Book of Revelation - Ch. 1, Vs. 1-3 (01/28/2018)

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Bro. Bill Nichols

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We're ready to go a little bit more, okay
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Thank you, sir, it always is yeah, it'll it'll love
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Probably cool off in a minute Well, good morning everyone
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Okay. Thank you brother David so So I looked at this morning the first thing
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I saw was a visitor and I said I'm gonna be really good today and I'm going to memorize his name and When we get ready to get ready to talk
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I will introduce him and then another one showed up and another one and another one and now there's so many
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I don't know who you are So I don't want to say this we as a church welcome each and every one of them
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We're always delighted to have you and the fact that I can't remember your name is my shortfalling It is not the problem with the church again
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We love having visitors and we love especially having visitors that come interested in learning about The Lord's Word and that's what we're trying to focus on this morning and this
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Afterlunch not after before lunch the Regular service we have begun a study of Revelation and Revelation is an interesting book in many ways
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One of the most interesting things about it are all of the pitfalls and all of the minds that I believe
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Satan lays in our paths on purpose to keep us from studying the book
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Because after all this is a book that gives a special blessing to everybody that reads it
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We'll get to that verse today In fact, that's how we'll end Today's class.
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In fact, I'm going to read the first three verses of Revelation and then we'll begin The Revelation this is
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Revelation 1 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ which
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God gave unto him to show his servants. That was mrs. Mitchell telling me it's church time
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Pardon me the revelation of Jesus Christ Which God gave unto him to show his servants things which must shortly come to pass and he sent and signified it
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By his angel unto his servant John Who bear record of the
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Word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all the things that he saw?
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blessed is he that readeth and They that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein
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For the time is at hand Let us pray most gracious Heavenly Father Thank you for your word
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Your word that you have preserved through the ages so that it'll be available to us this morning
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Thank you for giving us a desire to come together to study that word Thank you for sending us the
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Holy Spirit to guide us as we understate undertake that study and most of all
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Thank you for sending your son Into the world as a man so that we might receive eternal life this morning
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I ask you to lead us to the scriptures you wish us to explore Shake them into the message you wish to be delivered and give them to those who wish to hear in the name of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, we pray Amen Now we have been two weeks introducing the book of Revelation and We didn't get through with verse 1 yesterday or last
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Sunday We have two questions left over from last Sunday one that we will mark
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Go into in depth in about a year Because it's in because it's in chapter 22 and the other one we're going to finish up today and the question that we asked and We got a lot of different responses to this
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Before I begin let me say one more thing There is a verse in Acts Acts 17 11 that talks about the
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Bereans and the nature of the Bereans and he said these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in That they received the word readily and check the scriptures daily whether those things be so So all
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I ask you to do is check the scriptures to see if what we are discussing is true And if they're not true, if you're one of us and you want to correct us you certainly
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Do that if you're not one of us and you want to correct us you do that. Anyhow, because we are
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Open to the fact that We don't have all the answers the the book does the scripture has all the answers and That's where we have to go
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So when we get too far afield or when I get too far afield real me back in It does not hurt me at all to be corrected
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The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him that was a strange verse part of a verse to me
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The revelation is the unveiling the apocalypse and what it's saying is the unveiling of Jesus to Jesus by God Does that mean that something was made known to Jesus that Jesus did not already know?
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That's what he says. Let's look at it again the revelation the unveiling of Jesus Christ which
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God gave Unto who unto him
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Unto Jesus Christ There were several things that were unveiled this time
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Not the least of which was the hour and the day that Jesus will return We're going to begin by recapping what we did last week and I'll go do it a lot faster.
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I go to mark 13 32 Jesus is sitting back with his disciples on the front of the
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Temple and they made a comment one of them did about the wonder of the building and he said they'll come a time when not one stone will be left upon the other and One of them asked him and when will this be and Jesus responds this way
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But at that day and that hour knoweth no man No Not the angels which are in heaven
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Neither the Son, but the Father Take heed watch and pray for you know, not when the time is
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So the question that was asked then last time was does Jesus know that day and that hour
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Well, it says clearly. No, he doesn't He doesn't know that day in that hour at least not yet.
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Then there was another passage we read Acts 11 starting with verse 6 acts
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Did I say 11? Acts 1 Starting with verse 6
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I think I had I think I had acts 1 1 last time but this we're going to jump on down to the
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Closer to the end and when they therefore will come together They asked of him saying
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Lord will thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel and He said unto them it is not for you to know
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The times nor the seasons which the father hath put in his own power
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Now you notice he didn't say it was not for him to know. He only said that it was not
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Would you know? Now we had a long discussion about this passage last time and Dave Huber the elder who is not here this morning, but usually sit back on the back row with brother
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David If I recall properly suggested that maybe this is just Jesus's way of Telling his disciples to worry about those things that it was given for them to know and Jesus does go on to tell them
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That there is something for them to know So maybe they was correct Acts 1 8 but you shall receive power
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After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me
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Both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth
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Now they needed to know that is that all they needed to know John But that's all they got told
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What happened you know, what happened next Look ahead and windy and when he had spoken these things while they beheld
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He was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight now
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Jesus knew all he needed to know to tell them at this point what they needed to know whether he and Holy the
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Holy Ghost is going to come down and take his place revealing things to them Revealing things to them where?
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Let me ask that question differently, maybe I Yeah, that's what
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I want to try to do I'm gonna do a better job with that To a lot of people the prophets of old
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Jesus or God reveals the things to them in dreams and envisions
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It is the Holy Spirit going to reveal things to us today in dreams and envisions
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Where is he going to go or where he's going to lead you to go in order that he reveal things to you?
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Into the Word of God the things of God are revealed to the people of God In the
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Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit for guidance and So this was right before he ascended into the heavens now if I'm wrong and brother
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Huber what was correct and he very well may be Then certainly Jesus knew by the time of Revelation 1 1 and when we were going over this brother
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David Suggested that maybe this was the time maybe the unveiling in Revelation now
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This would have happened about 40 years later than the Ascension When John was in exile in Patmos, he was an old man then
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About 40 years later the revelation of Jesus Christ which
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God gave unto him the unveiling of Jesus Given by God the
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Father to Jesus the Son God reveals things to Jesus that Jesus had chosen
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Not to know not that he wasn't able to know it When Satan tempted
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Jesus and said if you're hungry turn these stones to bread could Jesus have done it
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But did he do it? He chose not to do it. I Think he chose not to know some things and one of the things he chose not to know is the time and the hour
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Of his second coming. I think by now it's been revealed to him
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That won't even be revealed to us For a lot longer than now anybody tells you they know the time of the coming.
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Oh, let me tell you something I just found out on the news like a week ago. I go slow
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This is like a special January the 31st
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January the 31st is a full moon It is the second full moon in January.
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So it's a blue moon It is also a blue moon upon which there is going to be a total lunar eclipse and Associated with the total lunar eclipse is what is called the blood moon because the moon turns red like blood
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Not only that but the moon and the earth are closest in their orbit
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Maybe not as close as they'll ever be but it's a very close approach To the moon and the earth as close as they come together so it looks big so it is blue and it's red and it's close and it's big and it is a
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Total eclipse and when it's in its totality state you can still see it
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When it's totally eclipsed you can still still see it But you get the reflection of the light back through and it gives you that red hue there are people that say
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That's the marker. That's the sign that tells us the beginning of the
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Tribulation period now Do I believe that? No, I don't believe it and we'll know for certain in about three or four weeks
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Because if it's that if it's the beginning the Antichrist will be revealed and We'll know and we'll know for sure in about three and a half years
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And we'll know for double sure in about seven years But I suspect it's not
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This week that was a side venture.
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I apologize for that The day and the hour
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That Jesus will return is not the only thing that will be revealed to him and again
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What I want you to understand is it is not so much things that he doesn't know
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It is things that he chose not to know and there's a difference. I Have students like at all time.
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I have some students that don't know and I have some students who choose not to know And there's a difference between them
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That begs the second question we did not get here last week so this is a new ground for everybody is
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God all -knowing Now that question kind of came up last week John is
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God Omniscient Well, certainly
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God the Father is God the Father the God out of time and space is all -knowing
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But what about Jesus? The question is is
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Omniscience one of the things that the Son gave up When he became the
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God -man You know, he gave up a lot of stuff in Philippians 2 5 it says this
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Philippians 2 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God?
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What does that mean? He's equal.
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He knows what's going on He causes what's going on. There is no difference
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Between God the Father and God the Son Now Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God?
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But made himself of no reputation and took on him the form of the servant and was made
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In the likeness of man. He is no longer like God kind of like God kind of like God in the same sense that Adam was created in the likeness of God.
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He still has that likeness of God He's even got more likeness of God than that Because Adam never came close to the likeness of God that Jesus had
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Jesus is as close to the likeness of God as any mortal human being could ever be
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He is the only one that ever could achieve the likeness of God as a man
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That's one of the things that we'll discover as we go through Revelation you've talked about The the elders wept because there was no man worthy of opening the scroll and the answer is don't worry
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There's one So he is he but he is not exactly
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God anymore He is a he is a little different but God and he's got to be different than God Because if he was not different than God Did he couldn't have taken the sins of the world upon himself and paid the price for us?
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That was a great thing that he did for us. It was a great thing that God Jesus the
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Son of God did for us Is to be formed in the fashion as a man and he humbled himself and Became obedient even unto death
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Even to death on the cross the most humiliating of all deaths and probably one if not the most painful form of death
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Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name
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That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow things of earth Things in heaven and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
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Lord to the glory of God the Father Let me ask you a question It says every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
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Lord. Is that really true? You think that's true. You think you think every man
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That exists or ever did exist will confess that Jesus Christ is
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Lord No doubt absolutely no question I agree with you
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Every tongue shall confess Will that be enough to save them? It'll only be enough to save those that are saved
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It'll be enough to convict those that are not Because they will say oh, yes, you were right and I was wrong, but you are
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God and now I know it That would include angels
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Not just things in earth things in heaven Not just things in heaven and earth things under the earth
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Every tongue the tongue of angels the tongues of demons The tongues of men shall all confess that Jesus Christ is
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Lord to the glory of God the Father And I would like to Go on by pointing out something.
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We have absolutely no conception of all That Jesus gave up to become a man
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We don't know what it's like to be God We don't know all of the things that God gave up that Jesus gave up to become a man so that he could stand in our place and if we do even a
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Thousand of the things that Jesus gave up to become a man. We would be awestruck and he gave it up for all eternity
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I Do have a little caveat to that that I may get to today but I Think we can introduce it now
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My next question was Now we arrive at the question.
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Does Jesus continue to learn? That the things continue to be made known to Jesus that he didn't already know even to today or with his learning
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Ever be complete another way to say that is Will Jesus ever reach a point in time where he will have learned or he will now be aware of all the things
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That he needs to be aware of let's say it that way is Will Jesus ever reach a point in time?
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Where he will have Become aware of all of the things that he needs to become aware of or is he still he have is he still having new things revealed to him you think he
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Already has everything revealed to him. Okay, I can live with that He was
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We know that he changed You think after you think after his
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Resurrection after his glorified body after his ascension to heaven that he now knows all the things
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He knew when he was in the condition before He did he revealed a lot more than we know now, okay
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What about what about other opinions You believe in you all the time
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That is a very bold statement and I agree with you that anything that he wants to do he can do
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Anything that he wanted to do all through His life on the earth he could have done he could have
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Followed Satan's lead and said I'll turn the stones into bread. I will
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Jump off the tower and not be killed. I can't remember what the other one was
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He could have done all these things. He knew a lot of things. He knew things that no one else could have possibly known
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But he chose not to know some things He chose not to know the day and the time of his return it says clearly that does
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That may have been it I I don't know the motives of God Well, I'll tell you my sister -in -law who is a much more literate
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Bible scholar than I am She believes he Recovered all of his knowledge at the resurrection and had it with him with when he when he
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Ascended up there is though something that we probably do need to deal with.
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Oh I told you I wouldn't get this. This is the one I wanted to get to let's just read it first Corinthians 15 20 15 beginning with verse 20 1st
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Corinthians 15 Beginning with verse 20. I want to get a little bit of context here
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This is clearly after the Resurrection and it's talking about Jesus in the condition after the resurrection
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Maybe not necessarily before the Ascension But but here's what it says, but now
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Christ is risen from the dead and Become the firstfruits of them that slept
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For since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead
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For in as in Adam all died even so in Christ shall all be made alive
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But every man in his own order Christ the firstfruits Afterward They that are
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Christ at his coming Then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdoms to God even the father when he shall have put down all rule and All authority and power for he must reign
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Till he hath put all enemies under his feet the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death
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For he hath put all things under his feet and when he had said all things are put under him
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It is manifest that he is accepted which did put all things under him now
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We're not going to get to the question that we're dealing with quite yet But we need to clean up some details who is the he that's accepted the
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Thing that is not under the feet of Jesus The one who put all things under Jesus's feet
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God the father It's God the father that's accepted Now when is this going to happen?
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after death The last enemy has been destroyed. Is that at the
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Rapture? Is that? During the thousand -year kingdom
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It's sometime either at the end or after the end of the
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Millennial Kingdom I actually think it's after the end of the Millennial Kingdom and I think it's after by some time
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John McCoy. Yes, I When I said sometime
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I really meant a lot of time. I Just wanted to be as gentle as I could a lot of time later
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And you'll see that when we continue reading, but I'm gonna go I'm gonna back off a little bit
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I'm gonna read something from John MacArthur. Most of you know, John MacArthur Here's what he said
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Christ will continue to rule Because His rule is eternal and Then he quotes why we know his rule is eternal
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Revelation 11 15 it said and the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
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Lord and Of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever so the reign of Christ Will be forever
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But he went on to say MacArthur did but he will reign in his former full and glorious place within the
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Trinity Subject to God in the way eternally designed for him in full trinitarian glory
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So that was John MacArthur's comment on that part of this passage in Corinthians now to continue
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For he hath put all things under his feet I'm rereading the very last verse for he had put all things under his feet
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But when he yet, but when he sayeth all things are put under him It is manifest that he is accepted which did put all things under him
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And when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself
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Be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all
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Now my question is this Is this the time?
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I'm gonna say it this read it this way So is the so is this the point in time where God is where Jesus is?
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Restored to all of his former glory. I'm going to try that again because I missed it up so bad So is this the point in time?
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Where Jesus is restored to all of his former glory? Don't answer that or is it simply the point at which time?
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ceases to be a
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Question is does time still exist in the Millennial Kingdom a?
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A second question does time still exist in heaven?
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After the Millennial Kingdom now if time exists and Jesus is in time and Jesus is acquiring
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Things are being revealed to God in the time that Jesus needs them all the things that he needs
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They can be continually revealed to him They'll come a time when when everything is
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Subject to him that God is all in all I Believe that time no longer
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Exists now, and I think that's what brother was David was talking about when he's talking about the ages and ages
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Brother David that was what you're referring to when you were talking about the ages and ages this end of all the ages and Now time no longer exists.
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I don't know that that's biblical I don't know that that's what the Bible says, but we
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I have inferred that any
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Other comments on that or about complicated things enough.
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So My question yes, sir Okay John 17 verse 4 it seems like it's it seems like it's right now, but I don't know either
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I Also, don't know whether or not time ever ceases to be
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Now we we've read brother David. Do you remember the the passage that talks about ages and ages?
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We were in Corinthians Fit we were in Corinthians 15,
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I think Verse 27 We're in a glorified state we're at we're different than we were
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We know there's no question about that. There's no question about the things that we know The question is the question about things we don't know
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Okay, I see what you're saying I think
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I think God would view that as God was the Son and the Son was God Yeah Yeah Okay, I Think you're right and you said it way better than I could say it
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That's why I always like for you guys to say it instead of me That's right
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Yes, sir That's because we're
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Western We're not Eastern the Eastern mindset is a lot of different ways
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The Western mindset is either or and we think either or and so I I go with that totally 100 %
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That may be an issue. Here's another thing that I want to get to today though. What about us?
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What about us What about us after we are glorified after we ascend after we're in heaven?
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What about us? Do we continue to learn We are in heaven we're glorified
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Not with the same glory that Jesus had but we're glorified more than we were Here's what?
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Here's what Paul said in 1st Corinthians 2 chapters earlier
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He's talking about us not Jesus us For we did
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I tell you the verse 1st Corinthians 13 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part this is this is
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Paul speaking But when that which is perfect is come Then that which is in part shall be done away
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When I was a child, I speak as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child
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But when I became a man, I put away childish things for now
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We see through a glass darkly but then face to face
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Now I know in part, but then I shall know Even as I am known
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Now this is after this is after The glorification this is after he becomes a new man this is after He is no longer a child he is no longer speaking of childish things
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Understanding childish thoughts. We are understanding as a child Our understanding is the understanding of a child
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It will become there will come a time when our understanding will be Better.
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Yes, sir Yes, I was ready to tie it up in here. Yes Then face to face
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Now I know in part, but then I shall know Even as I am known and as time goes on in the heavenlies
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We will become more and more aware of things that we know
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Because God will reveal those things that we need to know to us
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Let us pray most gracious Heavenly Father. Thank you for this day and thank you for all the many blessings
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Thank you for giving us this scripture That we might take it and mold it and read it and keep it
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Keep it in the state that it's in Don't allow it or don't allow us to try to make it say things that we wanted to say
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Make us understand what it is that it's saying And that's our prayer
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That you make the scripture Come alive to us So that we understand what it says and Make us dead to our own selves
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So we no longer try to make the disciple the scripture say what we wanted to say