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Revelation-Msg-28-28 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Henrietta Meres wrote this by way of a survey statement
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Speaker 1: regarding the Book of Revelation. Revelation is the greatest drama
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Speaker 1: of all time. The plot is tense throughout. The final
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Speaker 1: scene is glorious, for Christ comes unto his own The
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Speaker 1: hero is our Lord himself. The villain is the Devil,
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Speaker 1: the actors or the seven Churches. The characters unloosed by
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Speaker 1: the seals of chapter six and seven are introduced by
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Speaker 1: the four horsemen. Then those summoned by the trumpets in
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Speaker 1: turn leave the center of the scene of action, and
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Speaker 1: we see the Antichrist the world rulers, stalking across the stage.
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Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen. This incarnation of the Devil himself is determined
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Speaker 1: to set up his own kingdom and be worshiped of men.
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Speaker 1: But Christ brings all to naught. This majestic actor, bringing
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Speaker 1: his hosts with him, comes forth the longed look for
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Speaker 1: King of kings and Lord of lords. He drives his
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Speaker 1: enemies from the stage in utter defeat. Chapter nineteen. After
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Speaker 1: all the struggle has ended, and the beasts have been destroyed,
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Speaker 1: and the Devil bound, and the former things passed away,
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Speaker 1: then we hear these words full of hope behold, I
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Speaker 1: make all things new, Chapter twenty one. This book brings
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Speaker 1: to a climax the great story commenced in Genesis, and
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Speaker 1: as all good story should end, it ends, and they
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Speaker 1: lived happily ever after. While I was preparing my thoughts
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Speaker 1: for this study in the Book of Revelation, I was
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Speaker 1: interested to discover how many opinions there there are concerning
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Speaker 1: this book. And I read as many writers as I
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Speaker 1: could find from the full spectrum of theology. So remember
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Speaker 1: that when I read these statements from their lines, an
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Speaker 1: inspiration and a mystery. Another one of the most difficult
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Speaker 1: of all the books of the Bible. Another absolutely absurd.
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Speaker 1: Another It is full of strange symbolism, yet another a
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Speaker 1: riddle for many in our day. It remains a closed book,
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Speaker 1: something quite unlike the rest of the New Testament, a
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Speaker 1: touch of incongruity, the most mystifying of all sixty six
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Speaker 1: books of Scripture. And yet another. No single book in
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Speaker 1: the New Testament presents so many and so formidable problems
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Speaker 1: as this one. And these various words were used to
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Speaker 1: describe the contents of Revelation. Unintelligible, unread, glorious, neglected, misunderstood, profound, enigmatic, foreboding, bewildering, fascinating, fanciful, peculiar, weird, incomprehensible, extraordinary. Perhaps,
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Speaker 1: of all the words used, I think that last one
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Speaker 1: was used the most extraordinary. Whatever else we may say
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Speaker 1: about Revelation, it is unlike anything else in scripture. No
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Speaker 1: other book of the Bible is more controversial, or has
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Speaker 1: been more abused and misquoted, and yet remains the most
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Speaker 1: intriguing of all to many. Just the mention of the
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Speaker 1: name the Book of Revelation suddenly announces riddle, mystery, some
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Speaker 1: dark concealment as a part of scripture. But the strange
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Speaker 1: thing is that the term apocalypsis, from which revelation has
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Speaker 1: been translated, means are you ready unveiling? The name speaks
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Speaker 1: of revealing, not hiding, rather than being a dark, concealed
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Speaker 1: cave in which truth is hidden from people. This book
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Speaker 1: is of all books, by its very name, to be
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Speaker 1: open and studied by God's people. It is an invitation
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Speaker 1: to understand the unveiling of God's plan. Someone has gone
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Speaker 1: to the trouble of counting the symbols in the Book
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Speaker 1: of Revelation, and if that person is correct, there are
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Speaker 1: about three hundred of them. No wonder we are unable
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Speaker 1: to grasp much of what it is saying. We simply
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Speaker 1: aren't aware of the sign language or the symbols. I
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Speaker 1: was sitting in a Hamburger joint several Saturdays ago, waiting
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Speaker 1: for our order to be complete so I could take
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Speaker 1: it home and feed my hungry tribe. And sitting across
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Speaker 1: from me in this little cafe was a couple having
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Speaker 1: the greatest time, but not making a sound at all
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Speaker 1: among our silent friends here in this southern California area.
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Speaker 1: Here were two dear people who were having the time
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Speaker 1: of their life with sign language. And they were talking,
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Speaker 1: and they were silently laughing, and they were One would
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Speaker 1: interrupt the other and the other would say something back.
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Speaker 1: And I sat there sort of twiddling my thumbs, feeling
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Speaker 1: like an outsider. I wanted to listen in so bad.
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Speaker 1: They were having such a great time, but I didn't
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Speaker 1: know the symbols. I didn't know the signs. Now, that's
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Speaker 1: not their fault, that's my fault. Now, if I had
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Speaker 1: known the signs, I would have been I'd have been
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Speaker 1: eavesdropping the whole conversation along with them. But you've got
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Speaker 1: to know the symbols to understand the conversation. So it
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Speaker 1: is in the Book of Revelation. If you don't understand
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Speaker 1: the symbols, and if I don't understand the signs, whose
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Speaker 1: fault is that the book is an unveiling of God's truth.
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Speaker 1: All he asks you to do is learn the signs. Someone,
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Speaker 1: on one occasion, I think it was an old critic,
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Speaker 1: accosted the Great Charles Hadden Spurgeon, and he grabbed a
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Speaker 1: mysterious section of scripture, and he he flung his Bible
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Speaker 1: in the preacher's face, and he said, there, now, having
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Speaker 1: read the passage, can you tell me what that means? Spurgeon?
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Speaker 1: And with absolute calm security, Spurgeon's response was, why, of
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Speaker 1: course I can tell you what that means. That means
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Speaker 1: exactly what it says. That is the answer to the
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Speaker 1: Book of Revelation. I can tell you exactly what it means.
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Speaker 1: It means exactly what it says. And it is my
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Speaker 1: ignorance and yours that keeps us seeing it as a
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Speaker 1: dark concealment, as a veil, rather than an open book. Now,
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Speaker 1: the writer of this Book of Revelation, and by the way,
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Speaker 1: just as an aside, it is revelation, not revelations. Remember
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Speaker 1: that the most common mistake people will have in their
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Speaker 1: reference to scripture is calling this book revelations, as though
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Speaker 1: we have multiple revelations of the multiple persons, of the
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Speaker 1: multiple son of God. There's one great revelation singular, of
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Speaker 1: one great, divine, perfect Son of God. And that's what
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Speaker 1: this book is about, one vast, panoramic revelation of him.
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Speaker 1: But who writes about it? Well, if you look at
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Speaker 1: verse four in chapter one, and also in verse nine
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Speaker 1: of chapter one, and yet another place at the end
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Speaker 1: of the book, chapter twenty two, verse eight, you'll see
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Speaker 1: that in those three places the man signs his name.
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Speaker 1: So there's no question. Verse four of chapter one, John
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Speaker 1: to the seven churches who are in Asia, that are
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Speaker 1: in Asia. Chapter one, verse nine, I John, your brother
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Speaker 1: and fellow partaker in the tribulation and Kingdom and perseverance,
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Speaker 1: which are in Jesus was on the island called Patmus
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Speaker 1: because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
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Speaker 1: And Chapter twenty two, verse eight he says it again,
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Speaker 1: He's still with us from chapter one through the revelation
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Speaker 1: until the end. Chapter twenty two, verse eight, I John,
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Speaker 1: I'm the one who heard and saw these things, so
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Speaker 1: there's no mistake about it. He gives us his signature
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Speaker 1: in three places, and by implication multiple times throughout the book.
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Speaker 1: What is of interest to us is the times in
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Speaker 1: which he lived. What's he doing on an island? And
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Speaker 1: if you have ever had the privilege of traveling in
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Speaker 1: the among the Grecian islands, you have probably come to
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Speaker 1: Patmus and maybe even visited there. It is. It is
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Speaker 1: a tiny island between the vast are the much larger
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Speaker 1: island of Crete in the Mediterranean and the country we
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Speaker 1: know today is Turkey, known in that day as Asia Minor,
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Speaker 1: but sandwiched in the southern part of the Aegean Sea
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Speaker 1: opening up into the Mediterranean. Between Turkey and Crete is
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Speaker 1: this little island of Patmos. What is John the Beloved
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Speaker 1: Disciple doing on Patmos? Well, tradition tells us that the
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Speaker 1: mission the Roman Emperor banished him in a punishment because
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Speaker 1: of his Christianity to the island to work the minds.
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Speaker 1: And while he was there in that place of exile, John,
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Speaker 1: this great disciple of the Savior, was led of the
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Speaker 1: spirit of God to write this book, and along with
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Speaker 1: this book, the three letters of John, same John who
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Speaker 1: wrote the Gospel of John, probably were memphesis. And by
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Speaker 1: the way, it'll help you understand why John writes what
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Speaker 1: he does at the end of the book, because he's
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Speaker 1: been on the island all these days and who knows
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Speaker 1: what it wasn't years, he says at the end. When
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Speaker 1: he got to heaven, he says, and there was no
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Speaker 1: more sea, no more, Oh, no more. I've had it
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Speaker 1: up to here with the ocean. To us, ocean seems
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Speaker 1: like the most wonderful place to spend our lives. But
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Speaker 1: if you've ever been on an island as I have been,
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Speaker 1: not on Patmos, but on Okinawa, it isn't all that great.
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Speaker 1: It isn't that great. You like to visit an island,
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Speaker 1: But most folks I talk with who have lived on
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Speaker 1: him say it ain't all that great. Stay where you are.
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Speaker 1: The mainland is the best spot. John is on the
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Speaker 1: island not because he wants to be, but because he
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Speaker 1: was driven there by a Roman emperor. Now when he
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Speaker 1: writes the Letter or the Book of Revelation, he has
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Speaker 1: a theme and he has a purpose in mind. By
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Speaker 1: the way, this is one of the few books in
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Speaker 1: all the Bible in which blessing is promised the reader.
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Speaker 1: Did you know that was true? Look at verses one, two,
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Speaker 1: and three, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Now that's the theme.
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Speaker 1: You've got it right off the bat. The theme is
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Speaker 1: the unveiling of the plan of God concerning his son,
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Speaker 1: the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to
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Speaker 1: show to his bond servants, the things which must shortly
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Speaker 1: take place. And he sent and communicated it by his
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Speaker 1: angel to his bond servant John, who bore witness to
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Speaker 1: the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 1: even to all that he saw. Now here's the blessing verse.
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Speaker 1: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the
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Speaker 1: words this of the Prophecy, and heed the things which
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Speaker 1: are written in it. For the time is near. Blessing
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Speaker 1: is promised the one who reads and heeds the Book
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Speaker 1: of Revelation. You know that you won't find that set
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Speaker 1: of the Book of Ephesians, though that is one in
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Speaker 1: which we spend hours of our Christian life. You will
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Speaker 1: not find that said, specifically, of the letters to Timothy.
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Speaker 1: Though it is true, you will be blessed there isn't
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Speaker 1: a specific promise. But when you get to revelation, the
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Speaker 1: writer says, writing under God's inspiration, you will be happy
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Speaker 1: many times over. That's what the word blessing implies. You
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Speaker 1: will be blessed if you read, and not just read,
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Speaker 1: but here deeply in your heart, and it says, heed
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Speaker 1: the things which are written in it. The time is
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Speaker 1: at hand now. Churchill's words regarding the activity of Russia
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Speaker 1: are often used with regard to revelation. It's a riddle
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Speaker 1: wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma. It's not
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Speaker 1: true of revelation. Again, it's the symbolism that throws us.
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Speaker 1: It's weird language. But again that's not the book's problem.
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Speaker 1: That's my problem. The deeper I get into an understanding
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Speaker 1: of the theme and how it's tied to the symbols,
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Speaker 1: the more the book will open its pages to me.
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Speaker 1: If I choose not to do that, either out of
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Speaker 1: ignorance or lack of diligence, the book remains of a
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Speaker 1: garbled mystery, a riddle and enigma, and I can cast
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Speaker 1: all the stones I wish at it. But the problem
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Speaker 1: does not lie with the book. One author writes the
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Speaker 1: Book of revelation is the greatest drama of all time. Now,
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Speaker 1: the purpose of the revelation is to assure the reader
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Speaker 1: that God is in complete control of all future events.
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Speaker 1: It is to assure the reader that God is in
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Speaker 1: complete control of all future events. He's noticed it was
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Speaker 1: God who gave him Christ to show his bond servants
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Speaker 1: us the things which must shortly take place. Verse one
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Speaker 1: tells us that so God gave to his son, who
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Speaker 1: communicated to John, who wrote it down for the bond
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Speaker 1: servants of Jesus in all generations to read and to
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Speaker 1: learn what was said about the future plan. So the
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Speaker 1: purpose is to assure the reader that God is in
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Speaker 1: full control of our future. You see, it isn't our
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Speaker 1: past that gives us our greatest worry. It gives us
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Speaker 1: some problem that brings guilt. It isn't even our present
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Speaker 1: that disturbs us the most. It's the unseen tomorrow. It's
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Speaker 1: in that area we really have questions about who is
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Speaker 1: in control. Here we can look over our shoulder and
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Speaker 1: it's remarkable. Hindsight inevitably has twenty twenty vision, or invariably
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Speaker 1: has twenty twenty vision. You can put it all together,
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Speaker 1: but you look and to tomorrow you can't see anything.
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Speaker 1: This book says, relax, rest assured that God knows where
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Speaker 1: he's going. He isn't biting his nails, sitting on the
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Speaker 1: edge of heaven wondering what in the world He's gonna
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Speaker 1: do with people like us, or people like the Beast,
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Speaker 1: or people like the false prophet. Are people like those
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Speaker 1: who accept the mark of the Beast and buy into
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Speaker 1: his whole godless system. The book is saying God knows
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Speaker 1: what he's about. Now, before I go any further, I think,
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Speaker 1: for the sake of my own conscience, I need to
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Speaker 1: help you understand that there are about four views of Revelation.
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Speaker 1: Down through time, different groups have adopted at least four
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Speaker 1: general views of this book. And I'll save you all
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Speaker 1: the four words because I can't pronounce most of them.
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Speaker 1: I'll just give it to you on the bottom shelf
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Speaker 1: so that folks like us can understand. Here's the first
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Speaker 1: way to view the book. Some people say it is
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Speaker 1: all it is all in the past, it is all
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Speaker 1: done with, and they see revelation as a report of
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Speaker 1: past events. The Latin term from which that view is
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Speaker 1: taken is the word that means past. So those people
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Speaker 1: would say nothing in Revelation is yet to be fulfilled.
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Speaker 1: It's all been fulfilled. So to them, it's a closed chapter.
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Speaker 1: There's nothing yet future. I find that somewhere between absurd
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Speaker 1: and hilarious. Quite honestly, it's awful hard to get an
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Speaker 1: opinion out of me, I realized, but I just thought
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Speaker 1: I would dump that one on you and let you
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Speaker 1: know that. Here's the second The second way to view
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Speaker 1: the book is that it is it is a historical continuity.
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Speaker 1: It is a progressive historical panorama of the history of
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Speaker 1: the Church, and it unfolds itself from one era to
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Speaker 1: the next. And this is all symbolized by the seven
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Speaker 1: Churches in Revelation chapters two and three. For example, the
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Speaker 1: church at Ephesus represents the Apostolic age, and then if
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Speaker 1: you move along, you find that the church at Smyrna
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Speaker 1: would represent the Church Fathers and into the next era
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Speaker 1: of great persecution, and then the next church would represent
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Speaker 1: the next event, so that we are now in the
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Speaker 1: time of Laodicea. And there are many who see the
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Speaker 1: unfolding of eras of history in the Book of Revelation.
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Speaker 1: I see some of that happening, but I think that's
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Speaker 1: a little forced to make it all fit into that
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Speaker 1: neat system. There's a third view, and it's what I
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Speaker 1: will call the idealist view. It is the non literal view.
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Speaker 1: Everything is symbolic and it is all to be spiritualized.
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Speaker 1: What we have here is not actual events and people,
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Speaker 1: but get this great moral messages, the great struggle between
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Speaker 1: good and evil. We don't have a real devil, but
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Speaker 1: we have a representation of evil. We don't have real
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Speaker 1: angels and a real God, but a representation of good.
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Speaker 1: And they're fighting and battling back with each other. And
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Speaker 1: these aren't real battles. Armageddon isn't a real event, but
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Speaker 1: it is a representation of vast and ugly and lengthy
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Speaker 1: conflicts between good and evil. This non literal view will
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Speaker 1: get you into trouble fast, because if you open that door,
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Speaker 1: it's like letting not a can of worms. You'll never
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Speaker 1: get them canned again. There's no end to it when
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Speaker 1: you start spiritualizing scripture. I think the best way to
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Speaker 1: illustrate this is in terms of umpires at a baseball game.
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Speaker 1: The literal umpire says, I call them exactly as they are.
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Speaker 1: The new orthodox umpire says I call them like I
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Speaker 1: see them, But the literal or the liberal umpire says
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Speaker 1: they aren't anything till I call them. It's in my
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Speaker 1: head and I make them what they are. They may
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Speaker 1: look like a strike, but I see a ball. In fact,
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Speaker 1: I may see neither strike nor ball. I may have
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Speaker 1: another thing I'll throw in there, so you're out to lunch.
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Speaker 1: If you go for a liberal kind of idealistic, non
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Speaker 1: literal message out of the Book of Revelation, it's bad
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Speaker 1: enough or tough enough, I should say, it's tough enough
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Speaker 1: to handle if you just take it as it is
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Speaker 1: and you try to spiritualize it. Boy, it's scary. Now
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Speaker 1: there's a fourth view, and this is what we would
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Speaker 1: call the futurists view. I adopt that particular view. This
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Speaker 1: says the majority of the events in Revelation have not
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Speaker 1: yet been fulfilled. Starting at chapter four and hustling all
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Speaker 1: the way through the book, you can't find events yet
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Speaker 1: fulfilled in time. They're yet to be fulfilled in the future.
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Speaker 1: These and this futurist position is one I think that
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Speaker 1: makes the most sense. I'm not saying by taking it
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Speaker 1: literally that I take every symbol and make it literal.
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Speaker 1: I don't think that every time it speaks of something
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Speaker 1: with seven horns that there will come on the earth
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Speaker 1: some creature with seven horns coming out of his head
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Speaker 1: and going around button people with seven horns. But the
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Speaker 1: symbolism of it is extremely significant, and what it represents
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Speaker 1: is is extremely literal. So that's that's important, and it's
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Speaker 1: an important distinction for me to make that. Now, this
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Speaker 1: brings us to the key verse of this book, and
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Speaker 1: I'm so glad this is one of the books that
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Speaker 1: hasn't inspired out line. Look at chapter one, verse nineteen.
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Speaker 1: The book kind of opened up to me. I remember
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Speaker 1: a number of years ago when I first saw a
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Speaker 1: Revelation one nineteen. Here God gives John explicit directions concerning
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Speaker 1: the writing of this book. Okay, you ready, verse nineteen. Right, Therefore,
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Speaker 1: number one, the things which you have seen, that's chapter one.
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Speaker 1: All the stuff that I'm showing you that you've seen already,
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Speaker 1: write that down. That's chapter one. Now keep reading right. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: the things which you have seen and the things which
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Speaker 1: are now that's chapters two and three. The Book of
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Speaker 1: Revelation talks to the seven churches that were then in existence,
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Speaker 1: and the book addresses each one of the pastors or
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Speaker 1: teachers or elders or whatever you may call them, and
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Speaker 1: the book addresses their needs. And those are the things
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Speaker 1: that are right then in time, those were currently occurring.
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Speaker 1: So write the things which are, and if you're like
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Speaker 1: to mark your Bible, put chapters two and three alongside
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Speaker 1: the things which are, and third verse nineteen concludes, write
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Speaker 1: the things which shall take place after these things. That's
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Speaker 1: chapters four through twenty two. The Book of Revelation chapter
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Speaker 1: four through chapter twenty two. So the repetition of the
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Speaker 1: word the things is helpful in the outline the things
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Speaker 1: which you have seen chapter one, the things which are
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Speaker 1: chapters two and three. That's history now, but in those
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Speaker 1: days it was current, currently occurring. That was the present.
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Speaker 1: And then write the things which shall that's future tense,
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Speaker 1: which shall take place after these things, and that's four
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Speaker 1: through twenty two. Now there are some general matters of
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Speaker 1: introduction that will not take our time for in this
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Speaker 1: survey study. I know, we just whit your appetite for
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Speaker 1: these things and kind of leave you cold by not
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Speaker 1: addressing them. But obviously in a twenty two chapter book
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Speaker 1: you can't do that, And I'm so glad we can't,
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Speaker 1: because a lot of stuff I can't explain. In chapter two,
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Speaker 1: in chapter three, we've got the seven churches that were
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Speaker 1: then in existence, and some of the things that were
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Speaker 1: occurring in their lives in their existence. And if you
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Speaker 1: like to mark your Bible, I'll give you the seven churches.
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Speaker 1: Chapter two, verse one, the church in Ephesus. There was
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Speaker 1: literally a church in the city of Ephesus, and the
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Speaker 1: spirit of God leads John to write them this little postcard.
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Speaker 1: And that's Chapter two, verses one to seven. And then
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Speaker 1: chapter two, verse eight. You got another church. If you
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Speaker 1: travel around a little circle in the western part of
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Speaker 1: Asia Minor known today as Turkey, you'll come to each
25:04
Speaker 1: one of the seven churches. That is in the first century.
25:07
Speaker 1: Not all our towns today been covered over by the
25:11
Speaker 1: sands of time. Now Chapter two, verse eight, the Angel
25:14
Speaker 1: of the Church in Smyrna. There's another church that got
25:18
Speaker 1: some press in the days of the first century, Smyrna
25:22
Speaker 1: eight through eleven. I look at verse twelve, and to
25:25
Speaker 1: the Angel of the Church in Pergamum, write these things,
25:30
Speaker 1: these are things which are and he writes them, and
25:33
Speaker 1: that goes down through seventeen. And if you're still looking
25:36
Speaker 1: at your bible. Theatyra is verse eighteen. The Angel the
25:40
Speaker 1: church in Theiatyra, write these things. Boy, he lays a
25:45
Speaker 1: heavy one on him there in Thiatyra. And you get
25:48
Speaker 1: over to chapter three. You've got church number five. Okay,
25:52
Speaker 1: we got four so far. Ephesus Smyrna Pergamum thea Tyra.
25:57
Speaker 1: Now we've got Sardis s a r di I s
26:00
Speaker 1: Verse one of chapter three. He talks to them about
26:05
Speaker 1: the dead condition. That was a church that had a
26:08
Speaker 1: steeple and it really was a morgue on the inside.
26:11
Speaker 1: It looked like it was alive, but it was dead.
26:13
Speaker 1: And we've seen churches like that even to this day.
26:16
Speaker 1: And then the Church at Philadelphia chapter three, verse seven.
26:21
Speaker 1: This was the church that had an open door. Churches
26:24
Speaker 1: all around America that have the name Church of the
26:26
Speaker 1: Open Door get their name. Those churches get their name
26:30
Speaker 1: from this Philadelphia ministry Chapter three, verses seven through thirteen.
26:36
Speaker 1: And then chapter three verse fourteen. To the end, or
26:39
Speaker 1: almost to the end, you got the Church at Laodicea,
26:43
Speaker 1: which was lukewarm, and he says, I wish you were either.
26:48
Speaker 1: Look at verse sixteen. I wish you were hot or cold,
26:51
Speaker 1: but because you're lukewarm, you make me want to puke,
26:55
Speaker 1: he says, I will spit you out of my mouth.
26:58
Speaker 1: And you say one thing, but there's something else entirely
27:02
Speaker 1: that's that's true of you, and you got your eyes
27:05
Speaker 1: closed to the truth. And that's easy for a church
27:08
Speaker 1: to do. By the way, that's really easy for us
27:11
Speaker 1: to think we're one thing, but we're really something else. Seriously,
27:16
Speaker 1: it is very easy for any church in existence, any congregation,
27:20
Speaker 1: these are congregational units, to think it's going in one direction,
27:25
Speaker 1: when in fact it's going in another. And you live
27:28
Speaker 1: on the scary edge of confrontation. You have to be
27:34
Speaker 1: open to what is truly occurring, and sometime you resist it.
27:40
Speaker 1: I care about that. I see churches, and you and
27:46
Speaker 1: I both visit in churches that think that they're really
27:48
Speaker 1: getting the job done, but in fact they're not getting
27:51
Speaker 1: the job done. They think they're really Bible teaching church,
27:54
Speaker 1: and all the gain is longhorned sermons. A point here
27:57
Speaker 1: and a point there are a lot of bull in between.
27:59
Speaker 1: They don't get straight stuff out of the scriptures. We
28:03
Speaker 1: don't need longhorned sermons. We need good solid meat from
28:08
Speaker 1: the truth of the Bible, not a lot of p
28:11
Speaker 1: patch stories and a lot of ideas. People need to
28:15
Speaker 1: be driven back to the word of God because there
28:18
Speaker 1: is a divine filter that you try to push your
28:22
Speaker 1: life through, and the filter says, look again't go there.
28:26
Speaker 1: I won't let you in because God's word says that's
28:31
Speaker 1: not right, and so you've got to back off. But see,
28:33
Speaker 1: if you have no filter, anything goes. You're back to
28:36
Speaker 1: the liberal umpire. You're in anything until you call it.
28:40
Speaker 1: There's no right, there's no wrong, there's no evil, there's
28:44
Speaker 1: no good, there's no compromise. It's just there. See the
28:49
Speaker 1: value of the Bible. The Bible becomes the foundation upon
28:54
Speaker 1: which we build our thoughts. And the great thing is
28:57
Speaker 1: not only is it an errant, it won't lie to you.
29:01
Speaker 1: It won't ever shoot you a crooked stick. You won't
29:04
Speaker 1: ever have to go back to God and say I
29:07
Speaker 1: thought you said, but really that was wrong. You'll never
29:12
Speaker 1: do that. God can often come to us and say
29:16
Speaker 1: I thought you said, but you're wrong. My truth stands
29:22
Speaker 1: the immutable message from my character to you. Take it,
29:27
Speaker 1: filter your life through it. These churches needed that kind
29:30
Speaker 1: of confrontation, and they got it. Now when you get
29:33
Speaker 1: to chapters four and five, why it's fantastic. I mean,
29:36
Speaker 1: there are more gospel songs and special music pieces and
29:41
Speaker 1: choruses of worship that have been drawn out of Revelation
29:46
Speaker 1: chapters four and five than any other two chapter section
29:50
Speaker 1: of scripture. It's great. We love to sing worthy as
29:54
Speaker 1: the Lamb. It comes from the section we love to sing, Holy, Holy, Holy.
29:58
Speaker 1: It comes from this section We love the Messiah. And
30:02
Speaker 1: it seems to bring to great climax, though it isn't
30:06
Speaker 1: the last piece that Handle wrote. We often end there,
30:10
Speaker 1: but that's not the end of the Messiah, but it's
30:12
Speaker 1: kind of a climax. The Hallelujah chorus and he shall
30:16
Speaker 1: reign forever and ever. That's that whole theme is pulled
30:21
Speaker 1: out of these two chapters in four and five, and
30:25
Speaker 1: you got you got people singing back and forth and
30:29
Speaker 1: announcing their declaring their their faith, and you've got angels gathered,
30:34
Speaker 1: and you've got a myriad of people doing this. This
30:36
Speaker 1: is one great moment. I mean, it would make this
30:39
Speaker 1: morning service look like a bunch of girl Scouts knitting
30:42
Speaker 1: daisy chains. I mean, it was great here this morning,
30:45
Speaker 1: but compared to this, this kind of scene is mind boggling.
30:52
Speaker 1: Reason I think we're gonna have to have glorified bodies
30:54
Speaker 1: when we get to heavens because we couldn't handle it
30:56
Speaker 1: in earthly bodies. We'd be just doing back flips until
31:00
Speaker 1: we broke our necks when we got into that scene.
31:03
Speaker 1: You've got to be able to have the inside stuff
31:05
Speaker 1: to handle this, this fabulous moment. And the great thing
31:09
Speaker 1: is that's what we're going to be doing. It's gonna
31:12
Speaker 1: be praise and glory and worship before the throne. I
31:17
Speaker 1: remember as a little boy wondering what in the world
31:19
Speaker 1: A're you gonna do in heaven? Sit around, learn how
31:21
Speaker 1: to play the harp and sing along with all these
31:23
Speaker 1: old people and sing Blessed be the tie that binds,
31:26
Speaker 1: and you know, all that stuff. It is not gonna
31:29
Speaker 1: be that. It is going to be great worship and
31:31
Speaker 1: great praise of our glorious Savior, Jesus Christ, who is
31:36
Speaker 1: enthroned forever ever, King of kings and Lord above all
31:39
Speaker 1: who call themselves Lord. And there will be enough time
31:44
Speaker 1: to give him praise. It will all be endless. Is
31:49
Speaker 1: that great? It's it's beyond description. And this book tells
31:58
Speaker 1: us about those moments of lessing in honor and glory
32:01
Speaker 1: and dominion forever and ever. Verse thirteen to him, Chapter five,
32:06
Speaker 1: Verse thirteen to him who sits on the throne. Now
32:11
Speaker 1: you get your appetite all witted. You get all excited,
32:13
Speaker 1: and you you're like a team all ready to go,
32:17
Speaker 1: and you run up and you're gonna go out, and
32:19
Speaker 1: the field and the doors locked. Because suddenly you get
32:21
Speaker 1: to chapter six and there's judgment. I mean, he opens
32:29
Speaker 1: the gate of judgment. This is where the book gets
32:34
Speaker 1: really sticky. There is full scale judgment upon Earth, the
32:43
Speaker 1: Earth that falls upon the whole world. There are three
32:50
Speaker 1: sections of seven judgments each, got that, three different groups
32:57
Speaker 1: in which there are seven judgments each. First, the seals
33:03
Speaker 1: are broken, se A l s. The seals are broken,
33:08
Speaker 1: and they begin to flood them. They're introduced by the
33:10
Speaker 1: four horsemen. Here. It's it's a it's some kind of scene.
33:14
Speaker 1: These these uh, these judgments begin to fall on the earth,
33:17
Speaker 1: and my, the creatures of this earth are screaming for
33:22
Speaker 1: hope and for help and for survival. And just as
33:26
Speaker 1: that ends the verse one of chapter six, the lamb
33:30
Speaker 1: who broke one of the seven seals when just as
33:33
Speaker 1: that is has come to pass, look at verse one
33:37
Speaker 1: of chapter eight. You've got the breaking of the seventh seal,
33:42
Speaker 1: silence in heaven for about half an hour, and then
33:48
Speaker 1: of all things, we got another series of seven. Verse two,
33:51
Speaker 1: I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and
33:54
Speaker 1: seven trumpets were given to them, So you've got seven seals,
34:00
Speaker 1: begin to unfold the judgments, and all of a sudden,
34:03
Speaker 1: angels are standing with trumpets, seven of them, and each
34:08
Speaker 1: of the seven trumpet judgments again more judgment, more horror
34:14
Speaker 1: upon this earth. And look at verse six. The seven
34:20
Speaker 1: angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
34:26
Speaker 1: Asn't just blasting on a trumpet. This is a symbol
34:30
Speaker 1: that represents the preparing themselves to drop the judgment as
34:36
Speaker 1: God has designed it for this earth. And just as
34:41
Speaker 1: that begins to run its course, you've got yet a
34:44
Speaker 1: third group. And if you go over to about chapter
34:49
Speaker 1: chapter sixteen, I heard a loud voice from the temple saying,
34:57
Speaker 1: to the seven angels, go and pour out the seven
35:02
Speaker 1: bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. So
35:05
Speaker 1: you got now the bowls called in the King James,
35:10
Speaker 1: the vials VI I a ls. These are now the
35:13
Speaker 1: seven bowls of judgment. So you've got seals, and then
35:16
Speaker 1: you've got trumpets, and then you've got the bowls of judgment.
35:20
Speaker 1: And what it represents is this massive unloading of the
35:25
Speaker 1: wrath upon this earth, the wrath of God against the
35:31
Speaker 1: very principles of evil. Now, now, hang on, how do
35:36
Speaker 1: you survive in that time? How do those people who
35:39
Speaker 1: are cast upon this earth in a dreadful period of time?
35:42
Speaker 1: How do they make it? What's their answer? We learned
35:48
Speaker 1: in our study and Ecclesiastes that everything under the sun
35:52
Speaker 1: is misery and boredom and routine. And now we could
35:56
Speaker 1: add persecution and the dread of this horrible judgment. And
36:01
Speaker 1: you look for anything to hang on to, well, if
36:05
Speaker 1: you go back to chapter thirteen, you find what you
36:07
Speaker 1: can hang on to. There is a man who comes
36:13
Speaker 1: on the scene verse one, who is called a beast
36:16
Speaker 1: coming out of the sea. If you agree with me
36:20
Speaker 1: that the sea is a representation of the gentile nations,
36:23
Speaker 1: and that the beast is a man with a beast
36:25
Speaker 1: like nature, then you got to agree. This is some
36:29
Speaker 1: gentile ruler that comes on the scene, and he's dripping
36:32
Speaker 1: with charisma, but what he needs as a campaign manager
36:36
Speaker 1: to make him known and give him power and to
36:39
Speaker 1: convince you, if you happen to be on the earth
36:42
Speaker 1: at that time, that he's worth following. And so this beast,
36:46
Speaker 1: who is called elsewhere the Antichrist, is promoted by his partner,
36:52
Speaker 1: the false prophet, and they work in tandem with one another.
36:56
Speaker 1: And if you agree to follow their message, which is
36:59
Speaker 1: a whole new theory of how to make it through life,
37:03
Speaker 1: then you bear the mark that's given you. The mark
37:07
Speaker 1: is mentioned right here, and it's of course one of
37:09
Speaker 1: those things that we here tossed around a lot. It's
37:12
Speaker 1: called the mark or the image of the Beast. Verse
37:17
Speaker 1: fourteen of chapter thirteen. He deceives those who dwell on
37:21
Speaker 1: the earth because of the signs which it was given
37:24
Speaker 1: him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling
37:27
Speaker 1: those who dwell on the earth to make an image
37:30
Speaker 1: to the beast who had the wound of the sword
37:32
Speaker 1: and has come to life. It's a mock that he's
37:35
Speaker 1: come back from the dead, and he bears this wound,
37:39
Speaker 1: and he's convincing people he is indeed Messiah worth following
37:43
Speaker 1: to get them through the time of judgment. Well verse fifteen,
37:47
Speaker 1: there was given to him to give breath to the
37:49
Speaker 1: image of the beast, so that the image of the
37:51
Speaker 1: beast might even speak, and cause as many as who
37:54
Speaker 1: do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
37:57
Speaker 1: And he causes all the small, all and the gray,
38:01
Speaker 1: the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves
38:04
Speaker 1: to be given a mark on their right hand or
38:10
Speaker 1: on their forehead. And he provides that no one will
38:17
Speaker 1: be able to buy or to sell except the one
38:20
Speaker 1: who has the mark, either the name of the beast
38:24
Speaker 1: or the number of his name. Let him who has
38:29
Speaker 1: understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number
38:33
Speaker 1: is that of a man, and his number is six
38:35
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty six. I don't know who that is,
38:44
Speaker 1: and I don't know what that means. And I don't
38:46
Speaker 1: want to read another book that tells me who it is,
38:50
Speaker 1: or another book that describes to me in four hundred
38:53
Speaker 1: and thirty nine pages, with an appendix of another sixty pages,
38:56
Speaker 1: what that number means. It is is some phenomenon that
39:02
Speaker 1: I am not satisfied we can fully grasp. Now. Maybe
39:07
Speaker 1: there are some that got it wired. I meet them
39:09
Speaker 1: all the time. They're funny people, they're they're scary people.
39:14
Speaker 1: You know, where there's light, there's bugs, and you will
39:16
Speaker 1: always find the light shining and a few bugs flitting
39:20
Speaker 1: around that light giving you answers that nobody else seems
39:24
Speaker 1: to know. And they've got them. They got big thick
39:27
Speaker 1: bibles and they're torn up and they're and they're they're
39:30
Speaker 1: wow looking, and the ties loose, and they they've had
39:34
Speaker 1: a lot. They talk really fast, and they've got charts
39:36
Speaker 1: that look like world maps that they unfold, and they
39:39
Speaker 1: got everything put into pyramids and symbols and signs. You
39:42
Speaker 1: got six six six lu lu lu lu luluh. It's
39:45
Speaker 1: wild man wild. Put it on hold. Relax. You've got
39:52
Speaker 1: a lot more to worry about than the number of
39:54
Speaker 1: the man. The six six six. If you know the
39:57
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, you're not gonna be here anyway, You're gone.
40:00
Speaker 1: You're gonna be with him. Is if you accept my
40:06
Speaker 1: particular persuasion that we're not gonna be around for that now,
40:11
Speaker 1: if you want to be around and maybe that's something,
40:14
Speaker 1: they aren't anything till I call them say that's that's
40:16
Speaker 1: the way you gotta work that thing out. This uh,
40:20
Speaker 1: this mark of the Beast. By the way, I always
40:22
Speaker 1: think of the mark of the Beast when I when
40:24
Speaker 1: I check out of Disneyland for the afternoon to go
40:26
Speaker 1: have supper and come back in. They go, oh god,
40:30
Speaker 1: that's the mark of the Beast. I got the thing
40:31
Speaker 1: on the hand all right, Alpha twenty four. I stick
40:34
Speaker 1: that in the back of I got the mark of
40:35
Speaker 1: the Beast. I got Alpha twenty four going, or you know,
40:39
Speaker 1: some kind of handstamp or a ration card. Back in
40:43
Speaker 1: the World War Two, you you had a ration card
40:46
Speaker 1: on your windshield and you could get just so much
40:48
Speaker 1: gas and that was it, and ration toilet paper and
40:51
Speaker 1: ration products that were that were you remember bringing the
40:55
Speaker 1: grease into the to the Some of you don't remember
40:57
Speaker 1: that because you were born in nineteen seventy four and
41:00
Speaker 1: you can't remember back then, but you had all kinds
41:02
Speaker 1: of things that were rationed so that you had to
41:05
Speaker 1: watch carefully and you could only do what the card
41:09
Speaker 1: allowed you to do. That's gonna be that same kind
41:11
Speaker 1: of thing, but it's gonna be terribly unfunny in that
41:14
Speaker 1: day because those who really follow the Savior, those who
41:18
Speaker 1: turn to the Lord Jesus realizing that he in fact,
41:22
Speaker 1: he in fact is Messiah, and this is a deceiver.
41:26
Speaker 1: Then there's a hitman sent after them, and they're going
41:31
Speaker 1: after them, and they die by the thousands. It's a
41:37
Speaker 1: terrible scene. Awful. Now when you get to chapter nineteen,
41:41
Speaker 1: it's wrapped up in a great, great moment of triumph.
41:44
Speaker 1: I mean, you need it. By now. You're sort of
41:46
Speaker 1: panting and you think we're gonna make it through this thing,
41:49
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden it comes together verse eleven.
41:52
Speaker 1: God's like that, just about the time you think there
41:55
Speaker 1: is no other domino that can flip over, just about
41:57
Speaker 1: that time God intervenes and he and he makes it
42:00
Speaker 1: all right, and it all comes together. It works together
42:05
Speaker 1: for good. Nineteen eleven. I saw the heaven open and
42:09
Speaker 1: behold a white horse. And he who set upon it
42:14
Speaker 1: is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges
42:19
Speaker 1: and wages war. You're gonna read of the Lord Jesus.
42:22
Speaker 1: He's had enough. That's it. The earth is born the judgment,
42:26
Speaker 1: and it's time for the King of kings to make
42:28
Speaker 1: himself seen. His eyes are flame of fire, and upon
42:32
Speaker 1: his head are many diadems. It's the word that means
42:36
Speaker 1: crowns and he has a name written upon him which
42:39
Speaker 1: no one knows except himself. So you know, I read
42:42
Speaker 1: books and they tell you what that name is. It
42:45
Speaker 1: says no one knows except himself. These books saying, now
42:48
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you what the name is. You gonna
42:50
Speaker 1: look up Daniel and you read over and Dan. That
42:53
Speaker 1: got the name there? And this verse says no one
42:55
Speaker 1: knows except himself. Why is it so hard for people
43:01
Speaker 1: to say, I don't know that answer? Relax? There are
43:07
Speaker 1: so many things that you do know and can deal with.
43:12
Speaker 1: You really don't have any business messing around with stuff
43:14
Speaker 1: that nobody can know. He's clothed with a robe dipped
43:19
Speaker 1: in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
43:22
Speaker 1: Reminds me of John One. In the beginning was the word,
43:25
Speaker 1: The word was with God, The word was God. Verse fourteen,
43:28
Speaker 1: the word became flesh and dwelt among us, the only
43:31
Speaker 1: begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. That's
43:33
Speaker 1: the Savior. His name, the Word of God. That's one
43:36
Speaker 1: name we know. There is another name written on his
43:39
Speaker 1: forehead or upon its crown that no one knows. And
43:43
Speaker 1: the armies which you're in heaven. I'm convinced that'll be
43:46
Speaker 1: the saints, the saints of this era. The armies which
43:50
Speaker 1: you're in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
43:53
Speaker 1: were following him on white horses. And from his mouth
43:56
Speaker 1: comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may
43:58
Speaker 1: smite the nations, and he will rule them with a
44:01
Speaker 1: rod of iron. And he treads the wine press of
44:03
Speaker 1: the fierce wrath of God the Almighty on his robe.
44:06
Speaker 1: On his thigh, he has a name written King of
44:08
Speaker 1: Kings and Lord of lords. You know what that means,
44:11
Speaker 1: King above all, who called himselves king, Lord over all,
44:15
Speaker 1: who called themselves lord. His name is King Lord over
44:19
Speaker 1: all that say they're kings and lords. It's the name
44:23
Speaker 1: above every name. I saw an angel standing in the sun.
44:28
Speaker 1: That isn't bad, is it? You stand in the sun?
44:32
Speaker 1: And he gets in the sun, and he cried with
44:36
Speaker 1: a loud voice, and he says a symbol for the
44:39
Speaker 1: Great Supper of God. Nineteen. I saw the beast and
44:44
Speaker 1: the kings of the earth and their armies a symbol
44:47
Speaker 1: to make war against him who set upon the horse
44:51
Speaker 1: and against his army, and the beast was seized. You
44:54
Speaker 1: wonder if God's in control when it's time He'll take
44:58
Speaker 1: care of him. Like you flick fly off the supper table.
45:01
Speaker 1: That's it. That's all it takes. That's the other one
45:05
Speaker 1: flicks them right off. As the beast and the false prophet,
45:09
Speaker 1: he seizes them. He sends them away. Those who performed
45:15
Speaker 1: the signs in his presence, by which he deceived, those
45:17
Speaker 1: who had received the mark, and those who worshiped his image.
45:20
Speaker 1: These two were thrown alive in the lake of fire,
45:22
Speaker 1: which burns with brimstone. The rest were killed with the
45:25
Speaker 1: sword which came from the mouth of him who sat
45:27
Speaker 1: upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with
45:29
Speaker 1: their flesh. And you get into chapter twenty, and you've
45:31
Speaker 1: got a whole new kingdom established on the earth. What
45:37
Speaker 1: about the devil, Well, he's chained, he's he's set aside
45:42
Speaker 1: in what is called the Abyss. The old Dragon, the
45:48
Speaker 1: serpent of old the devil. Even Satan bound him for
45:51
Speaker 1: a thousand years and threw him into the abyss, shut it,
45:54
Speaker 1: sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive
45:56
Speaker 1: the nations any longer till the thousand years were completed.
46:00
Speaker 1: And he describes that kingdom that is beyond any kingdom
46:03
Speaker 1: that has ever been on this earth. Jesus Christ rules
46:06
Speaker 1: as God, as King, as Speaker of the House, as President,
46:11
Speaker 1: as everything. He's everything, and he delegates graciously to his
46:17
Speaker 1: saints who have come with him the government of his world.
46:21
Speaker 1: And it is a time of uninterrupted peace during that
46:24
Speaker 1: period verse seven. When the thousand years are completed, the
46:28
Speaker 1: devil is released from his prison, he will immediately go
46:31
Speaker 1: back to deceiving the nations, which he has done since
46:34
Speaker 1: his existence on this earth. And there'll be a final overthrow.
46:39
Speaker 1: He'll be removed verse ten, thrown into the lake of
46:43
Speaker 1: fire and brimstone, and Verses eleven through fifteen is the
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Speaker 1: final great white thrown judgment, and even death and hades
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Speaker 1: are thrown into the lake of fire. And if anyone's
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Speaker 1: name verse fifteen is not found in the Book of Life,
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Speaker 1: he's thrown into the Lake of fire. And I believe
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Speaker 1: that is exactly what will happen. I believe that is
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Speaker 1: precisely what God says. And I do believe there is
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Speaker 1: a lake of fire. And I don't know where it is,
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Speaker 1: and I can't fathom the scene, and I can't comprehend
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Speaker 1: the horror, but I believe there will be eternal punishment
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Speaker 1: forever and ever and ever for those whose names are
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Speaker 1: not found written in the Book of Life. That's one
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Speaker 1: thing that keeps me preaching. And I'll preach till I die,
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Speaker 1: because I know that as I preach, I look into
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Speaker 1: the faces of people who will spend their lives, their
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Speaker 1: existence throughout eternity in the lake of fire because they
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Speaker 1: reject Jesus Christ. As the most serious message it can
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Speaker 1: ever be preached, is the message regarding the eternal lake
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Speaker 1: of fire. That's the thing that gets us excited about missions.
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Speaker 1: That's the thing that sends people around the world to
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Speaker 1: declare the gospel, makes them translate His word in little
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Speaker 1: huts and little places in the jungle, and keeps them
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Speaker 1: faithful on the islands of the sea incontinence all around
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Speaker 1: the world. They know their convinced that people are dying,
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Speaker 1: and they're dying without Christ, and the judgment is eternal,
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Speaker 1: and it is sure, it's an awful thing, but it's true.
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Speaker 1: God doesn't write a fairy tale. He writes the truth.
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Speaker 1: Doesn't tell you what you want to hear. He tells
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Speaker 1: you what you need to hear. And it's that kind
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Speaker 1: of thing that needs to be declared. Chapter twenty one,
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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two, beautiful message regarding eternal bliss, and you
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Speaker 1: can work your way through those things. You hear it
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Speaker 1: at every funeral, so you're probably fairly familiar with what
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Speaker 1: it's all about. They are all kinds of things that
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Speaker 1: are here that are marvelous to claim. Now, I want
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Speaker 1: to give you three things that kind of live in
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Speaker 1: my mind as we wrap up this survey of the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: and each one has to do with three great subjects.
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Speaker 1: The first is God's word, the second is God's plan,
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Speaker 1: and the third is God's Son. Here's the first. God's
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Speaker 1: word is a reliable map to take us through the storms.
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Speaker 1: Remember that God's word is a reliable map to take
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Speaker 1: us through the storms. Ever, stop to think about the
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Speaker 1: truth of God's word in revelation to those people who
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Speaker 1: live in that day yet future, and how they can
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Speaker 1: read of the events that are yet to come, and
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Speaker 1: the fact that it's going to be worked out right
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Speaker 1: there when they're going through life. You imagine, it was
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Speaker 1: said when Alexander the Great heard the word of God
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Speaker 1: read to him, and he saw Daniel's prophecy in Scripture
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Speaker 1: read to him, he fell on his knees as if
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Speaker 1: awestruck that God would reveal in that prophecy of Daniel,
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Speaker 1: the rapid movement of the Grecian army. Doesn't call him
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Speaker 1: by name, but it gives him a symbol, And when
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Speaker 1: he saw the truth of it, he was awe struck.
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Speaker 1: God's word is a reliable map to take us through
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Speaker 1: the storms. If it'll work, then for in the future
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Speaker 1: days it'll work. Now. God's plan is a sovereign arrangement
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Speaker 1: that replaces fear with peace. It's comfort to know that
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Speaker 1: he has a handle on the events that are unfolding.
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Speaker 1: His plan is a sovereign arrangement that replaces fear with peace.
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Speaker 1: One of the greatest verses I ever learned was Daniel
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Speaker 1: four thirty five. All the inhabitants of the earth are
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Speaker 1: is nothing. He does according to his will in the
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Speaker 1: army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
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Speaker 1: and none can stay his hand or say unto him,
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Speaker 1: what doest thou? Isn't that great? What are you doing?
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Speaker 1: God has every right to say, shut up, I'm doing
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Speaker 1: exactly what I please. Now he doesn't do that. Graciously,
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Speaker 1: He just keeps doing what he pleases. But how many
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Speaker 1: people are wondering what doest thou, and Daniel says, you
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Speaker 1: don't even have to ask that. Even when you can't
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Speaker 1: understand it, his plan is unfolding. Count on it. He
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Speaker 1: knows what he's about. There has never been in heaven panic,
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Speaker 1: never never. We have enough of it on earth. I mean,
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Speaker 1: there's no reason for it to appear in heaven. When
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Speaker 1: you're sovereign, There's no panic now. Third, God's Son is
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Speaker 1: the glorious Lord who deserves our allegiance and seeks our worship.
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Speaker 1: God's Son is the glorious Lord who deserves our allegiance
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Speaker 1: and seeks our worship. You're looking for someone to follow,
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Speaker 1: trying to find a model. I present to you, Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: There is no finer model. In fact, there is no
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Speaker 1: other model in any sense of the word, comparable to him.
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Speaker 1: God's Son is the glorious Lord who deserves our allegiance
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Speaker 1: and seeks our worship. When I began this series through
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Speaker 1: the Bible one book a night, which was way back
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Speaker 1: in the old days, I remember reading a quotation from
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Speaker 1: Billy Sunday, and you who were with us and listening
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Speaker 1: in at that time, you will recall the quotation I
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Speaker 1: want to close with it now that we've finished our survey.
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Speaker 1: But don't start grabbing your keys and getting your purse
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Speaker 1: and getting ready to go, because I want you to
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Speaker 1: hear what this says. Okay. Twenty nine years ago, with
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit as my guide, I entered the wonderful
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Speaker 1: Temple of Christianity. I entered at the portico of Genesis,
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Speaker 1: walked down through the Old Testament art galleries, where the
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Speaker 1: pictures of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Isaac, Jacob, and Daniel
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Speaker 1: hung on the wall. I passed into the music room
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Speaker 1: of the Songs, where the Spirit swept the keyboard of nature,
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Speaker 1: until it seemed that every read and pipe in God's
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Speaker 1: great world Morgan responded to the tuneful harp of David,
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Speaker 1: the sweet Singer of Israel. I entered the Chamber of Ecclesiastes,
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Speaker 1: where the voice of the preacher was heard, and on
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Speaker 1: into the Conservatory of Sharon, and the lily of the
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Speaker 1: Valley's sweet scented spices filled and perfumed my life. I
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Speaker 1: entered the business Office of Proverbs, and then into the
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Speaker 1: observatory room of the Prophets, where I saw telescopes of
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Speaker 1: various sizes pointing to far off events, but all concentrated
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Speaker 1: upon the bright and morning star which was to rise
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Speaker 1: above the moonlit hills of Judea for our salvation. I
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Speaker 1: entered the audience room of the King of Kings, and
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Speaker 1: I caught a vision of his glory from the standpoint
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Speaker 1: of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I passed into the
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Speaker 1: Acts of the Apostles, where the Holy Spirit was doing
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Speaker 1: his work in the formation of the infant Church. Then
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Speaker 1: into the Corresponden's room where sat Paul, Peter, James, John,
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Speaker 1: and Jude penning their epistles. Then I stepped into the
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Speaker 1: throne Room of Revelation, where it towered the glittering peaks,
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Speaker 1: and I got a vision of the King of Kings
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Speaker 1: sitting upon the throne in all his glory, and I
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Speaker 1: cried all hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate, fall,
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Speaker 1: bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of
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Speaker 1: all Amen. Aen Father, we love you, we praise you,
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Speaker 1: we worship you. We need no other but you. You
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Speaker 1: are our dream and our hope, and our confidence, and
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Speaker 1: our shield and our buckler and our defender. You are
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Speaker 1: the sword, the only sword of our hope. The only
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Speaker 1: offensive weapon is your truth, and without you we are
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Speaker 1: doomed to utter defeat. We praise you for your word.
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Speaker 1: We praise you for your son. We will never get
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Speaker 1: enough of either till we see you face to face
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Speaker 1: and worship you as our God. We anxiously await your
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Speaker 1: son's coming for his own. We long to be relieved
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Speaker 1: from the misery and the boredom and the frustration of
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Speaker 1: this world. And yet the challenge is severe and great,
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Speaker 1: for hell is long and real. Loose our tongue so
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Speaker 1: that we say the truth when we speak to the lost.
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Speaker 1: Give us courage to declare the only hope. There is
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Speaker 1: the only light in a world doomed to darkness. And
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Speaker 1: bring us again to our knees for our next move.
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Speaker 1: As you lead us as a people. We give you
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Speaker 1: praise for this study through the scriptures, and we pray
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Speaker 1: now that as you work the scriptures through us, you
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Speaker 1: will find pleasing in your sight our lives, which we
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Speaker 1: find delight in fitting to your character. Encourage your people
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Speaker 1: who have heard your truths, and bring them to reality
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Speaker 1: in all our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message revelation God's Final Words was copyrighted in
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Speaker 2: nineteen eighty three and the sound recording was copyrighted in
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Speaker 2: twenty twelve by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are
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Speaker 2: reserved worldwide