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number one. You know we've been in taking the past few weeks to study different approaches

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to Revelation as well as different views of the end times so that we would have this framework

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for how to actually interpret the book of Revelation. And I think now we're ready to

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begin our verse by verse study through the book. We talked about possibly talking about

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the mark of the beast this evening, but we're going to save that for when we actually encounter

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it in the book. So I think we've done at least an adequate job setting the framework and

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the foundation for actually studying this book. And so when we come to Revelation, you

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have all sorts of questions and it's interesting throughout all time. I think everybody knows

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God has always been at work in the world, right? We know that God is up to something.

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God's doing something He's always working. We don't always know what it is or why He's

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doing the things He's doing or what's taking Him so long from our perspective to accomplish

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what He wants to accomplish. And so we are filled with all of these types of questions

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and you come to Revelation and you realize that there were all these Old Testament prophecies

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that were talking about what was going to happen in the last days, right? You might think

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about Daniel in Daniel chapter 2 specifically and the visions that He received where He

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said there were visions about what's going to happen in the last days. And then you come

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to Revelation and you're like, okay, God, we got all that, but can we get a better picture?

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Please, like, can we get a clearer idea of what's going to happen? Can you maybe tell

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us what the plan is? We've been waiting for this big reveal to take place. And it kind

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of reminded me, I don't know, have y'all seen the show Fixer Upper? Anybody in here?

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Yeah, we got a couple people. Okay, right? So Anna and I, we used to watch that show

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a good bit when we have time and we don't anymore, so we don't watch that show anymore.

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But when you did, what I always found interesting, right, is you have Chip and Joanna and they

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would take couples to see these houses and stuff, typically like three houses and they're

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in this buying process and they have to decide on one house, but all of them have their problems,

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right? Like, there's not a house that's perfect. And when they are in this buying process,

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it's always interesting if you watch their faces because the couple is like, I'm about

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to spend a lot of money to buy a house and this is not the house that I want necessarily.

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And they're walking through and they see all the problems with the house, right? They're

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like, okay, it's got foundation issues. This is going to have to be replaced. We're going

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to have to tear down this one. Like, they look at the house and all they see are all the

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problems and they're wondering, how are you going to do anything with this house, right?

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Like, this house should not be sold to anyone. I don't know how you're going to do something

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with this house, but I'm going to trust that you are going to do something. And then they

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get to the part of the show where Joanna sits down with them and she brings out her

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tablet and what does she do? It's the big reveal, right? She shows them this virtual

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image of what she's going to do to the house. This is the plan. This is how we're going

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to fix this. This is what we're going to do in this area. This is all the plans going

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forward and when the people see the plans, what happens? Oh, their face just lights up,

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right? Like, this is great. Like, I didn't think you could do anything with this house

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and yet now we have this clear understanding of what's going to take place and how it's

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going to look and what the final product is going to be like. It's the big reveal. And

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that's what we get when we come to the book of Revelation. God has spent the entire Bible

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giving us hints and kind of glimpses and pictures and these ideas and he gets to Revelation

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and he says, okay, you want to know what the plan is? Here it is. Now, it's not necessarily

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revealed in the way that we want it to be revealed, right? I think one theologian said

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something along the lines of when he was asked his faults in the book of Revelation or the

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purpose or meaning of Revelation, he said, the book of Revelation is where the Apostle

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John concealed everything that he knew. And so that's what it can feel like sometimes,

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right? You come to Revelation and it's the big reveal, but it's not exactly the reveal

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that we were hoping for. And yet, we see all the problems in our world, right? We know

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that this is the big reveal, but what happens? You look at the world and you go, this world

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is filled with sin. This world is broken. The governments are corrupt. People are really

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evil today. People are doing unspeakable things to one another and you just, you get this

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picture of the world and you look at it and you go, God, what on earth are you going to

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do with this place? Right? Like, I don't know if anything can be done at this point, which

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is why some people say, God, just burn it all, bring the fire from heaven, let's be done

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with this place, you know? Like, you look at it and you're like, what on earth could

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you possibly do? And God says in Revelation, I'll show you. And we get this really cool

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unveiling. And I really like the way that this theologian, Vern Poithris, put it. He

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said, Revelation isn't meant to tickle our fancies, it's meant to strengthen our hearts.

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And I think that's a good quote to remember as we study Revelation, even with how confusing

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it can be sometimes and how we might not always understand everything in it, that it's not

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meant to tickle our fancies, it's meant to strengthen our hearts as believers in Christ.

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And that's really the whole point of the first three verses, which is probably as far as

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we're going to get this evening. But it's the unveiling of God's plan is meant to strengthen

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and assure His people throughout all of life's circumstances. That's the whole point of the

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first three verses. The unveiling of God's plan is meant to strengthen and assure His

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people throughout all of life's circumstances. And so I want to just start by reading verse

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1. This is what the Bible says in Revelation 1.1. It says, the revelation of Jesus Christ,

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which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. And

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He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John. And when you remember the Greek

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word for revelation here that you see up there is the Greek word apocalypse, which is why

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this is sometimes referred to as the apocalypse of John. So if you find an older Bible, especially

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a KJV, many times it'll just be called the apocalypse of John. And it's an interesting

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word. We've talked about it already some, but it's the word revelation or apocalypse.

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It literally just means an unveiling or a revelation, right? A revealing. And it's,

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you think about maybe a bride on her wedding day walking down the aisle and she's covered

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with a veil and you can't really make out her face that clearly at all. But then what

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happens? You lift the veil and then you see her. And it's this beautiful image of a bride

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being unveiled for the groom to take her in. That's what we have in the book of Revelation.

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Here is God's plan for the future and for redemptive history. And it is being unveiled

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for God's people so that we can behold it and appreciate it. And so it's the idea that

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something was hidden, but now it has been revealed to God's people. And this word is

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highly connected to the book of Daniel, right? We talked about Daniel a little bit earlier

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because it's the same Greek word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament

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for the visions and the revelation that God gave to Daniel. So if you remember Daniel

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chapter two, and I'm sure all of you do, all right, do you remember Nebuchadnezzar has

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a problem? What's his problem? He has a dream, right? He has a dream. And his problem is

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he doesn't understand it. And he gets all his wise men together and all of his magicians

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and people, and they don't understand it. But then God comes to Daniel after Daniel

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prays to the Lord and God reveals or gives Daniel this apocalypse, this understanding

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of what the dream actually is. And if you remember the dream, what did he dream of? Anybody

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remember? Yeah, the statue, an image, right? So it's an image, its head is gold, its chest

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and arms were silver, the middle and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet

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were partly iron and partly clay. And then what did he see? It was a stone, right? This

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stone not cut by human hands that comes and it strikes the feet of the image and they

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begin to crumble and then the whole image comes down and it breaks into little pieces

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and the wind comes and drives away the pieces so they're never found again. And then something

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really, really interesting happens, what happens to the stone? Anybody remember? That's my,

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right, that's my interpretive dance of the stone, became a mountain and that mountain

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began to encompass the whole world, right? So that's what Nebuchadnezzar saw and that's

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what Daniel saw. It sounds a lot like the visions you encounter in Revelation, right?

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It's stuff that on the surface it doesn't make a lot of sense because if you're thinking

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literally you're like, okay, I've got to wait for this statue and it's got to have all these

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different parts and then a stone and all this kind of stuff and that's just not how Daniel

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interpreted it, right? Like he comes along and he doesn't give a literal interpretation.

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He literally says that this dream pertains to what must take place in the last days,

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in the end times and he interprets the dream symbolically. He says that the different materials

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represent different kingdoms and the stone actually represents the kingdom of God that's

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going to crush all other kingdoms and then grow to encompass the whole world. And that's

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a really cool interpretation. There's a really cool revelation that God gives to Daniel.

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And so revelation in apocalyptic writing refers to visions that are primarily communicated

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through pictures and symbols, right? And that's interesting to think about because when we're

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reading the majority of the Bible we should be interpreting it literally unless we come

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to something and we have to ask the question, is there a reason to interpret it symbolically,

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right? That's how we would, if you're reading first or second kings, you're not going to

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interpret that symbolically, right? Like very straightforward, very literal and if there

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ever comes a time you're like, okay, maybe this needs to be interpreted symbolically.

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Well, it's just the opposite when you come to revelation. As you read Revelation you

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should have preference towards a symbolic interpretation unless there comes a time when

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you ask the question, is there a reason to interpret literally? So it's kind of this

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paradigm shift of how we interpret the Bible and we should be interpreting it symbolically

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through these pictures because that's how it's revealed, right? It's really interesting

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that God would do this because we have all these expectations of what we want from God.

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Like, hey God, I just want a roadmap. If you could just very clearly line by line tell

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me what's going to happen, how it's going to happen. A timeline would be really nice,

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what to expect, all that kind of stuff. That's what we want and God says, okay, I'm going

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to write like a fantasy novel for you basically and he gives us all these pictures and cool

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ideas and symbols that we are then to try to piece together in terms of the story of

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the Bible. And it's something that really interesting here where John is actually changing

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the Daniel quote. Did you notice that in verse one? It's still on the screen. But God gave

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Daniel a revelation of the things that must take place in the latter days or in the last

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days. Well, you come to Revelation and the Bible says here that this is the revelation

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of Jesus Christ which he gave eventually to John which must soon take place. And we'll

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actually see that in just a little bit. But it's what soon must take place. So he changes

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that phrase the latter days to what must soon take place. And so we have to ask the question,

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well, is there a reason to believe that we are now as Christians currently living in

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the last days? Because how many times have you encountered someone as a Christian and

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they're like, I want to talk about the end times? Yeah, a lot? A lot for me. It gets

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asked a lot or people want to know, hey, when are the last days coming? And I think they're

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typically surprised when my answer is we're in them. These are the last days and this

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is actually what the New Testament says time and time again. It'll be on the screen. First

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John 2 18 says children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that anti Christ is

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coming so now many anti Christ have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

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Hebrews one two, but in these last days. Now he has spoken to us by a son whom he appointed

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the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. And then you come to Jude

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one 17 through 21. And this is what Jude says. He says, but you must remember, beloved, the

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predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you in the last time,

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there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who calls divisions

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worldly people devoid of the spirit. He seems to be indicating that these people are this

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ungodly people following their ungodly passions. They are present now creating divisions now

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and he says, but you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in

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the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus

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Christ that leads to eternal life. And then 1 Corinthians 10 11 says, Now these things

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happen to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom who's

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the on whom there first to the hour. On whom the end of the ages has come. So what does

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this mean when you put all this together? What's the conclusion? We're living in the

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end times. People want to know when they're coming. They're here. They actually started

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with Jesus's ascension back into heaven. As soon as Jesus did that last hour started,

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we are in the last days living in the end times. But there's a common objection, right?

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There's this common objection and people will sometimes say, well, we can't be living in

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the last days. We can't be living in the end times because John specifically said that

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these things must soon take place. And he wrote this in the first century. So it's been

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over 2000 years. And because it's been over 2000 years, that kind of disqualifies the

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idea that we're living in the last days because that's not necessarily soon. Right? So that's

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the objection. John says these things must soon take place, but it's been 2000 years.

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That's not very soon. Is it? No, it's not very soon. You can agree with that. That's

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fine. But there are two responses. Right? So the first one that I would point you to,

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and you're just going to have to stick with our study for this, is I want to show you

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as we go through Revelation that the events foretold in Revelation have been going on

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repeatedly since the time of its writing. That these aren't always far off prophecies

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about what's going to happen in the future. It's actually this cyclical cycle, which is

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redundant, but it's this cycle that continues to happen repeatedly throughout all time.

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And so I would say that many of the things written in there have already taken place

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repeatedly throughout history. But the other thing to remember is that the Bible specifically

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says that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like

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one day. So it's been over 2000 years since Christ ascended back into heaven. Therefore,

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in the mind of God, two days have taken place. That's still pretty soon, all things consider.

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Right? Like if you say, hey, I'm coming to visit you soon and you're not there within

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two days, I'm still thinking, that's still pretty soon. You know? You show up day three,

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that falls within that timeline. So we have to understand that from our perspective, no,

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it might not be soon how we define soon, but from the perspective of God, it's still very

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soon and very early. About two days, metaphorically, symbolically, have passed by in the mind of

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God. And so that's what this is referring to here when it's talking about soon. And

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we need to understand that that doesn't mean that God is hiding his plans from us. He's

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not like, oh, it says soon, but it means this. That's not the idea here. He's not trying

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to confuse us or turn us into some like enigma decoders or anything like that. He's making

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known to us his plans for the future through the use of pictures and symbols. And he's

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doing it in such a way that everybody can understand it, because you see there in verse

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one, I don't know if we can go back to verse one, but you have your Bibles in front of

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you hopefully, but it says in verse one that this was shown and given to the servants.

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Not to the scholars, not to the super intelligent people who have an IQ above this number, right?

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This isn't if you have a PhD or have gone to seminary, this book is for you. He gives

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it to his servants. Meaning the good news for us is that everyone can understand the

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book of Revelation and everyone is intended to understand the book of Revelation. In fact,

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I think I've told you this kind of in passing before, but it's been shown that children

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often understand the book of Revelation better than adults, which is really interesting.

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But in some studies that have been done, it's been shown that the reason children tend

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to understand Revelation better is because their minds are more suited for that kind

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of thing, right? Kids are reading fantasy novels all the time. They're used to TV shows

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that are fantasy based, where there's dragons and there's swords and there's serpents and

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all these weird creatures and there's things coming out of the skies and from down below

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and there's monsters and all this kind of stuff. And kids are used to that. And that's

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filled. Revelation has all of those things. It's filled with it. So when they read Revelation,

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they have this idea, this mindset where they're able to put the pictures together and understand

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it better than adults. And not only that, there's this really famous story where there

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was a group of seminary students. They were PhD students and they were at seminary and

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they were playing basketball in the school gym. This is a true story, by the way. They're

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playing basketball in the school gym and they notice that the janitor is there sitting on

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the bleachers and he's waiting for the students to leave so that he can clean up. And as he's

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sitting there waiting on them to leave, he's reading his Bible. And they're interested,

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they're like, okay, you know, this is very cool, he's reading his Bible. And then they

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go and look and they see that he's reading Revelation. So the seminary in them gets all

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puffed up. They're ready to show off their knowledge. And they go to the janitor and

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they're like, hey, do you even understand what you're reading? He said, yeah, of course

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I do. And they said, okay, now we've really got to show this guy. So they're like, okay,

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well what school of interpretation do you follow as you read Revelation? Are you a

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preterist? Are you a futurist? Are you a historicist? They start asking them all these questions

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using all these big words and stuff like that. So when you tell us your school of interpretation,

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how do you follow it, blah, blah, blah, all this kind of stuff, he goes, I don't know

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anything you just said. I don't understand any of that. And they said, well, how can

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you understand Revelation? He said, because I read it and I know what it means. And they

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said, okay, well then tell us what does it mean? He said, Jesus wins. I was like, that's

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such a good answer, right? That's such a good answer. And that's the whole point of the

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book, right? Like if you look on our website, our series is literally called Revelation,

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the triumph of the Lamb. Jesus wins in the end. He will get the victory, God's kingdom

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will prevail, the gospel will go forward, all of God's plans will come to pass and not

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a single one of them will fail. And so no matter what else we get confused about within

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the book of Revelation, we need to just keep that one meaning in mind, that one idea, that

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no matter what we read in Revelation, no matter how confusing it is, Jesus wins in the end.

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He has the victory. And that's a good message. And it's one that's meant to strengthen us

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and strengthen our hearts as we read this book. And you see there very quickly in verses

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2 and 3, I'll try to get through it, probably won't. It says verse 2, who bore witness to

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the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Definitely

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not going to make it through verse 3, but let's just talk about verse 2 very quickly.

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I want you to notice here that John is giving us not only what was given to him, but it

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says what he personally witnessed, what he saw. And so Revelation is a testimony, a testimony

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of what God has given to John through Jesus, through the angel, but also what John witnessed

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for himself. And here's the reason I want to cover this very quickly, is because there's

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a bit of application here that often gets overlooked as we're reading Revelation. So

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just think about the historical situation. Where is John when he's writing this? Patent.

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Why is he there? He's been exiled, right? Who exiled him? Yeah, well, Rome, there you

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go. Yeah, let's not get into dating the book, okay? But hold another debate there that we

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don't need to have. It was Rome, very good, Michael. So he's on the island of Patmos.

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He's been exiled there by Rome, and he receives this vision and he records it. Then what does

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he do with it? Okay, after he writes it down, what does he do with it then? He sends it

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to the churches, the churches that were in Asia Minor, right? And don't miss this. Think

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about what's recorded in this book. Very clear messages like, Rome will fall. The Emperor

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will fall. The Emperor is under the influence of Satan. Every kingdom that sets itself against

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Christ will fall and be thrown into the lake of fire forever. Jesus will have the victory

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and all who submit to him and follow him will overcome and take part in that victory. Now

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here's my question for you. How do you think Rome was going to receive that once the Word

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got out that that's what John had written and was sent into the churches and the churches

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were supposed to send to each other and then this message starts catching fire and gets

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spread like a wildfire? How do you think Rome's going to receive that? Not well, right? And

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actually history tells us that they didn't receive it well because we know that persecution

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picked up dramatically. I mean, persecution started really picking up and they were hunting

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Christians down like dogs and they were killing them. They were torturing them. I mean, we

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don't know if it was Nero or someone else, but like we know for a fact that Nero used

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to take Christians and he would put them on spikes. He would cover them in oil and then

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he would light them on fire and let them serve as street lamps to light up the roads at night.

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That's what happened to Christians. And here's John saying, the emperor is under the influence

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of Satan. Rome is going to fall. This kingdom has no chance. God will win. And yet what

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did John still do? He sent it. Do you think John knew what could potentially happen if

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he sent this letter? Absolutely. They had already tried to boil him alive, keeping

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him alive and it failed. He's there because Rome did not like Christians in the first

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place. He knows full well what can happen when he sends this letter and the churches

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start to send the letter and the message gets out. And yet John sent the letter anyways.

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Now what lesson do you think we can learn from that? Okay, total lack of fear of the

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enemy. Anything else? Obedience? No matter the cost, never give up. Think specific.

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All those things are true. Specifically, what would be an application or a lesson that we

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could take away from that? Never deny Jesus. That's good. That's right. Preach the word

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even when people might retaliate. Just think about what we've been talking about in gospel

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groups the past couple of weeks and something you know. One of the main reasons that we

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don't share our testimony or the testimony of Jesus, the gospel message like we should

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is why. Fear. Right? We're afraid. We're afraid of how people are going to react. We're

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afraid of what they might say to us, what they might do to us, how we might be mocked

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or scorned or rejected. We're afraid of all these hypotheticals that we come up with in

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our minds about what could potentially take place if we share the gospel. And John was

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not even dealing with hypotheticals at all. He was dealing with what he knew was absolutely

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going to happen and yet John sent the letter anyways. And see, this is what I think Revelation

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is trying to help us do here. It's trying to show us that persecution is expected in

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this life. Suffering is expected in this life. Hardships, they are expected in this life.

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Rejection from the world, that's expected. Jesus said that. If they hated him, of course

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they're going to hate us. That's expected and yet the Bible is saying here that Jesus

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and his gospel are worth it. They're worth it. And if you don't believe that, then you're

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going to give in to the fear. If you don't truly believe that Jesus is who he said he

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is and that he is worth it and that the gospel truly does bring life to those who are dead

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in their sins, if you don't actually believe that, if it's still in the head and it hasn't

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made its way to the heart, there's no chance you're going to share the gospel unless it

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is very comfortable for you. And you feel super safe and you think there's no way this

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can go wrong. But what happens when you're in that other situation? What happens when

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you're in that situation where something might go wrong? Like when you go to the Middle East

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and you're encountering people who are literally killing Christians for their faith and you

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have the opportunity to share the gospel with someone, what do you do then? You share the

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gospel. That's right. And it's hard to even imagine that situation because we're not used

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to it and everybody in here wants to say, well of course I would share the gospel in

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that situation. I would never deny Jesus all this kind of stuff. But gun to your head,

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it's hard to know how you'll respond unless you are absolutely sold out, 100% convinced

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Jesus is God in the flesh. He died for my sins. He says I have eternal life right now

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and even if they kill me, I get to go be with Him immediately. That life that He offers

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me is more valuable than this temporary life now and the hardships that come with it. And

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so just as we conclude this evening, I just want us to imagine what do you think this

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world would look like and what do you think the church would actually look like today

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if we had the type of obedience that John had here and the type of boldness and courage

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that John had here. If we actually believed that Jesus and his gospel were worth it and

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that the Holy Spirit was powerful enough to even take someone who was ready to kill us

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for our faith and change that person even in that moment, how different do you think

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our world and our church would look if Christians actually believed that message? So that's

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the beginning. I thought we'd make it through verse 8 because you know, I'm crazy. But

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we're going to continue to see as we study the unfolding of God's plan and how that

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strengthens us as believers and really helps us make it through all of life's difficulties.

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So just remember Jesus wins in the end. Alright, Gene McKinney, final word of wisdom

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please.