WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

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Glory to God. There is a lot to be worried about

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in the world these days. It's always been that

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case. We just know things faster and more broadly

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nowadays. There's no need for me to list the

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things that are so troublesome. You know them.

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And we each have our concerns. Our minds are

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now fixed, or should be fixed, on what we just

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heard about the Judgment Day. You know, there's

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times when I know when I used to direct a choir.

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The gospel would be read, and at the end of the

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liturgy, honestly, I didn't remember what the

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gospel was. I was so preoccupied. I don't think

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that can be possible today. We're all going to

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remember those words that we heard Jesus say

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in the parable. We meditate today on a coming

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event that many, many people either don't know

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about, Or try very hard to forget. Even we kind

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of get distracted. It's meat fair. Meat fair

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Sunday. We don't call it judgment, last judgment

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Sunday. We say meat fair. We'd rather focus on

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that part. But we need to focus today, our attention,

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and all week, all week, on what the Lord said.

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Because the devil does everything he can to make

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sure that people either don't think about the

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coming judgment, or don't know about it, or have

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a false idea about it. The church is a place

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of judgment. The liturgy is a time of judgment.

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Not the kind of judgment that you and I do to

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people. We condemn them, we don't like this or

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that. Or the kind of judgment that we sometimes

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feel. Let's forget that kind of judgment today.

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The church is a place of judgment. Why? Because

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judgment is when God sets things right. He makes

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things to be the way they're supposed to be.

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This is why we sing at the liturgy. The Lord

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looses the fettered. The Lord... Makes wise the

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blind. The Lord sets aright the fallen. The Lord

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loves the righteous. He sets the prisoners free.

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He feeds the hungry. He raises the dead. He gives

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hearing to the deaf. All that the Lord said he

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was going to do in that fourth chapter of Luke

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when he picked up the reading from Isaiah. And

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he said, the Lord has anointed me to do those

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things. That's judgment from God. Judgment from

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God is setting everything right. The Lord shall

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be king unto eternity. Our God has understanding

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without measure. So don't think he doesn't know

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exactly what's in our heart. Great is our Lord,

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and great is his strength. And of his understanding,

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there is no measure. Chapter 25 of the Gospel

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of Matthew, which we just read from, that chapter

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concludes with this parable. Jesus was teaching

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to his disciples. He was teaching to those who

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were close to him. He was speaking to the inner

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circle. He wasn't looking for converts to warn

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them about the coming judgment. He was teaching

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to his disciples how to make things right. He

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didn't write an essay. He didn't submit an op

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-ed for the Jerusalem Post about social action.

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He wasn't advocating a government policy. We'd

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like the government to take care of these six

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things that we heard Jesus said to do. But Jesus

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didn't say to do that. He said for us to do them.

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What he did was he gave answers to the final

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exam of life ahead of time. He had only just

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finished the parables of the ten virgins, the

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wise five and the foolish five. And he had just

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finished the parable of the talents. A man gives...

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five talents to one, three to one, and one to

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another, and goes away. And when he comes back,

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in both stories, both stories, the master comes

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back and expects the servants to be ready. That's

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what Jesus is teaching about in this gospel.

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The servants are to be watching. The servants

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are to gain interest on the talents they were

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given. He expects a return on investment. Some

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visible sign that they're disciples. We're called

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his disciples. We call ourselves his servants.

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We come up to communion. We say, you hear, the

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servant of God, so and so, partakes. That's because

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we've been washed. We've been sanctified. We've

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been justified. We are members of the church

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called the body of Christ. which St. Peter says

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is the pillar and the ground of the truth. He

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is the vine. We are the branches. We sing we

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have seen the true light. We have received the

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heavenly kingdom. We're singing at the end of

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liturgy we have found the true faith because

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God has given us everything. Are we more loved

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because we've been given everything? Are we more

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loved than other people by God? No. Are we special?

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No. The Pharisee in the temple thought he was.

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The older brother in last week's parable thought

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he was. We're not loved more. God has given all

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this to us for a purpose, which is for us to

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do something. To bring His love, which is what

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justice and judgment is about, to the world.

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You can't do it unless you have it. This parable

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spells that out, what it looks like. Yes, we're

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taught that he's going to come again with glory.

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And all the angels and the hidden secrets of

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our hearts are going to be made clear to us and

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to everyone. And he will come with glory. And

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we'll be raised from the dead. Either the resurrection

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of life, as he says in chapter 5 of the Gospel

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of John, or the resurrection of judgment. It's

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our choice. We are taught that he will come again.

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And those that have done good, says Christ, will

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be on his right hand, the sheep. Those that have

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done evil, on the left. We have this knowledge,

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so we have hope, and we have understanding. We're

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reading this parable to prepare ourselves for

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Lent, which prepares ourselves for Pascha, which

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prepares ourselves for our own death and our

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own resurrection and entry into the kingdom.

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I hear this gospel, and I don't feel good about

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it. This is not a feel -good Sunday, where you

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hear a message and you feel, edified and comforted

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by the priest. What's it that Father Michael

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used to say? The person given the sermon should

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comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted.

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I'm the guy with the one talent. I need to fix

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that. That's what I get from this story. I'm

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the person that doesn't see Christ. in those

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miserable people that are the least of these

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my brethren. I'm the person that's lacking in

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love for my neighbor. Heck, probably lacking

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in love for my friends. Sure, I can bring my

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old clothes, tattered, to my close St. Vincent

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de Paul or Catholic charities. Actually, I have

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my wife take them for me. I don't even do that.

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I can bring canned foods to a food bank. Sure,

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I can read the Bible. I can fast during Lent.

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I can come to church every pre -sanctified. But

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I need to fix those other things in my heart

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that Jesus is expecting me to do. He's shown

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me mercy. So I have to show mercy to others.

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I have to show up. In person. It's interesting

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that in this parable, do you recall what those

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on the right hand and the left, the sheep said

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to Jesus? They were perplexed. They said, how

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is that? Lord, when did we see thee hungry, naked,

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and imprisoned? When did we see thee? We don't

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remember. We don't understand what you're talking

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about. Those on the left hand said the same thing.

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Basically saying, if we had known it was you,

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of course we would have done that. And the Lord

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will say to them on his right, what you have

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done for the least, you have done for me. It

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turns out that they fed clothed, visited, all

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those six things and more, and loved, not because

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they hoped to see or they saw Christ in a miserable

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person. We don't see them. They weren't motivated

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by fear of punishment of the judgment. Could

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it be, as I pondered on this parable, That we

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only become true sheep, true disciples of the

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Lord, the merciful Lord. Those on the right hand

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inheriting the kingdom of heaven. When tears

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of repentance flow from our eyes. When we have

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forgiven those that hate us and have hurt us.

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When we fall down in sorrow for our sins. When

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we fall down in joy because Christ's hand is

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upon our head, forgiving and comforting us? When

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the Lord sends his river of fire of love into

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our heart, could it only be then that we're true

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disciples? And then, lo and behold, what's amazing

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is that we become the presence of Christ to others

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because we have what we need from him. It's not

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so complicated. This gospel is not so complicated.

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What we need to do is not so complicated. It's

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easy to see the least of these, our brethren,

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isn't it? Right there, all the time. Father Alexander

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Schmemann says in his little homily on this,

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in his wonderful book, Great Lent, which I encourage

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all of you to read and read again. Christian

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love is the possible impossibility to see Christ

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in another person, whoever he is, and whom God,

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in his eternal and mysterious plan, has decided

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to introduce into my life, be it only for a few

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moments, not as an occasion for a good deed or

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an exercise in philanthropy, but as the beginning.

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of an eternal companionship in God himself. Remember,

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brothers and sisters, the judgment is God setting

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things right. He asks us to participate. If we're

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going to live a normal Christian life, we're

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going to start now. And then we're not afraid,

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but we say, Lord Jesus, come quickly.