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In the Old Testament we have words regarding the coming of the Lord to the earth.

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Even Daniel spoke of that.

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One of his visions, he saw that coming.

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But there is an aspect of our Lord's coming that was not revealed in the Old Testament.

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That He would come to the earth and would reign was revealed.

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But the fact that He would have a prior coming before that one to reign was not expressly

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stated in the Old Testament.

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That is why the Apostle Paul refers to it as a mystery.

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He says in 1 Corinthians 15, Behold, I show you a mystery.

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In other words, it is a truth that God had not revealed to prior generations, but which

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He has now disclosed to us in this age so that we might know of it.

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So that it might be our blessed hope that is the glorious appearing of the great God

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and our Savior Jesus Christ.

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In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 the Apostle gives us a long paragraph regarding that coming

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of Christ.

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It is there said that He will come and we will be caught up together with them in the

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clouds.

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It is that idea of being seized or snatched away that gives us the thought for this word

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rapture that we use to describe this first coming of our Savior at the end of the age.

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It is His coming for His own when He will seize or snatch away those who belong to Him.

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Now as I said a couple of weeks ago when we first talked about this subject, there are

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some who understand the coming of Christ for the church to occur essentially at the same

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time as His second coming.

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They believe that His coming for the church will take place after the tribulation, this

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time of judgment that we have looked at now for several weeks as we have studied Daniel

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on Sunday mornings.

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There are others who believe that the coming of the Lord for His church will occur at the

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midpoint of the tribulation after three and one half years, but before the great tribulation,

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at last three and one half years of intensified suffering in the world.

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The position however that I believe is most consistent with the literal interpretation

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of the Bible is that our Lord is coming before the seven year period even begins.

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And so I wanted to address this theme that we address every couple of years in our church

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as to why we believe Jesus must come before the tribulation period.

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Let me just review with you some of the things that we said the last time we were together

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around this theme.

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In the first place, the relationship of the church to the wrath of God would argue that

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our Lord must come before the tribulation period for the tribulation is a time when

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God's wrath will officially be poured out upon the earth and the church has already

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been delivered from the wrath of God.

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Our appointment, our destiny is not to wrath, but to salvation.

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Then we talked about the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians

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chapter 2.

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We saw that the Holy Spirit in his present restraining ministry must be taken out of

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the way first and then the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, can be revealed and he

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can perform his wicked works.

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And my argument is that the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way in his restraining

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ministry at the same time that the church is removed.

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For it is the presence of the church, God's people right now in the world that restrains

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evil.

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The Holy Spirit uses us as salt and light, as a hindrance to the progress, the plans

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of evil.

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One day we'll be taken out of the world, snatched away to be with our Lord and then

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the man of lawlessness can come full force.

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Satan's plans for him can be fulfilled.

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Then we saw that the tribulation is a time that is primarily Jewish in nature.

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None of the Old Testament or the New Testament passages that talk about the tribulation mention

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the church in relationship to it.

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The tribulation has to do with Israel, God's Old Testament people.

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It is called a time of Jacob's trouble in Jeremiah 30.

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It is the fulfillment of the 70th week of Daniel as we have seen in Daniel 9, 27.

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It is that final period of seven years that God laid out for his people Israel.

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And therefore we believe the church must be taken out of the way for God to fulfill his

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plan for Israel in the tribulation period.

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And then we looked at the fact that it's a principle of God's judgment, justice rather,

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to deliver his own before judgment.

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We suggested that that was the case with Noah, that it was the case with Lot and with Rahab.

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When God is going to pour out his wrath upon a people, that it is his principle to deliver

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his own before that time of judgment.

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Then we closed with the last time with saying that it is those of us who believe that his

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coming is before the tribulation who can honestly say we believe in the imminent return of the

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Lord Jesus Christ.

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Those who believe that there are certain things that have to come to pass yet before he can

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come, whether it be three and a half years of the tribulation or seven years of the tribulation,

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cannot honestly say that the Lord could come tonight.

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They can't honestly say that because there are things that must yet happen before he

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can come according to their scheme of things.

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We believe the Bible teaches that Jesus may come at any moment.

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There is nothing that could hinder him from returning this very evening if in fact that

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is the time that God has appointed.

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And so it is what is called the pre-tribulational rapture view that allows for the imminency

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of Christ's return.

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Now tonight I want to go on and talk about three or four other arguments, reasons why

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Jesus must come before the tribulation.

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Would you turn with me in your Bible to John chapter 14.

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The evening before Jesus went to the cross he was with his disciples in the upper room

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and in a lengthy discourse there recorded only by the apostle John, Jesus had some comforting

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words for his disciples.

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You are familiar with them.

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Verse 2 says, In my father's house are many dwelling places.

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If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you.

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And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself,

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but where I am there you may be also.

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Now frankly I apply this text to believers who are taken in death.

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I think it's a wonderful promise for those who have died in Christ.

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Those of us who are left behind understand that when that believer dies the Lord has

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in a sense received that one to himself.

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But the fact is that John 14.3 has something more in view than the death of a believer.

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When Jesus says I will come again and receive you to myself, but where I am there you may

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be also, he really has in mind a doctrine that has not yet been fully revealed.

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And it won't be until the writings of the apostle Paul.

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But it is this doctrine of his rapture of the church.

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When he will come again and receive his own to himself that we might be with him.

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Now this text indicates to us that immediately after our Lord comes and receives us to himself,

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we are going to journey with him to heaven, not back to the earth.

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He says I have gone to prepare a place for you, I am going to come and receive you to

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myself, but where I am there you may be also.

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The implication being that he is going to take us back to that place that he has prepared

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for us during this age.

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Now if one takes the position that some do, then our Lord is going to catch away the church,

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go up into the air and then immediately come right back to the earth to establish his kingdom.

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What a strange journey that would seem to be.

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How unnecessary.

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Why does the Lord go through all of that motion if that's all that's intended for us simply

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to go up into the air as we are changed and transformed and then come back directly to

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the earth.

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The point is that our Lord says that he is going to come and receive us to himself and

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take us home to the place that he has prepared for us.

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That's not to say we are never going to come back to the earth.

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Because I believe that we will and indeed that we will reign with Christ upon the earth

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and his kingdom.

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But the point is that immediately after the rapture our journey does not reverse itself

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back to the earth.

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But our Lord says back to the place that he has prepared for us.

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First Thessalonians 4 says that we will be with the Lord forever.

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Now it's true if he's coming back to the earth immediately we will come back with him.

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The point is that he is coming to take us up into the air to meet him there and then

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we are going to journey back to heaven together with him as one large body.

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His bride, his people, those called out in this age of grace.

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And we will be there during the time that the judgments are poured out upon the earth

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in the tribulation.

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Another reason that I believe Jesus must come back before the tribulation is because this

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view allows time for the judgment seat of Christ to occur.

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Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 for a moment and notice these rather terrifying words of

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the Apostle Paul.

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At least he found them terrifying and we are foolish if we don't.

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He says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may

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be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

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Therefore knowing the fear, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

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And so the Apostle says that there is a time coming when all of us must appear before the

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judgment seat of Christ.

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The picture here as you probably know is of the Bema seat in the city of Corinth.

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It was a platform that was elevated in the city and if you go to see the ruins of Corinth

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you can still see the Bema there constructed in ancient Corinth.

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When they would have their games, their Olympics if you please, in the city of Corinth, afterwards

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those who had won the games would come before the Bema, it was called, this seat that was

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elevated.

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And there they would receive their reward or their award for winning the race or the

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event.

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Their award normally was a wreath of green, some kind of a garland that was placed upon

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their head and indicated that they are the ones who deserve the prize.

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So the Apostle writing to people very familiar with that whole concept there in Corinth says

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that all of us are going to appear before the Bema of Christ and there we are going

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to receive from Him what we have done in our bodies.

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This is not going to be an accounting for our sins, thank God those have been accounted

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for already at the cross.

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But this is an accounting of our service, what we have done for Christ, whether those

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things be worthwhile or worth less.

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It will be exposed at that point.

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And he says all of us are going to appear, the idea is we are going to be manifested

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as we really are.

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The truth about us will then be known.

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Now the encouraging thing that the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 is that then

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every one of us will receive his reward from the Lord.

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And so the Lord is going to find something to praise every one of His children for.

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But the Apostle raises the possibility here of suffering loss at that judgment seat.

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It seems to indicate that in some respect we may know what we might have had had we

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been faithful.

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I have no doubt that there will be tears for many of us at the judgment seat of Christ

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when we see what we have suffered loss of.

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But thank God that there will be reward at the judgment seat and it will be given to

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those who have served the Lord in a faithful way.

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Now what I'm saying is that those who take the position that Jesus is coming before the

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tribulation have time to allow for this event to occur.

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If our Lord is coming at the end of the tribulation, He is coming back immediately to the earth

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and will establish His kingdom.

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And while there are some earthly judgments that take place after that, this judgment

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seems to take place in the heavens.

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And I believe the best timing for it is immediately after the rapture.

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After we are caught up to be with the Lord in the air that it will be then that somewhere

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between earth and heaven there will be a time of examination for us and we will be called

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before the Lord and it says each one of us will be.

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And then we will be recompensed from the Lord, paid back from Him for our service.

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And that service that we have done that no one has known about, of which we received

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no praise, that we might have thought was unimportant that our Lord has taken note of

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that and on that day He will commend and give an appropriate reward.

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The view that Jesus is coming back before the tribulation allows time for all of this

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to occur you see.

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Let me say in the ninth place, where I have ten reasons here and this is number nine,

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that the position that Jesus is coming back before the tribulation allows for natural,

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let me put it a different way, for people in their natural bodies to enter into the

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kingdom.

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You remember this morning we touched on the fact that there would be people who would

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live through the tribulation, who would not be in resurrection bodies because they were

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killed and martyred in the tribulation, but who would be protected by God and who would

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live through the tribulation and who would then enter into the kingdom in their natural

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bodies.

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That is because the kingdom will allow for a repopulation of the earth.

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There will be some laws that presently are in action that will be suspended at that time.

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Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 65 for example.

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Isaiah 65 and well let's look at verse 19 or 20.

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Let's start with 19.

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I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people and there will be no longer heard

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in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.

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God is saying through Isaiah the prophet that there is a time of blessing coming for his

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people the Jews.

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He says in verse 20, no longer will there be in it, in the nation, in the city of Jerusalem,

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an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not live out his days.

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For the youth will die at the age of 100 and the one who does not reach the age of 100

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shall be thought accursed.

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It indicates here that in that kingdom reign of Christ on the earth, longevity of life

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will again be the norm.

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The kind of longevity that was known before the flood in the days of the patriarchs that

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were before the flood.

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Enoch and Noah and so on.

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That there will be a longevity of life and if a person dies even before 100 years of

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age what has he done wrong will be the thought.

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The idea seems to be that God will judge sin in the kingdom very severely.

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Our Lord will rule with a rod of iron and when sin appears he will immediately deal

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with it and it will often be by death.

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It will be a righteous reign of our Lord.

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And one who is unrighteous will be cut off and so that if someone dies at 100 the question

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will be what was he cursed for?

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What was his judgment?

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It goes on to say, and they shall build houses and inhabit them.

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They shall also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

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They shall not build and another inhabit.

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They shall not plant and another eat.

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For as the lifetime of a tree so shall be the days of my people and my chosen ones shall

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wear out the work of their hands.

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They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity.

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They are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord and their descendants with them.

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And it will come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are still

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speaking I will hear.

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The wolf and the lamb shall graze together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox

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and thus shall be the serpent's food.

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They shall do no evil or harm in all my holy mountains says the Lord.

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That is in all of the kingdom of our Lord there will be no harm.

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And so even the animals will become docile and tamed, domesticated and so that there

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will not be the kind of death from animals for example that there is today.

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The kingdom will have a different order about it and sin will be suppressed and subdued

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and when it arises as I said it will be dealt with very severely by the Lord.

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The point is that because of the longevity of life in the first place that means people

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are in their natural bodies and not in resurrection bodies.

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And because it is longevity of life the population of the world during the millennium, the kingdom,

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will mushroom to be many billions undoubtedly by the end of the thousand year reign of our

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Lord.

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Now here's the point, if the rapture occurs immediately before the millennial reign of

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Christ that means that all of the righteous are caught up to be with the Lord in resurrection

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bodies and there are no righteous people left in natural bodies to enter into the kingdom

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to repopulate the earth.

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Do you understand the logic of that?

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You see the point is that there has to be a period of time between the rapture and the

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establishment of the kingdom to allow for a new group of people, of righteous people

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to be saved upon the earth.

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And the seven year period of tribulation allows for that.

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As I've said before and the scripture indicates many will be martyred during that time but

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many will not be.

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And because they're saved during that seven year period and live until the kingdom they're

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the ones who will then bear children and have descendants and who will be responsible to

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repopulate the earth in that period of time.

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It is only this position that allows for that to take place.

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And then a final reason I believe that Jesus must come before the millennial reign of Christ

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is tied to a text in Matthew chapter 25 and I invite you to turn there with me.

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This is often referred to as the judgment of the nations.

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Matthew chapter 25.

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We'll look at verse 31, but when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels

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with him then he will sit on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered

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before him and he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the

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sheep and the goats and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

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Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed of my father, inherit

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the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

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We'll skip on down to verse 41, then he will say also to those on his left, depart from

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me accursed ones into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.

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And so you see when our Lord comes and sits upon his glorious throne he immediately enters

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into a judgment.

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It is said that the nations are gathered before him and it says he will separate them from

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one another.

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Understand he is not separating nations from one another like the United States from Brazil

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and Russia from Lithuania, but rather he is saying when he says them, the individuals

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who live in the nations, the original language makes that very clear.

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So he will gather the nations of the world and then as individuals the peoples of the

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nations will be brought before him and he will separate them.

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One group on his right which will enter into the kingdom and another group on his left

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which will at this time be cast into the eternal fire.

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The nations are the unrighteous.

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Now you say who are these people and why are they being judged?

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Well you will notice if you read the entire text that Jesus bases the judgment upon how

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these ones before him have treated the ones he calls my brethren.

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Jesus is undoubtedly talking here regarding the Jewish brethren of the tribulation period.

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This is a judgment of Gentiles and the basis of their judgment is how they treated the

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Jews during the tribulation period.

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There will be those who will give them water to drink, who will take them in and hide them,

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who will clothe them, who will visit them in their prisons and be kind to them.

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The question is why will they do that?

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The answer is that they are Gentiles who believe in Christ.

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They are Gentiles who have come to faith in the Lord perhaps through the Jewish evangelist

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which the Lord will send throughout the earth in the tribulation period.

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That's the 144,000 I referred to this morning.

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And because they have believed in the Christ they will show compassion and kindness to

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the Jewish people.

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That will be the evidence, the proof of their faith in him.

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On the other hand, those Gentiles who have not had compassion upon Christ's brethren,

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the Jews, will be those who have not been saved and who by that have evidenced their

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lack of compassion, their disregard and we can say from other texts even their hatred

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for the Jewish people.

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So you see it's not a basis of works here so much as it is why they did the works that

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makes the difference.

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It's their faith.

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But it's faith which is evidenced and based upon the evidence the Lord separates these

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Gentiles.

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And some he brings into the kingdom, those who have believed, and others he causes to

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depart from him into eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and those angels that

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chose to follow him.

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Now here's my point.

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There would be no need for this judgment at the second coming of Christ, and that's

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when it is according to verse 31, if the rapture immediately occurred before the second coming.

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Because the righteous would have already been separated out from the nations.

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And by that event of the rapture, they would be caught up and be in resurrection bodies.

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They would not be out there among the nations of the world needing to be separated.

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The rapture would have already cared for that.

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And so again the logic points to the fact that there has to be a period of time between

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the rapture and the second coming of Christ when this judgment takes place and when there

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are believers among the Gentiles who need to be called out so that they can then be

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brought into the kingdom and share in its glory.

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Now I certainly would not strongly attack someone who takes a different position than

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I do regarding the timing of the rapture.

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I have some dear friends who believe that the rapture is going to occur one of the other

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times that we've talked about.

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And they certainly have a right to believe that and a right to be wrong, just as I have

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the same right.

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But my point is that as we come to the scriptures and we open them up and we interpret them

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literally or normally, that it leads me to believe there can be no other position consistent

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with the whole of scripture than that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come for the

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church, the believers of this age, before the time of tribulation that will come.

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Martha Snell Nicholson has written these words, sickened with slaughter and weary of war,

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torn by bereavement and pain, daily our eyes are searching the skies for signs of his coming

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again.

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Longing, we pray at dawning of day, Lord, will thou come before noon?

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In pouring him yet in the fading sunset, O blessed Lord Jesus, come soon.

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Precious the word the ear of faith heard.

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Behold, I come quickly, my bride.

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This longing of thine is not greater than mine, to have thee at last by my side.

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As much as we long to see him, he longs to come to receive us.

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We must wait until it is the Father's time, but just as our hearts throb with a longing

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that we might see his face, so his heart wells up with anticipation of his bride being gathered

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together, caught away to be with himself.

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Just as a groom receives his bride with great joy and excitement and anticipation, so the

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Savior is waiting for that moment when he will be brought together with his bride ever

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to be with him.

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One day we shall behold him face to face.

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Doris Anne is going to come and sing for us that song that Dottie Rambeau wrote, which

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means so much to so many of us.

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As she comes, let's bow together first in prayer and then listen to the words as she

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sings of this blessed truth.

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Lord Jesus, we love you.

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Our hearts long for that time when we will see you face to face.

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It causes us to be sobered, even a bit amazed, to consider that you also long for that day.

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But you do.

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And you have said, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me.

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Lord Jesus, I pray that we will not be caught up.

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In the affairs of life, the cares of this world, to the extent that we lose sight of

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the blessed hope.

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But keep it before us that we might be stimulated to godly living, be comforted in our sorrows,

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be purified in our walk.

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Amen.