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Alright, we continue our sermon series. Now you may notice that, hang on, we were past

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this last week and there were multiple reasons why, but as you'll see at the end of this,

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that where we're going next week has to do with a very obscure number, 144,000, that's

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been put in in chapter 7, it comes up again next week. And so part of it was a flip flop,

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also to bring and lead into the faithful ones of God and what that means in the book of

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Revelation. So let me ask a question this morning. What does it mean to be faithful?

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Think about that word. There's probably a thousand different contexts that you could

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have in that, all spanning all of life, but what does it truly mean to be faithful? To

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not give up on something, absolutely, right? That I'm faithful to the cause, whether that

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is helping someone learn how to bat, whether it's the musical newsies and they're all in

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solidarity against those that own the newspaper, if you haven't seen it, watch it, thank me

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later. Others, dedicated, absolutely, yeah, yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, completely

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trusting, good. To follow unconditionally, absolutely, yeah, that's a good one. Any others?

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To be a servant, sure, to be faithful in the way we interpret something like scripture,

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to interpret Jesus' words is to love God and love people, right, and to understand what

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that actually means. There's the vertical relationship and we show that by a horizontal

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relationship, getting that in the right order, obviously. Others? Constant, keep my word

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and keep God's word, I'm going to flip that on you, keep God's word and then keep your

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word, absolutely. Up in the balcony? Not to be swayed from the faith, interesting, okay.

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So all good definitions and where the book of Revelation is going to take the understanding

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of faithful, those that finished the race. And we think about, you know, one of the songs

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we sung was talking about the heroes of the faith and I caught myself in my own narcissism

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and piety in the moment and the Lord had to strike me, hopefully you guys didn't see it,

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but I thought to myself, I wonder if I'll be a hero of the faith and then immediately

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I heard the buzzer from Family Feud. Immediately it was ehhhh and the giant X and I got down.

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This all happened right here, right, and it was the covering of Joe and Julie's prayers

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that kept me from falling down. But understand that that's not the right desire. The desire

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is not to be a hero of the faith, the desire is to be faithful in God because God is the

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one that defines who the heroes are. But understand that it's walking this road, it's journeying

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on this path, being faithful along the way, knowing that sin is in our life, knowing that

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we are going to fall. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That there isn't

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a level of perfection, we don't believe like some Pentecostal denominations that one on

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this earth can live a perfect life. Because if that was possible, we wouldn't need grace.

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The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair in the sense of when we fall, there

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is a way back to whole, but we're going to fall. We all did this week, we all will next

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week, we already talked about that. But what we're going to see in the book of Revelation

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is jumping back to the scrolls, so you've got to go back two weeks, is that the judgments

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between the sixth and seventh trumpet and the scrolls, a little scroll is introduced

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and two witnesses symbolizing God's ongoing revelation for the church in this moment.

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Now that got me very confused when I was reading this week that like this is it, this is the

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grand drama, this is the end scene of life, yet God's revelation is continuing going back

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to the very first sermon that we read that for then and now and to come. Interesting,

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God is then and now and to come, He's everlasting upon everlasting, that there's still revelation

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going on. I'm going to pick on the Wilchers because one of the areas where I sinned this

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week is I coveted your trip. I saw all of those and we almost got a smile out of Jim

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on some of those pictures. I know you enjoyed it because Jill was with you, but you got,

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where did you guys go this past couple weeks? Utah, right? Not for the Mormons, but for

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the beauty of God's creations, right? And like mind blown, like it's hard not to see

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all of that and just be like, yeah, someone manufactured that, like, ah Disney. No, no,

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it's like beautiful that the pictures that they showed or that they posted, it was, and

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that's just creation. And that's not even creation in the image of God, that's just

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creation, His created order of life. And so we see these things and the ongoing, I mean,

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was it a spiritual experience, I'm sure? Yeah, and that is ongoing, what we call general

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revelation, that there's revelation still going on in life today, revelation that God

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is still at work. You have general revelation and then you have divine or specific revelation

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when God speaks to you through His word, through a trusted friend. I don't think any one of

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us has gotten a burning bush, you know, lately, but that would be seen as divine or special

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revelation, that message was just for Moses. But God's revelation is ongoing. And really

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the emphasis of these chapters is not only His sovereignty, but His sovereignty over

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all the events and His determination to fulfill, that we see, hopefully you can get back enough

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to see God continually fulfilling what He said He was going to do. This is the fulfillment

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of Messianic prophecy. That yeah, there were little M messiahs all over the place, Jesus'

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big M messiah is fulfilling what He said He's going to do, and that's a definition of faithful.

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We can call God ultimately faithful. He is faithfulness and we see that tangibly, we

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see the evidence of that, of what He said He's going to do, He is now doing. So the

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challenge as we go through the mighty angel, the little scroll, the two witnesses is a

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mirror on how are we going to be faithful. So let's pick it up. In Revelation 10, we

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have 11 verses to break through. So Revelation chapter 10, starting with verse 1. Then I

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saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow

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over his head and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had

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a little scroll in his hand and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on

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the land and called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he called out the

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seven thunder sounded, and when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write,

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but I heard a voice in heaven saying, seal up what the seven thunders have said and do

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not write it down. And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land raised his

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right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven

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and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, and there

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would be no more delay. But that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh

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angel. The mystery of God would be fulfilled just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

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Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me saying, go, take the scroll that is

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open and in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. So I went to the

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angel and told him to give me the little scroll and he said to me, take and eat it. It will

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make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. And I took the

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little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth.

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When I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter and I was told, you must again prophesy about

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many peoples and nations and languages and kings. So very strange. We see for the first

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time interaction between the one having the dream, the revelation, and the characters in

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the revelation. We see this interaction and the angel first is described as mighty. There's

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no other way to say it. One foot on all the sea, one foot on all the land symbolizing

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God's sovereignty and his control and his faithfulness, remember that word, over all

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creation. The rainbow around his head points to God's covenant. His covenant faithfulness

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going all the way back. We see the rainbow as God's covenant in one story in the Old

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Testament. Noah's Ark, right? And so we see the start of that covenant language with Noah

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throughout the scriptures and we see that this represents Christ's ultimate control

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over history even in the midst of judgment. What in the world does that look like? It

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looks like if you are the parent not disciplining the child. You're the other parent. Sometimes

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that's a hard place to be. That if you and your spouse, you are disciplining the child

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whether time out or spanking or whatever and you're the other one. Sometimes it can be

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heart wrenching. Because I remember we had one of our sons, we won't say it, and actually

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our Dalmatian was good at it too where they tried to in conflict or discipline tried to

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pin us against each other, my wife and I. Yes, the Dalmatian could do that too. But

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understand that you have to remain faithful to your spouse in the midst of that. That

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what would that look like if while, let's say I was disciplining, Carrie was saying

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no everything is okay you don't deserve that. That would be undermining. There would be

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a lack of faithfulness and you would be giving a very mixed message to your children. That

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really could make a mess of things. But understand that Jesus while God is judging the world,

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that there is this understanding that Jesus' God's sovereignty is over all of this. It's

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a weird place for us to be. Like why can't God just fix everything? Why does there need

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to be these judgments? We're a little over halfway and I know we're all like spent on

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revelation and I get it, I'm one of them. But understand that these are judgments, these

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are righteous judgments of the only faithful being ever in creation saying one thing and

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doing the same thing. There's a consistency in this judgment. There is a love in this

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judgment. It's hard to see but it's there and it's hard to see because we in some ways

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believe ourselves not deserve it if something's so bad. My sin was little sins this week.

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It wasn't big ones. Like I didn't kill people. Yeah I trolled people online and said some

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really awful things but I didn't kill anybody. We don't hold the scales of sin. One person

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does and we've already seen it in the beginning parts of the book of Revelation. So there's

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this weird tension that Christ's ultimate control, love and sovereignty is present even

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in the midst of judgment. So the little scroll, the little scroll that the angel gives to

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John represents God's word. Specifically one thing and it's very specific to kind of slice

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through the onion a little bit. What John is being commissioned to speak is very tasteful

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and very wonderful to the lips but very sour in his stomach. For lunch and a conversation

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with Pastor Jim, what do we think those are? What is sweet to the mouth but sour in the

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stomach when it comes to what John now has to do with it? Anybody? Oh so we're in the

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parking lot. That was good but we're not in the restaurant yet. Oh okay. We've left Matt

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in the parking lot. Jeremiah and I are now at the host stand. Well now we're back in

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the car. Let's start with what's sweet because you guys both went to what's sour in your

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stomach. That's probably a conversation for both of us later but what? Yes honey. Okay

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but that's what does honey represent? The sweetness of? Oh close. Closer. Thank you.

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Salvation. Who got it? Very good. Salvation. So you got water or the drink of your choice.

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You haven't gotten the food yet. Take it from the other side. So salvation is sweet. What

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is sour? Where are we in the book of Revelation? The judgment. Close. Salvation. The sweetness

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of salvation that God loves you. Put your faith in Christ. The sins of the past. The

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sins that are. The sins that will be. Christ's blood shed for you and for me. You can have

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everlasting life in the person of Jesus. Sweet like honey. Sour is if you don't. And there's

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a void there. There's an emptiness. No wonder it's bitter. It's the dual nature of the gospel.

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It's the message of salvation to all believers but the part that we really don't like or

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we like too much the judgment of the unrepentant heart. There are some of us today that cannot

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fathom that there are people that we know in hell. And so we struggle with it. I know

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for a lot of you in this room you struggle with it specifically. And for some reason

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you whip your back that you should have done more. And again you can't go back but you

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can go forward with the fervor of the gospel in your life and the way you engage people.

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But notice the dual nature of that. That the salvation is sweet but the judgment is bitter.

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So what should that be? That should be a call for all of us. For all of the people we know

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in our life that are unrepentant. The people that God puts in our path to give them the

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sweet message of salvation. And so John is then commanded to prophesy again reinforcing

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the call to the church to proclaim the gospel despite the opposition in history. Despite

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the opposition of today or tomorrow or whatever opposition the church comes up with. We already

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know the gates of hell cannot overtake the church but we are to proclaim the gospel.

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And so what does this mean for us? How do we take these first 11 verses and apply it

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to our heart? It's actually pretty simple. Kind of. We are called to proclaim God's word

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even when it's difficult or bitter. The message of judgment and salvation is both urgent and

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necessary. We cannot shy away from declaring the full counsel of God. And that counsel,

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that love, right? That God is that person that hears you and sees you and knows you

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and wants the best for your life. You, believer, you, Christian can speak that into somebody

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else's life. And what do we call that? We call that witnessing. We call that evangelism.

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Right? In our church today, in our little Ileana bubble, right? We can believe that,

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well, we can evangelize and tell people about Jesus to people that already know Jesus. That's

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not evangelism. That's discipleship. It was the very first sermon I gave at this church

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January of 2018 that we do a real bad job of understanding what evangelism actually

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is. Evangelism isn't me witnessing to Julie Robertson because I know Julie already believes

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in Jesus. Not that it's a waste. We can have good discipleship. We can go deeper in Scripture

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together. We can grow in the Lord. But she's already saved. It's finding the unrepented.

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It's finding the lost and speaking words of hope. So we have these then two witnesses

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on the scene. We're going to jump a little bit between two sets of verses. We're going

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to go 3 to 7, then 11 through 13 of chapter 11. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses.

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And they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees

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and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm

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them, fire pours out of their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this

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is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky that no rain may

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fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn

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them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as desired.

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And when they have finished their testimony, the beasts that rise from the bottomless pit

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will make war on them and conquer them and kill them. Wow. Okay. But after the 3 1 2

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days, a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet. The great

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fear fell on those who saw them and they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come

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up here. And they went up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies watched them. And at the

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hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell. 7,000 people were killed

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in the earthquake and the rest were terrified and gave glory to God of heaven, to the God

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of heaven. So that's some intense witnessing, isn't it? I know I've gone on to kind of

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evangelistic journeys. I've done some street evangelism. I remember my very first time

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going to the parking lot of Larkin High School in Elgin, Illinois. My supervisor dropped

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me off to witness about 10 feet from the group of kids. I was in my Judson Polo in my cargo

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pants and they were not about that. And they pretty much cursed me out and said, go back

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to the church. There was a part of me that wished I could breathe bowls of fire out of

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my mouth and earthquakes and smite all of them. But that's not good ministry. That's

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not a good pastorate, right? And I remember I sat on the stairs pretty dejected and my

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supervisor who had peeled out of the parking lot after he pretty much pushed me out of

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his car came back and said, do you want to know why that nothing happened there? And

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I was like, because they're possessed. And he said no. He said because they smelled your

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agenda from a mile away. And that opened my eyes to ministry. That opened my eyes to the

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understanding that if we have this agenda to make people different than us, to be exactly

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like us, to serve the Jesus that we serve, I think we're doing it wrong. That it's Jesus,

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unadulterated, unfiltered Jesus, not Jim's version of Jesus. The power of testimony is

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to show where God and Christ has worked in Jim's life. That's not going to be the same

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as in someone else's life. That God is going to meet them and going to call them and going

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to regenerate their heart in different ways. It's not the only prescribed formula of evangelism

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is confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised him from the

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dead. It's not. You better know, Lord, it's day 19. No. No, that's important. Don't get

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me wrong, our confessions deepen our faith, but for salvation, it wasn't whatever polo

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shirt cargo pants Jim had for them. There's a relational component to this. But understand

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where we are is the end. You and I are in the here and now. We're not at the end. Oh,

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I don't know. All these things in the political realm, all of the earthquakes, all of the

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fires. You know, pastor, I think we're in the end times. And if that brings you to a

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fervor in your evangelism and you want to be like McDonald's, 99 billion people evangelized

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and served, fantastic. If you're doing that to pinpoint the day and time that you will

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be gone and Christ will come down, I'm not going to follow that with you. I'll listen,

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but I will challenge you. The fervor of that should lead to evangelism. Not sitting up

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here perched going, yes, the unrepentant will get theirs. That is not what we see.

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So these witnesses are at the end. Almost like the final attempt of evangelism and witness

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has been given to John. John is now giving it to us. We need to carry that out. The two

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witnesses symbolize the church. The church is a prophetic community. They are often compared

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to Moses and Elijah who represent the law and the prophets. Their testimony period is

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a 1260 days which refers symbolically to the church's witness in the world during the age

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between Christ's ascension and his return. Now, symbolizes, not actual data. Okay? So,

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Jeremiah, after Christ ascended, what was 1260 days? Ready, go. Exactly. Yeah, and so

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understand we have no idea, though Jeremiah's guess is a lot closer than mine would be,

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and you all know that. But understand it symbolizes that there is a time period. I liken that

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to when you have to give your kids timeouts, when timeouts actually work. We're getting

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to a point where we put our boys in timeout and they're like, cool. You're like, that

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was a swing and a miss. How can I make this timeout hurt? You'll do timeout upside down.

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No, you can't do that. But understand that there is a time period that we set. Have

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Alexa set a timer for 20 minutes. You have been set for 20 minutes in your timeout. This

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is a set time. There is a set time. When we get too caught up in, we're there, we're at

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the day. You can't figure it out. There is no formula to figure it out. What is being

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taught to us is that God has set a time. Belgian Confession, the last article, until the elect

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is complete, Christ will come back. There's no numeric date. There's no numeric algorithm.

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AI can't predict this, but there is a set time. Don't get caught up in the start or

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the end. Be in the now. The fervor for evangelism is in the now. One thing we have to see from

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the witnesses is they have power and they have power and persecution. They're given

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divine power to perform miracles, but they also are killed by the beast from the abyss.

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One of the things that this brings out to us is in our evangelism, friends, we will

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have successes, we will have failures, and for some of us, we may actually pay the ultimate

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price of our lives. What else we can pull from that symbol is that there is persecution

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in the church, but the church endures. Even with a world hostile to the church, hostile

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to the gospel, the church will endure. Three and a half days later, these witnesses are

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resurrected symbolizing the vindication of God's people in the end times. Their ascension

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into heaven foreshadows the final resurrection of believers, pointing to the ultimate victory

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of Christ and His church. So what does it mean to be a faithful witness in a hostile

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world? Our application should be we should be prepared to witness for Christ, knowing

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that the world may oppose us, yet we take comfort in knowing that our suffering will

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lead to triumph in Christ. Yet for a lot of us, we get hung up with, they're going to

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reject my words. I hope you burn. We believe that. We struggle with that. That's a pride.

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That is not our call. Clearly, it is not our call of when the burning is going to happen,

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but understand that those that are unrepentant, that is where they will end. So what does

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this mean? What does this mean as we go to the temple? We go to this understanding of

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the temple, of the church, the body of Christ. The temple is going to be brought about, which

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temple symbolizes the bride of Christ, the church, us. What does it mean in the beginning

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of Revelation when it comes to the temple and the measuring of God's people? The first

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two verses. Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, rise and measure

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the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the

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court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations and they

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will trample the holy city for 42 months. This is a weird little curve ball. Now we

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have a tape measure or this rod. Now we have to measure all those that are really into

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numbers. You guys love this, but understanding that measuring the temple means something.

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It represents the spiritual protection of God's people. The inner sanctuary where the

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true worshipers are, are measured and protected while the outer court is given over to the

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nations for trampling, symbolizing the end, symbolizing the church's suffering in the

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world, but God's ultimate preservation of the church. Guys, we've hit this almost every

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week and we should be so comforted in the fact that he's gone above and beyond to protect

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his church that it should cause that evangelistic thrust to really be there. That we should

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be able to put that in high octane to evangelize the word of God. Though God's people face

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trials they are spiritually secure in Christ. This is a promise of God's faithfulness to

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his church even in the midst of tribulation. Now, pause two minutes. Over the last six,

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seven years at Munster Church we've seen a lot of grace. We've seen a lot of God's

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providing. He's not only provided people, he's providing funds, he's providing ideas,

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he's providing visions for the future, he's providing a conversation that is very different

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from what this church has gone through in the past of we may close. And that's all well

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and good. That God is clearly doing the work. Three things I always remind you, stay excited,

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stay humble, slightly terrified. Now you know why I say that. But understand that it's not

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about that. We have been protected from the gates of hell that have tried from outside

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forces to come in. And we will continue through prayer, supplication, fellowship, worship,

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instruction, evangelism, all of those things to continue bringing the message outward.

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But what can still decimate this church? Pride, gossip, talking, drawing lines in the sand,

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divisions in the church. Let us not get so caught up in our own ideas, our own opinions,

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our own desires, our own pound of flesh with brothers and sisters in the church. Free yourself

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from that. Little sidebar for some of you, stay off Facebook for the next three weeks.

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You may find joy and life in your soul instead of division and anger. Because one thing we

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can do is we can decimate a church from the inside out. We are always one step away from

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being whitewashed tombs in the church of God. So understand that God is preserving his people

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inside and outside the church, but in the end the call is for salvation. The measuring

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echoes of Ezekiel 40 where God measures the temple as a sign of his presence and his protection

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over his people. It also anticipates Revelation 21 where the new Jerusalem is being measured,

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signifying the eternal security of God's people. So even in times of trial and judgment,

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how do we walk from this? Even in times of trial and judgment, God knows and protects

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his people. He must trust in his sovereignty and his faithfulness even when facing persecution

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or hardship. And here's the rub. For a lot of us we look at what is outside coming in.

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Let me flip that this week as we come to the table next week. How many of you are doing

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the persecuting and creating the hardship for other believers? Because it's all. Yeah,

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we have God's sovereignty, his protection. Hallelujah, this is great, but how is Satan

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working in your life? Pastor, who are you to ask me that question? Well, you just said

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it, I'm your pastor. I also ask that of myself. That though I thank God for his divine protection

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over this church, though sometimes it's hard, how are we bringing in the division, the evil,

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the sin from the inside out? Because ultimately it will all be judged. Revelation 11, 13,

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14, we started with faithfulness, we will end with faithfulness. And at the hour there

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was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed

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in the earthquake and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second

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woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is soon to come. The resurrection and the ascension

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of the two witnesses followed by the earthquake is acknowledgement of something that we cannot

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forget. And it's really hard in this sermon series that this, this, all of this is actually

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for God's glory. Now, a bunch of you don't like that. A statistic I could easily make

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up is that 17% of us go, this is for God's glory? What about the goodness of the honey?

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What about the sweetness of salvation? What about all of the new life in Christ? What

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about the baptisms and the professions and the ministry and the trunker treats and the

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candy and all of these things? What about all the good things? How is this the glory

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of God? Because this is exactly what he said he was going to do. You guys answered it in

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the beginning. What is faithfulness? Faithfulness is staying the course. Faithfulness is being

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faithful in the moment and being complete, being complete in the process, being complete

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in whatever it is, being faithful to the team, faithful to the cause, faithful to the spouse,

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faithful to the job, faithful to the whatever. This is God being faithful with his church.

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This is God being faithful to the world. The seventh trumpet is about to sound, heralding

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the final judgment and the full establishment of Christ's kingdom. Paul reminds us in 2

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Corinthians 4, our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that

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far outweighs them all. The suffering of the witnesses leads to the proclamation of God's

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glory reminding us that our present suffering leads to future glory in Christ. So how do

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we do that with the Rinesma family this morning? How do we do that with those families that

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are hurting, with the churrillas, with whoever is coming to your mind that are going through

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suffering and pain, maybe not persecution in a way that we think, but pain and suffering?

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Friends we must hold fast to our faith knowing that our suffering is temporary and the results

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will be eternal glory. This should motivate us to be bold witnesses and endure hardships

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with hope as Christ's victory is assured. But in the church it's the power of presence.

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It's the power of understanding that no matter what I got going on in my life, no matter

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what conflicts I may have with another person in the church, another person in another row,

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that in times of hardship we rally around our people. We shepherd our people, we love

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our people, we come together in prayer and supplication. When someone is dying the divisions

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of the world don't matter. All that matters is the peace and comfort of Christ. So friends

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we're about to round third. That final judgment is coming so what are we going to do with

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it? Let's take away with these because I think we've done enough today. The first is proclaim

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the full counsel of God's word. As Munster Church we are called to proclaim both the sweetness

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and bitterness of God's word, the message of salvation for the believer and the reality

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of judgment for the unrepentant heart. Do not shrink back from sharing the gospel in

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its fullness. Number two, be faithful witnesses despite opposition. Like the two witnesses

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we are called to stand firm and are witness to Christ even in the face of persecution.

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God will vindicate his people in his time. Let this truth embolden us to live as courageous

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witnesses with the love of Christ my ad, my edit this morning. Third, trust in God's protection

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amid suffering. Though we may experience hardship, persecution, and suffering in the world, God's

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spiritual protection is always with his people. We are eternally secure in Christ. This should

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bring peace and assurance even in life's most difficult moments. And finally, endure with

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hope. Endure with the hope of Christ's final victory. The ultimate triumph of the witnesses

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and the resurrection points us to the final victory we have in Christ. Whatever trials

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we endure, they are temporary and Christ's kingdom will prevail. Let this hope strengthen

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us in our evangelism and our Christian walk. Let's pray.