Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / On That Great Gettin’-Up Morning │ Msg 812 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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On That Great Gettin’-Up Morning │ Msg 812 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: What does it mean to prepare for Christ's coming? How
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  Speaker 1: do I respond to this appropriately? Paul provides direction in
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  Speaker 1: a letter to his friend Titus. I'm referring to Chapter two,
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  Speaker 1: verses eleven through thirteen, where we read this, for the
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  Speaker 1: grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
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  Speaker 1: instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to
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  Speaker 1: live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking
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  Speaker 1: for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory
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  Speaker 1: of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. We learn
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  Speaker 1: from that passage that we are always to be prepared
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  Speaker 1: for his coming by making certain we have taken what
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  Speaker 1: God has given his salvation. We are to resist a
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  Speaker 1: corrupt lifestyle, and we are to live in a sensible,
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  Speaker 1: godly manner. In other word words, we are to stay
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  Speaker 1: ready at all times for his appearing. Now, the question
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  Speaker 1: is how how do we stay ready?
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  Speaker 2: Today?
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  Speaker 1: We're going to look through the telescope of scripture to
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  Speaker 1: discover some ways to keep our focus heavenward. If you
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  Speaker 1: have a Bible handy, please turn with me to first Thessalonians,
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  Speaker 1: chapter four, and I'll begin reading at verse thirteen. This
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  Speaker 1: is that familiar section on Christ's coming first Thessalonians four,
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  Speaker 1: verses thirteen through eighteen. But we do not want you
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  Speaker 1: to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so
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  Speaker 1: that you will not grieve as do the rest who
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  Speaker 1: have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died
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  Speaker 1: and rose again, even so God will bring with him
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  Speaker 1: those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we
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  Speaker 1: say to you by the word of the Lord, that
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  Speaker 1: we who are alive and remain until the coming of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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  Speaker 1: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
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  Speaker 1: with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet
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  Speaker 1: of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
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  Speaker 1: Then we who are alive and remain will be caught
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  Speaker 1: up together with them in the clouds to meet the
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  Speaker 1: Lord in the air. And so we shall always be.
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  Speaker 2: With the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
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  Speaker 3: It happened in a small country store in a little
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  Speaker 3: community in southern Mississippi maybe I ought to say Mississippi.
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  Speaker 3: A dear old lady came to do her shopping. The
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  Speaker 3: kind of lady you really wish could have been.
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  Speaker 2: Your own mama. She not only loved.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus, she lived every day in light of Jesus soon coming.
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  Speaker 3: So happened at the same store. There were a couple
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  Speaker 3: of three fellows hanging around outside up to no good,
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  Speaker 3: just sort of like trouble getting ready to happen. And
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  Speaker 3: they knew her faith. They knew that she loved her Lord,
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  Speaker 3: and decided they would taunt her. Hey, Bessie, we hear
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  Speaker 3: you expecting Jesus to come back. She hardly looked at
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  Speaker 3: them as she took the shopping cart began to push
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  Speaker 3: her way down the aisle. I should do you really
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  Speaker 3: believe he's a coming? With greater intensity? She paused, looked
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  Speaker 3: back over her shoulder. Sure as you was born. Now
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  Speaker 3: they pressed her to the limit. Well, well, you better
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  Speaker 3: hurt at home and get ready. Jesus might already be
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  Speaker 3: on the way.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 3: She stopped and turned around and stared her tormenters in
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  Speaker 3: the face. She said, YO, listen to me. I don't
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  Speaker 3: have to get ready. I keeps ready.
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  Speaker 2: I love that story. Keeps ready. That little homespun.
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  Speaker 3: Story reveals that there are three kind of people. When
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  Speaker 3: it comes to Jesus return. First, there are cynics, They
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  Speaker 3: always have been, and there always will be people who say,
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  Speaker 3: you mean to tell me an intelligent person like you
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  Speaker 3: believes Jesus is coming back.
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  Speaker 2: Come on, give me a break.
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  Speaker 3: You mean to tell me you really think he's coming back.
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  Speaker 2: To this earth. Peter tells us.
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  Speaker 3: They're the folks who say things have never changed as
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  Speaker 3: it was in the beginning, it is now whenever shall be.
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  Speaker 3: Of course, they forget about the flood which came and
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  Speaker 3: changed everything. There have always been, there always will be
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  Speaker 3: cynics who sneer at the coming of Jesus. And then
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  Speaker 3: there are carnal people who fear the coming of Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: They have to get ready. They would be.
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  Speaker 3: Ashamed if in fact he split the clouds and caught
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  Speaker 3: them up short.
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  Speaker 2: They have to get ready.
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  Speaker 3: And then there have always been a few devout followers who,
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  Speaker 3: to quote the Lady, keeps ready. Some folks who live
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  Speaker 3: every day thinking today he might come back. Let's find
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  Speaker 3: out where you are. You're in that story, you know,
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  Speaker 3: Just think back over the past. Oh, I'll give you
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  Speaker 3: seven to ten days. I'll make it easy. How many
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  Speaker 3: times have you thought he's coming back? Some of you
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  Speaker 3: have to get ready, and a few of you you.
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  Speaker 2: Just kept ready.
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  Speaker 3: It may surprise you to know that there is more
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  Speaker 3: said about the return of Christ than any other event
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  Speaker 3: in all of scripture.
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  Speaker 2: Do you know that.
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  Speaker 3: There is more said of the return of Christ than
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  Speaker 3: there is said of the creation of this world the
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  Speaker 3: fall of mankind into sin? There is more set of
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  Speaker 3: the return of Christ than the choosing of the Hebrew people,
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  Speaker 3: are their great deliverance from Egypt and their march in
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  Speaker 3: the Exodus through the Red Sea. There's more set of
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  Speaker 3: the return of Christ than is revealed of the first
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  Speaker 3: coming of Christ. Did you know that over three hundred
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  Speaker 3: times in the New Testament alone, the return of Christ
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  Speaker 3: is mentioned, and sometimes emphasized in great detail. In fact,
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  Speaker 3: you may have forgotten. Turned with me the last two
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  Speaker 3: verses of your Bible.
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  Speaker 2: Just before God sealed.
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  Speaker 3: Up the book and closed it off at the end
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  Speaker 3: of the Revelation, Jesus talked about that event Revelation twenty two,
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  Speaker 3: verse twenty. You find it the last two verses of
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  Speaker 3: the Bible. He who testifies to these things says, yes,
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  Speaker 3: I am coming quickly, and John adds, I believe it. Amen,
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  Speaker 3: Come Lord Jesus, the grace of the Lord Jesus be
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  Speaker 3: with all.
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  Speaker 2: I believe it amen.
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  Speaker 3: Christ's final words to his people, Yes, I am coming quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Now.
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  Speaker 3: It has been my observation that there are two extreme
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  Speaker 3: reactions to that statement. You've seen them, and maybe in
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  Speaker 3: your earlier years in the Christian life, you have modeled
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  Speaker 3: one of the two extremes. One extreme is a fanatical
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  Speaker 3: intensity characterized by an overreaction to this truth. People who
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  Speaker 3: overreact to the coming of Christ become what is commonly
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  Speaker 3: called prophecy freaks. Just about every day they go off
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  Speaker 3: the deep end with another prediction. They are the date setters.
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  Speaker 3: They are the people that read into about every headline
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  Speaker 3: that comes across the newspaper some prophetic significance. They are
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  Speaker 3: preoccupied with Christ's coming. They are often irresponsible when it
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  Speaker 3: comes to their own earthly life. They're the type of
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  Speaker 3: people who lack an interest in the here and now.
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  Speaker 3: Things like making a living aren't very important to them.
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  Speaker 3: Everything that has to do with tomorrow is important, but
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  Speaker 3: very little, if anything that has to do with today
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  Speaker 3: is significant. It's what I call prophecy gone to seed,
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  Speaker 3: and it's a track thing to behold to use the
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  Speaker 3: old common joke about the fella who was so pre
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  Speaker 3: millennial he wouldn't even eat post hosties. I mean, how
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  Speaker 3: fanatical can you get? Christ is coming. He's coming soon
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  Speaker 3: any moment. Now, He's coming. I gotta be careful. Every
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  Speaker 3: move is being countered with that act. Come on, Come on.
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  Speaker 3: But the other extreme, equally bad, is the indifferent extreme
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  Speaker 3: of what I call theological ignorance. It's the opposite problem,
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  Speaker 3: a total lack of interest, and I mean total. You
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  Speaker 3: deal with prophecy, this kind of individual turns it off.
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  Speaker 3: He or she lacks the ability to sense God's timetable.
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  Speaker 3: They see nothing of prophetic significance in scripture. I've also
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  Speaker 3: noticed that people in this category have a lifestyle that
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  Speaker 3: lacks passion about such things as God's world program listen now,
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  Speaker 3: personal evangelism, purity of life, hope beyond this life. There
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  Speaker 3: are individuals in God's forever family who live in such
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  Speaker 3: a way that you'd never believe Christ is coming. C. S.
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  Speaker 3: Lewis wrote in a fine book Christian behavior hope is one.
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  Speaker 2: Of the theological virtues.
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  Speaker 3: This means that a continued looking forward to the eternal
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  Speaker 3: world is not as some modern people think a form
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  Speaker 3: of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things
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  Speaker 3: a Christian is meant to do. He continues, It does
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  Speaker 3: not mean that we are to leave the present world
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  Speaker 3: as it is. If you read history, you will find
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  Speaker 3: that the Christians who did most for the present world
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  Speaker 3: were just those who thought most of the next. It
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  Speaker 3: is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the
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  Speaker 3: other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.
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  Speaker 3: Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.
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  Speaker 3: Aim at earth, and you will get neither. Let me
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  Speaker 3: tell you another part of this side of extremism that
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  Speaker 3: concerns me, and that is people who are misinformed, people
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  Speaker 3: who are ignorant. It's not that they reject the idea.
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  Speaker 3: It's that they've got the whole story confused. What they
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  Speaker 3: believe is not truth at all.
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  Speaker 2: They're ignorant.
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  Speaker 3: In the words of Scripture, Mark Twain put it well, well,
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  Speaker 3: the trouble with the world is not that people know
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  Speaker 3: too little, but that they know so many things that ain't.
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  Speaker 2: So it's not.
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  Speaker 3: That people know too little about the coming of the Savior.
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  Speaker 3: It's that they know too many things that aren't biblical.
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  Speaker 3: For that reason and many others. I'm glad to turn
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  Speaker 3: with you to First Thessalonians, Chapter four. This will help
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  Speaker 3: us know what is so and what ain't so. This
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  Speaker 3: will help us keep ready because these last six verses.
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  Speaker 2: Of chapter four in First.
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  Speaker 3: Thessalonians are simple as ABC. I have the privilege of
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  Speaker 3: reading them back to you, making a few comments. But
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  Speaker 3: actually it requires no great heady ability on my part.
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  Speaker 3: All I'm doing is pointing out what is for many
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  Speaker 3: Christians quite obvious. Please note, this is truth we can
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  Speaker 3: count on. I divide this passage of scripture into three parts.
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  Speaker 3: Verses thirteen and fourteen talk about our death and life. Afterwards,
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  Speaker 3: Verses fifteen through seventeen talk about Christ's coming and are
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  Speaker 3: joining him in the clouds. And then, obviously, verse eighteen
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  Speaker 3: talks about how comforting this is.
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  Speaker 2: Let's sort of work our way through it.
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  Speaker 3: We'll walk through it in an ABC simple manner Verses
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  Speaker 3: thirteen and fourteen. But we do not want you to
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  Speaker 3: be uninformed, brethren about those who are asleep. That you
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  Speaker 3: may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
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  Speaker 3: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
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  Speaker 3: even so God will bring with him.
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  Speaker 2: Those who have fallen asleep deep in Jesus.
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  Speaker 3: Now, you may be surprised to know that that little
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  Speaker 3: church in Thessalonika was also troubled by extremism. There were
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  Speaker 3: some people who had gone to seed on prophecy. They
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  Speaker 3: had quit their job. They had become busybodies, preoccupied with
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  Speaker 3: not the hero and now, but the.
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  Speaker 2: World hereafter, Paul rebukes.
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  Speaker 3: Them directly in the second letter. He writes, and there
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  Speaker 3: were others who were troubled with fear. They were misinformed.
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  Speaker 3: They were concerned that their loved ones had now died,
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  Speaker 3: and even though they were Christians, they were now dead Christians.
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  Speaker 3: And they thought if Christ were to come back, he'll
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  Speaker 3: forget them. They'll somehow miss the return. And so Paul
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  Speaker 3: writes these Christians just as he would write us today,
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  Speaker 3: to keep them from being misinformed.
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  Speaker 2: Look at how he puts it. I don't want you
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  Speaker 2: to be uninformed. Brethren.
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  Speaker 3: When you read the word brethren, you know this is
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  Speaker 3: truth for the Christian brothers and sisters, members of the family.
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  Speaker 3: Don't be uninformed uninformed about what about those who are asleep?
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  Speaker 3: This term asleep is a common euphemism for death. It's
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  Speaker 3: not meant to be a spooky term, as though there
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  Speaker 3: are souls in some dormant state that are floating about
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  Speaker 3: looking for other bodies to re enter and to be
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  Speaker 3: a part of society. Again, don't take it in that
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  Speaker 3: wooden literalism manner. Understand that a sleep is the way.
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  Speaker 2: God calls the dead Christian.
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  Speaker 3: The point is they are currently unconscious and away from us.
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  Speaker 2: They have died, but they will be awakened.
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  Speaker 3: Their souls and spirits will be joined to their bodies
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  Speaker 3: at some particular time at the resurrection, and they will
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  Speaker 3: be taken to be with the Lord. Don't be misinformed.
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  Speaker 3: They are currently asleep, but they're not forgotten. They're certainly
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  Speaker 3: not lost. They're asleep. Now, why would he say, I
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  Speaker 3: don't want you to be uninformed concerning those who are asleep?
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  Speaker 3: He finishes his thought in verse thirteen that you may
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  Speaker 3: not grieve as those who have no hope. Ever met
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  Speaker 3: a person who faced the death of a loved one
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  Speaker 3: who didn't know Christ I mean the grieving person as
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  Speaker 3: well as the one who is now dead. You look
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  Speaker 3: into the face of hopelessness.
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  Speaker 2: It's tragic.
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  Speaker 3: Many a time I have driven out of a funeral
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  Speaker 3: area out of a grave site and made my way
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  Speaker 3: through the wine path, riding on the coach with the
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  Speaker 3: funeral director and seeing an individual in horrible grief leaning
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  Speaker 3: on a tombstone, and that many a time I have
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  Speaker 3: talked to the funeral director about that individual, and he
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  Speaker 3: would tell me that person comes just about every day
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  Speaker 3: and visits this grave site and attempts to talk to
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  Speaker 3: the dead, says, you can't reach her. It's like she
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  Speaker 3: or he is spaced out. It's grieving without hope. Now,
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  Speaker 3: it's not saying we're not to grieve. I weary of
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  Speaker 3: people who pass around the information that if you are
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  Speaker 3: really a strong Christian, you won't grieve when death comes.
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  Speaker 2: That's not true.
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  Speaker 3: If I were suddenly to lose my wife or one
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  Speaker 3: of my children, I can tell you ahead of time,
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  Speaker 3: I would.
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  Speaker 2: Grieve for weeks.
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  Speaker 3: People who have bonded themselves to me and love who
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  Speaker 3: are taken from me.
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  Speaker 2: Cause me grief. I shed tears.
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  Speaker 3: I spend nights sitting alone thinking about them, missing them.
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  Speaker 3: It isn't that I have no hope. I have hope,
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  Speaker 3: but I miss them. To grieve without hope is to
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  Speaker 3: forget that there is a tomorrow. It doesn't say we're
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  Speaker 3: not to grieve. It says we're not to grieve as
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  Speaker 3: those who have no hope. Says we're to grieve with
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  Speaker 3: the sense that there is life beyond the grief. We
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  Speaker 3: can go on and.
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  Speaker 2: I would, just as you would.
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  Speaker 3: But in the valley it's sorrowful and tears are appropriate.
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  Speaker 3: Just as we laugh in our joy, we are to
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  Speaker 3: weep in our pain.
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  Speaker 2: God gave us that.
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  Speaker 3: Dry up the tear ducts and call that being a
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  Speaker 3: strong Christian. It's a pleasure at times to see Christians
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  Speaker 3: who are very, very human who grieve. Not until you
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  Speaker 3: experience grief in its depth do you fully recover from it. Now,
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  Speaker 3: he says, we're not to grieve as those who have
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  Speaker 3: no hope, because if we believe that Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: Died and rose again.
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  Speaker 3: Wait a minute, that's the most important statement in all
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  Speaker 3: the New Testament. That condition of belief is the Gospel message.
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  Speaker 2: That's the reason you can have hope.
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  Speaker 3: If I believe that Jesus died and rose again, I
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  Speaker 3: have hope. If my dead loved one believe that Jesus
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  Speaker 3: died and rose again from the dead, if my friend,
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  Speaker 3: my mother or father, my child, my grandson, Whoever, if
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  Speaker 3: I have the assurance that person has trusted in the
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  Speaker 3: Lord Jesus, believing in his death and resurrection, there's hope,
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  Speaker 3: there's a future, there's a reason ultimately to smile. Many
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  Speaker 3: years ago, our family lived across the street from a
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  Speaker 3: childless couple. They married later in life, fine people. The
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  Speaker 3: man was suddenly and in our terms, prematurely taken in death,
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  Speaker 3: and this dear lady began to grieve. She began to
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  Speaker 3: make those awful journeys to the grave site seemed like,
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  Speaker 3: if not every day, every other day. She had by
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  Speaker 3: then retired from work and had the time, and her
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  Speaker 3: life was consumed with visiting the grave site and attempting
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  Speaker 3: to talk to her now deceased husband, and spin nights
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  Speaker 3: in the house with the lights almost out. My mother
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  Speaker 3: became very concerned about her friend. She said to me
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  Speaker 3: one day, Charles, I think I'm going to go across
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  Speaker 3: the street and talk to her. I'll never forget the
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  Speaker 3: day she left, she took a pie with her, a
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  Speaker 3: Christley baked pie, and she rang the doorbell, and the
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  Speaker 3: lady came to the door, and I watched through the
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  Speaker 3: window as my mom walked in. They were together a
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  Speaker 3: couple of hours, she led her to Christ. To make
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  Speaker 3: a long story short, this dear woman said to my mother,
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  Speaker 3: you know, now that I see how all of this
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  Speaker 3: fits together, I'm going to keep going back, but now
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  Speaker 3: I'm going.
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  Speaker 2: To talk to people who were there.
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  Speaker 3: And this woman, to my knowledge, is one of the
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  Speaker 3: few cemetery evangelists that I have ever met. What a ministry. She,
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  Speaker 3: with a little New Testament and a well chosen, tactful
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  Speaker 3: series of words, comes alongside the grieving at the gravesite,
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  Speaker 3: puts her arms around him, and she even said, in
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  Speaker 3: days that followed, I have invited myself to some funeral services.
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  Speaker 3: And when everyone else left and the widow was there,
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  Speaker 3: I stayed and I told her about Christ. Now you
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  Speaker 3: sit healthy and warm and comfortable and secure right where
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  Speaker 3: you are, and you think, ah, I've got forever to
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  Speaker 3: think about stuff like that.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have forever. You know you don't have forever.
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  Speaker 2: I wish I had kept.
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  Speaker 3: Track of the average age of those I had buried
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  Speaker 3: in the last five years. It would shock you. I know,
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  Speaker 3: it can hardly be age fifty. If it's that, it's
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  Speaker 3: certainly not sixty. You have hope, you believe that Jesus
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  Speaker 3: died and rose again. You say, no, I've never believed that.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have any hope. You're not ready.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: You may not be sneering at Christ's returned, but you're
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: living like a fool as though he isn't.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Going to return. Now's the time if we believe that
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Jesus died and rose again. Keep reading. Even so, God, God.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: Now you have nothing to worry about, my Christian friend,
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: if your dear parent or loved one died in the Lord,
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: nothing to worry about. The source of this marvelous resurrection
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: is God. God will bring with Jesus those who have
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: fallen asleep. Now hold your place and turn back to
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: one of my favorite sections in the New Testament, First Corinthians,
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: chapter fifteen. The greatest chapter on resurrection in all the
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: Bible is First Corinthians fifteen. It's one of my favorite
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: places to turn at a funeral service. In fact, one
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: of them. I hate to announce this, but one of
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: my favorite services is a funeral service. I sound ghoulish
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: every time I say something like that, but I've never
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: seen it fail. People who come to a funeral service.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: Often wouldn't darken the door of a church. But see,
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: they're loved ones. Now in the box the last place
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: they want to think about being, and love has drawn
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: them to this place, and you have a chance to
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: open the truth and tell them how they can prepare
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: for life hereafter Thans fifteen is a passage I love
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: to turn to, beginning at verse fifty. Now I say this, brethren,
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: Remember what I told you, brethren, this is for the Christian.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: Now I say this, fellow Christian, that flesh and blood
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: inherit the imperishable. What does that mean? Well, it means
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: just what it says. Flesh and blood, as you and
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: I know, it can't make it through eternity.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: We do a pretty good job of it.
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: To make it through eighty ninety years, and we look
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: pretty whipped if we make it to one hundred. But
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: nobody can make it for a thousand or two thousand years.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Nobody.
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: So in order for us to have a body that
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: can make it throughout eternity, there has to be a change.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: This perishable flesh and blood has to go through a change.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: Even if we're standing on this earth alive. When Christ
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: returns and we are swept up to be with him
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: somewhere between Earth and Heaven, we have to be changed
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: or our old bodies will decay on us and we
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: won't enjoy the pleasures of the next one hundred million
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: centuries with our friends. I mean, we'd look awful if
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: we didn't change. And look at the way he says
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: in verse fifty one, I tell you a mystery.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: The word mystery is really a Greek word moustererion. Mustayerian
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: doesn't mean like our English mystery. Our English mystery is
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: like a murder mystery. It's got intrigued and it's complicated.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: It's confusing, and even when you wade through the details,
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: you're not sure you can explain them that clearly to
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: somebody else. This Mustayrian is like our word secretst I
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: want to tell you now, secret's very different. Once you
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: hear the secret, you go why did not think of that?
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: It's very clear.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: For example, several weeks ago, I had a man say
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: to me, you know, Chuck, she and I are really
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: in love, and I'm gonna pop the question, and we're
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: gonna get married, But don't tell anybody. I have been
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: tempted so many times to tell people the secret. Now,
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: if I told you the secret, it wouldn't be complicated.
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: You wouldn't say married.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: What does that mean? You know what marriage means.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: But to be a secret that I would now give
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: a name to and you, Oh, they're gonna get married.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Hey, that's great.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: And to be very clear that he wanted to tell
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: me a mustairiant.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: I want to tell you a secret.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: Look at fifty one. We shall not all sleep, but
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: we shall all be changed.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Is that good?
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: Some of us, when Christ returns, are going to be alive. Now,
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: many of our loved ones have died, and the older
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: we get, the more of our loved ones have died.
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: But some are going to be alive in the generation
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: when Christ returns. Now, the secret is all of us
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: are going up verse fifty two in a moment, in
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, For
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, imperishable.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: We shall be changed.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: The other day I looked into the face of our
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: younger daughter. She was getting ready to leave to go
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: to the football game, and the flash of light that
• 30:03
  Speaker 3: came across her. Clear, beautiful blue eyes caught my attention.
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: It was quicker than the snap of my finger. But
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: just like a flash of light, we will be changed.
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: It will occur in such an infinitely brief moment you
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: can't even time it. We'll be alive, will be gone,
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: changed and with him. In fact, the way it reads,
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: this perishable must put on imperishable, This mortal must put
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: on immortality. And when the perishable will have put on
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: the imperishable, when this old bag of bones will have
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: put on eternal kind of bones, then will come to
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: in victory. See the next very, Oh death, Where is
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: thy sting, oh grave, where is thy victory? Let me
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: tell you something. Paul didn't get that from Shakespeare. Shakespeare
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: got that from Paul. Death will be swallowed up in victory,
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: and it will close its mouth and never open again
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: its ugly jaws forever with the Lord.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: That's a secret, and it needs to be told. Now,
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: why do we have to be changed?
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: I get a lot of help out of Merrill Tenney's
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: book The Reality of the Resurrection. In his section on
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: the theology of the Resurrection, I came across a very
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: interesting part that's worth your hearing. The perfection of bodily
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: health and the heightening of physical powers will be part
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: of all believersure physical heritage. Power is a quality of
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: the resurrection body, contrasted with present impotence. For its size,
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: the human body is surprisingly weak. If a man could
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: carry in his hands a load as heavy in proportion
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: to his weight as an ant can carry in its jaws,
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: he would be able to handle half a ton. If
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: he could jump like a grasshopper, he could clear thirty
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: feet in a single bound. A dog can detect sounds
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: that the human ear never hears. Man has not the
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: endurance of a bird, nor the muscle of a bear,
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: nor the fleetness of an antelope. In physical abilities, he
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: is outstripped by almost every member of the animal creation. Furthermore,
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: man is susceptible to the invasion of the unseen enemies
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: of disease. Germs so tiny that they are invisible can
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: ruin his physique and bring it down to the grave.
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: A microbe that has neither consciousness nor intelligence can undermine
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: vitality and destroy the intricate frame that has taken years
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: to build. The natural body is weak and perishable, susceptible
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: to every kind of illness and injury. By contrast, the
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: resurrection body will possess power. Then he goes on to
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: describe it. You want to know what our bodies will
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: be like, you just check the body of Jesus after
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: the resurrection. He was able to move through space in
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: a rapid period of time. He was able to move
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: through a door that was closed and locked because his
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: whole molecular structure in his body had been changed. He
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: was able to span Earth to Heaven in an instant.
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: Our Lord lives for us a model of.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: That kind of body. Where going to have?
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Now, with all that in mind, go back to first
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: Thessalonians four. It's also intriguing. You could just spend forever
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: fiddling around with some of those details. But let's go
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: back to the truth that we can count on. Look
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: at Christ's coming. It gives it to us in an abc.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: D fashion, just like stair steps.
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: If you like things spelled out one, two, three, four,
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: you'll love the next three verses. What's gonna happen? Well,
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: this we say to you by the word of the Lord.
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: So this is not some fantasy. This isn't some distant dream.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: This is the truth. We who are alive and remain
• 34:36
  Speaker 3: until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: who have fallen asleep. God gives the dead preferential treatment.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: They're gonna go first. Now here's the order. First, the
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: Lord himself will descend from heaven. There will be a shout,
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: will be the voice of the archangel, and there will
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: be the sound of the trumpet of God. So we
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: have the Lord descending from heaven. We have the voice,
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: the shout, the trumpet. Third, next verse are the last
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: part of verse sixteen. And the dead in Christ shall
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: rise first, so they'll be taken out of the grave.
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: Their bodies will be changed.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: Next verse.
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: If you're keeping that kind of note d in the list,
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: then we who are alive and remain shall be caught
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: up together with them in the clouds to meet the
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: Lord in the air.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: And finally it says we shall always be with the Lord.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: Is that simple?
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: Aren't those details helpful? You may be surprised to know
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: that one very intelligent writer says, we don't have to
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: worry about those details. I quote, we are not meant
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: to take with literalism that which is a seer's vision.
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: It is not the details which are important. I thought
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: that was interesting. If the details aren't important, what is important?
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: And for example, is the word all important? He forgives
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: us all our sins?
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, does that seem to be kind.
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: Of a casual word you could take to mean maybe all,
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: few most? Now he says all because he means all.
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: This man says that what's really important is that there
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: is a union between Christ and the Christian and that's
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: really what the passage is saying. Seems to me the
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: Lord went to a lot of trouble to give us
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: a lot of verses when he wasn't short on vocabulary.
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: He could have just used the word union if that
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: was his point. I'm being sarcastic. The details are very
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: important for the details of people you love, very important.
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: Ever married a daughter, The details of her wedding important
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: to her, trust me, very important to her, very important.
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: Are the details of our savior's children important to him?
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: You better believe it. They're his children.
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: And if he's going to gather them together, living and
• 37:42
  Speaker 3: dead and bring them in this great family reunion back
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: to him, is he want to make sure it goes
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: exactly as He's planned it. You got it just exactly
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: as he planned it. He'll come, the shout, the trumpet,
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: the voice, the dead will rise, we who are alive together,
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: caught up, changed, and in a twinkling of an eye
• 38:01
  Speaker 3: with him. I remember when I was a little boy,
• 38:04
  Speaker 3: wondering if we would, once we got to Heaven, ever
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: stand a chance of getting out of heaven. My lifestyle
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: at that time concerned me a lot, and I wondered
• 38:15
  Speaker 3: if somebody would show up with a clipboard that had
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: the details and tell God about it, and he'd call
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: on me one day and say, hey, it's over. It's
• 38:23
  Speaker 3: curtains chuck. But I came across verse seventeen with.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: A great relief.
• 38:28
  Speaker 3: We shall always be with the Lord.
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: Count on it. We're in. Isn't that great news? With
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: him forever?
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: You like to mark your bibles, Mark this family reunion
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: verse seventeen. We together with them always with the Lord.
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: Mark that and the next funeral service you attend for
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: a saint, remember that someday there'll be a reunion and
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: I'm going to be caught up with them in the clouds,
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: to be forever with the Lord. Why because I deserve it,
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: Because I'm a preacher because she was a good person. No, No,
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: a thousand times, No, you've already forgotten verse fourteen. Because
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: we believe that Jesus died and rose again. We are
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: declared righteous because we have believed right, and therefore we
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: can grieve.
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 39:36
  Speaker 3: Talk about comfort comfort one another with these words? How
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: often I have turned from first Thessalonians over a couple
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: or three books further to Titus. It's a little book
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: we don't look at very much. It occurred to me
• 39:52
  Speaker 3: when I thought about what I have just shared with you.
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: There needs to be some kind of wrap up. There
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: needs to be some help on what does it mean
• 40:01
  Speaker 3: to prepare for his coming? How do I respond to this?
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: Appropriately?
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: Tied us to the last section, Verses eleven through thirteen
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: will help. I'm going to give you three things to
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: remember if you want to respond appropriately to a talk
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: on prophecy verse eleven. For the grace of God has appeared,
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: bringing salvation.
• 40:33
  Speaker 4: To all.
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: First, make certain you have taken what God.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Has given, that is his salvation. Christ died on the
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: cross for your sins.
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: He died, he rose later from the grave, triumphant over sin.
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: Therefore he is your bridge to heaven. That's the gift
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: of salvation, and you must take it. It doesn't come
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: by osmosis, it doesn't come by heritage, it doesn't come
• 41:16
  Speaker 3: simply by hearing it. You must take it. Have you
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: taken what God has given? That's the first question. Have
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: you have you taken it? You?
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: You must, that's first top priority.
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: Second, this same grace of God verse twelve instructs us
• 41:42
  Speaker 3: to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. Second, continue to resist
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: a corrupt lifestyle. You want to know how to prepare
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: for Christ coming. Resist a corrupt lifestyle. Can't think of
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: anything worse than being suddenly surprised in a lifestyle that's
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: ungodly when my Savior comes for me.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: This is the third and it's the positive part.
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: It's verse twelve instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires.
• 42:24
  Speaker 3: We are to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: present age. Live in a sensible, godly manner. That's the
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: positive side. That means you stay involved, you stay in touch,
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: You give yourself to God's world program, you share the Savior,
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: you make him known, you live for his glory. And
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: by the way, it just occurs to me that some
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: of you may be very, very concerned about some loved
• 42:51
  Speaker 3: one who died in a horrible kind of death, perhaps
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: blown apart, perhaps in some tragic scene. And you wonder
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: how when the world is all going to come to pass?
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: Relax?
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: God has put it all together. He can handle it.
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: I love the story of Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island.
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: His body was exhumed for reburial. It was found that
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: the root of an apple tree had penetrated the head
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: of the coffin and had followed down William's spine, dividing
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: into a fork at his legs. The tree had absorbed
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: the chemicals of the decaying body and had transmuted them
• 43:33
  Speaker 3: into its wood and fruit hold on. The apples, in turn,
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: had been eaten by people, quite unconscious of the fact
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: that they were indirectly taking into their systems part.
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: Of the long dead Williams. How out of this complex situation?
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: Will God handle it? Relax?
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: He made you out of nothing. He can bring you
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: back to something. It's no problem with God. See people
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: will bring up stuff like that and then they'll say,
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: see there, you're talking to me about Christ coming, give
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: me a break. I'm talking about Christ coming. I'm talking
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: about the sovereign God who made you, calling you into account.
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: He won't have any trouble putting you back together and
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: bringing you face to face with him. Years ago, during
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: the presidential term of office of Dwight Eisenhower, the President
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: was vacationing in Denver.
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: He came to his attention that.
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: A little boy named Paul Haley was dying of an
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: incurable cancer. Six year old lad, and he had one
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: great dream that was to someday see the President.
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: Dwight Eisenhower.
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: Made an act that will long outlive his great speeches
• 45:05
  Speaker 3: when he said to one of his aides, let's go
• 45:07
  Speaker 3: see young Paul Haley. They got in the presidential limousine
• 45:11
  Speaker 3: and they drove over one August Sunday morning to the
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: home of a six year old boy that didn't know
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: the President was coming. Flags on the fenders were flying
• 45:22
  Speaker 3: as this black limousine drove up. Doors flew open, and
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: outwalked the President, who knocked on the door. Mister Donald Hayley.
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: The father opened the door, wearing blue jeans, an old
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: dirty shirt, and one day's growth of beard, said yes,
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: can I help you? And the President responded is Paul here?
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: Tell him the President would like to see And little Paul,
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: to his amazement, walked around his father's legs and stood
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: and looked up into the face of the man he
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: admired the most. Dwight Eisenhower kneel down, shook his hand,
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: took him out to see the presidential limousine, and before
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: he said goodbye, he hugged little Paul Haley. They shook
• 46:19
  Speaker 3: hands again, and he left. The neighbors. I'm sure are
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: still talking about the visit from the President. Only one
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: man was not entirely happy about it. That was Donald Haley,
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: who said, how can I ever forget standing there dressed
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: like I was in those jeans and an old, dirty
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: shirt and an unshaven face to meet the President of
• 46:46
  Speaker 3: the United States. He had to get ready. I'm talking
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: about keeping ready.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: Are you? If you're not, then get ready. Let's a
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: bow together.
• 47:12
  Speaker 3: Close your eyes please, and just block out all the
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: things that would interrupt you.
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: Forget the time. I'll keep an eye on it. Don't
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: worry about it.
• 47:24
  Speaker 3: Everything you're concerned about will be there when you open
• 47:27
  Speaker 3: your eyes. Ever met Jesus, are you living for him?
• 47:37
  Speaker 3: I mean living as if he were to come back
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: and rap.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: On your door.
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: Why not? Why are you're living like you're living.
• 47:52
  Speaker 3: He's your lord, or it may be he's not. Take
• 47:59
  Speaker 3: him now, get ready. If you've never met Christ, I
• 48:08
  Speaker 3: have the privilege of announcing that he's available, and he'll
• 48:14
  Speaker 3: someday come by for a visit. The only way you
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  Speaker 3: want to meet him is clothed in the righteousness of God.
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  Speaker 3: We have a prayer room for those that would like
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  Speaker 3: to have some people pray with them and talk with
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: them about this decision. I know it sounds simple, but
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  Speaker 3: you maybe have some complicated concerns and you maybe just
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  Speaker 3: need the assurance of somebody with their arm around you,
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  Speaker 3: saying listen, I want to pray with you. I understand
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  Speaker 3: what you're wrestling with. I want to help answer some
• 48:47
  Speaker 3: of your questions. It's to the left as you face
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  Speaker 3: this pulpit over there in the corner. Don't put this off. Father,
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for the Savior, for Christ to love, who
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  Speaker 3: loves us and gave himself for us. Thank you for
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: his promise that he'll keep his word. Come quickly.
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  Speaker 2: We're ready. We're keeping ready.
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  Speaker 3: Because your coming would be at any moment. Cause those
• 49:24
  Speaker 3: who were not ready to get ready without any further delay.
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  Speaker 3: I pray in the Savior's name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 4: The preceding message on that Great getting Up Morning was
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  Speaker 4: copyrighted in nineteen eighty four, nineteen eighty five, nineteen ninety three,
• 49:43
  Speaker 4: two thousand and three, and twenty twenty four, and the
• 49:46
  Speaker 4: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four by Charles R.
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: Swindall Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 49:54
  Speaker 4: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited