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John, David and Sarah, who serve
as global workers being sent 

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from our church, are going to 
take a moment now and read to us

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this incredible beginning to the
Book of Revelation. 

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I want to invite you now to 
stand and listen to these words,

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God's holy Word. 
Thank you, brother. 

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Thank you, sister. 
The scripture reading this 

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morning is from Revelation One 
one through 11. 

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The revelation of Jesus Christ, 
which God gave him to show to 

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his servants, the things that 
soon must soon take place. 

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He made it known by sending his 
Angel to his servant John, who 

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bore witness to the word of God 
and to the testimony of Jesus 

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Christ, even to all that he saw.
Blessed is the one who reads 

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aloud the words of this 
prophecy, and blessed are those 

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who hear and who keep what is 
written in it, for the time is 

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near. 
John, to the seven churches that

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are in Asia, grace to you, and 
peace from him who is and who 

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was, and who is to come. 
And from the seven spirits who 

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were before his throne. 
And from Jesus Christ the 

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faithful witness, the first born
of the dead and the ruler of the

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kings on earth. 
To him who loves us and has 

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freed us from our sins by his 
blood and made us a Kingdom. 

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Priest his God and Father to him
be glory and dominion forever 

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and ever. 
Amen. 

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Behold, he is coming with the 
clouds, and every eye will see 

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him, even those who pierced him,
And all tribes of the earth will

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wail on account of him Even so. 
Amen. 

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I am the Alpha and the Omega, 
says the Lord God, who is and 

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who was and who is to come, the 
Almighty. 

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Hi John, your brother and 
partner in the tribulation and 

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the Kingdom and the patient 
endurance that are in Jesus, was

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on the island called Patmos on 
account of the word of God and 

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of the testimony of Jesus. 
I was in the spirit on the 

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Lord's day, and I heard behind 
me a loud voice, like a trumpet,

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saying, write what you see in a 
book and send it to the seven 

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churches, to Ephesus, and to 
Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to 

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Theatari, and to Sardis, into 
Philadelphia, and to Leo Desia. 

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This is the word of the Lord. 
Thank you both so much. 

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Well, as Paul mentioned earlier 
and I shared last week, this 

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morning we're beginning a series
in the Book of Revelation and 

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we're going to go slow. 
We're going to move through this

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book seeking to understand what 
it means and why God gave it to 

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us. 
And when I say we're going to go

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slow, we'll be studying this 
book well into the winter 

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months. 
Doesn't that sound nice? 

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February, where maybe it will be
in the teens, little different 

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than today? 
The Book of Revelation as a 

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youth pastor, I served as a 
youth pastor for 25 years was 

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the most requested book that I 
would teach on or study with 

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high school and middle school 
students. 

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Why? 
They just love the idea of the 

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fantasy and the mystery that 
exists. 

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But if we're honest, most of us 
are confused about what we see 

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in the Book of Revelation. 
Every commentary that I've 

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looked at over the summer, and 
we have many in our bookstore 

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and they're fantastic, encourage
you to grab one to kind of move 

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along with us. 
But every one of them, whether 

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it's on the back of the book or 
in the prelude or the 

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introduction, will speak of the 
trouble we have with this book, 

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Derek Thomas says. 
We find it intimidating. 

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One author says that we read the
book and are puzzled, confused 

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and frustrated by the minds 
because it's frustrated the 

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minds of the best biblical 
scholars. 

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Martin Luther never wrote a 
commentary in Revelation. 

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Neither did John Calvin. 
One commentator even went to 

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quote Winston Churchill. 
If ever there was a book that 

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could be described as here's the
quote from Churchill describing 

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Russia in the 1930s. 
If ever there was a book that 

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could be described the same way,
it is a Riddle wrapped in a 

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mystery inside an enigma. 
It is the Book of Revelation. 

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Well, if it's so confusing and 
so chaotic and there's so many 

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divisions in terms of what 
people believe, you take your 

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favorite pastor, your favorite 
theologian, and over time, if 

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you listen to what they say, 
you'll see that they don't agree

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either. 
There is a lot of mystery here. 

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Why did God give it to us? 
Because of what I've described. 

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For many, they simply want to 
ignore it. 

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Some of you have read it because
it's in your Bible reading plan 

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for the year, or maybe you're 
just interested in it. 

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But for many, they just get 
through the parts that are 

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somewhat well known and 
understood at the beginning and 

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the end, and then they kind of 
ignore the rest. 

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Or the opposite thing happens. 
If people become obsessed with 

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it, and they become so obsessed 
with it that they're trying to 

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understand every little detail 
of these mysterious visions, and

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some become so obsessed with it 
that they're convinced that they

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know the hour, the day, and the 
time and the political leader, 

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that's probably into this book. 
You look at the Bible as a 

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horoscope to try and predict the
future. 

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They become obsessed. 
That is not healthy. 

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In fact, if anyone ever tells 
you they know the day and the 

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time, mark it on your calendar 
because it won't be. 

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Then God told us no one knows 
the day and the time except him,

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the Father. 
It's amazing. 

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I want to read the beginning of 
probably my favorite commentary 

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on the book, which is by GK 
Beale. 

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I want you to listen to what he 
says in his opening paragraph, 

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one of the great tragedies in 
the church in our day. 

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And anytime someone says that 
that is a strong, faithful 

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follower of Christ. 
Listen, one of the great 

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tragedies in the church in our 
day is how revelation has been 

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so narrowly and incorrectly 
interpreted, with an obsessive 

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focus on the future in time, 
with the result that we have 

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missed the fact that it contains
many profound truths and 

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encouragements concerning 
Christian life and discipleship.

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That's a phone going off. 
It could be an Amber Alert or 

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something like that, so we 
understand what those things 

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are. 
Keep listening. 

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The prophetic visions of 
Revelation can easily disguise 

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the point that it was written as
a letter to the churches and the

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letter which is pastoral in 
nature. 

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The goal of Revelation is to 
bring encouragement to believers

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of all ages. 
Now hear this that God is 

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working out his purposes even in
the midst of tragedy, suffering,

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apparent satanic domination. 
It is the Bible's battle cry of 

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victory. 
For in it, more than anywhere 

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else in the New Testament is 
revealed the final victory of 

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God over all the forces of evil.
As such, it is an encouragement 

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to God's people to persevere in 
the assurance that their final 

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reward is certain, and to 
worship and glorify God despite 

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trials and despite temptations 
that are leading us to March to 

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the world's drum beat. 
We need the encouragement. 

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And the reason we need the 
encouragement is because of the 

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world that we live in, so dark, 
so full of decay. 

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You, you feel the tribulation. 
I promise you in the last three 

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years you have said, thought or 
at least heard someone say, I 

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don't know when Christ is going 
to return, but it's got to be 

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soon. 
He has to be coming soon. 

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How many have heard that 
thought, that felt that hope, 

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that, and we should hope for 
that. 

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So this morning, with the time 
we have and again we're going to

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take a slow walk through this 
book, I want to answer just a 

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few questions by way of 
introduction. 

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What is this book, really? 
Who wrote it? 

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What is it about? 
And why did God give it to us? 

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Well, first of all, what is it? 
It is the last book in our holy 

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scriptures. 
Every word, even the crazy 

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words, every vision, even the 
crazy visions, they are all 

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given to us by God. 
Revelation, just like any other 

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part of the holy Scriptures. 
The Canon is God's inspired 

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word. 
Second, Timothy 3 says this 

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about God's word. 
All Scripture, including every 

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word in Revelation. 
All scripture is God breathed 

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and is useful. 
Revelations is useful. 

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It's not something we should 
ignore, and it's something we 

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should study in light of its 
context of what it is, the type 

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of literature it is. 
But it's useful. 

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All Scripture is God breathed 
all of it, and He's useful for 

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teaching, correcting, and 
training in righteousness. 

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In first our second Peter 
chapter one, listen to how Peter

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describes the word of God. 
He says, for we did not follow 

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cleverly devised the myst when 
we made known to the power and 

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coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were eyewitnesses of His 

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Majesty. 
This is what Peter's saying, who

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followed him for 17 For when he 
Christ, received honor and glory

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from God the Father, and the 
voice was born to him by that 

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majestic glory. 
This is my beloved Son, with 

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whom I am well pleased. 
We ourselves heard this very 

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voice, voice born from heaven, 
for we were with him Speaking of

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the amount of transfiguration 
1st, 19. 

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And we have the prophetic word 
more fully confirmed, to which 

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you would do well to pay 
attention as to a lamp shining 

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in dark places until the day 
dawns and the morning star rises

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in your hearts. 
Knowing this, first of all, that

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no prophecy of Scripture, Old 
Testament, or New Testament, no 

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prophecy of Scripture, no word 
of Scripture, no verse of 

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Scripture, comes from someone's 
own interpretation. 

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For no prophecy was ever 
produced by the will of man, but

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men spoke from God as they were 
carried along by the Holy 

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Spirit. 
What is revelation? 

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It's the word of God. 
Secondly, who wrote it? 

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Who was carried along by the 
Holy Spirit? 

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We're told it was John. 
This is the apostle John. 

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I'm going to say more about him 
in just a minute, but he's the 

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one, by God's grace and for his 
glory, who was carried along to 

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write these words. 
He's the very one whose head and

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ear were placed on the chest of 
Christ, who could hear the 

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heartbeat of God. 
He's the one who gave us this 

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last book of the Bible. 
Well, what is it about? 

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Revelation is going to make 
many, many claims. 

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It's going to have many visions 
that we struggle to understand 

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completely. 
But don't ever miss the point. 

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This book, from beginning to 
end, just like the whole of 

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Scripture from Genesis to 
Revelation, is about Jesus 

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Christ. 
When you feel like you're 

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getting lost in the weeds of 
some of the divisions and dreams

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that John had, just remember 
this is about Jesus Christ. 

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Look with me For example, go 
down to verse 4, second part, 

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Grace to you and peace from Him.
This is Christ who is and who 

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was and who is to come. 
And from the seven spirits here 

190
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Speaking of the Holy Spirit who 
are before it's thrown. 

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And from Jesus Christ the 
faithful witness, the first born

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of the dead, the ruler of the 
kings on earth, to him it's 

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Jesus who loves us and has freed
us from our sins by his blood, 

194
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and made us a Kingdom priest to 
his God and Father, to him be 

195
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glory and dominion forever and 
ever. 

196
00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,340
Amen. 
Behold, this is about Jesus. 

197
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He is coming with clouds, and 
every eye will see Him, even 

198
00:13:37,380 --> 00:13:40,380
those who pierced him, and all 
the tribes of the earth will 

199
00:13:40,380 --> 00:13:42,660
well and account of him Even so.
Amen. 

200
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Then the words of Christ. 
I am the Alpha and the Omega, 

201
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Who is and who was who is to 
come? 

202
00:13:51,940 --> 00:13:55,300
The Almighty. 
This is about Jesus. 

203
00:13:56,060 --> 00:14:02,030
Always about Jesus. 
Why did God give it to us? 

204
00:14:03,270 --> 00:14:10,030
He actually tells us He gives it
to us because we need it. 

205
00:14:11,670 --> 00:14:16,110
He didn't waste any words. 
He didn't make each story or 

206
00:14:16,150 --> 00:14:19,510
each vision equally 
understandable. 

207
00:14:20,190 --> 00:14:23,470
And that's okay. 
I think that's on purpose. 

208
00:14:26,310 --> 00:14:34,740
We have a tendency, an absolute 
tragic tendency right now to 

209
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reduce Christianity to many, 
many things. 2 words there. 

210
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Many, MANY. 
We have a temptation to reduce 

211
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Christianity to many, MANY, many
MINI things. 

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00:14:55,420 --> 00:14:58,300
We have a tendency to reduce 
Christianity just to a 

213
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worldview, just to a 
conservative political position,

214
00:15:02,740 --> 00:15:07,700
just to a way to make sure I 
don't go to hell, just to a way 

215
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to have a better life. 
Actually, all those things can 

216
00:15:13,180 --> 00:15:18,100
be a part of what this is. 
But if you were in Christ, what 

217
00:15:18,100 --> 00:15:21,740
revelation is going to show you 
is that you are part of 

218
00:15:21,740 --> 00:15:29,660
something that is so big, so 
overwhelming, so incredibly 

219
00:15:30,140 --> 00:15:35,900
transcendent beyond dust and 
comprehension, but so intimate 

220
00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:40,180
and personal that when you 
profess faith in Jesus Christ, 

221
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because God himself has 
illuminated your heart and mind 

222
00:15:43,340 --> 00:15:47,060
to believe that you need him, he
enters into you. 

223
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And when he enters into you, 
God's Word tells us you have 

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become a new creation. 
We pray that each of these 

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little ones one day will say, I 
trust Jesus alone for salvation.

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When that happens, the Word 
tells us if anyone is in Christ,

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he's a new creation. 
The old is gone, the newest 

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come. 
Being a part of his church means

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that you're a part of the only 
institution that will last 

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forever, the only relationship 
that you have that will last 

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forever. 
It's amazing. 

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What happens in Revelation is 
that John tells us that we will 

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be blessed if we read it, and 
blessed if we keep what is 

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written. 
Look what be a verse 3 The third

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verse. 
Blessed is the one who reads 

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aloud the words of this 
prophecy. 

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And blessed are those who hear 
and who keep what is written in 

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it. 
For the time is near, we're 

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going to talk about what he 
means. 

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By the time is near, we're going
to talk about what he meant in 

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verse one when he said these 
things must soon take place. 

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It doesn't seem like it's 
happened very soon. 

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It doesn't seem like it's been 
very near. 

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John wrote these things in a D, 
probably 95 or 96. 

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It's been a while. 
So what does God mean by that? 

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Why did he give it to us? 
Derek Thomas in his commentary 

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talks about how if we understand
Revelation, that it's basic 

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essence, it is meant to 
overwhelm us with the glory of 

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God. 
The word overwhelm. 

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I say this a lot, means three 
things. 

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It means to be buried underneath
a huge mass. 

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It means to be defeated soundly.
It means to receive too much of 

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something. 
And that's why so often during 

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your days you say, I feel 
overwhelmed. 

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Are you here a loved one? 
Say that, or a friend say that. 

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Micah Peterson, when she 
discovered that her son had 

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leukemia, simply responded with 
I am wrecked. 

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And she was, and she is, but not
with one who's without hope. 

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Overwhelmed. 
The man who wrote this book, 

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Revelation, was in the same room
when Jesus spoke these words, 

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said the Last Supper. 
John 16. 

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The very last verse. 
Jesus says, I've said these 

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things to you, that in me you 
may have peace in the world you 

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will have tribulation. 
But take heart, I have overcome 

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the world. 
The apostle John writes this 

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book from a little island that's
four miles wide and eight miles 

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long, about 30 miles southwest 
of Ephesus, off the shore of 

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Turkey. 
It's a rugged place where 

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prisoners are sent, and John is 
there because he's a prisoner, 

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he tells us in verse nine. 
I, John, your brother and 

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partner in the tribulation and 
the Kingdom and the patient 

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endurance that are in Jesus, was
on the island called Patness. 

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On account of the word of God 
and the testimony of Jesus. 

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On account of the word of God, 
what it stands for, who it 

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points to, and what Jesus said, 
you will experience tribulation.

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The temptation for us in the 
midst of tribulation is to be 

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overwhelmed by it, to be 
overwhelmed by the craziness of 

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people's sexual orientation. 
The craziness of all the gender 

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confusion, moving from just 
these wild and ridiculous ideas 

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into places of work where you're
now being told what you must do 

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or what you must say. 
And in the context of that 

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tribulation, which is not going 
to go away, the temptation is 

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for us to be overwhelmed. 
How are we going to raise our 

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little ones? 
How will our grandchildren 

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experience this country like we 
once did? 

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And when we become overwhelmed 
by the tribulation, to quote one

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of our very first missionaries, 
we close our eyes and we close 

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our ears and our mind goes 
crazy. 

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God called a man who he told 
along with the other apostles 

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you will have tribulation. 
He called a man who stood up for

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Christ, who proclaimed the word 
of Christ to this tribulation, 

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and as he is on this island, and
just imagine him being taken 

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there by boat, not knowing how 
long he would live there or if 

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this would be the last place he 
lives. 

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He is worshipping God in the 
Spirit when suddenly, like a 

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trumpet, he hears a voice and 
the voice says this. 

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00:21:50,750 --> 00:21:56,590
Write what you see in a book and
send it to the seven churches. 

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And John did. 
And the Book of Revelation is 

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what he saw. 
And the reason we're going to 

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read it is because we need to be
overwhelmed. 

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We don't need to be overwhelmed 
by the tribulation, no matter 

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how dark, how painful, how 
frightening it is. 

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If we're overwhelmed by that, 
then we will be underwhelmed by 

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who Christ is. 
We need to be overwhelmed by the

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glory of who he himself has told
us he is, blasting something 

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that sounded like a trumpet to 
get John's attention. 

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To show John things that he 
could never have even imagined, 

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so that thousands of years later
we in the midst of tribulation, 

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would find the same hope. 
And that same hope is not an 

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idea to be understood. 
It is a reality to be lived, its

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union with Jesus Christ now and 
forever. 

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Brennan Manning, in a book 
titled Ruthless Trust, says 

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this. 
The greatest attribute of a 

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00:23:27,710 --> 00:23:34,590
trusting disciple is gratitude. 
The greatest attribute of a 

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00:23:34,590 --> 00:23:39,330
trusting disciple, Trusting 
disciple like John, like Peter, 

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00:23:39,930 --> 00:23:48,730
like James, like Barbara, like 
Ellen, like David, like Bob, 

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00:23:50,330 --> 00:23:53,650
like you, if you're in Christ, 
is gratitude. 

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We in the midst of all we are 
facing and we'll face, are in 

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Christ. 
And there's victory. 

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Doctor John Bercier, a member of
our church, one of our deacons, 

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was spending some time with me 
this past week. 

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I was in his dental chair and he
was doing what Dennis do, trying

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to have a conversation with me 
while my mouth was numb. 

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Mark. 
Revelation. 

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00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,640
Wow. 
Well, they do do that. 

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I love you, John. 
But he said, you know Mark on 

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00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,480
Greenville and Lovers. 
The other day I saw a man, I 

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assume, who's homeless. 
And like many of them, they hold

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up signs. 
And they're getting somewhat 

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00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,040
creative sometimes with what 
those signs say. 

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00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:01,360
But on lovers in Greenville that
day, the man holding that sign 

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00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,040
simply was proclaiming something
that really is that the essence 

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00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:12,840
of revelation. 
All the sign said was God wins. 

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00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:21,320
He does. 
And because we're in Christ, if 

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00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:28,120
you're in him, you win. 
That same God who wins is the 

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one who said you will have 
tribulations. 

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00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,630
And we do. 
But you know what? 

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00:25:33,630 --> 00:25:38,110
We have more than the 
tribulations, the very presence 

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00:25:39,510 --> 00:25:44,230
of the living God who himself in
the garden of Gethsemane the 

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00:25:44,230 --> 00:25:51,190
night before he died said this. 
My soul is overwhelmed to the 

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00:25:51,190 --> 00:25:55,190
point of death. 
The physician, Luke, told us 

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00:25:55,190 --> 00:25:59,310
that he sweated blood. 
Your Savior. 

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00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:05,140
He knows what it means to be 
overwhelmed, to be buried under 

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00:26:05,140 --> 00:26:11,300
a huge mass, to receive too much
of something, to be defeated 

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00:26:11,300 --> 00:26:15,540
soundly. 
But hear this on the cross. 

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00:26:16,420 --> 00:26:23,300
Overwhelmed, Jesus Christ died. 
He received too much of our sin.

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00:26:23,860 --> 00:26:28,660
And the raft of his father, He 
was buried underneath the mass 

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00:26:28,660 --> 00:26:32,780
of his people's sin and his 
Father's wrath. 

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00:26:33,780 --> 00:26:37,780
He was defeated soundly. 
They pierced his side. 

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00:26:37,780 --> 00:26:40,140
He was dead. 
Blood and water came out. 

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00:26:41,940 --> 00:26:48,820
But on the third day, Jesus 
Christ, our majestic victor, in 

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00:26:48,820 --> 00:26:53,500
whom this book is all about, he 
overwhelmed death. 

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00:26:54,950 --> 00:26:59,390
Death was buried underneath the 
Mass of Christ. 

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00:26:59,390 --> 00:27:05,190
Glory. 
Death received too much of Jesus

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00:27:05,190 --> 00:27:11,950
Christ. 
Death was defeated soundly. 

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00:27:12,990 --> 00:27:21,190
That is what this book is about,
and I believe what it says. 

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00:27:22,030 --> 00:27:30,450
Blessed are those who read it. 
Blessed are those who hear it, 

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00:27:31,570 --> 00:27:38,530
Blessed are those who keep it. 
And thankfulness should fill our

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00:27:38,530 --> 00:27:43,410
hearts. 
Father in heaven, thank you for 

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00:27:43,410 --> 00:27:47,170
your word. 
Thank you for what you've given 

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00:27:47,170 --> 00:27:49,850
us. 
Thank you for something that is 

362
00:27:49,850 --> 00:27:54,610
so beyond what we can ever 
decide of Heaven fully 

363
00:27:54,610 --> 00:27:58,890
understand. 
But it is good for us because it

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00:27:58,890 --> 00:28:04,050
shows us that you are so much 
greater than we could ever even 

365
00:28:04,130 --> 00:28:07,730
ask or imagine. 
As we lift our voices in one 

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00:28:07,730 --> 00:28:12,930
final song this morning, Lord, 
let the praises flow of our deep

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00:28:13,010 --> 00:28:18,130
gratitude for you and what you 
have done from beginning to end 

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00:28:18,410 --> 00:28:22,650
the Alpha and Omega for your 
people, your church. 

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00:28:23,090 --> 00:28:26,850
We pray in Jesus name and all 
God's people said with a loud 

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00:28:26,850 --> 00:28:28,810
voice. 
Amen. 

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00:28:28,810 --> 00:28:29,490
Please stand.