Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / More Misery Than We Can Imagine Msg 1021 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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More Misery Than We Can Imagine Msg 1021 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: It's a little difficult to believe the words of that peace,
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Speaker 1: though we do difficult unless you really emphasize the last
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Speaker 1: three words. In his time, there were a few things
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Speaker 1: beautiful about this week that has just passed. Hearts broke,
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Speaker 1: people grieved. Most of us were just shocked beyond words.
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Speaker 1: And we believe by faith that God in his time
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Speaker 1: will cause it all to work together for good. But
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Speaker 1: the verse does not say all things are good. Some
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Speaker 1: things that happened this week were not good, but they
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Speaker 1: will all work together in his time for good. We're
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Speaker 1: in the middle of reading some of the most difficult
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Speaker 1: of some of the most difficult scenes in all scripture.
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Speaker 1: The calamity that's portrayed reveals more misery than we can imagine.
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Speaker 1: And as we shall see, these are words where Jesus
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Speaker 1: escorts his disciples into a time far beyond their years,
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Speaker 1: and I might add far beyond our years, to a
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Speaker 1: time when all hell will break loose on this earth
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Speaker 1: and the end draws near. And because this is part
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Speaker 1: of Matthew's Gospel, we work our way through it, along
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Speaker 1: with those other parts that are in themselves beautiful and
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Speaker 1: easy to read. But if we stay with this we'll
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Speaker 1: get the flow of the story. We'll understand better in
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Speaker 1: our time what God is doing in his time. In
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Speaker 1: the moment, I'm going to ask you to stand as
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Speaker 1: I read for you from Matthew twenty four, fifteen through
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Speaker 1: twenty eight. Then remain standing for prayer. I'm reading from
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Speaker 1: the New Living Translation Matthew twenty four, beginning in verse fifteen. Stand. Please,
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Speaker 1: the day is coming when you will see what Daniel
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Speaker 1: the prophet spoke about the abomination that causes desolation. Standing
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Speaker 1: in the Holy place, reader, pay attention. Then those in
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Speaker 1: Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on
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Speaker 1: the deck of a roof must not go down into
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Speaker 1: the house to pack. A person out in the field
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Speaker 1: must not return even to get a coat. How terrible
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Speaker 1: it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers
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Speaker 1: in those days. And pray that your flight will not
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Speaker 1: be in winter or on the sabbath. There will be
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Speaker 1: greater anguish then at any time since the world began,
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Speaker 1: and it will never be so great again. In fact,
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Speaker 1: unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single
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Speaker 1: person will survive, but it will be shortened for the
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Speaker 1: sake of God's chosen ones. Then if anyone tells you, look,
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Speaker 1: here's the Messiah or there he is, don't believe it,
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Speaker 1: for false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and
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Speaker 1: perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible,
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Speaker 1: even God's chosen ones. See I have warned you about
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Speaker 1: this ahead of time. So if someone tells you, look,
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Speaker 1: the Messiah is out in the desert, don't bother to
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Speaker 1: go and look, or look he's hiding here, don't believe it.
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Speaker 1: Or as the lightning flashes in the east and shines
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Speaker 1: to the west, so it will be when the Son
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Speaker 1: of Man comes, just as the gathering of vultures shows
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Speaker 1: there is a carcass nearby. So these signs indicate that
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Speaker 1: the end is near. We stand in silence and all
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Speaker 1: before you, our Father, and before none other. We acknowledge
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Speaker 1: that you are the supreme sovereign one, and there is
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Speaker 1: no other. We worship you, and we worship no other.
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Speaker 1: Through your son Jesus, we have come to realize that
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Speaker 1: he alone helps us make sense of life, and so
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Speaker 1: much of it seems insane, without purpose, without meaning, without reason,
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Speaker 1: And those days seem to multiply as the weeks pass
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Speaker 1: and they seem more intense the older we get. Remind us,
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Speaker 1: our Father that you still do all things well and
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Speaker 1: that this is still your world. This is our father's world.
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Speaker 1: And as you remind us of that, at the same time,
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Speaker 1: remind us it's not ours. That your will is paramount,
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Speaker 1: not ours, that your plan is what's important, not ours.
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Speaker 1: Help us as we switch perspectives today to come away
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Speaker 1: realizing we're in good hands for you, our God, continue
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Speaker 1: to be the one who guides and guards us. We
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Speaker 1: find our protection in you, our joy in you, our
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Speaker 1: hope in you, and really in another. So as that
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Speaker 1: focus is cleared up, remind us again, as we give
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Speaker 1: our gifts and we sit before you in wonder and
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Speaker 1: love and praise, that this is our father's world. In
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Speaker 1: the name of Christ, we pray. Everyone said, Amen, what
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Speaker 1: happened in Vegas could never stay in Vegas, not this time,
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Speaker 1: not on the first of October twenty seventeen, Not on
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Speaker 1: that otherwise quiet, beautiful Sunday evening when country Western fans
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Speaker 1: from all over had gathered to sing along with their bands,
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Speaker 1: to be with their friends, to enjoy an evening of fun, freedom,
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Speaker 1: building great memories together until the personification of evil unloaded
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Speaker 1: on them thousands of rounds from high powered rifles. He
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Speaker 1: didn't know them, he didn't care about them, and he
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Speaker 1: began to spray the crowd with bullets. Fifty eight fell
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Speaker 1: in death, hundreds more wounded. All ran in every direction
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Speaker 1: they could to get away from whatever it was that
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Speaker 1: was happening. Confusion, chaos rained, changing the tone from what
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Speaker 1: it had been to what would be for them, a
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Speaker 1: never to be forgotten period of time. We stared in
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Speaker 1: disbelief on Monday morning as we turned on our televisions,
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Speaker 1: just couldn't believe it. If you were like Cynthia in me,
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Speaker 1: you ask what else, What in the world else could
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Speaker 1: be happening? What treacherous times we are in? Hard as
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Speaker 1: it may be for us to wrap our minds around
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Speaker 1: such horrific atrocity as that the Scripture tells of a
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Speaker 1: time far worse than these, there will be calamities the
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Speaker 1: likes of which we cannot even imagine. Listen to the words,
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Speaker 1: the day is coming when there will be greater anguish
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Speaker 1: than at any time since the world began, and it
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Speaker 1: will never be so great again. In fact, unless that
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Speaker 1: time of calamity is shortened. Not a single person will survive.
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Speaker 1: The misery of such a time boggles our minds. And
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Speaker 1: if you don't know better, you would think these would
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Speaker 1: be the words of some wild eyed preacher trying to
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Speaker 1: gather a crowd around him. But they aren't words from
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Speaker 1: a wild eyed preacher. They are words from a man
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Speaker 1: who is sitting down, speaking quietly to a small group
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Speaker 1: of followers called disciples. And the one speaking has never
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Speaker 1: once in his life lied or exaggerated. Let that sink in.
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Speaker 1: I am sure. As the disciples listened, their mouths literally
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Speaker 1: were wide open. This is in a scene along the
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Speaker 1: western slope of the Mount of Olives, gradual slope that
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Speaker 1: leads up to the crest and then ultimately to the
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Speaker 1: eastern slope, where the little village of Bethany was located,
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Speaker 1: where he was going, but along the way, even before
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Speaker 1: they left the city of Jerusalem, the disciples are wondering
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Speaker 1: about what's coming, especially when he told them that no
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Speaker 1: stone would remain unturned, and the temple that had been
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Speaker 1: all their lives before them, this magnificent edifice, the likes
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Speaker 1: of which they had never seen anywhere else. And he
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Speaker 1: said that'll all be gone. And they were curious, of course,
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Speaker 1: And he told him about that, and then passed along
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Speaker 1: to a subject far greater, far more significant, and much
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Speaker 1: more far reaching. Because he goes around the world with
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Speaker 1: these words, as he takes them into a time beyond
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Speaker 1: their day, they would never live to see these things,
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Speaker 1: and may I add, beyond our day, nor will we
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Speaker 1: who know the Lord Jesus. I say this not in
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Speaker 1: any way to manipulate. But if you are without Christ,
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Speaker 1: and you hear these words and choose not to believe them,
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Speaker 1: you may very well live to see them and go
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Speaker 1: through them. But you understand, if I have pieced together
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Speaker 1: the events of the future correctly, the Lord himself will
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Speaker 1: descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
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Speaker 1: the Archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead
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Speaker 1: in Christ shall rise first. This is the next event
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Speaker 1: of the future. Then we who are alive and remain
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Speaker 1: shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
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Speaker 1: to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall
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Speaker 1: we ever be with the Lord. I take it that
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Speaker 1: we are lifted from the earth and believers are removed,
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Speaker 1: leaving only unbelievers in a state of chaos. And confusion.
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Speaker 1: We are gone, we are rescued, we are removed, we
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Speaker 1: are taken, and in the glorified state we are in
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Speaker 1: the presence of our Savior in heaven. As this unfolds
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Speaker 1: on the earth, and what a period of time it
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Speaker 1: will be, different words are used to describe it. Jesus
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Speaker 1: moves through the story. I believe, and of if you will,
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Speaker 1: or rather matter of fact manner, because you're him. None
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Speaker 1: of this is surprising. Understand this, and I'm so grateful
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Speaker 1: for the one who mentored me, Ray Steedman, helped me see.
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Speaker 1: As God views this earth, it is all in one
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Speaker 1: great panorama, the whole series of events, all before him.
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Speaker 1: He sees it all, of course, knows it all, of
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Speaker 1: course has planned it all. And in light of that,
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Speaker 1: as He unfolds various segments of it, in this case
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Speaker 1: through his son Jesus, it is not said in a
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Speaker 1: shouting or chaotic manner. It's unfolding as you would read
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Speaker 1: through a novel. Though it is certainly not to be
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Speaker 1: taken with a yawn. Neither is it design to keep
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Speaker 1: you awake at night. You'll be gone, but I will
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Speaker 1: tell you if you are left. After we have been taken,
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Speaker 1: you will be awake at night. In light of all
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Speaker 1: of that, I think it's interesting that Jesus chooses an
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Speaker 1: interesting analogy as he describes these events that take place
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Speaker 1: intensely and repeatedly as birth pains. We saw that last
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Speaker 1: time in verse eight of Matthew twenty four. They will
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Speaker 1: be like birth pains. Mothers of unborn babies will tell
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Speaker 1: you of those pains. Men can only imagine them, And
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Speaker 1: those pains intensify as the woman begins to bear down
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Speaker 1: and the birth of the child is closer to term
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Speaker 1: and in the intensity of the pain. Today doctors provide assistance,
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Speaker 1: medications are available, etc. There are some who prefer to
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Speaker 1: go through it with what's called natural childbirth. I have
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Speaker 1: certain reservations about that. I like to ask a person
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Speaker 1: who says they prefer that, do you go through a
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Speaker 1: drilling of your teeth? Do you like natural apendectomies? But anyway,
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Speaker 1: not being a mother, better stop there. I'll get into
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Speaker 1: trouble with the mother in my life who has borne
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Speaker 1: our children. The point is birth pain are dreadful. They're painful,
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Speaker 1: but they all are announcing the time will come when
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Speaker 1: all the pregnancy will end and the baby will be born,
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Speaker 1: ideally a healthy baby, happy baby, and we go on
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Speaker 1: with life. But in this case he only takes us
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Speaker 1: to the birth pains, and as it unfolds, he puts
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Speaker 1: his finger on the abomination who causes desolation. Daniel mentions
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Speaker 1: him three times chapter nine, chapter eleven, and chapter twelve,
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Speaker 1: And I believe him to be a person called elsewhere,
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Speaker 1: the beast in another place, Antichrist. He is an individual
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Speaker 1: who comes with a persuasive word for his times. People
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Speaker 1: in chaos need a leader. He will emerge as a leader.
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Speaker 1: He will be very persuasive, and he will be very influential,
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Speaker 1: and he will be very brutal. For there to be
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Speaker 1: an economy, it must be worked through him. For there
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Speaker 1: to be a way of life, it must be handled
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Speaker 1: through him. And if you're a now a believer, realizing
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Speaker 1: what you missed at the catching up of the other believers,
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Speaker 1: and you're now turned to Christ, you will find yourself
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Speaker 1: in a way of misery because you will be targeted
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Speaker 1: among those he will persecute. For his desire, since he
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Speaker 1: is motivated by Satan, is to bring you into his
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Speaker 1: plan and to have you a part of his following.
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Speaker 1: He is called the abomination who causes desolation. I think
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Speaker 1: it's interesting right about now. At the end of verse fifteen,
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Speaker 1: Matthew interrupts the narrative and says, reader, pay attention, like
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Speaker 1: a teacher would say in a classroom that's getting out
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Speaker 1: of order. Pay attention, class listen up. You see. Matthew,
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Speaker 1: who was there, realizes the significance of the narrative, and
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Speaker 1: knowing that such things as this tend to boggle the mind,
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Speaker 1: knowing that you may read through it and quickly pass
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Speaker 1: beyond it since you can't imagine it, he says to
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Speaker 1: you stop, listen, pay attention. Take it seriously, so we will.
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Speaker 1: Verse sixteen he speaks to those who will be in Judea.
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Speaker 1: He says, you must flee to the hill. These are
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Speaker 1: people running for their lives, and there will be those
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Speaker 1: who will be on the deck of a roof. You
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Speaker 1: must not run back into the house to pack anything.
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Speaker 1: You don't have time for such risks. You'll want to
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Speaker 1: get out of there. The person in the field must
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Speaker 1: not return even to get a quote. Don't go back, run,
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Speaker 1: get out of there. How terrible it will be for
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Speaker 1: the pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days.
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Speaker 1: Verse nineteen mentions, pray that your flight will not be
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Speaker 1: in the winter for obvious reasons, difficult to travel on
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Speaker 1: foot in the winter, and that it won't be on
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Speaker 1: the Sabbath, for there will be those Orthodox Jews who
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Speaker 1: will persecute you as a Jew for working on the
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Speaker 1: Sabbath as you were running for your life, For there
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Speaker 1: will be greater anguish than ever any time since the
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Speaker 1: world began. I read that earlier, in fact, verse twenty two.
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Speaker 1: Unless the time of calamity is shortened, not a single
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Speaker 1: person will survive. You know, it isn't too difficult for
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Speaker 1: us to imagine such a scene of running. My childhood
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Speaker 1: goes back to just before World War Two, and I
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Speaker 1: have since seen the grainy films of those who took
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Speaker 1: them at Pearl Harbor, as the Japanese fighters were strafing
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Speaker 1: the people on the ground at Pearl Harbor, and his
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Speaker 1: bombs were being dropped into the simple, the idyllic Sunday
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Speaker 1: morning lifestyle of life on Hawaii, and their people were
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Speaker 1: running for their lives. We've seen that as I looked
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Speaker 1: later and saw the Jews all over Europe running for
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Speaker 1: their lives to get away from the Nazi regime. I
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Speaker 1: realized what it must mean to run for one's life.
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Speaker 1: We saw them in Saigon as they formed that single
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Speaker 1: line up to the helicopter, hoping to find a place
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Speaker 1: on that helicopter to get out out before the Vietcom
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Speaker 1: took over. Most didn't make it. We saw them running
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Speaker 1: on nine to eleven, two thousand and one in New
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Speaker 1: York City and away from the Pentagon as more chaos
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Speaker 1: reigned upon us, and on and on. We could go
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Speaker 1: right down to the first of October twenty seventeen, when
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Speaker 1: they ran from the open fields in Vegas. People running
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Speaker 1: for their lives, running to find a place to hide,
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Speaker 1: running to get away from the danger. Having lived long
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Speaker 1: enough to see that, we can imagine the scene here,
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Speaker 1: but nothing will compare to this scene. It will be
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Speaker 1: worldwide refugees running to find any place to hide. What's
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Speaker 1: interesting is as they run to high the deceiver will
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Speaker 1: have his emissaries among them, and they will run with them.
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Speaker 1: And once they have found a place that has temporary shelter,
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Speaker 1: the deceivers will emerge with their voices saying, do you
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Speaker 1: realize the Messiah is near? Verse twenty three. If anyone
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Speaker 1: tells you, look, here's the Messiah, or there he is.
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Speaker 1: Don't believe it. Don't believe it. False missiles and false
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Speaker 1: prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders.
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Speaker 1: This is a great point for a place for me
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Speaker 1: to stop and point out something that's easily forgotten. Great
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Speaker 1: signs and wonders have to do with miracles. Miracles come
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Speaker 1: through supernatural power, and God is not the only one
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Speaker 1: with supernatural power. Satan has an enormous amount of supernatural power.
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Speaker 1: He's a supernatural creature, and his demonic hosts are gifted
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Speaker 1: with SuperNature, not gifted, but given supernatural powers as well,
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Speaker 1: and they use them. And the performance of miracles only
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Speaker 1: proves that it's a sign or a wonder, not that
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Speaker 1: it comes from God. People have the idea that if
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Speaker 1: it's miraculous, it could only come from God. But this
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Speaker 1: is an example when signs and wonders are coming from
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Speaker 1: the deceiver. He says, there will be great signs and
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Speaker 1: wonder SEU is to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones,
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Speaker 1: your Bible reads, even God's elect See. I have warned
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Speaker 1: you about this ahead of time, Jesus says, and he adds,
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Speaker 1: if someone tells you, look, the Messiah's out there in
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Speaker 1: the desert, don't go out there. He isn't there. Or look,
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Speaker 1: he's hiding here among it. Don't look for him here.
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Speaker 1: Don't believe it. For as the lightning flashes and the
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Speaker 1: east and in the east and shines to the west,
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Speaker 1: so it will be when the sun of man comes,
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Speaker 1: Just as the gathering of vultures shows there was a
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Speaker 1: carcass nearby. So these signs dictate or indicate that the
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Speaker 1: end is near. Pretty clear, isn't it. It is. We
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Speaker 1: wish we knew more detailed, We wish we had greater information,
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Speaker 1: but it gives them what they need to hear. To
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Speaker 1: count on the fact that there is a plan in motion,
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Speaker 1: and in the midst of the plan of escape, there
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Speaker 1: will be deceivers, just as there are today. Don't be
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Speaker 1: deceived now, men and women. I realized when I was
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Speaker 1: preparing this that I need to say some words to
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Speaker 1: all of us, since we are not in that time,
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Speaker 1: and since we will not be in times like this
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Speaker 1: unless we choose to reject Christ and carry on life
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Speaker 1: as we think we can handle it. But most of
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Speaker 1: us today who are hearing me are in the family
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Speaker 1: of God. We're going through treacherous times. We're all familiar
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Speaker 1: with organizations we never thought of ten years ago, twenty
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Speaker 1: years ago. Isis Alkaida lone gunmen who sit in fans
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Speaker 1: filled with explosives and blow them up in front of
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Speaker 1: buildings to kill people. Those who hijack planes and others
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Speaker 1: who drive those trucks into crowds deliberately to murder them.
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Speaker 1: And then there are the suicide bombers who strap themselves
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Speaker 1: with explosives. Then there are those who invade classrooms, even
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Speaker 1: classrooms of little children, with high powered rifles, to kill
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Speaker 1: the little children. The list goes on and on and on.
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Speaker 1: Now let me say to everyone very carefully, you can
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Speaker 1: so focus on these times which are treacherous, that you
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Speaker 1: find your peace is invaded. If you take it far enough,
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Speaker 1: you will live a suspicious life. There will be very
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Speaker 1: few you will trust, and the older you get, the
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Speaker 1: fewer they will be. You will live your life behind
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Speaker 1: closed binds and triple locked doors. You'll beef up the
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Speaker 1: alarm system, and you'll spend your time running scared of
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Speaker 1: even a person walking the sidewalk in front of your
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Speaker 1: house or the alley behind it. It is easy for us,
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Speaker 1: in the midst of these times, to begin to live
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Speaker 1: just like these treacherous people want us to live, as
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Speaker 1: miserable as they are. So listen to a verse of scripture,
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Speaker 1: and then allow me some closing remarks. There will be
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Speaker 1: three of them that I want to develop that I
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Speaker 1: think will be helpful for all of us. First the
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Speaker 1: scripture I read again One Corinthians fifteen fifty eight just
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Speaker 1: last night. Paul writes, Therefore, brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable,
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Speaker 1: always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that
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Speaker 1: your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now
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Speaker 1: I did not misquote it written from the pen of
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Speaker 1: a man who lived in again a treacherous time. For
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Speaker 1: the emperor of the Roman Empire was the supreme authority
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Speaker 1: on earth. And if you study the emperors, you know
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Speaker 1: what that lifestyle was like. And the wicked folks surround
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Speaker 1: them all the way through Nero and the Mission, and
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Speaker 1: others we could name who took great delight in persecuting Christians,
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Speaker 1: hating righteousness, following multiple gods in their multiple god world.
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Speaker 1: And Paul writes, be steadfast, immovable, abounding. So my question
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Speaker 1: to all of us. Is does that describe you? Are
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Speaker 1: you steadfast? Are you immovable? Or are you abounding in
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Speaker 1: the work of the Lord? Do you wake up excited
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Speaker 1: thinking about the possibilities of that day? Do you look
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Speaker 1: forward to the opportunity to meet individuals to share in
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Speaker 1: life with them as opportunity provides, to tell them of
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Speaker 1: Christ and those who know the Lord, to have a
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Speaker 1: joyful relationship with them without the fear of what's happening
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Speaker 1: outside that building. Are you living your life in a
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Speaker 1: abundance or have you begun? Have you begun to run, scared, suspicious, paranoid.
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Speaker 1: I have words for you that I think will help,
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Speaker 1: and I would like to give them to you in
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Speaker 1: the next sixty seconds. I would like to I won't
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Speaker 1: be able to do that, but I would like to
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Speaker 1: do it that quickly so it'll really make an impact.
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Speaker 1: But it's my way of saying, I don't want to
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Speaker 1: linger over this and harass you with these truths. But
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Speaker 1: there are three words I want to leave with you.
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Speaker 1: There's something I want you to reject, There's something I
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Speaker 1: want you to remember, and there's something I want you
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Speaker 1: to rely on. If you will, you will not live
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Speaker 1: in fear. You will not be paranoid. You will discover
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Speaker 1: that the Lord, your God, is in fact your keeper,
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Speaker 1: your shield, your protection, your Lord. So what are we
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Speaker 1: to reject? You may even want to write it down
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Speaker 1: if you want to be fanatical about it, but you
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Speaker 1: don't have to. I just want you to be able
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Speaker 1: to remember it. And if you don't write it down,
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Speaker 1: chances are good you won't remember. So let's go here.
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Speaker 1: Reject reject every temptation to live in fear. Reject every
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Speaker 1: temptation to live in fear. I'm going to give you
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Speaker 1: an Old Testament statement and a New Testament statement with
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Speaker 1: each of these three. And I'm through from the Old
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Speaker 1: Testament as it relates to no fear. Don't be afraid,
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Speaker 1: for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I
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Speaker 1: am your God. Isaiah forty one, verse ten. I suggest
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Speaker 1: you not only write down the verse, but you memorize
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Speaker 1: these six verses. I'll be leaving with you. Isaiah forty
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Speaker 1: one ten should be on your lips regularly. Don't be afraid.
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Speaker 1: I am with you. That's the Lord. Don't be discouraged.
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Speaker 1: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will
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Speaker 1: help you. I will lift you up the right hand
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Speaker 1: of My righteousness. But just verse ten, no reason to
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Speaker 1: be afraid or to be discouraged. I am with you, Isaiah,
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Speaker 1: forty one ten. Here's the New Testament statement, Second Timothy,
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Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse seven. God has not given us a
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Speaker 1: spirit of fear, But what of power and love and
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Speaker 1: self discipline. God has given us that spirit, not a
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Speaker 1: spirit of fear. If you are fearful, it doesn't come
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Speaker 1: from the Lord. If you are afraid, that fright is
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Speaker 1: not from Heaven, it's from your old nature. It's from
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Speaker 1: the world around you. So reject every temptation to live
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Speaker 1: in fear and claim that promise. He has not given
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Speaker 1: us a spirit of fear, but of power and love
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Speaker 1: and self discipline. Those are two verses worth remembering, I
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Speaker 1: said forty one ten, two Timothy one, verse seven. Now
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Speaker 1: what should we remember? I put it this way so
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Speaker 1: you'll remember it easier. Remember that God is not almost sovereign.
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Speaker 1: See if I said that God is sovereign, you'd yawn
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Speaker 1: and go to look for the next statement. But by
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Speaker 1: saying he's not almost sovereign, looks at it another way.
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Speaker 1: There's no situation over which God is not sovereign. That's
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Speaker 1: like saying I am I am almost the father of
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Speaker 1: my children. I either am or I am not. God
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Speaker 1: is either sovereign or he is not. He is either
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Speaker 1: in control or he's out of control. The Bible teaches
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Speaker 1: that he is in control. The verse you'll want to
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Speaker 1: remember is Psalm one point fifteen, verse three, short verse,
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Speaker 1: I love it. Our God is in the heavens. He
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Speaker 1: does what he pleases. Is that a great statement? Isn't
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Speaker 1: that terrific? He does what he pleases. He never wakes
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Speaker 1: you up at night and says, hey, would it be
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Speaker 1: okay if tomorrow I did so? And so he doesn't
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Speaker 1: need your permission, He doesn't need my okay. He does
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Speaker 1: what he pleases. You say, well, I can't make sense. Well,
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Speaker 1: welcome to the club. There's a lot of mystery about God.
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Speaker 1: If you could figure him out and do all about him,
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Speaker 1: you'd be the fourth member of the Trinity. So you're
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Speaker 1: not and you can't figure him out. But believe me,
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Speaker 1: he says it, I do whatever I please. So that
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Speaker 1: tells you there must be more of the story than
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Speaker 1: what just happened. Remember the panoramic part I told you about.
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Speaker 1: He's working on all of it together, which brings me
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Speaker 1: to one of those favorite verses, Romans eight twenty eight.
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Speaker 1: Here's the New Testament verse. God causes all things to
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Speaker 1: work together, from good to those who love God, to
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Speaker 1: those who are the called according to his purpose. The
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Speaker 1: best part of the verse is all things, all things,
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Speaker 1: you mean, what happened and last Sunday, all things, you mean,
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Speaker 1: all the stuff that's happened in my life that's brought
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Speaker 1: paint all things. He causes all things to work together.
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Speaker 1: I didn't say all things are good. Paul didn't write that.
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Speaker 1: He wrote all things work together for good. I'm a
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Speaker 1: friend named Jay Kessler. Jay was for a number of
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Speaker 1: years the president of Taylor University. You who know Jay
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Speaker 1: are already smiling because he's a terrific guy. He's got
38:39
Speaker 1: a great statement, he says, Chuck, I think when we
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Speaker 1: all he's the one who said one of my great goals.
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Speaker 1: And this isn't the quote, but it's worth it's worth
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Speaker 1: my telling you this one. He says, one of my
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Speaker 1: great goals in life is to develop eight friends who
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Speaker 1: will hold a handle to my coffin without once checking
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Speaker 1: their watch. I think that's a great statement. They hold
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Speaker 1: on and it don't go How long is this gonna last?
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Speaker 1: But Jake Jesh is the one who says, when we
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Speaker 1: all step into heaven, the first response will be oh,
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Speaker 1: now I get it. And not until you'll die with
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Speaker 1: question marks. You live your life not being able to
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Speaker 1: figure out the puzzle. But little by little, in God's timing,
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Speaker 1: you'll begin to see it more and more as he's
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Speaker 1: preparing you for home with him. And then when you
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Speaker 1: step before him, it'll be, oh, got it? That is
39:43
Speaker 1: so good? Why didn't I see it? Good? Aadr be
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Speaker 1: a God causes all things to work together for good.
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Speaker 1: Don't forget that. I know you're familiar with it, but
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Speaker 1: it's been a long time since you cleaned it. So
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Speaker 1: one fifteen three. He does what he pleases Romans eight
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Speaker 1: twenty eight causes all things that worked together. Remember he
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Speaker 1: is an almost sovereign. The third statement, rely on the
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Speaker 1: word of God. Anytime you feel uncertain and insecure. Rely
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Speaker 1: on the word of God. Anytime you feel uncertain and insecure.
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Speaker 1: You just cannot rely on how you feel at the moment.
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Speaker 1: You just cannot rely on Fox News. You know, I
40:44
Speaker 1: know you watch it. You just cannot rely on Channel eight.
40:48
Speaker 1: You cannot rely on the cowboys. You certainly cannot rely
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Speaker 1: on the cowboy. You cannot rely on someone else, not
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Speaker 1: all the time. That book, you can rely on it
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Speaker 1: twenty four to seven, three sixty five some years three
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Speaker 1: sixty six. It'll never lie to you. So the better
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Speaker 1: you get to know it, the more confidently you will
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Speaker 1: walk rely on it. Whenever you feel uncertain and insecure,
41:26
Speaker 1: turn to it. Read it aloud. Here's the verse. So
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Speaker 1: I'm one nineteen one oh five. Your word is a
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Speaker 1: lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
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Speaker 1: You light up my way, You show me the way
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Speaker 1: to go. I'm going to rely on you to take
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Speaker 1: me through this. Here's the second Wrong's fifteen four. I
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Speaker 1: love this. Whatever was written in earlier times was written
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Speaker 1: for our learning, that we, through pay and comfort from
42:01
Speaker 1: the scriptures, might have hope. Whatever was written in earlier
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Speaker 1: times was written for our learning. God wrote it for
42:10
Speaker 1: our learning that we, through patients comfort brought with the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: will live in hope. So I can wake up tomorrow
42:18
Speaker 1: morning filled with hope. If I'm not, I need time
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Speaker 1: in God's word every day. I need time in God's word,
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Speaker 1: not because I'm a minister. But because I'm human and
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Speaker 1: I'm given to fear and hopelessness, discouragement and even times
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Speaker 1: of real questioning, God's word never leaves me with that.
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Speaker 1: It leaves me with hope. I like you to bow
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Speaker 1: your heads for the next few moments, just where you're sitting.
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Speaker 1: Just close your eyes. Eye lids are great. Just block
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Speaker 1: every visual interruption out, and you're able to sit there
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Speaker 1: in the darkness and the quiet of your thoughts. You
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Speaker 1: sure you're no Christ? Are you absolutely certain that if
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Speaker 1: you died tonight you would step into eternity? Are you
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Speaker 1: absolutely sure that Jesus is your savior? If you're not,
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Speaker 1: I certainly understand why these verses would bother you and
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Speaker 1: why the events that recently happened would keep you awake.
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Speaker 1: They're disturbing, But that doesn't mean we've reached the end
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Speaker 1: of our rope. It means we've reached the end of
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Speaker 1: our understanding. So we turn to our God. Trust in
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Speaker 1: Jesus right now. Just leave it with him. Turn your
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Speaker 1: life over to him. He who has the Son s
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Speaker 1: n He who has the Son has the life. But
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Speaker 1: he who does not have the Son of God does
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Speaker 1: not have the life. Don't leave this place without the
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Speaker 1: Son of God in your heart. You see, the table
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Speaker 1: of the Lord is for God's people. Were the ones
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Speaker 1: who sit around his table. We've been invited. If you're
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Speaker 1: without Christ, you're not invited. He put the list together.
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Speaker 1: I didn't, but I long for all of us to
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Speaker 1: come to the table today. So this is a great
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Speaker 1: moment for you to trust in Christ. And even though
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Speaker 1: a brand new Christian, you can take these elements with
44:55
Speaker 1: the rest of us. Otherwise, let them pass. This is
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Speaker 1: the most sacred part of our worship. Let's treat it
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Speaker 1: as such. You'll be given a piece of pastry that
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Speaker 1: will represent our Savior's body given for us as you
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Speaker 1: eat it, eat it focusing on his body which was
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Speaker 1: given for you. And a small cup of juice will
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Speaker 1: represent his blood. As you drink it, remember him, the
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Speaker 1: blood that cleansed you from sin and keeps on cleansing you.
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Speaker 1: Our Father makes this time especially meaningful as we come
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Speaker 1: off a week of chaos and confusion. Bring us back
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Speaker 1: to that place of intimate delight with you as we
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Speaker 1: are lost in wonder, love and praise of Jesus who
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Speaker 1: died and rose for us, whom we worship now through
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Speaker 1: his name, we pray Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message, more Misery than We Can Imagine, was
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Speaker 2: copyrighted in twenty seventeen and twenty twenty one, and the
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Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty one by Charles R. Swindahl, Inc.
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Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited