The Doom of False Teachers: Part 2

Redeeming Grace Church

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Father and our God, we praise You. Lord, You inhabit the praises of Your people.

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You're worthy of praise, even in heaven now, in the church trumpet, they're praising

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You around Your throne, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who is and was and who is to come.

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And Lord, us as the church militant, still in the battle, Lord, we need to praise

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You. We thank You, Father, that it's all about Your glory, it's about Your covenant that You made with Your people.

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It has nothing to do with how great and righteous we are, God forbid. It's all because of Your grace,

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Your compassion, Your loving kindness, Your mercy. Nothing of us, nothing of us.

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Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us. It is because of Your mercy and truth.

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We praise You and we thank You, Lord, speak to us now from heaven. And when we open up this

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Bible, it is heaven speaking to us. A touch of heaven to our soul and here and in our midst.

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And Lord, we thank You that You are in our midst. And we praise

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You, Father, even if we're in the deep waters, even if we're going through the fire, it's all for a purpose.

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The waters is to cleanse us, the fire is to purify us. But Lord, through it all, we are to glorify

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You, knowing that all things work together for good to those who love

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You, to those who love You. So, Father, the good comes from You because You are good and You do us good.

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So now, Lord, speak to us as we look to this message this morning.

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Lord, hide me behind the cross. May Jesus increase and may

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I decrease. And Father, when we leave here, we can say, we know the

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Lord is in our midst and it's been good to come here because of Jesus. So may we look to Him, the

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Lord Jesus Christ, and all that is said and done this morning. In Your name we pray,

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Amen and Amen. The doom of false teachers. The doom of false teachers.

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This will be a second part. Please turn with me. This is

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Lord's Day morning as we continue our study through 2 Peter. We're right in the middle.

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We're in the very heart of this epistle, chapter 2. Our text is found in verse 4 through 11.

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4 through 11. A very rich text. A very sobering text.

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But, may we not miss the encouragement here. There's a great encouragement to God's people here in this text.

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In chapter 2 of 2 Peter. Let me begin with verse 4 reading to verse 11.

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4 through 11. Hear the word of the living God this morning.

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For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but saved

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Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly, and delivered righteous

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Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling among them tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.

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Then the Lord knows. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.

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And especially those who walk according to the flesh and the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.

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They are presumptuous, self -willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.

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Whereas the angels who are in greater power and might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the

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Lord. Let's stop right there. Last Lord's Day, we looked at the

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Scriptures here in our text from chapter 2. The text that is set before us and the great lessons.

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And there are three powerful illustrations that the Apostle Peter gives to us through the inspiration of the

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Holy Spirit. Three powerful illustrations, three powerful examples, biblical accounts, historical, that happened, that speaks loudly from the pages of Scripture that God is a just holy

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God that will and must judge the wicked men, ungodly men.

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God is a God of judgment. We see that all the way through Scripture. That God is a just judge.

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He's holy. He's righteous. And the wicked will not go unpunished.

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But there's also an encouragement along with the warnings here before us in the text.

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That God is not only a God of justice and judgment, but God is also a God of mercy and God of deliverance.

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Isn't that wonderful? So in our text today, the

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Apostle Peter desires and wants his readers to know that although God's judgment may be delayed, there's a delay, but it's also absolutely certain.

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It makes me think that God has a clock, God has a calendar day, that God has a timetable, and He's always on time.

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He's never late. He's just patient. And He's very patient.

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It's amazing, isn't it? We see people blaspheming God, using God's name almost in every breath, and God's name is to be hallowed and holy, and yet we see people living any way they want to and desire.

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They even deny God. They hold up a fist against God.

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They tempt God. They mock God. But yet God is patient, because He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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God has a time clock, folks. God has a time clock of His judgment, and that clock continues to click and to tick.

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But eventually, one day, on God's timetable, that clock will strike midnight, and God's patience will come to an end.

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Right now is the age of grace, and right now God is giving people an opportunity and grace and favor to come to repentance.

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They will be without excuse. And here in our text tells us and speaks to us about three biblical historical examples of judgment in which we looked at last

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Lord's Day. But let us not forget, there's two examples here of God's rescuing the righteous and delivering the righteous from judgment, both to warn and to encourage.

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There's a warning, yet there's an encouragement. Now I'd like to give a little bit more time to the encouragement today.

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The warning is God will righteously judge all the ungodly wicked.

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We know that from Scripture. All you got to do is open up the Bible. We see that God is a holy

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God. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

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He's angry with the sinners, the wicked every day. He would not tolerate sin.

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And all you have to do is look at the text. God did not spare the angels who sinned.

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God did not spare the ancient world. And He even turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes.

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That's prevalent judgment. So none will escape God's wrath and anger, right?

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Nobody's going to escape. How can we escape such a great salvation? Encouragement.

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But the encouragement here is that God will rescue the godly from judgment and His wrath.

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Actually, when Jesus comes to save us from our own sin and saves us from our sin, that's actually what

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He does. But He saves us from the wrath to come. We're saved from the wrath of God.

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It's like as God saves us from God. In His mercy and through His mercy in Jesus, through His compassion as He gave

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His Son and did not spare His Son on the cross. And as we place our faith and trust in Him, we're literally saved from the wrath to come.

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And that's what Peter is speaking of. Encouragement is that God will rescue the godly from judgment. Let us not forget that.

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So therefore, we should have the courage to stand firm in the truth.

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And that truth is the gospel message. That truth is that Jesus Christ saves to the uttermost.

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And in the gospel message, following God in a very ungodly world.

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This relates so much to us, folks. I'm telling you. And we're going to look at this.

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Now since God judges all the ungodly and He mercifully saves the godly, which is a remnant, a few.

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We should stand firm in the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. And we should resist all false teaching because God abhors it.

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Because it tempers with the purity of the gospel. It tempers with the purity of the gospel message.

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Is not there a purity in the gospel? Spotless.

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So that's the message that the apostle Peter is bringing in this second epistle. Now let me recap just a little bit as we move forward.

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Again, our text is one long sentence. And in that long sentence, all the way from verse 4 to 11, the if -then sentence, your translation may say if, for if God did not spare the angels, but the if part could actually be rendered since in the original.

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Since. The word since basically says that there's no doubt in view here that this has happened.

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Since God did not spare the angels who sinned. Since God did not spare the angels who sinned.

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Peter builds this part of the sentence toward the final conclusion in verse 9. Then the

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Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under the punishment for the day of judgment.

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The first thing we see here is

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God righteously judges all the ungodly. Right? That's number one.

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Number one, God righteously judges all the ungodly.

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That's going to happen. Peter is arguing that history gives us a vivid, clear example to warn us that God will judge the ungodly wicked.

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We should think about these examples and apply these to our lives as well. God's judgment of the fallen angels, if you look in verse 4, technically shows that He judges the ungodly.

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That's what He's saying. He judges the ungodly.

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And the parallel verse to this is Jude. Jude basically parallels 2

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Peter. If you study through this, I believe it would be worth your time to study

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Jude. I quoted this last week, but I'm going to quote it again.

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Verse 6 of Jude. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode.

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And notice what it says. And He, God, has reserved an everlasting change under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

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He speaks of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 7. As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example.

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It's an example. Suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

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Parallels. Almost exactly what Peter says. And actually it's the same

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Holy Spirit. The same Spirit of truth moving them to speak these words.

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So God's judgment of fallen angels shows that He judges the ungodly. Next we see that God's judgment of the world through the great flood shows that He judges the ungodly wicked.

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You look at that in verse 5. And God did not spare the ancient world, but saved

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Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

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So Peter refers to the flood once again in reference.

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Go with me to chapter 3 of 2 Peter. And he speaks about this again in verse 6 -10.

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By which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.

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But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word.

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And notice these words, preserved. Preserved. Then he says, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

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In other words, what he's saying, judgment is coming, folks. And it's going to be fire.

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Verse 8. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.

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See, God has a different timetable than us. After all,

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He inhabits eternity. He dwells in eternity. It's like He steps into time. Verse 9.

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And the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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Oh, the doctrine of repentance. We need to hear it. God commands all men to repent everywhere.

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No argument to it. Repent or perish, Jesus said. Verse 10.

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But the day of the Lord will come as the thief in the night. Now, when He's talking about the day of the Lord, He's talking about that final judgment day.

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The day of God Almighty. In which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

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Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. And notice what

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He says. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?

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There's application. Until that time comes, we should be living holy, separate from the ungodly world, holy in conduct and godliness.

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And then He says this. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire.

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And in a question, He says, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

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Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

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This is how righteousness is going to dwell. God must, once again, because He is absolutely holy, will judge the world in righteousness, because He's a just God and He does not tolerate sin.

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He sent His Son, He spared not His Son. Sent on a hill for the world to say,

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Look, here's salvation. Repent and believe the gospel.

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Opportunity is given. God's gracious. So God shows us through the great flood that He will judge all the ungodly wicked.

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Peter refers to this. And when He makes the comparison here that just as the ancient world was destroyed by the water, the great flood, even so the present world will be destroyed by fire.

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It makes me think of this. First time that God destroyed the entire world, He cleansed it with a fierce water of the wickedness that was dwelling on the earth.

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It's like God said, You're not going to pollute my world. I will deal with this sin. And so He cleansed it with water.

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Evidence of that. Everything was destroyed except for those that was on the ark. And the second time when

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God would destroy the entire world, He would purify it with fire that would consume.

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And you and I know that all God has to do is speak the word. He is a consuming fire. This whole universe is upheld by the word of His power.

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And I was thinking about this the other day as I was driving and praying in the milk truck. I'm thinking, you know, God, all you have to do is speak the word, just the word, and everything will be taken care of.

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Fire will come down from heaven and will purify everything and burn everything up. And people live like there's no

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God. Folks, God will not be mocked. Next, God's judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah from the

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Scripture shows that He judges the ungodly wicked. See, these three examples are given that God will judge sin,

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God will judge the ungodly, God will judge false teachers, God will judge them.

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Judgment. 2 Peter 2 .6

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Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction. There's the word destruction.

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Making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly. Now, what I'm talking about today, it's sad, but it's foreign to our ears almost.

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It's almost like we don't hear this enough. And I guarantee you will not hear any of this kind of preaching from the word of God from Creflo Dollar or Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland.

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Do you ever hear them talk about judgment? No, because the judgment is against them.

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It's against them. God will judge them.

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And God judged Sodom and Gomorrah. And this is an example. He turned the whole twin cities to ashes.

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Genesis 19, we looked at it. It gives us the details. And Peter adds something here that parallels in Jude 5 -7.

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But Jude omits. That God's persuasion of Noah and Lot.

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Now, this is encouragement to us because I don't know about you, when I read verses, even though I know

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I'm saved from the wrath to come, any time I read from the verses of Scripture that God is a just God and a holy

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God and He will judge all the ungodly, He's going to bring judgment in which He will. It's a terrifying thing.

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Isn't it? It's terrifying. I don't know about you, when I was reading those Scriptures from 2

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Peter 3, just a minute ago, talking about fire coming down from heaven and consuming the entire world, people get caught up in these sci -fi pictures and things like this, of these kind of stories.

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They look at it as fantasy, but I'm telling you, this is reality, folks. This is going to happen. Peter includes these stories from Scripture and these accounts from Scripture to show that God not only will judge the ungodly, the wicked, but He also mercifully saves and rescues and delivers the godly, the righteous.

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God uses temporal judgments, folks, to warn those who still live that eternal judgment is ahead.

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And by the way, I really do believe, last week we basically looked at 9 -11, right?

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We're not to forget. People say, all the loss of lives, and yes, we do grieve the loss of all those lives, but I'm telling you what, folks, when

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God brought those twin towers down, God allowed that to happen.

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If we really believe in the sovereignty of God, God allowed that to happen. Outsiders, foreigners came in, bombarded those towers, and you remember as well as I do, folks, this was a temporal judgment on America, and by the way, we're right in the middle of judgment right now.

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All you gotta do is read Romans 1, look at what's going on today. But when 9 -11 took place,

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I think this is God speaking. This is God speaking to this nation to wake up, to warn us.

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These are temporal judgments. And by the way, that's not the only towers that's spoken of.

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Go with me to Luke chapter 21. Jesus speaks about something very much concerning this, and He speaks about the godly are not exempt from temporal judgments.

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This is given to us in detail from Luke chapter 21. And Jesus speaks about the end of the age.

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In verse 16 through 19, you will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, friends.

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They will put some of you to death and you will be hated by all for my name's sake.

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He speaks about the destruction of the temple. Get my place here.

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Not a hair of your head shall be lost, but your patience possess your souls.

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But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. And let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter here.

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These are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

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But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies of those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon His people.

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They will fall by the edge of the sword, be led away captive, and to all nations in Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the

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Gentiles are fulfilled. Then the coming of that great day comes, and there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars on the earth to stress nations' perplexity and the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.

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Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

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But He gives hope. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh.

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It draws near. There is hope. There is hope.

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There are other examples. Jesus speaks about repentance in Luke 13.

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There were present at that season some who told

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Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

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And Jesus answered and said to them, now speaking about repentance, no, this is the

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Lord speaking. Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things?

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I tell you no. Listen to our Lord. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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Or those 18, He gives another question here, or those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them,

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He speaks about a tower. And Siloam fell and killed them.

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Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you no.

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But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. You know, that really calls us to examine our own hearts.

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Because, you see, God is going to judge sin and that judgment will fall.

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The solution? Repent. Turn. Change.

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A change of mind, a change of heart, a change in attitude. Change. A lot of people say,

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I can't change. Really? Then you're going to perish.

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And you and I know it takes the grace of God and it takes the power of God. Repentance and faith has to be powered by the

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Holy Spirit. It must be a gift from God above. It's an eye -opener, isn't it?

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It also speaks of the judgment to come. See, all what Peter is speaking of in the examples he gives speaks about a judgment that is ahead.

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Let me tell you about a judgment that's ahead that should cause all of us to tremble. Go to Revelation 20. God instrumentally used this 40 years ago in my life as I was a rebellious teenager.

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Oh, I wasn't going to parties and drinking and I wasn't following the crowd, but I knew in my heart I was rebellious.

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What about the great white throne judgment? Actually, in my own personal life,

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I thought I was a good person until my uncle witnessed to me and said, you know, one day even all good people will go to hell.

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I said, good people will go to hell? And he took the opportunity. He was burning a tire fire out back in his yard.

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It was huge, a mountain of tires. And I saw the fire and I felt the heat from that tire fire.

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And I thought to myself, this is fierce. This is absolutely staggering.

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And I looked down and I thought about souls in hell at that time. It became so real and vivid to me.

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And then he witnessed to me. I thought I was okay. I thought

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I was a good person. I thought I was righteous. I never ran with the crowd.

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I never got drunk. I never smoked cigarettes. I never did this and that. But all of a sudden I saw myself undone and filthy and going to hell.

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And then he spoke to me about this eternal hell fire and the lake of fire.

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And he told me, he said, that fire you see is nothing compared to the eternal fire that's coming. Oh, you taught me something that got my attention.

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Listen to this. Then I saw a great white throne on verse 11. And him who sat on it. Talking about that that's the one that would appear.

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He's the one that would appear. The one who sat on it. Listen to what it says.

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From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

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No place for them. I saw the dead. This is all the dead souls.

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And the prison and the jail I should say of hell. And hell was going to open up.

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And they're going to stand before God. Listen, it's small and great. Standing before God. And the books were opened.

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There was going to be a book. Another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which are written in the books.

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God's keeping a count. There's some people that actually preach and say, God, you don't have to be terrified of God.

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You don't have to be scared of God. You don't have to walk on eggshells. Don't worry about it. He's not keeping a count.

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Oh yeah? That's not what this Bible says. God has books.

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There's a book of life. There's a book of memory. The dead, listen to this, were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.

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The sea gave up the dead who was in it. And death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.

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And they were judged, each one according to his works. Each one. Billions and billions.

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Ravenhill says, where's the judgment going to take place? He said, well, we know there's a great white throne judgment before God.

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And he says, I don't know exactly. And he said, how long is it going to take? He said, I don't know. But he said, they're not going nowhere.

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And there's all eternity before. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.

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There's the lake of fire. This is the second death. And here is the sobering truth right here, folks.

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If anyone not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.

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That's the judgment to come. That's the final judgment. And what Peter is basically saying back to 2

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Peter, he's saying these are examples that took place. These are judgments. These are temporal judgments.

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And God gave example of this great final judgment day one day. Powerful, isn't it?

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But everything really, not all the godly, like I said, is exempt from the temporal judgments.

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But God did not provide. This is something else.

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I want you to look back in 2 Peter. God did not provide salvation for the fallen angels.

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Why? I think there's a lesson here. Did you ever think that God did not provide the fallen angels to teach us that He does not owe not a one of us salvation?

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I think He did. God did not have to send His Son.

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But He did. That's mercy. Did He show mercy to the fallen angels?

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No, He didn't. And God doesn't owe us mercy, does He? But He shows us in Scripture here that He cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for the final judgment day.

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And, you know, God does not owe any of us anything but hell. God provided deliverance for Noah and his family.

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That's the good part. For Lot and his two daughters. That's incredible.

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But there was no deliverance for the angels that sinned. So they perished and will perish with no possibility of salvation whatsoever.

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Can you imagine that? Being reserved in chains of darkness until the great day of judgment knowing that there is no salvation whatsoever.

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God doesn't owe us salvation. A lot of people have a hard time with this, folks.

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You know why? Because of the pride of men. That stinking pride that dwells within all of us.

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Go to Romans chapter 9. We'll see a little bit of this. Romans chapter 9 is powerful,

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I'm telling you. It's one of the great chapters in the Word of God theologically that Paul basically makes clear that God's severity and God's goodness.

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This is so powerful. I don't have time to really break this down but I just want to read the verses.

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Just a few verses. Look at verse 14 of chapter 9. What shall we say then?

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Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not.

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The old King James says, God forbid. God forbid. And you know it's an explanation.

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It's almost like, Certainly not. God forbid. And then he says this,

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For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whomever

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I will have compassion. God chooses. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

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God doesn't owe us. He owes us wrath and hell but he doesn't owe us mercy.

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Verse 17, For the Scripture, notice how Paul says, The Scripture. The Scripture says to the

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Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth.

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God's going to be glorified. He even used Pharaoh to do his will for his glory.

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Verse 18, Therefore he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens.

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God can harden people. Verse 19,

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You will say to me then, Paul knew that people would raise a flag on that one.

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Hold on! And he says, Why does he still find fault?

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Why does he still find fault? For who has resisted his will? He answers it in a question.

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But indeed, old man, Who are you to reply against God?

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Dust of the earth? A worm? Who are you?

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Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this?

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He's the creator. You're the creature. Verse 21,

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Does not the potter have power over the clay? For the same luck to make one vessel of honor in another for dishonor?

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This is heavenly wisdom, folks. This is God speaking through the apostle. And look at the questions that he's throwing at these people that are basically saying,

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There's unrighteousness with God. I'm deserving of this. Why would God do such a thing? The unrighteousness is with us.

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God is wholly righteous. And then he says this in verse 22, What if God wanted to show his wrath?

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To make his power known, Endeared of much long -suffering, The vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.

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And that he might make known the riches of his glory On the vessels of mercy,

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Which he had prepared beforehand for glory. Even us, whom he called,

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Not of the Jews only, But also of the Gentiles. And listen to this,

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And as he also said in Hosea, I will call them my people, Who were not my people,

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And her beloved, Who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass,

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In the place where it was said to them, You are not my people, They shall be called the sons of the living

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God. God chooses whom he pleases. And if we are in the faith today,

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We should be thanking God for his grace and mercy on us. Because it's not something we did.

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We didn't earn it. We didn't get in by, Hey, I did this and I did that.

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I took step one, two and three on the plan of salvation. It got me in the kingdom. Oh no.

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It was God's mercy and his mercy alone. Well, God did not provide salvation for the fallen angels,

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To teach us that he does not owe anyone salvation. The good news for the sinful people is that,

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We have the example of Noah and Lot, To show us that God's mercy, Has provided salvation for sinners.

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And now he has provided that salvation through one, Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is that salvation.

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There is no other name under heaven, Whereby men can be saved.

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None other. There's people out there, Basically complaining,

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Why did God make other ways? Look, be thankful that he made a what? There's only one way.

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I like what MacArthur says, If God said there was 43 ways to God, He said

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I would preach all 43. But God said there's only one way.

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The way, the truth, the life. And I like what MacArthur said, Praise God. He said

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I'm going to preach Jesus Christ, And him crucified. Because he is the only way.

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He is the only way. Jesus Christ and him crucified. And he has provided that salvation.

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Now next, God saved Noah through the flood, Is an example of how mercifully God, He saves and rescues and delivers the godly.

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He saves the righteous from all of his troubles. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But God delivers them out of all of them.

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God preserved Noah, A preacher of righteousness, With seven others, When he brought a flood upon the world,

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Of the ungodly in that day. Hebrews 11, 7 gives us a little bit more insight.

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Hebrews 11, 7, By faith Noah, By faith

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Noah, Being divinely warned of things not yet seen, Moved with godly fear,

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Prepared an ark for the saving of his household, By which he condemned the world, And became heir of righteousness,

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Which is according to faith. Genesis 6, 8,

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Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. You and I found grace in the eyes of the

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Lord. It's in God's eyes. His eyes.

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Isn't it wonderful how God speaks of, We know He's spirit, we know that, But it's anthropophoric,

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I can't pronounce that, Help me out Brother Keith. That's a tough one isn't it? It's basically saying that,

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There's illustrations, Didn't mean to put you on the spot. There's illustrations that God sees all things,

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He hears all things, He knows all things, But He's spirit. It basically comes to us in the language that we can relate to.

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You see what I'm saying? Or we couldn't understand it. But God sees.

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There's even a scripture that, God's eyelids test the hearts of men. His eyelids. Wow. God rescued

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Lot. Not only Noah, He rescues Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, As an example of how mercifully

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He saves the godly. We should stand firm in the faith of the gospel,

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To resist all false teaching. And I love verse, back to 2 Peter. I love this verse.

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In 2 Peter. And He basically wraps it up.

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And this is the verse I really want to focus on an application here. It's right here.

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Verse 9. Then the Lord knows. Underscore that.

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The Lord knows. The Lord knows. We don't know.

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But the Lord knows. He's a God of all wisdom. All power. Ever present.

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He knows how. To deliver. There it is.

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To deliver the godly out of temptations. Doesn't He? Isn't that wonderful?

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And I want to focus on that just for a few minutes in closing. That God knows how to deliver.

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Even in the midst of an ungodly culture. That throws everything wicked in our face.

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You can't even go to the grocery store unless you have half nude magazines thrown in our face.

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Now you got the media, the social media. And isn't it, it should not be surprising to us that Satan, the god of this world,

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Is the prince and the power of the air. This is his domain. That's his medium.

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That's right. And he works within that realm to tempt us to sin and to fall away from God.

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But God knows how to deliver. God! We're too weak.

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We can't do it. Think about it. If God did not speak to Noah, And if Noah did not find grace in the eyes of the

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Lord, He wouldn't have known what to do. God spoke to him supernaturally, divinely, moved him by faith.

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He was a godly man by faith. And God showed him. This is what you need to do.

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And He commanded him to build and prepare an ark. That was designed from heaven.

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And that ark we know is a type of Christ. The ark. We better get in the ark.

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Get your home, your loved ones in the ark. The ark.

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The ark of God. To deliver us from the storm and the wrath to come.

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God delivers. How does He deliver? This is a few that comes to my mind.

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There's so many here, folks. But, I can't help but think about the verse of Scripture in Exodus 20.

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Before God gave the law. The Ten Commandments.

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The first thing God says. God spoke all these words. Saying in Exodus 20, verse 1. God spoke all these words.

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Verse 2. I am the Lord your God who brought you out.

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There it is. That's deliverance. He brought you out of the land of Egypt.

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After 420 years of hard affliction. Of these people were slaves being beaten physically.

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420 years. God has a timetable, folks. He has a calendar. He gave a covenant.

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He keeps His word. You know, you see this time and time again about Israel. Basically, God reminds

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Israel. This is not about you. This is about me. This is about my namesake.

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This is about my honor. This is about my glory. God has to remind them. He said, you are few in number.

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You're nothing. But, I chose you to display my glory.

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To show the world. And, notice what He says. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

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Out of the house of bondage. Out of the house of bondage?

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Out of the house of slaves. 420 years of hard taskmasters.

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These Hebrews were slaves. 420 years. But, God did not forget

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His covenant. And, He sent a deliverer. By the name of Moses. Who is a type of Jesus Christ.

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There's another one. You can go with me here. Let me read just a little bit. Daniel. My grandchildren love to see

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Superbook on Sunday morning. So, we looked at the Hebrew children this morning. Wonderful story.

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What about Daniel? Daniel? Yeah. We'll go to the

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Hebrew children next. But, did not God deliver Daniel from the den of lions? He delivered him.

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Hungry lions. Didn't even want to touch him. Supernatural miracle.

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These people were plotting. And, he was all... If you read the story. He was in there because he gave honor to God.

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Praying three times a day. Facing toward Jerusalem. He was in captivity, right? He was burdened for his people.

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And, nothing was going to stop him from praying. And, these people plotted. And, tricked the king.

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To make a... You cannot think of it.

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Set him up, basically. And, put him in the den of lions. And, Daniel remained faithful to God.

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What a story. And, God delivered him out. From the den of lions.

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And, then after it was all over with. Liz, the king. King Darius. He said, did

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God deliver you? Did God deliver you this day? And, yes he did. And, after he brought him forth.

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God delivered him. Then, he threw in the ones that plotted against him. And, the lions shredded them to pieces.

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And, by the way. Didn't only throw in the men that plotted against him. Threw in their family too. Wow. Daniel from the den of lions.

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What about the Hebrew children? From the fiery furnace. In which I spoke a minute ago. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

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You know the story. A story that we hear is children.

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Children die as wide as saucers back there. They know that story, don't you? Three Hebrew children refused to bow down to this golden image.

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And, they even said. Listen. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in verse 16 of chapter 3.

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Said, O Nebuchadnezzar. We have no need to answer you in this manner. If this is the case.

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Our God whom we serve. Is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. He will deliver us from your hand.

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O King. But, if not. In other words.

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If there is a chance that God doesn't deliver us. Let it be known to you. O King.

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That we do not serve your gods. Nor will we worship the gold image.

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Which you have set up basically. That the king looked at them as being defiant. Against what he is doing.

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Worshipping himself. With the golden image. He threatens them.

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Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury. That expression on his face changed towards Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

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He spoke. Commanded them. Commanded that the heat of the furnace.

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Heat seven times more than it was usually heated. Heated up so hot.

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He commanded certain men of valor. Who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

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And these men were bound in their coats. Trousers. Their turbans. And their other garments.

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And they were cast. Into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's command was urgent.

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And the furnace is seethingly hot. It's seethingly hot. The flame of the fire.

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Killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Killed them instantly. It was so hot.

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And these three men. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Fell down. Bound in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

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King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. And he rose in haste. And spoke. And said to his counselors. Did we not cast three men bound in the midst of the fire?

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And they answered. And said to the king. True oh king. Look. Look. He answered.

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I see four men loose. Walking in the midst of the fire. And they are not hurt.

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And the form of the fourth is like. The son of God. Christ was right there in the burning furnace.

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Right with them. And you read the rest of the story. When he brought them out. Not a hair was singed.

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They didn't smell like smoke. It's almost like. God completely. Look. God makes the fire.

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He totally protects. What a miracle. But that's a story of deliverance.

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God delivers His people. Because of His covenant. Because of His namesake.

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He delivers. The Hebrew children from the fiery furnace. He even delivered

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Jonah from the belly of the whale. Right? David from Goliath.

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We could go on and on. All the way through Scripture. God is a God of deliverance. And He's a

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God that never fails. He will never fail us. And let us not forget that.

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Go with me to Acts 26. How does this all apply to me?

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Much. Much. Look at the words of Acts 26.

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Look at verse 17 and 18. Jesus Himself is speaking to the

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Apostle Paul. Let me back up 15. Paul is basically giving his testimony.

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What a testimony. What a conversion. Right? I said to you. Who are you? Oh Lord.

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He said I am Jesus. Whom you are persecuting. He was persecuting the church. Jesus said you are persecuting me.

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See? The church of the living God and Christ are one and the same.

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But rise and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose. To make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and the things which

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I will yet reveal to you. Notice what He said. And I will deliver you from the

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Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. When Jesus says

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I'm going to deliver you. He will deliver you. You can count on it. And notice what

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He says in verse 18. To open their eyes in order to turn them. That's repentance.

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Turn them from darkness to light. And from the power of Satan to God.

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That they may receive forgiveness of sins. And an inheritance among those who are sanctified by me.

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By faith in me. What a verse of scripture.

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And how does this all happen? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Go with me to Colossians.

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Last not least. Chapter 1.

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Look at verse 9 through 14. I close with this. Let's apply this to our lives.

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The Lord Jesus Christ who comes to save. He is the one.

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He is the deliverer. Actually His name means Jehovah saves. Jehovah rescues.

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Jehovah. He is Jehovah in flesh. Verse 9.

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For this reason we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you. And to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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And all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That you may walk worthy of the Lord. Fully pleasing

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Him. Talking about application folks. This is the way. We are to walk worthy of the

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Lord. Fully pleasing Him. Being fruitful in every good work. And increasing in the knowledge of God.

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Strengthened with all mind. According to His glorious power. And for all patience.

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And long suffering with joy. Giving thanks to the

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Father who has qualified us. Who has qualified us? The Father. The Father has qualified us.

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That is a good qualification isn't it? To be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life.

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The writer of Hebrews says you are partakers of His divine holiness. Isn't that a staggering thing to think that we are partakers of the very holiness of God?

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He has qualified us. To be partakers. To be partakers. Listen to that.

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That's the communion. That's the union. That's the oneness of the inheritance.

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There is an inheritance to come. Of the saints in the light. And verse 13 pretty much sums it up.

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He has delivered us. There it is. Who? Who? God. Through Jesus Christ.

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Has delivered us from the power of darkness. You and I are delivered from the power of darkness.

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And conveyed us. Conveyed us.

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Verse 13 there basically means transferred us. He's transferred us.

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Conveyed us. Us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In whom we have redemption through His blood.

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You see how important the blood of Christ is? The blood is cleansing agent.

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To cleanse us from all of our sin. And to forgive us. That's what cleanses us and forgives us of our sins.

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There's no forgiveness. Unless we have the blood of Jesus Christ applied to it.

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He is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn over all creation. What a wonderful Savior is

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Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Let us take hold of Him.

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Let us trust Him. Let us repent. And be saved.

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Repent and believe the gospel. Let us pray. Our Father and our God. What a wonderful message this is to know from Your Word that even though You're going to judge all the wicked and the ungodly on this earth.

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And that judgment will come. It will happen. Eventually.

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It's a terrifying thing to fall in the hands of the living God. Because You are a consuming fire.

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But oh God we know that You're a God of deliverance. You're a God of mercy. Even though You're a God of justice and judgment.

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And absolutely holy because You must punish sin. But when we think of the punishment of sin.

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Lord You did not spare Your own Son. And laid our sin upon Him.

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Oh God. That should bring us to our faces to repent.

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That's the urgency. Lord when we see the Son of God on Mount Calvary.

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Crucified between two thieves. And yet. It should have been us.

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It should have been us. Taking that wrath. And it will be us taking that wrath if we do not repent and believe the gospel.

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But Lord. Thank You for that grace. Thank You for the mercy. Thank You for Your compassion.

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We thank You that there's a Savior today. And we thank You there's a living hope. Lord we're not in this kingdom because of anything good we've done.

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God forbid. None of. Not of our righteousness. But Lord it's all the mercy and Your righteousness.

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All in Jesus. Nothing else. No one else. Only in Christ.

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In Christ alone. And we thank You today for this great salvation. We turn to You.

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Desperately Lord. Knowing that there's no other name under heaven. Whereby we can be saved.