Latest / CCC West Covina / The Model Life: Alertness, Part 5

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The Model Life: Alertness, Part 5 · CCC West Covina

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Over the many years that I had the opportunity to go to the
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land of Israel, there were certain journeys that we would
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take when we went. One of the journeys we went on
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was called the Journeys of of Jesus.
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It was designed specifically to go only to the places where
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Jesus himself would have been. And so during those trips we
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would get up early the day after we arrived, and we would make
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our way to a place called the Tell of Megiddo.
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Now a Tell is a a city built upon a city built upon a city
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built upon a city. And so there are 25 different
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cities that have been built on the Tell of Megiddo over all the
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years. So it has risen very, very high.
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And so we take them to the tell of Megiddo and we make our way
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up the tell to the place where they were able to overlook the
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valley of Ezdrelon or the Jezreel Valley, or better known
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as the Valley of Megiddo. And there I would sit, everybody
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on rocks because there are no benches up there.
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There are no chairs up there. There's just a lot of rocks.
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And so we set everybody down on on the rocks and they are able
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to overlook this vast valley of Megiddo, the Jezreel Valley.
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And as they sit there, I take them with their Bibles to the
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Book of Revelation. And I tell them, this is what
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the Bible says in Revelation 16 verse #13 And I saw coming out
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of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,
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and out of the mouth of the false prophet, 3 unclean
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spirits, like frogs. For they are spirits of demons,
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performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world, to
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gather them together for the war of the great day of God the
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Almighty. Verse 16.
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And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is
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called Har Mageddon or Armageddon.
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And I take them there first because I take them to the end,
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not the beginning. We take the journeys of Jesus.
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We don't go to Bethlehem first. We go to the end 1st.
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And you know why? Because the end of a matter is
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better than its beginning, right?
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Ecclesiastes 7 verse #8 If you've been with us on Wednesday
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nights, you understand that. So we take them all the way to
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the end. And as we're, we're preaching on
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how it is that God is going to gather the armies of the East
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together in this vast valley, I have them overlook the valley to
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the other side, because on the other side of the valley is a
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little town that, you know, well called Nazareth.
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That's the hometown of, of Jesus.
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And I asked him this question. I wonder what it would be like
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to to be raised in Nazareth knowing that you are Jesus and
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you get up every morning and you're able to climb the the
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cliffs around Nazareth and overlook the valley and know
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that one day you as the King of all kings are going to gather
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together the nations of the world to fight against you.
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I wonder how many times our Lord did that?
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We have no record of anything that he did except when he was
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12 years of age outside of his birth and his dedication in the
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Temple. But outside of that, we, we
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don't know anything about his early childhood except when he
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was 12 and when he was 12. And he went to the Passover and
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was there and with his family. And of course they somehow left
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him behind. And when they came back to find
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him, he was in the temple conversing with the leaders of
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Israel. And of course, Mary, his mother
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said, where have you been? Don't you know we've been
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looking for you? And Jesus said those famous
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words. Don't you know that I have to be
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about my father's affairs? I have to be about my father's
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business? Christ was on a mission.
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He was on a unique and and special mission and he knew all
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about his Father's will. He came to do the Father's will.
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And so the affairs, the mission that Christ was on was one where
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he would reveal his, his deity. That's in John 1 and John 14,
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the Gospel of John. And not only did he come to to
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reveal his deity, he, he came to, to ravage the enemy.
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The prophecy of Genesis 3 verse #15 was fulfilled on Calvary.
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And so first John 38 tells us that when Jesus came, He came
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for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil.
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So he says to his mother, I had to be about my father's
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business. I have to reveal my deity.
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I have to ravage the enemy. I have to remove iniquity.
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That's found in first John 3 verse #5 or tells us that the
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Son of Man appeared for this purpose, that He might take away
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our sins. So He knew at a very early age
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that this was His mission to reveal the fact that He was God
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in the flesh, to reveal His Deity, to ravage the enemy, to
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remove iniquity. He was on a mission.
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He was on His father's mission. He came because His mission was
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to restore our dignity. That which had been lost in the
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fall in Genesis chapter 1, created the image of God had to
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be restored. And sure enough, first John 31
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says that we are the children of the living God.
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He restored our dignity. On top of that, He had to, He
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had to recover, recover our destiny.
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In John 14, he says because I live, you live.
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I am the resurrection and the life, if you, if you believe
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that you'll never die, He's going to recover our destiny
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because that is our Lord. I have to be about my Father's
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business. I have to, I have to ratify my
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authority. In Matthew 28, it says all
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authority has been given unto me, both in heaven and in earth.
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John 5, he talks about his authority to to raise the dead.
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So he tells his mother, I, I'm about my father's business.
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I have a mission. It's right on course.
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And I'm going to reveal my deity.
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I'm going to, I'm going to ravage the enemy.
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I'm going to, I'm going to remove iniquity.
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I'm going to restore man's dignity.
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I'm going to recover man's destiny.
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I'm the one that's going to ratify my authority, but he came
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so that he could return in glory and reign in majesty.
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So when we go on our journeys of Jesus, we take them to Mount
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Megiddo to tell them that he came to returning glory, that he
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might reign in majesty. He would come, reveal himself as
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the Lord of the universe, but he came to die, rise again, so he
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could return in glory and majesty.
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It's important to know that because I've told you before and
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you'll remember this, I hopefully you'll remember this,
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that the first prophecy in the Bible from man to man about God
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is not the prophecy of his first coming.
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It's the prophecy of His second coming.
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That's how important it is to know about the return of the
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king. It's recorded in Jude, Jude 14,
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Enoch, and the 7th generation from Adam prophesied saying
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behold, the Lord came. Not the Lord is coming, but the
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Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones to execute
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judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all
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their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and
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of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken
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against Him. Enoch, the 7th generation from
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Adam, would be the one who would prophecy about not his first
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coming, but His second coming. And I've already told you that
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every time the the first coming is mentioned, the second coming
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is mentioned 8 different times. And one out of every 25 verses
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in the New Testament is about the second coming of the
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Messiah. And outside the doctrine of
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faith. The doctrine of the second
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coming is the most prominent doctrine in the New Testament.
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It's imperative that you understand this.
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So Jesus, having grown up in Nazareth, would overlook the
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Jezreel Valley every morning, every afternoon, every evening.
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You can't miss it. It's humongous.
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And he would rise from his bed and he would overlook the
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valley. And I'm sure that there must
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have been so many things going through his mind, knowing that
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he came, that he was going to die and rise again.
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But one day he would gather all the nations of the world against
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him in that valley for the Great War of God.
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I wonder how many times or if any time he ever thought about
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that opportunity. And so the very first time that
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Jesus mentions his coming again is in Luke Chapter 9.
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If you got your Bible, you might want to turn there with me if
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you would. Luke Chapter 9.
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And this is how he says it. Luke Chapter 9, verse #26 For
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whoever is ashamed of me, in my words, the Son of man will be
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ashamed of him when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the
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Father, and of the holy angels. This is the first time that
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Jesus mentions His return. That is going to return in
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glory. Thus he will reign in in
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majesty. Remember, he refers to himself
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as the Son of Man. He refers to himself as the Son
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of Man over 80 times in the gospels.
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He does that because he wants to take everybody back to the book
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of Daniel, the 7th chapter, when Daniel has this vision of one
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like the Son of Man coming in great clouds of glory, and
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Jesus, when he calls himself the Son of Man, is taking everybody
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back to Daniel Chapter 7. And now, for the very first time
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in His earthly ministry, He's going to refer to His return in
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glory. And then he says these words.
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But I say to you truthfully that there are some of those standing
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here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of
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God. Well, what does that mean?
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That means some of you standing right here, some of you 12
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standing right here. I'm not going to die until you
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see the Kingdom of God. You go to the next chapter.
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It says some eight days after these sayings, he took along
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Peter, John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
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Matthew's account and Mark's account says six days later.
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Luke says some 8 days later. Why is there a discrepancy?
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There isn't a discrepancy. Matthew and Mark record the six
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specific days in between day one which he made the announcement
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in day 8IN which the the the event actually occurred.
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So Luke will say some 8 days, Matthew and Mark say 6 days.
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So there's no discrepancy. It's very easily understood when
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you understand the the timetable of our Lord.
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And so it says, took Peter, James and John and went up in a
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mountain and while he was praying and the appearance of
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his face became different and his clothing became white and
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gleaming. Fact, if you read Matthew's
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account, his face would shine like the morning sun and be old.
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Two men were talking with him, and there were Moses and Elijah,
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who appearing in glory. We're Speaking of his departure,
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which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
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In other words, you're speaking to the Lord about his death, His
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departure, that which was going to happen in Jerusalem.
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He was going to be crucified. So Moses and Elijah are
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conversing with the Son of Man about his impending death.
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Verse 32. Now Peter and his companions had
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been overcome with sleep. When they were fully awake, they
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saw his glory. Matthew says that he was
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transfigured. He was he was metamorphosized.
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In other words, he he unzipped his flesh and the glory of the
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Lord would would shine forth. They saw his glory and they saw
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the two men standing with him. And as they were leaving him,
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Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here.
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Let us make 3 tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and
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and 1:00 for Elijah not realizing what he was saying.
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That's very important because Peter, James, and John recognize
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Moses and Elijah. How did they do that?
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Was Moses carrying tablets of the commandments?
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Was Elijah on a chariot filled with fire?
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What? What would they have?
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A big E on his chest? How did he know this was Moses
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and Elijah? That this goes to tell you that
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when you get to heaven, you'll recognize everybody that's
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there. That's just a good thing.
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You all say, well, where's the apostle Paul?
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You'll know where he is. Although when you get to heaven,
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that won't be your first look up.
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It'll probably be me, your pastor.
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No, that's not true. It'll be the Lord Jesus.
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You'll be consumed with him. But interesting that they were
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able to recognize Moses and Elijah.
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And so why does, why does Peter say, let's build 3 Tabernacles
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here? What we told you last week,
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Zechariah 14 that in the Kingdom of God they will celebrate the
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Feast of Tabernacles. So Peter, knowing the Old
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Testament like he did, would say, well, let's build 3
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Tabernacles right here. One for you and one for Moses
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and and 1:00 for Elijah. And he would also know Malachi 3
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and Malachi 4 that before the coming Kingdom of God and the
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day of the Lord, one like Elijah would come.
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So he knows that. That's why he's saying let's
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build 3 tabernacles. Quite a scene.
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While he was saying this, the cloud formed, began to over
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shadow them, and they were afraid as they entered the
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cloud. Then a voice came out of the
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cloud saying, This is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.
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And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
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Now notice this, it says. And they kept silence and
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reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had
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seen. How could you not do that?
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How could you not say anything when we know from Matthew's
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account that Jesus told them, don't say anything.
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And the voice had come from heaven, which is the Lord God
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his Father, who said, This is my beloved, said, Listen to him.
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So whatever he tells you, listen to him.
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And Jesus then says, don't tell anybody what you just saw.
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Why? Why?
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Why not tell anybody? Well, there could be several
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reasons. One, because if Rome found out
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about it, they would think that this one, Jesus would be
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deciding to have some kind of insurrection to set up his
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Kingdom or the Jews would would incite him to be their leader.
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And they already wanted to be their leader because he fed the
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5000 earlier. They wanted to be the leader.
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So this would always increase that all the more that could
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possibly be. But I think there's something
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much more important than that. And that is in order for the Son
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of Man to be glorified, he had to die and rise again.
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That has to happen. He has to.
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He has to. After revealing his deity, he
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must ravage the enemy. That's a prophecy of Genesis
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315. It must happen.
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He he must remove iniquity. But he can't do that unless he
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dies on Calvary's cross. All that must happen first.
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He must restore man's dignity. He must recover man's destiny so
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that he will one day return in glory.
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But the order is very important. So he tells them, don't say
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anything. And they didn't until Peter
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spoke about it. And second Peter 116 to to 19
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And John spoke about it in John chapter one we beheld his glory.
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The glories are the only begotten of the Father, full of
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grace and truth. Same would be true of James.
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They would speak about it after His death, burial, and
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resurrection because they wanted everybody to know that He's
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going to return in glory and reign in majesty.
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The King is coming again. So important to understand this.
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So important to realize that Jesus is going to come again.
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We are right in the midst of Paul's first letter to the
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Thessalonians. This is our ninth week in
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chapter 4 verse #13 through chapter 5 verse #11 and we won't
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finish this week, and we might not even finish next week.
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But that's OK. Because you see, you must
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understand how important this is for your life.
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It's all about living, as we have seen in first Testimonies
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413 and 18, about anticipation, about expectation.
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That's the model life, living in anticipation of the day of
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Christ and then living with alertness.
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That's chapter 5, verses 1 to 11 for the day of the Lord, the day
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of Christ stands around the rapture of the church and the
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day of the Lord stands around the retribution and the
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revelation of God at the end. And therefore it's important to
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understand all that's happening and why we can't give you all
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the details we we have on our website a series called the
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Return of the King. If you want to know a a step by
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step process through the coming of the King at when it when it
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comes for his own until the very end, the eternal state, that
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series would be one for you to listen to as you go back and
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forth to work or back and forth to school wherever you go.
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Because it goes into great detail about why Jesus must come
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again and why the church won't go through the tribulation.
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And how do you know that? And what is it about the rise of
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the Antichrist and how does that happen?
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And what about Israel and what about the future?
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And it just goes into great detail from the beginning to the
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end to show you how the end is all about the King, His glory,
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His Majesty, His coming again. It is my heart's passion for
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people to understand the coming of Jesus.
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It motivates everything in life like nothing else does.
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And so I want to talk to you about the coming of Jesus.
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And I'm not going to finish it today.
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It's obvious, but at least I can begin it for you today and let
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you know that His coming is a sure event.
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You can bank on it. We know that from what Zechariah
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tells us. Zechariah Chapter 14 verse #1
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Behold, today is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from
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you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the
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nations against Jerusalem to battle.
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The city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women
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ravished, and half the city exiled, but the rest of the
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people will not be cut off from the city.
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Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as
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when he fights on a day of battle.
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And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
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which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.
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And the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to
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West by a very large valley. So half of the mountain will
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move toward the north and the other half toward the South.
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Now you think about that and think about what the Jewish
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people know. Think about the triumphal entry
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into Jerusalem. And to see the people saying as
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praises that they would quote the Old Testament about Psalm 40
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and Psalm 110 about the coming one or Psalm 118, that the one
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who was about to come the, the title for the Messiah, blessed,
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I see you, comes in the name of the Lord.
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And remember, they took off their garments and they, they,
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they took palm branches and they began to, to, to, to wave them
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back and forth in honor. And they take their clothes off
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and garments so that the king, when he wrote over them, it
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would show their, their total submission to the King's
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authority. And the Bible tells us in Luke
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19 that that they, they praised him not for his for his message,
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but for his miracles. But remember they, they were
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thinking of Zechariah 14. He's coming down the Mount of
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Olives. They're on the Mount of Olives.
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And they're thinking that Zechariah 14 says he's going to
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stand on the Mount of Olives. He's going to split the Mount of
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Olives. This is the king.
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And they know Zechariah 9 verse #9 that's a prophecy that was
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fulfilled on that day. Zechariah 99 says, rejoice
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greatly, O daughter of Jerusalem, shout and triumph, O
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daughter of Jerusalem. That's exactly what they did.
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They were shouted in joy. Behold, your king is coming to
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you. The coming one is arriving.
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He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on
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a donkey. So they know this.
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These are Jewish people. They're well versed in the Old
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Testament. Here is the king coming on a
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donkey. Zechariah prophesied that.
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He also prophesied. He'll stand on the Mount of
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Olives. He'll split the Mount of Olives.
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They didn't see any gap between his first coming and his second
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coming. They didn't see that.
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They didn't understand that. They saw all this one arrival. 1
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Advent but there are two advents.
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There were two comings and so they would praise him, but he
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didn't split them out of olives. No, he he went to the city,
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looked around and left, came back the next day and cleanse
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the temple, cursed the fig tree, came back the next day and
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preached all day. They're like, where is the
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splitting of the mountain? Where is the the rivers that
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will flow? Where is the king?
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And by Friday they yelled, crucify him.
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They didn't meet their expectations yet.
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Because He will. Because He's coming again.
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That's why in Luke 9, when Christ referenced everything
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about his coming and glory and the Kingdom of God, his men
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would understand that there's going to be another arrival,
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another coming. He would know that as He was
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raised in Nazareth, get up and overlook the city, overlook the
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Jezreel Valley. In fact, if you recall, even in
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Luke's Gospel in the 4th chapter, when he was going to
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read in the synagogue, says in verse #16 And it came to
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Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as was his
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custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath.
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That's what Jesus did. Every Sabbath He was in the
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synagogue. Every self respecting Jew would
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be in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
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That's what they did. Instead of to read, What was he
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reading? And the book of the prophet
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Isaiah was handed to him. Why?
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Because there's a very systematic reading of the Old
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Testament in the synagogue. And it just so happened that in
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the Providence of God He was asked to read on this day
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because he would read from Isaiah 61.
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That was the reading for the day.
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So the Providence of God, he opened the book and found the
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place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
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me because He anointed me to preach the gospel of the poor.
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He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives,
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recovery of sight to the blind, set free those who are
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oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
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And He closed the book. Isaiah 61 verse #1 He stops
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right there. Why?
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Because this was the day where He would reveal His deity.
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This was the day He came to ravage the enemy.
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This is the day He came to remove iniquity.
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This was the day He came to recover man's destiny.
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This was the day where he came to restore man's dignity.
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The favorable year of our Lord, the year of redemption.
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For the very next phrase in Isaiah 61 says, and the day of
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vengeance. But this wasn't the day of
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vengeance. Not yet.
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It was coming, but it wasn't the day.
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There would come a day of vengeance.
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But on this day in Nazareth, it was not the day.
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And you know the story. They, they marvel at what he
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said. Is this not Joseph's son?
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And then they, they became so angry at what he would say to
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them later on in that conversation that they would
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take him to this, this brow of a Cliff to throw him off so as to,
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to kill him because they were so angry with him.
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Wow. But he escaped by divine
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Providence. He escaped through the crowd.
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We go to this place in Nazareth, this Cliff, not necessarily the
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literal place, but it is a traditional place.
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It's a high Cliff. It overlooks the Jezreel Valley.
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But they could not kill him. Why?
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It wasn't. It's time to die.
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And he wasn't going to die that way anyway.
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He's going to die on Calvary's cross.
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It was all predestined, all predetermined.
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And so through a miracle, he escaped the crowd.
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They did not kill Him on that day.
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Why? Because there would be a day He
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would die on Calvary's cross. He would rise again.
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And what He would say in Acts chapter one, or the angels, or
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the two men in white apparel would say, Men of Galilee, why
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do you stand gazing up into heaven?
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Do you not know that the same Jesus will return in the same
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way in which He left? It is a sure event is ironclad.
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He's coming again. We gathered together to
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celebrate the Lord's table because we proclaim his death
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until he comes. That's why on the
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Transfiguration, Christ said to his men, don't say anything.
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Why? Because you need to proclaim my
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death until I come again. They need to know that I, I came
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to die. I I came to remove their
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iniquity. I came to ravage the enemy.
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I came to do all this. I came for this purpose.
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I have a mission. I must be about my Father's
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business. I want to one day returning
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glory, but not yet. But I am coming again.
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It is a sure event. A sure event and in Revelation
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chapter 22, last chapter, book of the Bible, three times, verse
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#7, verse #12, verse #20 Jesus says, behold, I'm coming
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quickly. The last promise of the Bible is
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I'm coming. I love that I'm coming.
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I'm you better be ready, I'm coming.
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That's why the model life is built around anticipation and
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alertness. You live in anticipation of his
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arrival, and you're alert because no one knows the day nor
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the hour. But let me close with this.
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It's not where I planned on closing, but I'll close here in
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Luke's gospel, the 17th chapter, This event we'll talk about next
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week. It's not just a sure event.
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It is a surprising event. It is a sudden event.
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It is a supernatural event. It is a slaughtering event.
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It is a sovereign event. It is a satisfying event.
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And I'll cover all these with you next week, but it is a
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sobering event, a very sobering event.
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Listen what Jesus says in in Luke 17.
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He says in verse 24, we're just like the lightning when it
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flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of
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the sky. So will the Son of Man be in his
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day, but first he must suffer many things and be rejected by
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this generation. And just as it happened in the
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days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.
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They were eating, they were drinking, and they were
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marrying. They were being given in
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marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood
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came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in
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the days of lot. They were eating, they were
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drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were
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planting, they were building. But on the day that lot went out
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from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and
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destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the
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day that the Son of Man is revealed.
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On that day the one who was on the housetop and whose goods are
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in the house must not go down to take them out, and likewise the
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one who was in the field must not turn back.
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And they says these words. Remember lots wife, Why did you
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put that there? Because she, like so many,
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desired the world. She could not divorce herself
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from the world. She loved Sodom.
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She desired the things of the world.
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And because she desired the world, she would defy the word
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of God. Those who desire the world will
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always defy the word of the living God, the Angel said.
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Do not look back. There's nothing there for you.
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Everything before you is what you need to be looking toward,
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not behind you. Jesus said no man, having put
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his hand at the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of
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God. There's nothing back there for
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you. Your past life has nothing for
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you. But she desired the world so
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much that she would defy the word of the living God.
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Why would she do that? Because in her heart she
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disbelieved the warning from God.
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She didn't think anything would happen.
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She thought that God was the God of love, God grace, compassion,
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mercy, and he is. But when he gives a warning and
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says don't do this, he means exactly what he says, don't do
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this. And so in her desire for the
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world and in her disobedience to the Word of God, she disbelieved
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the warning from God. And thus she died.
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On the way from Sodom, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
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How tragic. You see, the coming of Christ is
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a very sobering event. Many people will die, many loved
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ones will be left, and therefore we must understand the
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imperative to preach the gospel. That's why we celebrate the
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Lord's Table. As a reminder, as often as you
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eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim my reason for
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coming until I come again. You proclaim my death the way to
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life until I come again. It is a sure event.
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I wonder if you are ready for the return of the King, His
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coming again. You can be like those the second
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Peter chapter 3 who mock the coming of Jesus.
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Where is the promise of us coming?
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It's been 2000 years. Everything goes as it's always
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gone before. Nothing's going to change but
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escapes to notice that one day our Lord warned about a coming
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flood and it happened, destroyed the world.
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And one day he's coming again. But he won't destroy the world
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with water, He'll destroy it with fire.
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But he's coming because He promised.
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And our God is the God of truth. He never lies.
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He's coming again. My prayer is that you'd be ready
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for his return. Let's pray.
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Father, we thank you for today. So much to say, so very little
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time to say it yet. We trust that the things that
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were preached today would be what You wanted us to hear.
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And as we partake of the Lord's Table, may we be ever mindful
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that You are certainly coming again.
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Your death was not the end, it was the beginning of the end.
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It was everything. And we celebrate that because
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you are the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
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Pray this in Jesus name, Amen.