>>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: Today I would like for
us to go on a little journey. A
00:00:39.10\00:00:42.30
journey to the southeastern
corner of the Dead Sea in modern
day Jordan. It is at this
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site, that we find the
approximate location of the
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ancient cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah
were at one time amazing cities.
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They were wealthy and luxurious,
but they were filled with
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immorality. Scholars and
archaeologists believe that
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ancient Sodom and Gomorrah were
part of a metropolis that
consisted of five cities, each
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having its own king. It was a
population center that reflected
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great wealth and sophistication.
In addition, outside of the
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cities was very fertile ground
that provided excellent growing
potential. Studies have
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revealed that they grew an
abundance of grains and
plentiful orchards These
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fields produced in abundance.
These cities were commercial
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centers and really didn't lack
in anything. It led leisure and
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a city filled with immoral
pleasure seeking. Wine flowed
freely and wickedness grew. The
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people of these cities turned
their back upon God. They were
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only concerned with indulging
in immoral pleasures. Soon these
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cities would
experience the judgment of God.
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The famed archaeologist Dr.
Nelson Gluek worked in the
southeast of the Dead
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see and he discovered a trade
route from ancient Mesopotamia
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to Sodom and Gomorrah. He also
discovered that the Sodom and
Gomorrah traded with
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other cities only increasing
their wealth and luxury.
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Archaeologists have uncovered a
site their along the
southeastern banks of the
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Dead sea which they believe
to be the very site of Sodom and
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Gomorrah, there isn't 100%
assurance, but very good
evidence that it is the
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location. They uncovered a site
with over 1.5 million graves,
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which indicates a thriving
population. But the population
had become corrupt and being
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warned of their pending doom,
the Bible tells us what happened
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to these cities
in Genesis 19:24,
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Amazingly as archaeologists
have excavated the site the
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have found signs of absolute
destruction with a layer of ash
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anywhere between 10 and 50
centimeters of thickness. This
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affirmationf the destruction of
the city of Abraham's time is
aphenomenal corroboration
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of God's holy Word.
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Now, you'll remember that Sodom
and Gomorrah were absolutely
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wicked cities. In Genesis 18:20
it describes the cities as their
sin being grave. But
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in these cities lived a servant
of God - Lot and his family. Lot
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was the nephew of Abraham. An
angel actually visited Lot and
led his family out of
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those wicked cities and on their
way out, Lot's wife looked back.
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Her heart was still in that
wicked city. She still had
attachments to the pleasures,
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wealth and materialism. She
couldn't leave her old self
behind and enjoy the
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new life that God had planned.
God called Lot to escape for his
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life. Today, Jesus makes the
same appeal to you and me. That
we lay down anything
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that separates us from Jesus
and escape to Him leave all our
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earthly materialistic
attachments behind and live a
life devoted to Him Lot's wife
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looked back and she was lost
eternally. God calls us today to
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be a genuine Christian and have
a life transforming relationship
with Him. We cannot
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straddle the fence. We need to
be all in for Jesus Fire fell on
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those cities and in a passage we
looked at before; notice the
lesson of Sodom and
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Gomorrah to us. In
Jude 7, it says this,
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Sodom and Gomorrah are an
example of what will happen to
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the wicked. We have been
studying the question, Is Heaven
for Real? Last week we asked,
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well what about Hell, this
program is part 7 of our series
on heaven, but part
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2 about hell. If you've missed
any of our programs, you can
00:06:04.99\00:06:10.13
visit our website
www.itiswrittencanada.ca or
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www.youtube.com/IIWCanada
to see past programs. Sodom and
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Gomorrah serve as example of
what the final destruction of
the wicked will be. Not and
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ever-burningongoing place of
torture, but rather a permanent
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destruction by fire that has
everlasting results.Sodom and
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Gomorrah were totally,
completely, absolutely
destroyed. They don't burn on,
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they were turned to stble, to
ash and that serves, as an
example of what hell will
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be.
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These cities were immoral,
they partied, practiced sexual
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relationships outside the
confines of marriage. They
received plenty of warning, but
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God finally said that their time
was up. A day is coming soon,
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when the cup of rebellion and
sin will be full, here on this
earth and God will say,
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that is enough. He wants to save
as many as possible and He is
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going to intervene in this
earth's history to assure that
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there will be a faithful remnant
- a faithful final generation
that He will take home to
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heaven. For those who don't want
to be a part of the heavenly
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realm, in His mercy, God removes
them from existence by
destruction with fire
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after the millennium. Sodom and
Gomorrah do not continue to burn
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today. But the Bible describes
it as eternal fire that consumed
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them. The Bible describes
eternal fire as a permanent
result. They never burned again.
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The destruction was complete and
the effects were eternal. That
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is an eternal fire. An eternal
fire is not one that eternally
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burns, but one that burns up
completely to ashes so that it
no longer exists." It is
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burned eternally. It never has
to be re-burned because it is
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gone. 2 Peter 2:6 tell us that
Sodom and Gomorrah were turned
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to ash. That is an example of
what hell will be. Not a place,
but an event in which this earth
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is cleansed completely from sin,
which includes the devil, his
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angels and sinner, everything
turned completely to ash. Then
the earth is prepared to
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be made new. Friends, that
is the consistent picture we get
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from the teachings of Jesus and
the Bible writers. Death, utter
destruction, is the
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ultimate fate of the wicked.
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Some believe and teach
that Satan and sinners will be
00:09:05.41\00:09:09.44
tormented "forever and ever:"
The basis for such a belief is
not the Bible. It is rooted in
00:09:09.54\00:09:15.12
ancient Egyptian religion,
passed on to the Greeks and
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entered the church through Roman
paganism. But some will point to
a text such as Revelation
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20:10,
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This phrase forever and
ever, actually in the Greek can
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literally mean "until the end of
the age." Friends think about
what an ever-burning hell
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would require. Have you
ever been burned - it is very
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painful. But being thrown into a
fire would lead to death. An
ever-burning fire would
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require God to regenerate life
in an individual over and over
00:10:04.60\00:10:11.64
again so they could suffer. This
does not fit in character of
God. The wicked are
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consumed completely. Satan and
his angels are utterly destroyed
00:10:18.18\00:10:23.12
and the effects are eternal.
Forever in the Bible often
denotes a limited time, such as,
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as long as one lives.
Exodus 21:6 says this,
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This is speaking of a servant or
a slave. Now are there a bunch
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of Hebrew slaves walking around
this earth who are serving their
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master forever. No, this means
for a lifetime. As long as the
slave lived, he would
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serve. Jonah said these words
describing his being swallowed
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by the whale, in Jonah 2:6,
00:11:28.98\00:11:34.22
Friends is Jonah still sitting
in the belly of the whale? It
00:11:47.64\00:11:52.37
was a limited time. He was in
the belly of the whale for
allotted time. Hannah
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dedicated Samuel in 1 Samuel
1:22 to serve the Lord in the
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temple and remain their forever.
Is Samuel still there? No. In
fact 1 Samuel 1:28 makes
00:12:06.09\00:12:18.43
it clear,
00:12:18.53\00:12:21.90
As long as he lives - this
is forever. Friends, these vivid
00:12:32.58\00:12:39.75
and graphic images of eternal
fire and smoke rising forever
are metaphors that emphasize
00:12:39.85\00:12:44.96
the tragedy of losing the lost.
The Bible calls the destruction
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of the wicked in Isaiah 28:21,
00:12:50.73\00:12:59.41
It calls it God's unusual
act. The ESV states it this way,
00:13:07.25\00:13:14.66
The King James Version says,
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The destruction of the wicked
is called unusual, strange, and
00:13:35.81\00:13:42.88
alien. God is a creator not a
destroyer. He wants to create a
new heart in you friend. We
00:13:42.98\00:13:47.49
don't need to worry about hell
because we have the opportunity
00:13:47.59\00:13:51.26
to serve Him and follow Him and
be with Him. We can serve Him
out of love and not fear. Even
00:13:51.36\00:13:57.43
those who choose not to follow
Him will not be punished for an
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eternity for one lifetime of
mistakes and choices. God in his
00:14:02.77\00:14:07.48
mercy will simply destroy them
from existence in an instance.
00:14:07.58\00:14:13.85
Even Jesus used imagery to show
us that we don't want to be a
00:14:14.88\00:14:19.05
part of such an event. In a
parable in Matthew 13:50 Jesus
00:14:19.15\00:14:27.76
said these words, In Matthew 22
Jesus describes heaven as a
great wedding banquet.
00:14:37.21\00:14:42.71
There is a wonderful
celebration. But someone has
come unprepared, not
00:14:42.81\00:14:46.18
wearing a wedding garment, an
allusion to being covered in the
00:14:46.28\00:14:50.62
righteousness of Christ. And in
this guest's great presumption
00:14:50.72\00:14:56.52
he is cast away and
in Matthew 22:13 it says,
00:14:56.62\00:15:00.93
Another picture arises using the
same phrase in Matthew 25:30.
00:15:12.51\00:15:19.81
The parable of the ten talents
and the lazy servant who didn't
work for the master has
00:15:19.91\00:15:25.25
this said to him,
00:15:25.35\00:15:27.76
Why such pain? Because in each
case the individuals are on the
00:15:36.33\00:15:42.14
outside. They realize what they
have missed-cut off from the
wonderful reward. They
00:15:42.24\00:15:47.44
have missed out on the
magnificentreward of eternal
00:15:47.54\00:15:55.68
life. Matthew
25:21 tells of that gift,
00:15:55.78\00:16:00.09
The joy of our Lord is to be
in heaven with each of us for
00:16:15.87\00:16:21.98
eternity. Missing out on eternal
life will be the greatest
tragedy ever in history. That is
00:16:22.08\00:16:28.08
the agony of hell. Does God
need to arbitrarily torture the
00:16:28.18\00:16:33.62
wicked in order to punish them
adequately? Absolutely not! The
00:16:33.72\00:16:40.16
pain, the real pain comes from
the realization of what they've
00:16:40.26\00:16:44.47
missed, what
they've thrown away.
00:16:44.57\00:16:46.84
Friends there is no comparison,
nothing in this life will
00:16:49.17\00:16:54.18
compare with the bliss and peace
of heaven. They realize that
they've thrown it all
00:16:54.28\00:17:00.45
away for a few moments of
pleasure - it wasn't worth it at
all. No wonder there
00:17:00.55\00:17:08.06
is weeping and gnashing of
teeth. We can't miss out friend.
00:17:08.16\00:17:16.10
The Bible clearly points out
that hell is not a place, but an
event on this earth that ends
00:17:16.20\00:17:22.20
sin forever. It ends it all
completely and permanently. This
00:17:22.30\00:17:30.18
is the merciful act of a loving
God who must bring all things to
00:17:30.28\00:17:39.02
a close. Some will say, but
wait. Doesn't the Bible say that
Jesus preached to the
00:17:39.12\00:17:44.83
spirits in prison? That text is
in 1 Peter 3:19 and here is what
00:17:44.93\00:17:57.17
it says, The easiest way to
understand this text is to read
00:18:02.14\00:18:06.01
the surrounding information. So
let's go back a verse and read a
few beyond. Verses18-22,
00:18:06.11\00:18:13.99
First, verse 18 makes it clear
that Jesus was made alive by the
00:19:10.71\00:19:18.45
Spirit - so Jesus is not dead in
this passage. So then who are
these spirits in prison
00:19:18.55\00:19:24.83
and when did Jesus preach to
them? Verse 20 makes it clear,
those from the days
00:19:24.93\00:19:30.83
of Noah. We did a whole series
on Noah - you'll remember the
00:19:30.93\00:19:36.20
earth was filled with wickedness
and violence. Christ, through
the prophets spoke to
00:19:36.30\00:19:42.71
those, in the days of Noah, who
were possessed by evil spirits
00:19:42.81\00:19:50.69
with violence and immorality and
tried to release them from their
00:19:50.79\00:19:56.49
bondage of sin. He provided
every opportunity for them to
repent and break that
00:19:56.59\00:20:02.63
bondage. There was no visiting
an eternal burning center of the
00:20:02.73\00:20:07.40
earth - Jesus through the
prophets, spoke to the people in
00:20:07.50\00:20:16.08
Noah's day. Now others will say
wait wait, what about the rich
man and Lazarus. This passage
00:20:16.18\00:20:22.75
is found Luke 16:19-31,
00:20:22.85\00:20:33.36
The first important point about
this passage is that it is a
00:22:28.98\00:22:36.25
parable. It is in a string of
parables that Jesus is using to
teach about the kingdom of God.
00:22:36.35\00:22:42.39
Often parables are symbolic
or metaphorical in nature to
00:22:42.49\00:22:46.90
illustrate a point. Each point
of the parable can't be taken
literally. If we were to
00:22:47.00\00:22:52.83
do so, then we would literally
go to Abraham's bosom for heaven
00:22:52.93\00:22:59.87
- how big would it have to be -
this is of course to just an
illustration. What a
00:23:00.04\00:23:05.65
terrible place heaven would be
if we had continual contact with
00:23:05.75\00:23:11.69
those who were lost? In
this parable Jesus used a common
00:23:11.79\00:23:19.36
story among the Jews that
described dying as passing
through a dark valley and
00:23:19.46\00:23:25.37
finding salvation in fleeing to
the bosom of Abraham. They also
commonly thought that
00:23:25.47\00:23:32.47
the rich were the blessed of God
and surely going to heaven. So
00:23:32.57\00:23:38.21
Jesus used this parable to turn
things on end. He then used the
parable to teach three
00:23:38.31\00:23:43.05
distinct points: one, any wealth
gained by greed or through
00:23:43.15\00:23:51.06
dishonesty or in disregarding
the poor are not signs of having
God's favor, number two that
00:23:51.16\00:23:57.60
there is no second chance after
death. Once your life has been
00:23:57.70\00:24:05.17
lived and then you die, there is
no second chance or chance is
now, while we live. Third,
00:24:05.27\00:24:12.81
Jesus had given sign upon sign,
including raising someone from
00:24:12.91\00:24:25.06
the dead but the religious
leaders rejected Him. However,
had they studied their
00:24:25.16\00:24:32.33
scriptures, the Old Testament
they would have known that Jesus
00:24:32.43\00:24:36.74
was the promised Messiah, but
their refusal to study the Word
would not allow them
00:24:36.84\00:24:42.08
to ever accept Jesus even
with all the signs in the world.
00:24:42.18\00:24:48.85
Friends, we don't need to be
like the Pharisees or Sadducees.
00:24:50.85\00:24:55.02
We can accept Jesus and the
miracle of his love. Heaven is
for real and He wants to take
00:24:55.12\00:24:59.93
you there. Jesus suffered on the
cross the full consequences of
00:25:00.10\00:25:04.03
the second death. He faced
uncertainty and faced the full
wage of sin. He did
00:25:04.13\00:25:10.11
that so we didn't have to and we
could live forever with Him. He
00:25:10.21\00:25:18.45
is preparing a place now and
will prepare a new earth for
those that love Him and
00:25:18.55\00:25:23.28
want to be with Him. Friends, we
don't have to worry about hell
00:25:23.39\00:25:28.02
fire, it wasn't prepared for any
human being - only for the devil
and his angels. Sin
00:25:28.12\00:25:33.86
will be destroyed there. All we
need to do is let go of our sin
00:25:33.96\00:25:40.14
and cling to Jesus. All we must
do is place our faith in Christ
as Savior and entrust our
00:25:40.24\00:25:47.91
lives into His hands. Won't you
make your choice today? Heavenly
00:25:48.01\00:25:56.82
Father, today, we come to you
and we release our sin, we give
our sin to you, and
00:25:56.92\00:26:04.19
we cling to Jesus. Secure us in
our relationship with Him. Help
00:26:04.29\00:26:10.23
us to know Him and have the
comfort of His peace, of his
joy, and prepare us, that we
00:26:10.33\00:26:19.31
would be ready to meet Him when
He comes again in glory, we pray
00:26:19.41\00:26:24.05
in Jesus' name, amen.
00:26:24.15\00:26:25.95
It Is Written Canada is please
to present internationally
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acclaimed Christian recording
trio "Selah" in 3 amazing
00:26:36.59\00:26:40.46
concerts. September 6 in
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in Surrey British Columbia
00:26:42.36\00:26:46.23
and October 11 in
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00:26:46.33\00:26:49.20
For more information and to
purchase tickets log on to
ItIsWrittenCanada.ca
00:26:50.14\00:26:54.44
Or call 905-404-6510.
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Friends, today's program was the
seventh in an eight-part series
00:27:01.58\00:27:05.59
that answers the question, "Is
heaven for real?" We have found
00:27:05.69\00:27:11.69
that heaven is for real, and
Jesus is doing everything He can
to take us there. I would like
00:27:11.79\00:27:18.47
to offer you the eight-part
series in a DVD set. Here's the
00:27:18.57\00:27:25.41
information you need
to receive that DVD set.
00:27:25.51\00:27:28.54
Friend, thank you for watching
today. Heaven is a real place,
00:28:02.04\00:28:06.92
and Jesus right now is preparing
and securing your place there.
Will you answer his call
00:28:07.02\00:28:14.06
to be there with Him? These
programs are designed to prepare
00:28:14.16\00:28:20.30
us so we are ready to meet Jesus
when He comes again. I invite
00:28:20.40\00:28:24.27
you to watch the program next
week. Until then, remember, it
is written, "Man shall not
00:28:24.37\00:28:31.01
live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds from
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the mouth of God."
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