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Take your Bible, if you would 
please, and turn with me to 1st 

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Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses
1 to 11. 

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We're going to conclude this 
section this morning and move on

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to the final section beginning 
next week. 

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But we're looking at what the 
Bible says concerning the model 

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life and what it means to live a
life of alertness. 

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So I'm going to read to you 
these 11 verses to set them in 

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your mind, and then we'll 
conclude them this morning. 

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First one of chapter 5 says. 
Now as to the times in the 

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epics, brethren, you have no 
need of anything to be written 

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to you, for you yourselves know 
full well that the day of the 

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Lord will come just like a thief
in the night, while they are 

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saying peace and safety. 
Then destruction will come upon 

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them suddenly, like labor pains 
upon a woman with child, and 

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they will not escape. 
But you, brethren, are not in 

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darkness, that the day would 
overtake you like a thief, For 

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you are all sons of light and 
sons of day. 

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We are not of night nor of 
darkness. 

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So then let us not sleep as 
others do, but let us be alert 

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and sober. 
For those who sleep do their 

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sleeping at night, and those who
get drunk get drunk at night. 

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But since we are of the day, let
us be sober, having put on the 

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breastplate of faith and love, 
and as a helmet the hope of 

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salvation. 
For God has not destined us for 

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wrath, but for obtaining 
salvation through our Lord Jesus

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Christ, who died for us, so that
whether we are awake or asleep, 

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we will live together with Him. 
Therefore, encourage one another

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and build up one another, just 
as you also are doing. 

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Paul wants them to understand 
their responsibility, so he 

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tells them by way of reminder in
the first 3 verses about the day

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of the Lord. 
And then he moves on and says, 

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based on what I'm reminding you 
of, I want you to be responsible

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in three areas as a witness, as 
a watchman, and as a warrior. 

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You are a witness because you're
sons of the day, you're sons of 

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the light. 
You are not sons of the night, 

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nor are you sons of darkness. 
In other words, he contrasts the

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people who are saved versus the 
people that are unsaved. 

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People that are in the light are
born again. 

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People that are in the darkness 
are not. 

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And so he contrasts them and 
encourages them to live 

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according to their witness as 
lights to the world. 

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This is not a New Testament 
concept. 

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It was widely proclaimed 
throughout the Old Testament. 

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In fact, over in Psalm One O 7. 
Listen to the words of the 

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psalmist in verse #10 There were
those who dwelt in darkness and 

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in the shadow of death, 
prisoners in misery and chains, 

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because they had rebelled 
against the words of God and 

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spurned the counsel of the Most 
High. 

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Therefore He humbled their heart
with labor. 

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They stumbled, and there was 
none to help. 

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Then they cried out to the Lord 
in their trouble. 

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He saved them out of their 
distresses. 

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He brought them out of darkness 
and the shadow of death, and 

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broke their bands apart. 
Let them give thanks to the Lord

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for His loving kindness and for 
His wonders to the sons of men. 

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So the psalmist describes those 
who live in rebellion against 

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God, who those who spurn the 
words of God as those people who

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wander in darkness, who so 
desperately need the light of 

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life to shine down upon them. 
And when God rescues them, 

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that's exactly what he does, 
because he is the light of the 

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world. 
He is the truth. 

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And therefore, when he shines 
his light, the truth is spread. 

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Earlier the psalmist would say 
these words in Psalm 43. 

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He would say in verse 3, O send 
out your light and your truth. 

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Let them lead me. 
Let them bring me to your holy 

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hill and to your dwelling place.
Then I will go to the altar of 

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God, to God my exceeding joy, 
and upon the leer I shall praise

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You, O God, my God. 
In other words, when the Lord 

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sends out His light, when He 
sends out His truth, it leads us

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in the proper direction. 
Psalm 119105 says that God's 

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word is a lamp unto my feet and 
a light unto my path. 

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Therefore God's Word is a lamp 
as well as the light, and it 

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leads us in the way of truth. 
And so Paul picks up on all that

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and says in First Thessalonians 
5, listen, you are children of 

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the day, you're children of the 
light. 

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Therefore this is your witness, 
this is your testimony. 

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Live this way because you are 
not in darkness anymore. 

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In fact, the Bible says over in 
the book of Colossians, the 3rd 

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chapter, these, these words, 
Colossians chapter 3, I'm sorry,

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class chapter one verse #13 For 
you rescued us from the domain 

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of darkness and transferred us 
to the Kingdom of his beloved 

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Son, in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins. 

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You see, the unbeliever is in 
the domain of darkness. 

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That's where Satan dwells. 
And therefore they are sons of 

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disobedience, not sons of 
obedience. 

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But when God saves you, He 
transfers you from that domain 

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of darkness into the domain of 
His light, His truth. 

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So therefore we walk as children
of the light and children of the

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truth. 
And so Paul admonishes those in 

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Thessalonica to live in like 
manner. 

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And then he says, not only are 
you a witness, but you're, 

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you're a watchman. 
You're to, you're to be alert, 

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you're to be sober minded. 
You are, you are to be vigilant.

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And then he says you are a 
warrior. 

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And therefore, because you're, 
you're a warrior, put on the, 

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the breastplate of of faith and 
love and put on the, the helmet 

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as a hope of, of your salvation.
Such a such an important 

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aspects. 
And he wants us to understand 

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that, that we're involved in 
warfare. 

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And this is how you as sons of 
the of the day and sons of the 

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light live accordingly. 
Remember, in Ephesians chapter 

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6, he talks about the armor of 
God. 

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There he calls it the 
breastplate of righteousness. 

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Here he calls it the breastplate
of faith and love. 

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There he called the helmet the 
helmet of salvation in Ephesians

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6. 
Here in First Thessalonians 5, 

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he calls the helmet the hope of 
salvation. 

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They're both the same thing, 
just described in different 

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ways. 
The the the breastplate of 

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righteousness means that not my 
positional righteousness is in 

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Christ, but the fact that I'm 
going to live practically a holy

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life. 
Well, how do I do that? 

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By living in accordance with 
faith and love. 

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The breastplate of faith and 
love. 

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Faith is believing in what God 
has actually said, and because 

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you believe in what God has 
actually said, you live in 

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accordance to it. 
Love is living in admiration of 

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who God is, because you love Him
with all your heart, with all 

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your soul, with all your mind, 
with all your strength. 

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You want to obey the things that
He says. 

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So the breastplate of, of 
righteousness is the breastplate

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of, of love and the breast 
parade of, of faith. 

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In other words, when we believe 
what God says, we walk by faith.

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We don't walk by sight. 
We believe in what God says, we 

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don't believe in what we see. 
We believe in what God says 

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because that's the truth. 
And so we live in accordance to 

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the truth of the living God. 
Paul would say in first Timothy 

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6 verse #12 fight the good fight
of faith. 

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In secular 4 verse #8 he says I 
have fought the good fight. 

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I've run the race right. 
But notice he calls the the 

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fight always a good fight. 
It's a noble fight. 

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Why? 
Because we're in warfare against

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Satan in the Kingdom of darkness
and we are fighting for the 

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truth of God's word, the gospel 
of God and the Kingdom of God. 

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It is the noblest of all battles
that were engaged in so many 

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times we we wake up each day and
don't realize that we're engaged

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in warfare, but we are every day
is a battle. 

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Why? 
Because we battle against the 

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the forces of darkness. 
And so Paul says protect the 

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most intimate part of your life.
Protect your heart, put on the 

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breastplate of faith and love. 
Remember Solomon says in 

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Proverbs Sector 4, guard your 
heart for out of the flow all 

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the issues of life. 
Proverbs 423 and how do we guard

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our heart by putting on the 
breastplate of faith and love. 

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In other words, we believe what 
God says. 

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You see, Satan is against you in
all kinds of manners. 

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And so he's going to attack you 
emotionally. 

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He's going to attack you 
mentally. 

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So Paul says put on the helmet 
as the as the hope of salvation.

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Why? 
Because he attacks the, the 

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head, you're, you're thinking, 
he wants you to have doubts. 

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He wants you to be discouraged. 
He, he wants you to be 

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depressed. 
And Paul says, put on the helmet

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because that is your, your hope 
of salvation. 

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You see, we, we were saved. 
We are, we're, we're justified. 

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We are being sanctified. 
One day we will be glorified. 

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And that is our hope. 
That is our assurance. 

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That is our security. 
That's how we live our lives. 

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We live our lives in 
anticipation of the 

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glorification of our lives when 
we see him face to face. 

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And Paul says when you do that, 
when you do that, you're able to

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ward off the attacks of the evil
one. 

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You'll live as children of the 
day, not children of the night. 

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You will live as those who honor
and glorify the name of the 

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Lord. 
You will be alert, you will be 

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sober, you won't be asleep. 
So be a warrior, be a watchman 

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and be a witness. 
And they won't moves on to the 

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next point. 
And that is, not only are you to

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be reminded and not only to be 
responsible, but you are to be 

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relieved. 
Look what he says. 

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He says these words in verse #8 
But since we are of the day, let

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us be sober. 
Have you put on the breastplate 

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of faith and love, and as a 
helmet with the hope of 

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salvation? 
For God has not destined us for 

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wrath, but for obtaining 
salvation through our Lord Jesus

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Christ who died for us. 
So whether we are awake or 

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sleep, alive or dead, we will 
live together with him. 

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He says be relieved, for God has
not destined you for wrath. 

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Now we know that's not eternal 
wrath. 

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Why? 
Because the context of First 

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Thessalonians five is talking 
about the Day of the Lord. 

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And the day of the Lord is 
called the day of God's fury or 

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the day of God's wrath. 
You can read about it in 

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Revelation 6 and Revelation 11, 
Revelation 16, Revelation 19, 

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It's a day of God's wrath. 
It's a day of the Lord's fury. 

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It's, it's that, it's that 
temporal time. 

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We know that we're saved from 
eternal wrath because there is 

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no condemnation for those who 
are in Christ Jesus. 

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And the wrath of God abides upon
those who live in disobedience 

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to the Lord God. 
We understand that. 

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But he's talking about that 
temporal wrath, that day of the 

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Lord, that tribulation. 
This is so important, why? 

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Christ is the bridegroom. 
We are the bride, and the 

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bridegroom does not want to 
subject the bride to the day of 

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God's fury. 
He's not going to do that. 

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That's why the Bible says in 
Revelation 3 verse #10 these 

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words, I will keep thee from the
hour of trial which will come 

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upon the whole world to try them
that dwell upon the earth. 

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Revelation 310 so important. 
I'm going to protect you. 

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I'm going to keep you out of 
that hour, that hour trial 

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that's going to come upon the 
whole world, right? 

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Specifically designed for those 
who dwell upon the earth. 

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That phrase those who dwell upon
the earth is used over 10 times 

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in the Book of Revelation. 
And it always refers to people 

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of the world, not 
geographically, but people of 

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the world morally. 
That's how they live their 

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lives. 
That is their home. 

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That's what they love. 
They love the world. 

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And the hour tribulation is 
designed for the unbeliever, not

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the believer. 
It's going to come upon the 

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whole world, those who dwell 
upon the earth. 

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And the Lord says, I'm going to 
keep you from that hour. 

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I'm going to protect you from 
that hour. 

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Paul says here in First 
Thessalonians 5, listen, God has

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not destined you for wrath. 
He's not destined you for 

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judgement. 
He's destined you for joy to be 

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with Jesus forever. 
And that's what he says. 

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It says this is just so 
wonderful. 

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Listen, listen how he says it. 
He says that Jesus Christ verse 

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10 who died for us that whether 
we are awake or asleep we will 

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live together with him. 
Paul says he died for us. 

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He died for us over in Galatians
chapter one. 

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This is how he says it Galatians
one verse 3. 

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Grace to you and peace from God 
our Father and the Lord Jesus 

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Christ, who gave himself for our
sins so that he might rescue us 

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from this present evil age 
according to the will of our God

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and Father, to whom he or to 
whom be the glory forevermore, 

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Amen. 
He rescued us, He delivered us, 

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He saved us. 
Paul says he died for us. 

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And why did he do that? 
So that we could be with him. 

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We could be with him earlier. 
Paul says in chapter 4 these 

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words, and so shall we always be
with the Lord for 17 of chapter 

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4. 
That's the essence of heaven. 

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Heaven is a place. 
Heaven is a, a specific place, 

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but it's more than just a place.
Heaven is the presence of the 

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living God. 
We, we, we tend to forget about 

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that and we forget about what's 
going to happen when we get to 

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heaven. 
We're always wondering, well, 

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when we get there, what are we 
going to do when we get there? 

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It's not about what you're going
to do when you get there. 

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It's about who you're going to 
see when you get there. 

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And so many times because we, we
think from an earthly 

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perspective that when we get to 
heaven, we're going to see our 

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our father or our mother or our 
brother or our sister, or, or 

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maybe John MacArthur's going to 
see RC Sprole or, or Charles 

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Spurgeon. 
You know what? 

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You're going to see them, but 
that's not your purpose for 

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going. 
You're not going to see them. 

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You're going to see the Lord. 
You're going to be with the 

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Lord. 
That's the most important thing.

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We forget that a glorified body,
a perfect body dwelling in 

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perfect righteousness does not 
have the same relationships it 

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did while on earth, because 
every relationship that you have

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is tainted with sin. 
But in heaven there is no sin. 

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Everything is perfect. 
There is no memory of what takes

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place on earth, in heaven. 
In hell, you have all the memory

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of what takes place on earth. 
That's why there's weeping and 

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gnashing of teeth. 
But in heaven there is no memory

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of what happens on earth. 
Why? 

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Because everything is new. 
There is no pain, there is no 

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sorrow. 
There'd be so much sorrow if we 

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remembered what happened on 
earth. 

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But in glory, it's all about the
Lord. 

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It's all about being with the 
Lord. 

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Think about this. 
John MacArthur wakes up in glory

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on on on Monday evening. 
He dies and and closes his eyes 

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and wakes up in the presence of 
the living God. 

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How great is that? 
That's what heaven is. 

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It's the presence of God. 
To be in his presence is the 

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hope and joy of all of our 
lives. 

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And Paul knew that and we will 
be with him. 

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He wants to encourage him that 
way. 

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He wants to motivate in that 
way. 

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When we die, whether we wake or 
whether we're asleep, when 

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Christ comes again, we will be 
with him. 

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That's the prize, that's the 
reward, that's the joy, that's 

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the excitement. 
Yeah, there are crowns, but 

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those crowns will be cast at the
feet of the Lamb, at the feet of

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the Lord. 
Why? 

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Because the only reason we have 
a crown is because of what 

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Christ has done in our lives. 
And so we're just going to give 

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him back to him because he 
receives all the glory and all 

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the honor and all the praise. 
And Paul says God is not 

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destined us for wrath. 
Why? 

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Because he delivered us. 
He saved us. 

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He rescued us so that whether we
wake or sleep, that one day we 

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will be with him. 
That's the greatest of all 

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relief, knowing that Christ in 
his presence is my destiny. 

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And then he says, I want you to 
be reliable. 

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Verse 11. 
Therefore, encourage one another

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and build up one another just as
you also are doing. 

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Be reliable to be an encourager.
Be reliable to, to edify others,

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to build them up to, to, to 
encourage them to have the 

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strength and, and the stability 
that they need each and every 

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day. 
And you're going to do that 

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through the words that I've 
given to you. 

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I want you to understand that 
these words are so important 

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that you are to be engaged not 
in, in finding flaws in one 

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another, but building up one 
another. 

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Time is short. 
Life is so short. 

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We only have this life before us
and Paul says in the short 

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amount of time that you have 
encourage one another, build up 

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one another. 
That's why the right of Hebrew 

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says don't forsake this so many 
of yourselves together. 

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Why as you see the day 
approaching, the day of what the

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day of Christ that is coming, 
but to encourage one another, to

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stimulate one another to love 
and good deeds. 

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That's why we gathered together 
to to be involved in each 

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other's lives, to to motivate 
one another to move each other 

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on to action. 
And then that's what that's what

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Paul is saying here in First 
Thessalonians chapter 5. 

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And then he's going to embark on
the very nick section and 

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explain to you how you encourage
and how you edify the body. 

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Listen to what he says. 
He says these words in verse 12.

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But we request of you, brethren,
that you appreciate those who 

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diligently labor among you, and 
have charge over you in the 

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Lord, and give you instruction, 
and that you esteem them very 

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highly in love because of their 
work. 

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Live in peace with one another. 
We urge you, brethren, admonish 

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the unruly, encourage the faint 
hearted, help the weak. 

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Be patient with everyone. 
See that no one repays another 

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with evil for evil, but always 
seek after that which is good 

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for one another and for all 
people. 

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Rejoice always. 
Pray without ceasing. 

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In everything give thanks for 
this is the will of God in 

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Christ Jesus concerning you. 
That's how you encourage and 

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build up one another. 
And so next week we'll we'll go 

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into those verses and explain to
you exactly how God wants to use

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each of us and each other's 
lives. 

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But this is so important as to 
living the model life. 

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Paul says listen in chapter 4. 
This is the will of God. 

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Even your sanctification that 
you abstain from sexual 

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immorality, you want to live a 
model life, live a life of 

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abstinence. 
And then he says if you want to 

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live a life, a model life, live 
a life of aspiration to loving 

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abundantly and living 
appropriately. 

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Verses 9 to 12 of chapter 4. 
And then he says, live a life of

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anticipation as to the day of 
Christ. 

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He's coming again. 
Because one day the Lord will 

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descend from heaven with a shout
and with the voice of the 

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Archangel, and the dead in 
Christ will rise 1st. 

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And then we who are alive and 
remain shall be cut up together 

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with them in the air. 
And so shall we ever be with the

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Lord. 
Live in anticipation of that 

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event because it's a nixed event
on God's prophetic calendar. 

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And all the while, live a life 
of alertness. 

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You're going to be sober. 
You're going to be vigilant. 

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You're going to be a warrior, a 
watchman. 

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You're going to be a witness. 
Why? 

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Because you dwell among the 
people of the night need to be a

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testimony to them and as you do 
be an encouragement to one 

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another and build up one another
as you are doing. 

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That's just so great because 
Paul recognizes the fact that 

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they're already doing that. 
He says I want you to excel even

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all the more in doing that as 
you seek to honor the Lord. 

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That's the model life and trust 
that God will give us the grace 

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to live for the glory and honor 
of his name. 

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Let's pray together. 
Father, we thank you for today. 

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We thank you for all that you 
do. 

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We thank you, Lord, that we can 
gather together to praise your 

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glorious name. 
We thank you, Lord, that you're 

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our God. 
And I pray Lord, for for us as a

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church, the Lord, we would be 
the kind of people that live a 

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model life, that live the kind 
of life that brings glory and 

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00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,200
honor to your name, that lives 
the kind of life that truly 

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wants to put you above 
ourselves, the kind of life that

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really wants to honor others 
above ourselves. 

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And that, Lord, we would truly 
live in anticipation of your 

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coming. 
Again, Lord, you are coming. 

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We know it's going to be soon. 
We just want it to be even 

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sooner than we can imagine. 
We pray that it be today, if not

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today, tomorrow. 
But Father, we know that when 

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you come, we will be with you. 
Our prayer, Lord, is that if 

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there's someone here today who 
does not know that when they die

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they'll be with you, the Lord 
you would burden their heart 

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that they would know to confess 
their sin, to repent and turn 

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from their evil ways. 
Give your life to the living God

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and follow you in obedience for 
the rest of their lives. 

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00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,800
Lord, we love you. 
Thank you for our time together.

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May this week be the greatest of
all weeks because we want to 

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live it for your glory in Jesus 
name, Amen.