>>Announcer: It has
stood the test of time.
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God's book, The Bible
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Still relevant in
today's complex world
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It Is Written
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Sharing messages of
hope around the world!
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>>Chris: Annie Shapiro was 50
years old in 1963. She was
watching coverage of
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the John F. Kennedy
assassination on her black and
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white TV and had a massive
stroke and fell into a deep
coma. Her husband Martin
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Shapiro, dedicated to his
wedding vows, spent the next 30
years bathing, changing,
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and dressing his wife. He would
comb her hair and brush her
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teeth. He would give her eye
drops ever few hours to keep her
eyes from drying out. He would
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sleep next to her at night. He
prayed for a miracle recovery.
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He went to great lengths to find
some type of medical solution.
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During her coma, like an active
human being, her body began to
break down. She had to
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have cataract surgery, a hip
replacement and even a
hysterectomy. Mrs. Shapiro
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was successful before this
tragedy beset her. She was
planning on opening
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businesses in Hamilton Ontario.
Now she just laid there, a shell
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of her former self. During her
coma the world went on the war
had ended, the moon
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landing had happened, technology
had advanced. But on October 14,
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1992 miracle of all miracles
happened, Annie Shapiro wakened
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from her comatose state. Martin
Shapiro shares the story that on
that day, while he lay
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next to his wife, she suddenly
sat up and said, turn on the
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television, I want to watch I
Love Lucy. Her whole world had
changed. She had aged 30
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years. Her husband, now 81,
looked like an old man. Her son,
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who was 18 at the time of her
stroke was now 48 and had two
children. Phones were now
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cordless; the whole world around
her had changed. Martin said,
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the day she awoke "It was like
a dead person come to life."
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When asked by the media why he
didn't put his wife in a nursing
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home, he answered quite simply,
"When I married," he said
simply, "I pledged to be
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with Anne in sickness and in
health and I stuck to my vow."
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I believe each one of us is
going to experience an awakening
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that is even more amazing than
the one Annie Shapiro went
through. We are going to
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find ourselves suddenly thrust
into a whole new world which
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none of us can even begin to
imagine. The Bible announces in
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17,
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The Second Coming of Christ will
be the most spectacular event
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ever to occur on this planet.
The Bible tells us that this
even will not be missed by
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any living
person, Revelation 1:7,
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All of the death, all of
the murders, all of sin filled
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darkness of this planet will end
in dramatic fashion and a
newness will exist that we
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have never experienced before.
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The coming of Jesus Christ
will be the climactic close to a
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chapter in this earth's history.
Those who have died and are
sleeping in Jesus will awaken
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from their grave and it will be
as time stood still. Like Annie
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Shapiro, they will not know that
a day or an hour has gone by.
They will be living, but unlike
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Annie, they won't have broken
down bodies. They will be new
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bodies. Completely healthy,
optimal in operation. Sadly, for
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some people, the awakening from
the grave won't be good news. In
fact, the arrival of
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God's kingdom will not be good
news at all for them, but truly
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tragic news. The Bible teaches
that there are actually two
awakenings from the grave.
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Those two awakenings lead to
very different outcomes and are
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two completely different events.
Jesus had these words to
describe those different
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events, John 5:28-29,
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Please notice very carefully:
every human being, throughout
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history will be resurrected from
their sleep of death at one of
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the two resurrections. Jesus'
words are quite clear. "All who
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are in the graves shall hear His
voice." He goes on to describe
the two resurrections: 1) The
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resurrection of life, 2) The
resurrection of condemnation.
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Friends we don't want any part
of the resurrection of
condemnation. Revelation
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20:6 is the promise that we
want to be fulfilled, it says,
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The first resurrection is quite
clearly the resurrection of life
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and the second one follows it,
which is the resurrection of
condemnation. By God
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specifying that those raised
in the first resurrection are
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blessed and holy, we know that
these are the faithful
throughout the generations
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but we also learn that the
remainder of the dead, are those
who were unfaithful,
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and are raised at some
time later from the first
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resurrection. So here is the key
question, as we have continually
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asked the question, is heaven
for real - what happens to those
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who are a part of the first
resurrection? Revelation 20:6
promises that those awakened in
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that first resurrection,
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The first resurrection, called
the resurrection of life, is the
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moment that the dead in Christ
are transformed from corruptible
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to incorruptible bodies and they
are caught up to meet Jesus in
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the sky. Where do they go from
there? They travel with Jesus to
heaven. However, they are
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not the only ones who will go on
that journey, but those faithful
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followers who are alive at the
coming of Jesus also will join
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in this parade to heaven. This
is the moment all of us have
been waiting for. That moment
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described in 1
Corinthians 15:51,
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That is the day that
will fulfill Paul's words in 2
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Timothy 4:8, Friends our mortal
sick bodies that can age and die
will be made perfect
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to never age and die. We will
be with Jesus and he will have
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changed us. Then we rise toward
Him and all together with those
raised from the dead will travel
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to heaven. We will leave behind
an earth that has been decimated
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by the upheaval of the natural
world at the coming of Jesus.
The wicked who were
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dead will stay dead - we will
talk about this more next week -
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and the wicked alive, those who
have rejected the love of God
and all of His attempts to
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woo them to him, will die and
remain on this planet Revelation
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6:15-17 tells of their demise,
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They could stand if they loved
Jesus, but instead they rejected
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His please of mercy and
forgiveness, they rejected His
outstretched arms and they
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chose not to be rescued by the
Lamb of God who takes away the
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sins of the world. The love of
God is like the sun.if you would
take two bowls and put
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butter in one and clay in the
other and then put it out in the
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sun - what would happen. The
butter would be melted, but the
clay would be hardened.
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These are the two reactions
to the love of God. Paul put it
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this way in 1 Corinthians 1:18,
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It is the same message but two
very different reactions. The
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message of Jesus and His death
to save us is foolishness and
myth to some and doesn't
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awaken any change in their
lives. However, to others the
good news is the power
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of God that changes a life
forever. Friend, I want that
good news to be the
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power of God in
my life, don't you?
00:13:15.13\00:13:19.40
So at the coming of Jesus, those
who have experienced the power
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of God in their lives - those
who have had a transformational
relationship with Jesus
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are taken from the sin stricken
planet. Those who are alive and
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have seen the message of Jesus
as foolishness and rejected the
message of the cross
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will be slain by the brightness
of His coming - those wicked
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that are dead remain dead. But
the followers of Christ are
caught up with Jesus to go
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to heaven. What happens to this
earth? Revelation 20:1-2 tells
00:13:54.96\00:14:05.20
us quite clearly,
00:14:05.20\00:14:09.00
In Christianity this
thousand-year period is often
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referred to as the millennium.
While this word never occurs in
the Bible, it is a Latin
00:14:31.30\00:14:36.60
conjunction millo, which means
1000, and annum, which means
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years. It is simply a
descriptive word for this time
period. What happens during that
00:14:44.00\00:14:49.46
1000 years? Satan and his angels
are bound in the bottomless pit.
00:14:49.46\00:14:55.66
What is this bottomless pit?
In looking at the original Greek
00:14:55.66\00:15:00.93
the phrase bottomless pit is the
Greek word Abussos. From it, we
00:15:00.93\00:15:07.70
get the English word abyss. It
is the same word used in Genesis
1:2 that describes the earth
00:15:07.70\00:15:15.33
as without form and void.
The earth is in a completely
00:15:15.33\00:15:22.90
devastated state. The earth has
gone through so much turmoil
that it is actually in an
00:15:22.90\00:15:32.23
almost de-created state. Satan
is chained to the earth through
00:15:32.23\00:15:38.90
the chains of circumstance
Jeremiah also described the
earth in this Abussos state. In
00:15:38.90\00:15:48.73
Jeremiah 4:23-27,
00:15:48.73\00:16:01.20
And later in Jeremiah 25:33,
00:16:37.86\00:16:42.10
Satan is chained by the chains
of circumstance. He is banished
00:16:58.86\00:17:03.23
to this earth, which is in a
de-created state, and no one is
alive except he and his angels.
00:17:03.23\00:17:10.56
No one more to tempt, no one
more to be led into sin - only
00:17:10.56\00:17:18.60
by himself to contemplate his
life of complete rebellion. This
earth will be like a
00:17:18.60\00:17:31.40
bottomless pit for Satan. In
the utter destruction of this
00:17:31.40\00:17:37.86
planet, one timeless principle
is echoed over and over: the
wages of sin is death. And
00:17:37.86\00:17:51.90
looking on, the whole universe
will bear witness to the
00:17:51.90\00:17:58.06
terrible truth of those words.
He will be confronted with the
horrible results of his
00:17:58.06\00:18:03.83
rebellion for a thousand years.
00:18:03.83\00:18:10.70
But let's focus on the more
positive aspects of the thousand
00:18:13.23\00:18:17.83
years. What joyous things will
the righteous be doing with
Jesus? Remember that verse
00:18:17.83\00:18:22.96
6 of Revelation 20 said that we
will be priests of God reigning
00:18:22.96\00:18:28.33
with Him for a thousand years.
Friends, it is almost
unimaginable how amazing it will
00:18:28.33\00:18:35.96
be to be with Jesus for one
thousand years. It will be
absolutely wonderful. But
00:18:35.96\00:18:42.10
there are liable to be
some questions. You know, I once
00:18:42.10\00:18:47.20
heard it said that we will be
surprised by three things in
heaven - number one that we are
00:18:47.20\00:18:51.43
there, number two by who isn't
there and number three by who is
00:18:51.43\00:19:02.73
there. You might have
questions.why isn't uncle so and
so here, where is pastor so
00:19:02.73\00:19:10.60
and so - they were such good
people. Or maybe you wonder how
00:19:10.60\00:19:15.70
that person could possibly be
there - they had been so unkind
and mean to you The good
00:19:15.70\00:19:23.96
news about the Good News of
Jesus Christ is that He will
answer every last one
00:19:23.96\00:19:30.50
of those questions. We will
actually have the opportunity to
00:19:30.50\00:19:35.16
review God's decisions in the
judgment. Yes, you heard me
right. The almighty
00:19:35.16\00:19:43.03
creator of the Universe is going
to allow you and me to review
00:19:43.03\00:19:50.86
his work. Revelation
20:4 tells of this time,
00:19:50.86\00:19:58.23
and Paul stated it this
way in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3,
00:20:04.96\00:20:18.80
Friends isn't God just amazing?
The opportunity to actually
00:20:38.40\00:20:45.40
evaluate His decisions. We will
look over the cases of the saved
00:20:45.40\00:20:51.33
and the lost. Paul wrote these
words, in 1 Corinthians 4:5,
00:20:51.33\00:20:56.03
Every hidden and secret thing
will be brought to light. You
00:21:13.73\00:21:18.80
can't hide anything from Him. It
will be revealed in those days
why God couldn't save
00:21:18.80\00:21:23.86
some people. Their choices,
we will see those choices that
00:21:23.86\00:21:32.03
individuals made to reject the
sweet love of God. We will see
every way He tried to
00:21:32.03\00:21:39.50
reach out. We will see every
opportunity He put before them;
00:21:39.50\00:21:44.73
we will see to what great extent
He went to with every individual
00:21:44.73\00:21:52.10
in history. At the end of it
all, we will only have one
conclusion. As Revelation 16:7
00:21:52.10\00:22:00.70
states, Each of us will be able
to understand fully why we
experienced what we did in
00:22:10.36\00:22:16.76
life. We will see the entire
road map that God took us on and
00:22:16.76\00:22:23.36
we will see that
His plan was perfect.
00:22:23.36\00:22:28.23
At the end of the thousand years
we will experience even more
00:22:30.26\00:22:36.66
joy. Now the Bible does describe
Satan being released from His
prison and that second
00:22:36.66\00:22:41.00
resurrection of the wicked and
their eventually destruction in
00:22:41.00\00:22:46.23
the lake of fire, but we will
cover that in detail next week.
But with the Satan and his
00:22:46.23\00:22:52.60
angels, along with wicked
destroyed in the lake of fire,
00:22:52.60\00:22:58.06
what does God do next? God is
going to restore earth to his
perfect Edenic beauty that
00:22:58.06\00:23:06.66
it was originally created with.
Revelation 21:1-2 describes this
00:23:06.66\00:23:16.73
marvelous event,
00:23:16.73\00:23:18.70
This is a description of our
return trip from heaven. We are
00:23:39.60\00:23:44.03
in the New Jerusalem, in that
mansion that place that Jesus
said he was preparing for us
00:23:44.03\00:23:48.76
and now He is bringing us back
to the earth where He will make
00:23:48.76\00:23:58.56
it new again. The
chapter goes on to say,
00:23:58.56\00:24:01.53
God will reclaim this planet
as His own and restore it to its
00:24:17.50\00:24:22.50
perfect beauty. He is making our
home and our home will be with
00:24:22.50\00:24:29.10
Him. Of the vast universe, God
chooses to make His dwelling
with the only rebellious planet
00:24:29.10\00:24:37.66
there has ever been. Oh what
a privilege - what a joy to be
00:24:37.66\00:24:44.66
able to live with God forever.
00:24:44.66\00:24:48.73
My friends, unlike poor Annie
Shapiro, when God wakes us up,
00:24:50.16\00:24:56.36
He will awaken us to new bodies,
completely perfect bodies -
00:24:56.36\00:25:03.83
never to grow old, experience
pain or die. No more handicaps,
no missing limbs, no blindness -
00:25:03.83\00:25:12.00
perfect health and perfect
harmony. The good news friends
00:25:12.00\00:25:19.93
is that Jesus desires to save
you that His power would change
you. The experience of
00:25:19.93\00:25:27.73
heaven will be something you'll
never want to miss. It comes
00:25:27.73\00:25:33.10
down to a decision, one very
simple decision. Will you yield
your life to the One who
00:25:33.10\00:25:41.60
gave His life on Mount Calvary?
Is heaven for real? It is very
00:25:41.60\00:25:48.73
real. And it will be the
grandest time that anyone can
every experience. It comes down
00:25:48.73\00:25:55.66
to a decision to believe and
have faith in Jesus who died for
00:25:55.66\00:26:06.76
me and died for you. Will you
believe? Will you place your
trust in Jesus? Will you believe
00:26:06.76\00:26:12.10
in that hill
called Mount Calvary?
00:26:12.10\00:26:17.00
Oh heavenly Father, we believe
that your son Jesus came and
00:26:18.90\00:26:23.63
died for us. We believe in that
hill called Mount Calvary, and
we believe that, just
00:26:23.63\00:26:29.70
as he died, he's coming again to
take us home. May the power of
00:26:29.70\00:26:36.30
your Son be in us and change us
and transform us and make us
ready for that day when he
00:26:36.30\00:26:42.26
comes again, we pray
in Jesus' name, amen.
00:26:42.26\00:26:46.20
The subject of the millennium
and the subject of heaven, the
00:26:51.63\00:26:57.33
subject of the second coming of
Jesus is such a thrilling topic
to study. After today's
00:26:57.33\00:27:03.03
program, I'm sure you need more
resources to help build that
00:27:03.03\00:27:07.70
relationship you have with
Jesus. We'd like to offer to you
today the Discover Bible guides.
00:27:07.70\00:27:12.66
The Discover Bible lessons are
a refreshing look at the Bible,
00:27:12.66\00:27:20.03
and help deepen our relationship
with Jesus. Here's the
information you need to
00:27:20.03\00:27:24.96
receive today's offer.
00:27:24.96\00:27:28.33
Jesus is coming again soon. He's
coming to take us home. He's
00:28:01.63\00:28:06.80
coming to take us to heaven,
that we might spend a thousand
years with him, and then
00:28:06.80\00:28:10.63
come to this earth, which he
will recreate, and live forever
00:28:10.63\00:28:16.20
in perfect harmony. I hope you
enjoyed today's program. I
invite you to watch again
00:28:16.20\00:28:21.73
next week. Until then, remember,
it is written, "Man shall not
00:28:21.73\00:28:29.10
live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds from
00:28:29.10\00:28:34.40
the mouth of God." $$$$$
00:28:36.93\00:28:39.56
$$$$$
00:28:58.53\00:28:59.53