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Thank you, worship team, and good morning, everyone.

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Thank you, both of you.

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Let's try it again.

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Good morning, everyone.

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Hey, thank you.

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I'm glad you're out there.

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We come now to our study of God's Word, and this morning we're going to pick up the theme

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that we were talking about last week in times like these.

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And think today, how should we then live, if in fact these are the last days?

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To get to that subject, though, I want to tell you a story about a driver, a young man

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who was wearing a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a YSL tie.

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Sounds like the guy you saw out there in the lobby this morning, right?

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He leans out the window and he asks the rancher, if I tell you exactly how many cows and calves

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you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?

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The rancher looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, and he looks at his peacefully grazing

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herd and he calmly answers, well, sure, why not?

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The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to a singular

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Razor V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the internet where he calls up a GPS satellite

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to get an exact fix on his location, which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that

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scans the area in an ultra-high resolution photo.

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The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image

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processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

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Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image had been processed

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and the data stored.

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He then accesses a Microsoft database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email

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on his BlackBerry, and after a few minutes, receives a response.

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Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his high-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet

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printer.

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And finally, turns to the rancher and says, you have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.

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To which the rancher said, that's right.

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Well, I guess you can take one of my calves.

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And so he watches as this young man selects one of the animals and looks rather amused,

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actually, as the young man stuffs the animal into the trunk of his car.

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Then the rancher says to the young man, hey, if I tell you what you do for a living, can

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you give me back my calf?

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The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, okay, why not?

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The rancher says, you're a consultant.

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Wow, that's correct, said the young man.

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How did you guess that?

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Oh, said the rancher, no guessing required.

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You showed up here even though nobody called you.

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You want to get paid for an answer I already knew to a question I never asked.

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You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are.

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And you don't know a thing about cows.

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This is a herd of sheep.

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Now give me back my dog.

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Well, you know, we live at a point in history in which a lot of people think themselves

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to be very smart and advanced and sophisticated and technologically savvy.

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But the sad fact is they are also ignorant of the most important things, including the

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times we live in.

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As we saw in our study from 1 Timothy chapter 3 last week, hello Dan, it's good to see you.

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I saw you last week but I didn't get a chance to say hello.

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Good to have Pastor Lagase back with us after some kind of difficult heart surgery.

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Last week we started in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and we talked about this theme in times

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like these.

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We asked the question, is it the last days, to which we absolutely emphatically said what?

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Yes, these are the last days and we know that from the Bible because the Bible says all

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of the time from the first coming of Christ unto the second coming of Christ is the last

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days.

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And what we know at this point is that the last days are 2,000 years at least in length.

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But we also said that as Paul writes these words in chapter 3, he seems to be pointing

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ahead to something else.

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For Paul himself was already living in the last days.

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But he seems to be pointing ahead.

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He doesn't know how far ahead.

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It could be in Timothy's lifetime.

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It could be 2,000 years.

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But he says in times ahead, things are going to get really tough.

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He says in the last days, times will be terrible.

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The word literally means hard to deal with.

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And as we saw last week, that word terrible is found only one other time in the New Testament.

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And that's in the Gospels where it describes the demonized men of Gadara.

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And so the use of that term here suggests that the end times, that is the last days

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of the last days, will be times that will be demonically energized.

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And because of that, society is going to go through a terrible decay.

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In 18 descriptives, he talks about that.

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And he says that basically good is going to become evil in the minds of people and what's

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evil is going to become their value, what is good.

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It's going to be a tough time to be alive in the last days of the last days.

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And he says the religion of the time will go along with this.

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He says people will be religious.

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They'll have many forms of spirituality.

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They will be on many journeys to know the God of their choice.

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But the fact is that they will not come to know the power of God because they reject

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that knowledge.

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They're looking for spirituality in all of the wrong places.

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I believe that we are seeing the last days of the last days develop before our very eyes.

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I told one man in the last service as we were chatting afterward that when I was a child

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or a young man, I knew these things would come to pass.

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But at that time I had no idea how these things would come to pass because the world that

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was then is so different than what is described here.

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And in other texts of prophetic scripture.

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But now I can see how things can happen.

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We see a world that politically is being set up for a global system.

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We see a world that is being set up for a global economic system as well.

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Does it alarm you when people in Washington who are supposed to know these things do not

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understand what's happening in our economy?

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And they seem to be poking into the dark to try to figure out what to do to rescue the

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dollar, rescue the American economic system, to rescue what's left of it.

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And very prone to turn it seems towards socialistic kinds of ideas.

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Our world is being set up religiously as well.

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The last week or so there was a meeting sponsored by the United Nations at which they were talking

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about how to get the religions of the world on the same page.

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In addition to that, Breitbart.com, a news source, talked yesterday about a website that

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was launched on Friday, two days ago, with the backing of Technology Industry and Hollywood

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Elite.

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It's urging people worldwide to help craft a framework for harmony between all religions.

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There's a scholar that is heading this up.

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It includes people like Larry Page and Sergey Brin, known here in the Silicon Valley, and

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Hollywood Elite like Forrest Whitaker and Cameron Diaz.

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They're pouring a lot of money into this effort.

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The chief task of our time, they say, on the website, is to build a global society where

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people of all persuasions can live together in peace and harmony.

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Well that sounds really good, because we do need peace and harmony in the world.

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The problem is they're trying to find a religious common denominator to achieve this, which

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will exclude the claims of biblical Christianity.

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It must, by the very nature of what biblical Christianity is, an exclusive message that

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Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, that the Bible is the word of God, and so

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forth.

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But there is this search on for a religion that can melt the differences between the

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major religious groups and bring peace and harmony.

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How do we respond to times like these?

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We could do what Elijah did.

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He went to a cave.

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He pulled it in on himself basically, and he said, it's enough.

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I'm ready to die.

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God come and get me.

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I can't take it anymore.

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And all of us at times, when we're going through difficult things, feel that way.

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It's enough.

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It's enough.

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But the Apostle Paul points Timothy and us in a different direction, as he describes

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in the times like we live in.

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He says there are some things that we ought to do.

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Here's how a Christian ought to live in times like these.

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First Paul seems to say this to us, follow faithful examples.

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Look at verse 10 of 2 Timothy 3.

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You, however, Timothy, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience,

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love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings.

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What kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra?

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Go back to Acts chapters 13 and 14.

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You read about this.

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There were mobs who were after Paul's life in the city of Lystra, which was Timothy's

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hometown, you know.

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They actually stoned him to death and dragged his body out of the city, and God miraculously

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raised Paul from the dead.

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Those were the kinds of things that he suffered, and he points toward them, the persecutions

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I endured, he says.

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Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

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We all need models in our lives.

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Timothy, Paul was certain, was going to go through tough times, and he says, I want you

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to remember the model that I've set before you, Timothy.

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They were close, you know.

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Paul had led Timothy to Christ.

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He says, remember what I've gone through.

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You know all about me.

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Follow me.

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The word no here in the first sentence, however you know, you follow near me, is the idea.

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You know what my life has been like.

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I want to ask you, who are your models when you go through tough times?

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Who are the people that you look to and say, boy, if they can do it, I can do it?

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We all have to have models.

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If you're passing through a tough time today and you don't know who's gone through a tougher

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time, and you say, I'm ready, it's enough.

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I've had it.

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Perhaps the guy that I'm going to talk to you about on the screen here in this video

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can be an example for you in your tough times.

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Well now let me invite a Munate parish

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rest.

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He needs to enjoy your life.

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Even certain things are still present in your life

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that don't make sense or form the rules.

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They're not right there.

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O heavenly salvation!

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Quicken your 등. Ti com giveth praise!

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Even stronger than rain

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To be at your side

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All my fears and failures

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I feel my life again

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I give my life to follow

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Everything I believe in

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Now I surrender

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I surrender

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I surrender

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My God is mighty to save

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He is mighty to save

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The next time you think you've got it tough, think about Nick.

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Tough times. We all need models.

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The idea in the word know also is to trace out.

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Do any of you remember tracing paper?

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Any of you old enough to remember that?

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We'd have to get a tablet for school that was a tablet of paper that was very thin, almost onion skin type paper.

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And we would use it for tracing.

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The idea in the word know or follow after is trace the outline, Timothy, of my life into your life.

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We all need those people in our lives

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around whom we can trace the outline of their faith and their endurance

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and what they've been through and because they can do it, we can do it.

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When times are tough, follow godly examples.

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Secondly, Paul goes on to say, when times are tough, put Christ at the core of your life.

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Look at the next couple of verses in chapter 3.

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He says, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

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while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

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A Christ-centered life.

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Have any of you ever ridden on a Segway?

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Do you know what a Segway is?

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One of those personal transportation things.

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I've never been on one myself.

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They look like the perfect adult toy to me.

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I think they're rather expensive though, like most adult toys.

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How is it that those things are able to remain stable and upright?

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Why don't you fall over when you step up on it?

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They only have two wheels.

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Well, the answer is in their high-tech balancing system,

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which is a series of high-tech gyroscopes.

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Because at the core of those machines, they have the gyroscopes that keep it oriented.

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You and I need Jesus Christ at the core of our lives in tough times,

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so that we remain oriented when the pressure comes against us.

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How do we remain stable?

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How do we remain upright and not be crushed by times like these?

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The answer is Jesus Christ.

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Living godly in Jesus Christ, God-centered in Jesus Christ.

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That brings persecution, but Jesus Christ keeps us stable and secure in the midst of hard times.

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He keeps your life oriented when your life is under pressure.

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That is true of people everywhere.

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And today I want to show you a brief clip that will highlight how other believers around the world

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who are living Christ-centered lives are under pressure.

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I want you to be encouraged by the example that they set for us

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as we move into a period of time that is going to become increasingly difficult

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for people like you and me, who place Jesus Christ at the core of our lives.

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Let's remember, along with thousands of other churches around the world this month,

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the persecuted church in this clip from Voice of the Martyrs.

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Imagine, Islamic soldiers force your ten-year-old son to gather wood for a fire.

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The soldiers pressure him to convert to Islam.

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When he refuses, he is thrown on the burning wood he collected and left to die.

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They told me I would be released if I became a Muslim.

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I told them that was not possible. I am a Christian, so they threw me on the fire.

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Your son escapes, but the scars remain a reminder of his sacrifice.

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Imagine, your teenage daughter goes to Bible camp.

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On the second day, the students are attacked.

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One of the attackers secures her hand behind her back,

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while another holds a piece of broken glass to her stomach.

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She is told to deny Christ.

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I did not answer him, so he pressed the glass harder against me.

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Do you believe your God can help you, he asks?

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Dripped with fear, she cries out, Help me, Lord, I do not want to deny you.

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Imagine, your pastor has refused to register his church with the governor.

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During the service, he is dragged from the church and beaten by the local police.

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When the officers find a Bible hidden in his shirt, he is beaten with it.

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After returning home, I felt pain all over my body.

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It was almost numb at the beginning, but later it became so painful that I could not sleep.

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It is the fifth time he has been arrested.

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If he is caught again, the police say they will kill him.

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Every day, thousands of Christians are persecuted for their faith.

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Hundreds are martyred, about one every three minutes.

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They are not heroes or statistics, they are families.

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In over 40 nations around the globe, our family is assaulted for their testimony of Jesus Christ.

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In most instances, the persecution could have been averted if they had simply denied Christ.

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But they didn't, and they won't.

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In Sudan, an Islamic army set on jihad or holy war has systematically targeted Christians.

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Death and suffering can be seen throughout the countryside.

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Countless Christians are being displaced within their own country.

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Fleeing from persecution, they have lost everything, often arriving at refugee camps with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

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In spite of heavy persecution, the church in Sudan continues growing at astonishing rates.

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Many of the believers bear the scars of their faith, but they also bear a testimony to God's faithfulness.

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Over 500 churches have been destroyed in Indonesia.

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On the island of Ambon, Christians have been massacred in a so-called religious cleansing by radical Muslims.

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Facing increased persecution, pastors in Jakarta have encouraged their congregations to stand firm,

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confident that their suffering is a prayer to the coming revival.

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With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, many have hailed its defeat.

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But Christians in North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, or China would disagree.

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Hmong villagers have been imprisoned in Vietnam and Laos after converting to Christianity.

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Some have had boiling water poured down their throats for simply possessing a Bible in their own language.

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The Hmong tribe is the largest in Southeast Asia, numbering 10 million.

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Meeting secretly in homes, more than 2 million have recently committed their lives to Christ.

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The persecution facing our brothers and sisters is not a human tragedy.

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It's a spiritual reality facing the body of Christ.

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We may not be able to stop the attacks, but we can ease their pain.

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Through prayer, encouragement, and practical assistance, we can fellowship in their suffering.

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We can show them that they are not forgotten.

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It's hard to ignore their pain after you hear their crying.

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When we put Jesus Christ at the core of our lives, He's the one who gives us the strength to endure hard times.

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Whatever may come to us in the last days, when He's at the core, He will keep us stable and secure.

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Now the third thing that Paul says to Timothy in chapter 2,

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and to all of us who are living in times like these, and that is to continue, continue in the Holy Scriptures.

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Look at verse 14 of chapter 3 where he says,

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But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,

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because you know those from whom you have been sent.

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And as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.

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And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures,

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which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

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All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,

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so that the man of God may be thoroughly, what?

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Equipped for every good work.

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Continue in the Holy Scriptures.

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This book is unique among all the books of the world,

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because it is the God-breathed Word of the living God Himself.

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How many of you wives wish your husbands would talk to you more about what they're thinking?

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That's two or three of you.

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And I know it represents about 100%.

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You know what your husbands are thinking?

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Why doesn't she read my mind?

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I said it 15 years ago.

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I haven't changed it.

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Why should I say it again?

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Husbands, our wives can't read our minds.

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No one can read your mind, and no one can read the mind of God either.

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In order for your thoughts or my thoughts to be known, we have to articulate them.

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And to articulate them, we take a breath of air,

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and then we expel that air over our vocal cords, up through our mouth, through our teeth, our tongue, our mouth,

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over our vocal cords, up through our mouth, through our teeth, our tongue, our lips, and we form words.

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And those words become then the expression of our thoughts.

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We breathe them out.

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And that's what the Bible is.

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The words of the Bible are the very breath of God coming out, telling us His thoughts about us,

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and about the world, and about the last days.

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And Paul says Timothy continued in the Holy Scriptures,

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and he points to at least two blessings of the Holy Scriptures.

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In the first place he says, when you learn them, they will make you wise to salvation.

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Now Timothy had learned the Holy Scriptures from his mother and his grandmother.

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As a young boy, just a toddler, they began to teach him the Scriptures,

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so that when the Apostle Paul came to his city and proclaimed Jesus as the Jewish Messiah,

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this young Jewish boy, this young man by this time, understood how Jesus fit into the Old Testament and was the fulfillment of it.

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And he placed his faith in Christ.

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He had learned the Scriptures, and they made him wise to salvation.

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Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by what?

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The Word of God.

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It is so important to teach our children the things of God.

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I've heard parents say, I don't want to push religion on my kids.

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I want to leave them neutral so that they can grow up and learn for themselves.

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How foolish is that?

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Because it is when a child's heart is young that it's pliable.

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And God instructs us to tell our children the Scriptures when they're young.

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How important it is that they be in Sunday school, how important it is they be in student ministries,

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where they're hearing the Word of God, but that's not enough.

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It has to be in the home too.

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And that's where Timothy heard it.

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But the second blessing of the Holy Scriptures is this.

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When you continue in them, they equip you for every demand.

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We do not know what will be demanded of us in times like these.

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We don't know what we're heading into.

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But most of us have the feeling something's coming. Am I right?

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The Holy Scriptures, if you continue in them, will prepare you for whatever demand comes upon you.

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This word equip means to put into order.

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It is a word that is used in Hebrews of the preparation of Jesus' body in the womb of Mary.

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When the Messiah says, a body you have equipped for me, you have prepared for me.

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You and I are facing tough days ahead, I believe this.

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And it is the Holy Scriptures that will prepare us for what is coming.

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And so how do you live in times like these? Continue in the Holy Scriptures.

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Paul then goes on to point us in yet another direction.

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As he begins chapter 4, he says,

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In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,

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and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge.

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And then he lays it out. But notice what he does here.

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He says, Timothy, tough days are coming. Remember what's coming.

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Besides the tough days. What's coming, Paul?

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Number one, the appearing of Christ.

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This word appearing was used in those Roman days of those times when the emperor would visit a city.

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And the retinue would come and say, the emperor is here, the emperor of Rome.

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And he would enter the city for everyone to see him.

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The word literally means the outshining.

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The apostle Paul points us to the coming of Christ.

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That there is a day coming when he will appear.

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You see the tough times ahead are not the end of the story.

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They're the transition to something that's far better, which will be brought by the appearing of Christ.

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Secondly, he says, what's coming is the kingdom of Christ.

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You see, when Christ comes, he eventually will establish his kingdom on the earth.

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And then we will have the harmony and peace that the world longs for now and looks for, but all in the wrong places.

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For only Jesus Christ can bring that kingdom of harmony and peace to the world.

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When you go through tough times, remember Jesus is coming and when he comes, he's going to bring his kingdom.

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And thirdly, when he comes, he's going to bring judgment.

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The judgment of Christ is ahead.

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And when you suffer at the hands of evil people, remember this is not the end.

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They must one day stand before Jesus Christ and give account of themselves for what they do to his people.

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So when you pass through tough times and you wonder how do I live in times like these, remember what's ahead besides the tough times.

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The appearing of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, the judgment of Christ.

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And because of that, you, like Paul, like Timothy, can endure the tough times.

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That brings me to the last thing I want to talk about as we move into chapter 4 and verse 2.

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Where the apostle says in essence here, in times like these, what you need to do is to carry out your God-assigned duties.

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Now what he's saying here is to Timothy, who's a pastor, but it applies to all of us.

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Notice what he says, I give you this charge. Here are your duties.

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Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season.

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Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.

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For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

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Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number.

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Notice that struck me last night as I was reading it again.

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A great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

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Isn't itching ears kind of makes you want to do this, doesn't it?

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What their itching ears want to hear.

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They will turn away, they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside as a consequence to myths, false Gospels, false ideas,

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mere myths and stories, the Gospel of prosperity, the Gospel of self-esteem, the Gospel of positive living.

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He's talking now about people in the professing church.

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And he's saying that in the last days what's going to happen is that many will turn away from sound doctrine.

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And they will go after all of the kinds of messages that make them feel good about themselves.

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So they can go away from church feeling happy.

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So that they can think positively about the world.

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And Paul says in those days I want you to remember that your God assigned duty is number one, number one to broadcast the Word of God.

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Preach it. Proclaim it. Get it out there.

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There used to be a day when people planted crops by broadcasting.

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You know what that means?

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You'd have a sack of grain and then you would put your hand in and you would throw it out.

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Later it became mechanized with little gadgets that you would pour it into a sack and then you would turn a handle

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and there would be a mechanism to scatter the grain in front of you.

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That was called broadcasting the seed.

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You and I wherever we go are to be broadcasting the seed of God's Word.

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He goes on to say, but you keep your head in all situations.

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He says here keep a clear mind. The word literally means be free from wine.

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Now it's intended metaphorically here but what's the meaning of it?

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Well wine elevates your mood.

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And if you drink too much of it, it will cause you to lose control of your mind. You won't think right.

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And so he says do not become intoxicated by this age.

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Do not get trapped into the ways of thinking that are part of the world system in the last days.

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Keep a clear mind.

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Think God's thoughts. That's our duty.

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Thirdly he says endure hardship. That is endure tough things. They're coming.

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And fourthly do the work of an evangelist. In other words tell the good news. Tell it.

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Folks we have the only good news the world has in times like these.

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You turn on the television you'll be depressed just listening to what's on television. Am I not right?

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The Bible, God's Word is the only good news there is in the world because it provides for release from the slavery to our hang ups and our habits.

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It provides for forgiveness of the guilt that weighs us down.

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It gives us a hope and a purpose for this life.

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It tells us that beyond this life there's a heaven to come. That's good news.

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It lifts our eyes above times like these.

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So he says tell others the good news. Tell them.

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And he says discharge the duties of your ministry. In other words keep your God assigned duties.

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God assigned duties. Carry them out.

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So how do you live in times like these in the last days of the last days?

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The apostle has just told us all how to live.

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We take we do well to take heed to it.

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There were ten young ladies who were assigned a job by the groom.

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He said I want you to take these torches that are soaked in oil and I want you to be ready when I come back because then I want you to light the torches and lead me in procession to where the bride is.

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And so they went out and the bridegroom was longer than they thought he was going to be.

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In fact they all fell asleep.

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And then someone said he's coming the bridegroom is here he's coming.

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And so they jumped up and five of the ten had thought to bring enough oil for their torches to last.

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And they lit the torches but five of them had not done that.

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And so they said to the other five give us oil so that we can join you.

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And they said we've only got enough for ourselves and they went on.

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Jesus told that story and it goes a little further but he concludes the story by this.

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He says be on the watch for you do not know the day or the hour that the bridegroom is coming.

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We don't know folks.

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And so we need to be busy about the duties God has given us.

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We need to be living our lives as God tells us to in times like these because he's coming and he may be coming very soon.

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Do you know him today as your Lord and Savior?

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And if you do are you living your life the way he tells you to in times like these?

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Because let me tell you it will make a difference when he appears how we live and whether we're ready.

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Beyond the alert he's coming. He's coming soon.

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Father I pray that this message will come into our hearts today to instruct us and to encourage us in tough times like these.

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We thank you that you are the one who has given us the promises and you are the one who will fulfill them when you bring your son.

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And he brings his kingdom to this earth.

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In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Amen.