 1:14:59
  But then there's there's another, there's a few more
• 1:15:02
  things that we have to know. And the the biggest verse about
• 1:15:07
  that, about the day of redemption, all you have to do
• 1:15:11
  is read Hebrews 10 verses 26 through 31.
• 1:15:16
  But before that I want to talk about go back to Exodus in the
• 1:15:20
  Old Testament, Exodus 20 verse 20, Moses said to his people, do
• 1:15:26
  not be afraid. God has come to test you so that
• 1:15:32
  the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.
• 1:15:39
  So the fear of God is good to know what God can do.
• 1:15:48
  God can take a spirit away. Like in some of the Psalms,
• 1:15:52
  David would say, Lord, do not take your spirit from me.
• 1:15:56
  So David was aware, probably because what he saw happened to
• 1:16:00
  Saul and he was like, Lord, I don't want you to take your
• 1:16:03
  spirit from me. But David was known as a man
• 1:16:06
  after God's own heart. Like David, really, he loved God
• 1:16:10
  and it was probably even the fear of the Lord seeing what
• 1:16:13
  happened with Saul that David was, was saying, you know, God,
• 1:16:17
  I don't want that to happen to me.
• 1:16:18
  I saw what happened to Saul. He's tormented by a spirit now.
• 1:16:21
  He once was king and he had the Holy Spirit.
• 1:16:24
  He was prophesying and and now his spirit is gone.
• 1:16:29
  It's not there anymore and he's got something evil tormenting
• 1:16:34
  him. It also talks about that like
• 1:16:38
  like sin in the church, which I did not copy that, but it talks
• 1:16:40
  about like turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the
• 1:16:44
  body so that he may be redeemed or something to that effect.
• 1:16:51
  Like again, God allows Satan to torment, Satan wants to destroy,
• 1:16:57
  and God allows it with the hope that the person will use their
• 1:17:03
  free will and choose God again and come back to God.
• 1:17:09
  But this Hebrews chapter 10 verses 26 through 31, this is
• 1:17:13
  one that boy, we all need to remember this because I'm just
• 1:17:21
  going to read it to you. You don't.
• 1:17:22
  I don't even probably need to explain anything.
• 1:17:24
  It just explains itself. If we deliberately keep on
• 1:17:31
  sinning, so deliberately keep on sinning, you know we are going
• 1:17:37
  to sin. We're not going to be perfect,
• 1:17:39
  but if we know this is sin and we choose to do it anyway,
• 1:17:47
  that's deliberate. If you look back at the ancient
• 1:17:50
  sacrifices and I just, I wasn't even looking for this, but I
• 1:17:55
  stumbled upon it and somehow I noticed that the sin offerings
• 1:18:00
  and the guilt offerings were for actually, I take that back, the
• 1:18:05
  sin offering I think did cover all sin, but all of the other
• 1:18:10
  things were for unintentional sin.
• 1:18:15
  It was, I guess the guilt would be unintentional, but there
• 1:18:20
  wasn't really a sacrifice for premeditated sin or sin that you
• 1:18:28
  just were choosing and you knew it was sin and you were just
• 1:18:31
  going to do it anyway. So it says if we deliberately
• 1:18:35
  keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of truth,
• 1:18:40
  no sacrifice for sins is left. We don't have anything if we
• 1:18:48
  deliberately choose. That's just outright rebellion
• 1:18:51
  to God. OK, it continues, but only if so
• 1:18:55
  I'll read again. If we deliberately keep on
• 1:18:57
  sinning after we receive the knowledge of truth, no sacrifice
• 1:19:01
  for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement
• 1:19:08
  and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
• 1:19:15
  So if we keep on sinning deliberately, we are considered
• 1:19:21
  an enemy of God. Anyone who rejected the law of
• 1:19:27
  Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three
• 1:19:33
  witnesses. That's just a fact.
• 1:19:36
  And it's verse 28. Anyone who rejected the law of
• 1:19:40
  Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three
• 1:19:44
  witnesses. Listen to this.
• 1:19:46
  This is like the really the one that applies to all of us today.
• 1:19:51
  How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be
• 1:19:55
  punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has
• 1:20:02
  treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that
• 1:20:09
  sanctified them, and who has insulted the spirit of grace?
• 1:20:18
  Let that sink in. It's talking about grace here.
• 1:20:24
  That's like unmerited forgiveness.
• 1:20:26
  Like we don't deserve it, but we're giving it now.
• 1:20:29
  What does this say? Like how much more severely do
• 1:20:32
  you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the
• 1:20:34
  Son of God under foot, who is treated as an unholy thing, the
• 1:20:38
  blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has
• 1:20:41
  insulted the spirit of grace? For we know him who said it is
• 1:20:46
  mine to avenge. I will repay and again the Lord
• 1:20:52
  will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall
• 1:20:58
  into the hands of the living God.
• 1:21:01
  That's what I mean about that's a verse that we should really
• 1:21:07
  keep in the forefront of our minds and staying prepared for
• 1:21:13
  the return of Jesus, that half the people, half those virgins
• 1:21:20
  are UN, you know, were unprepared, half of them were
• 1:21:23
  prepared. And I'll just read the parable
• 1:21:28
  of the 10 virgins if you are not real familiar with this.
• 1:21:32
  So this is what Jesus said at that time, the Kingdom of heaven
• 1:21:36
  will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet
• 1:21:41
  the bridegroom. The bridegroom is Jesus.
• 1:21:44
  And then of course, the 10 virgins, there's these are, you
• 1:21:47
  know, people who are prepared. They're virgins.
• 1:21:49
  OK, so that's purity, right? They're virgins and they took
• 1:21:54
  their lamps out to meet the bridegroom. 5 of them were
• 1:21:58
  foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their
• 1:22:04
  lamps, but they did not take any oil with them.
• 1:22:09
  Now the oil lights the lamp. The Holy Spirit is the oil.
• 1:22:14
  Do you think maybe there's some Christians who are believers,
• 1:22:18
  but they don't have the Holy Spirit?
• 1:22:21
  I don't know. I mean, I do think there are
• 1:22:24
  that, but do you think this is what the parable's talking
• 1:22:27
  about? The wise ones, however, took oil
• 1:22:30
  and jars along with their lamps. So they're prepared.
• 1:22:34
  They've got they've been preparing for this long time.
• 1:22:40
  The bridegroom was a long time in coming and they all became
• 1:22:45
  drowsy and fell asleep. So everybody's getting tired of
• 1:22:50
  waiting. At midnight the cry rang out.
• 1:22:55
  Here's the bridegroom come out to meet him.
• 1:22:58
  Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
• 1:23:04
  So everybody's going to see this is like here.
• 1:23:08
  Oh gosh, here. He's he's here now, you know,
• 1:23:10
  they wake up and then they go out to meet him with their
• 1:23:15
  trimmed lamps. The foolish one said to the
• 1:23:18
  wise, give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.
• 1:23:24
  That's interesting. Lamps are going out.
• 1:23:26
  They don't have the oil. They don't have the anointing.
• 1:23:29
  Maybe they have some sin in their life.
• 1:23:31
  They were OK, but then they didn't have enough.
• 1:23:34
  They didn't like persevere. I don't know.
• 1:23:42
  No, they replied, There may not be enough for both of us and you
• 1:23:46
  instead go to those who sell oil and buy some for your selves.
• 1:23:51
  But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom
• 1:23:54
  arrived. So they saw the signs that the
• 1:23:57
  bridegroom was coming and then all of a sudden they panicked.
• 1:24:01
  Oh I got to get prepared now because they weren't prepared
• 1:24:04
  already. So This is why it applies to us
• 1:24:07
  right now. Like we need to be prepared.
• 1:24:11
  The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding
• 1:24:16
  banquet and the door was shut. This reminds me of Noah's ark.
• 1:24:23
  So the eight who God chose, he, they were the only ones who He
• 1:24:28
  saw as righteous at that point in history.
• 1:24:32
  And they were the ones who got onto the ark and the door was
• 1:24:35
  shut. Everyone outside the ark
• 1:24:38
  perished. Here we have the virgins who
• 1:24:42
  were ready, who were prepared. They went in and the door was
• 1:24:46
  shut. When we have the Holy Spirit, it
• 1:24:50
  says that we are not appointed to God's wrath.
• 1:24:56
  There are people who probably do not have the Holy Spirit who
• 1:25:01
  will be experiencing God's wrath.
• 1:25:08
  People can always turn to God, but when things get really bad
• 1:25:15
  and they probably lose all hope because they don't have the Holy
• 1:25:19
  Spirit, it says many people during the wrath are not going
• 1:25:25
  to turn to Him. They will not repent of their
• 1:25:28
  wicked ways. They want to hang on to their
• 1:25:30
  sin, just like Jezebel. They said Jezebel could have
• 1:25:35
  been saved, but she would not repent.
• 1:25:39
  Some people just don't want to give up their sin.
• 1:25:41
  They will hold on to their sin and then eventually, if they do
• 1:25:46
  not let go of that sin, if they do not turn to God and reconcile
• 1:25:49
  with Him, it says that the place that they're going to be is
• 1:25:53
  where the enemies of God end up in the burning lake of fire.
• 1:25:58
  And so you really have to think, don't be short sighted and think
• 1:26:03
  about momentary pleasure, whatever gives you pleasure now,
• 1:26:06
  because whatever it is is not as good as what God can give you.
• 1:26:13
  And so if you have, if you have stuff sin that you know of that
• 1:26:20
  you're deliberately doing right now, it's time to get that out
• 1:26:25
  of your life and to reconcile with God.
• 1:26:29
  God listens. He hears from sinners who repent
• 1:26:34
  when he brings things on, He wants people to come to
• 1:26:37
  repentance. But you know, if I guess if
• 1:26:40
  anybody is even listening to this podcast, then I'm sure
• 1:26:45
  you're probably not one of those people because most people who
• 1:26:47
  would do that would probably shut this off and probably say a
• 1:26:50
  bunch of bad things about me. But I'm only saying it because I
• 1:26:54
  do care about people being prepared for the day that Jesus
• 1:26:59
  returns. And I think it's, I don't think
• 1:27:02
  a lot of churches are preparing people for that.
• 1:27:05
  And I, I'm concerned that when Jesus returns, the door is going
• 1:27:11
  to be shut and there's going to be people outside there that
• 1:27:15
  thought they were going to be safe, but they didn't prepare.
• 1:27:23
  So Matthew 2511, this is from Jesus.
• 1:27:26
  He told the story. Why would he tell the story?
• 1:27:28
  You have to think about that. Ask yourself, why would Jesus
• 1:27:31
  tell the story? Matthew 2511 Later the others
• 1:27:38
  also came. Lord, Lord, they said, open the
• 1:27:41
  door for us. But he replied, truly, I tell
• 1:27:45
  you, I don't know you, therefore keep watch because you do not
• 1:27:50
  know the day or the hour. I think that's a message for all
• 1:27:56
  of us today. And I think that this is
• 1:28:01
  something that we all need to really reflect on because it's
• 1:28:07
  really critical. And I actually have more things
• 1:28:11
  that I wanted to get to. And I don't know if I should
• 1:28:15
  because this is already such a long podcast.
• 1:28:22
  I think I, I think I will. There's just a couple more
• 1:28:24
  things. And boy, I didn't expect it to
• 1:28:26
  be long. But when I was studying this, I
• 1:28:30
  was also thinking about being worthy of what Jesus said about
• 1:28:38
  being worthy because we have people who who constantly remind
• 1:28:43
  us that we do not earn our salvation, that we can't do
• 1:28:50
  anything to earn our salvation. And that is true.
• 1:28:56
  The only way that we have salvation is from Jesus death
• 1:29:03
  and resurrection on the cross. That's the only way Jesus made
• 1:29:08
  it possible for us. But like Jesus said, we have to
• 1:29:13
  have the Holy Spirit. If we have the Holy Spirit and
• 1:29:17
  if we're willing to submit to the Holy Spirit, submit to the
• 1:29:21
  will of God and be obedient. So you can't eliminate obedience
• 1:29:28
  from the Kingdom of God. You just can't.
• 1:29:33
  And I, I feel like, and maybe I'm misunderstanding people who
• 1:29:38
  say this like we are not earning our way into the Kingdom, but
• 1:29:44
  the obedience that we have shows that we have the Holy Spirit.
• 1:29:50
  So if we don't see obedience in our life, I would question, do I
• 1:29:56
  have the Holy Spirit? And I would ask God to reveal
• 1:30:01
  that about myself because if I do not want to be obedient to
• 1:30:08
  God, that kind of goes against God's will.
• 1:30:13
  It goes against the Holy Spirit. So then are you grieving the
• 1:30:16
  Holy Spirit? Do you even have the Holy
• 1:30:19
  Spirit? Have you submitted?
• 1:30:22
  Have you surrendered? Have you said to God, I'm
• 1:30:24
  willing to give up whatever sin in my life is if you would just,
• 1:30:27
  you know, help me, guide me. And then, you know, it's an
• 1:30:32
  ongoing free will choice on our behalf.
• 1:30:37
  I mean, like we get to choose on our own whether we continue to
• 1:30:40
  be obedient to God or not. And that's really what the
• 1:30:43
  choice is. Now, why would Jesus say?
• 1:30:47
  I mean, there's some hard things that Jesus said about being
• 1:30:53
  worthy. So here's something.
• 1:30:56
  I mean, this hit me because this is like I apparently would be
• 1:31:00
  classified as not being worthy. So when I read this Matthew
• 1:31:05
  1037, anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is
• 1:31:11
  not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their son, son
• 1:31:16
  or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
• 1:31:21
  I was like that and I, I prayed about that.
• 1:31:25
  I was like, God, I know, but I can't, you know, like I can't
• 1:31:28
  see like how I could, how I could do that with, with my
• 1:31:32
  children, you know, like it was just like very children were
• 1:31:35
  younger and, and I, I was just like, I, I just couldn't know
• 1:31:40
  how to do that. I knew that was the right thing
• 1:31:42
  to do, but I knew I wasn't there and I was being honest with God
• 1:31:45
  about that. And somehow, not in a mean way
• 1:31:49
  or cruel way or anything, but somehow the thoughts came into
• 1:31:53
  my head that was like God gave them to me, the children, and he
• 1:32:01
  could take them away. So think about that like that.
• 1:32:12
  I mean, that kind of puts things in into perspective that gives
• 1:32:16
  you like the the way God is, you know, God is the creator.
• 1:32:24
  Like how could you, how could you not love God more than he's
• 1:32:30
  the one who gave you the children as a gift.
• 1:32:33
  Children are get children are gifts from God.
• 1:32:37
  That was a gift from God. So just think about it and, and
• 1:32:44
  eventually it took me a while, but then I could see the reality
• 1:32:51
  in that and to love God, you know, to put God as the priority
• 1:32:56
  in life. So like I'm saying, you know,
• 1:32:59
  it's these things apply to all of us.
• 1:33:02
  And then Jesus said in Matthew 10 verse 38, whoever does not
• 1:33:06
  take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
• 1:33:12
  So taking up their cross, like Jesus took up his cross.
• 1:33:16
  He took up a literal cross for us and died for us.
• 1:33:20
  And he's saying whoever doesn't take up our own cross and follow
• 1:33:23
  me is not worthy of me. So again, there are going to be
• 1:33:30
  some hard choices that we have to make, but they're choices.
• 1:33:33
  It's not lifting up a cross. It's not a literal splinter
• 1:33:38
  cross after we've been gouged by weapons to make it painful for
• 1:33:45
  us to carry a cross like what happened to Jesus.
• 1:33:48
  We just have decisions to make. And and that's so much.
• 1:33:52
  I mean, like, it's so it's, I mean, it's physically, it's
• 1:33:56
  less. It's he's asking less of us.
• 1:33:59
  But whoever doesn't take up their cross and follow me is not
• 1:34:02
  worthy of me. Yeah, things are going to our
• 1:34:05
  sinful desires. We're going to want certain
• 1:34:08
  things. But think about what Jesus did
• 1:34:11
  for us, the pain that he went through, and whoever does not
• 1:34:15
  take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
• 1:34:19
  Yeah, I would say that is true. I mean, after what Jesus did to
• 1:34:22
  us, if we're not willing to even make choices against sin and for
• 1:34:28
  God's will, think about it. Even John, who was, you know,
• 1:34:38
  filled with the Holy Spirit, he was like he said, and this was
• 1:34:43
  his message. After me comes the one more
• 1:34:45
  powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to
• 1:34:48
  stoop down and untie. Like John, his cousin even knew
• 1:34:52
  John the Baptist. He even knew like Jesus, he was
• 1:34:56
  like, I'm unworthy to do that. Like I am so much less than him
• 1:35:01
  and he said John answered all of them.
• 1:35:04
  This is Luke 3 verse 16. John answered all of them.
• 1:35:08
  I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I
• 1:35:12
  will come the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to
• 1:35:16
  untie. He will baptize you with the
• 1:35:18
  Holy Spirit and fire. So the Holy Spirit I get when we
• 1:35:25
  received the Holy Spirit fire. That's probably the testing and
• 1:35:30
  I would noticed today actually, I guess when Jesus was baptized
• 1:35:34
  and the Holy Spirit visibly came down upon him right after he got
• 1:35:38
  baptized, he went out into the wilderness and was tested.
• 1:35:44
  The Holy Spirit led him to the wilderness to be tested.
• 1:35:49
  I forgot which book it says to be tested.
• 1:35:52
  That was the purpose of Jesus. He was being tested after
• 1:35:56
  receiving the Holy Spirit. I think anyone who receives the
• 1:36:02
  Holy Spirit will be tested. God will test us and it's
• 1:36:10
  passing the test has definitely has rewards it it gets easier
• 1:36:17
  each time we pass the test, but God will do that with us.
• 1:36:24
  He did that with his own Son. And there's there's so there's
• 1:36:28
  many other times where he John the Baptist is is referenced
• 1:36:33
  about not being worthy. So then faith in action.
• 1:36:39
  This is in Hebrews Chapter 11. And this was always AI really
• 1:36:45
  liked Hebrews because it was A to me, it was a really great
• 1:36:50
  summary of all the things you read about in the Old Testament
• 1:36:55
  and about what how faith factors in.
• 1:36:58
  So this is the last part and then I will end this chapter 18.
• 1:37:02
  But it's faith in action because faith is you know, it how we how
• 1:37:11
  we live it out shows our faith. So if we want to show our faith,
• 1:37:19
  we also want to be in God's will.
• 1:37:22
  We want to abide in Him. We want sin out of our life.
• 1:37:27
  That's how we live. By faith we reject sin.
• 1:37:32
  We say we don't want that in our life anymore.
• 1:37:35
  We want God. We want to do God's will.
• 1:37:38
  So faith in action. Hebrews 11.
• 1:37:41
  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about
• 1:37:46
  what we do not see. This is what the ancients were
• 1:37:51
  commended for. By faith we understand that the
• 1:37:54
  universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen
• 1:37:58
  was not made out of what was visible.
• 1:38:02
  By faith, Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did.
• 1:38:06
  By faith he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of
• 1:38:11
  his offerings. And by faith, Abel still speaks
• 1:38:15
  even though he is dead. By faith, Enoch was taken from
• 1:38:21
  this life so that he did not experience death.
• 1:38:25
  See Enoch, he was taken away by God.
• 1:38:29
  He, it said something about he lived.
• 1:38:32
  He lived, and then he was no more, or something to that.
• 1:38:36
  And then in Hebrews 11/5, we see that by faith, Enoch was taken
• 1:38:40
  from this life so that he did not experience death.
• 1:38:44
  He could not be found because God had taken him away.
• 1:38:48
  For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased
• 1:38:53
  God. So there here's another thing
• 1:38:56
  where I, you know, want people to think about when people say
• 1:39:01
  about how God, you know, we don't.
• 1:39:05
  I don't know how people say it, but kind of like our actions
• 1:39:09
  don't matter, but they apparently do because Enoch
• 1:39:13
  pleased God and God spared him death.
• 1:39:17
  There was like a reward for the way Enoch was living.
• 1:39:22
  Verse 6. And without faith, it is
• 1:39:24
  impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must
• 1:39:29
  believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly
• 1:39:35
  seek him. God is the giver of good gifts.
• 1:39:39
  I mean, he does reward us who seek him.
• 1:39:42
  I've I've experienced that when you know, surprises come out of
• 1:39:46
  nowhere. By faith, Noah, when warned
• 1:39:49
  about the things not yet seen in holy fear, built an ark to save
• 1:39:54
  his family. By his faith, he condemned the
• 1:39:58
  world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping
• 1:40:03
  with the faith. I mean, think about Noah
• 1:40:05
  building the ark, and it's eight people that get on it.
• 1:40:08
  And Can you imagine the size of that ark that if you look into
• 1:40:13
  it, it was enormous. And so Noah built this huge
• 1:40:17
  thing. Could you imagine what people
• 1:40:20
  were thinking about him? They were probably thinking,
• 1:40:21
  this nutty guy, what is he doing?
• 1:40:24
  And I think before the ark was built, it hadn't rained.
• 1:40:28
  I think the water, the Bible says the water had like come out
• 1:40:31
  of the ground almost like a sprinkler system throughout the
• 1:40:34
  earth. There was like water that came
• 1:40:35
  out of the ground that fed all the plants and everything.
• 1:40:38
  So people were probably thinking, this guy's a lunatic.
• 1:40:41
  He's building this big ship and for what reason?
• 1:40:47
  And so he, but he did it because somehow God communicated with
• 1:40:52
  him and he was considered righteous by God.
• 1:40:57
  And there were only eight of all the people who were alive at
• 1:41:00
  that point that God considered righteous.
• 1:41:02
  Everybody else was defiled. They were all very sinful.
• 1:41:07
  And Noah and his family, they weren't perfect, but they were
• 1:41:11
  considered righteous by God. And God saved them.
• 1:41:13
  And he was obedient to God because God told them what to do
• 1:41:17
  and he did it. So by his faith, he condemned
• 1:41:21
  the world and became he was, you know, he's the one who
• 1:41:24
  everybody. I mean, if you take our family
• 1:41:28
  tree back, we'll all go back to Noah's family.
• 1:41:33
  By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later
• 1:41:37
  receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went even though he
• 1:41:40
  did not know where he was going. It's like when you know God is
• 1:41:44
  telling you to do something, respond to it, and God rewards
• 1:41:50
  by faith. He made his home in the Promised
• 1:41:53
  Land like a stranger in a foreign country.
• 1:41:55
  He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with
• 1:41:59
  him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to
• 1:42:03
  the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.
• 1:42:08
  And by faith, even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,
• 1:42:12
  wasn't able to bear children because she considered him
• 1:42:17
  faithful who made the promise. And so from this one man as he
• 1:42:23
  as, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the
• 1:42:29
  stars in the sky, and countless as the sand on the seashore.
• 1:42:34
  All these people were still living by faith when they died.
• 1:42:38
  They did not receive the things promised.
• 1:42:41
  They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting
• 1:42:46
  that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
• 1:42:50
  They knew, you know, this is what I'm adding to this is they,
• 1:42:54
  they knew that there was something more and they had a
• 1:42:58
  relationship with God and they were aware of God's eventual
• 1:43:03
  Kingdom, even though they didn't get to experience it yet.
• 1:43:08
  But they are going to be the first to rise when Jesus
• 1:43:10
  returns. It says the dead in Christ are
• 1:43:12
  those who believe will be the first to rise.
• 1:43:15
  And of course they have faith. They believe, and so they will
• 1:43:19
  be the first to rise, and when Jesus returns.
• 1:43:27
  Verse 14. People who say such things show
• 1:43:30
  that they are looking for a country of their own.
• 1:43:32
  If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they
• 1:43:36
  would have had the opportunity to return.
• 1:43:39
  Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one.
• 1:43:44
  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has
• 1:43:48
  prepared a city for them. The new city of Jerusalem that
• 1:43:53
  will be coming down from the heavens will be what God has
• 1:43:57
  prepared and built for His children.
• 1:44:01
  Verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when God
• 1:44:04
  tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.
• 1:44:07
  So here Abraham was tested by God.
• 1:44:11
  He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one
• 1:44:16
  and only son, even though God had said to him, it is through
• 1:44:21
  Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
• 1:44:25
  Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so, in
• 1:44:31
  a manner of speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
• 1:44:36
  By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their
• 1:44:41
  future. By faith, Jacob, when he was
• 1:44:45
  dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and worshipped as he leaned
• 1:44:51
  on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end
• 1:44:55
  was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and
• 1:45:01
  gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
• 1:45:05
  By faith, Moses's parents hid him for three months after he
• 1:45:09
  was born because they saw that he was no ordinary child and
• 1:45:14
  they were not afraid of the King's edict.
• 1:45:19
  By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be the son
• 1:45:23
  of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along
• 1:45:27
  with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting
• 1:45:32
  pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the
• 1:45:38
  sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of
• 1:45:43
  Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward by faith.
• 1:45:48
  He left Egypt not fearing the King's anger.
• 1:45:52
  He persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.
• 1:45:58
  They knew God by faith. He kept the Passover and the
• 1:46:02
  application of blood so that the destroyer of the first born
• 1:46:06
  would not touch the first born of Israel.
• 1:46:11
  By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry
• 1:46:14
  land. When the Egyptians tried to do
• 1:46:16
  so, they were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho
• 1:46:21
  fell after the army had marched around them for seven days.
• 1:46:27
  By faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies,
• 1:46:32
  was not killed with those who were disobedient.
• 1:46:38
  And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about
• 1:46:41
  Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jethal and David and Samuel and the
• 1:46:47
  prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered
• 1:46:52
  justice and gained what was promised.
• 1:46:55
  Who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames,
• 1:47:00
  escape the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to
• 1:47:04
  strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign
• 1:47:08
  armies. Women received back their dead,
• 1:47:11
  raised to life again. There were others who were
• 1:47:14
  tortured, refusing to be released so they might gain an
• 1:47:18
  even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging
• 1:47:23
  and even chains and imprisonment.
• 1:47:25
  Imprisonment. They were put to death by
• 1:47:28
  stoning. They were sawed in two.
• 1:47:31
  They were killed by the sword. They went in about in sheepskins
• 1:47:37
  and goat skins. Destitute, persecuted, and
• 1:47:40
  mistreated. The world was not worthy of
• 1:47:44
  them. They wandered in deserts and
• 1:47:46
  mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
• 1:47:51
  They were all commended for their faith, yet none of them
• 1:47:54
  received what they what had been promised since God had planned
• 1:48:00
  something better for us so that only together with us would they
• 1:48:06
  be made perfect. And that's when Jesus returns.
• 1:48:10
  That's what's going to happen. That's what everyone's waiting
• 1:48:12
  for at the beginning of this restoration.
• 1:48:17
  So that concludes chapter 18 from the book of Job and much
• 1:48:21
  more. Gives us a lot to think about.
• 1:48:24
  Like, are we prepared for the return of Jesus?
• 1:48:28
  And what do we need to do to be prepared so that we are not like
• 1:48:33
  the five virgins who had to go out and buy some oil when Jesus
• 1:48:38
  returns? And they're like, Oh no, we're
• 1:48:40
  not ready. So let's not be that.
• 1:48:44
  If you found this beneficial, I hope you share this with others.
• 1:48:49
  And if you're not subscribed, please do so.
• 1:48:51
  I try to stay in the word of God every day.
• 1:48:54
  Miss a few here and there, but the intention is every day to be
• 1:48:58
  in a chapter. Thank you.