Praise the Lord, everyone.
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Welcome to
Imperative Life Lessons.
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I'm Pr. Ryan Johnson.
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Have you ever heard
of Impostor syndrome?
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The Oxford Dictionary defines
it and the persistent inability
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to believe that one's
success is deserved or has been
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legitimately
achieved as a result as one's
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own efforts or skills.
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In essence, it's the feeling
that a promotion is not deserved
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or that one is not qualified
to serve in a particular
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position or to be a
part of a particular family.
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And this feeling can be
crippling in the extreme.
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I wonder when we get to heaven
will any of us suffer from
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imposters syndrome, knowing that
Christ has brought us through?
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Will any of the redeemed
be unable to sing and shout
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the victory, knowing that
we don't deserve to be there?
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Well, to be honest, I'm
sure we'll sing and shout the
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victory with no problem at
all, but this still raises a
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very interesting issue about
whether anyone should really
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be in heaven, seeing as everyone
is a sinner according to
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Romans chapter 3 verse 23.
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Let's examine what
Christ says about that,
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but first, let's
have a word of prayer.
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Father in Heaven,
Thank you for going to
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prepare a place for us
and then giving us a right
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to be there. Save
us. In Thy Name we Pray.
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Amen! and Amen!
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A lot has happened in the weeks
leading up to the events of John
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chapter 14. In John 11, Jesus
raises Lazarus from the dead
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A miracle that seals his
faith with the Pharisees.
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In the 12th chapter of
John We have the wonderful
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celebration dinner where Simon
the former leper and Lazarus
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the newly raised are present
and in John 13, the disciples
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share the
Passover supper with Jesus.
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This is where Judas is
exposed and Peter is chastised
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and then a lot happens
after John 14, Jesus introduces
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the Holy Spirit in chapters
15 and 17, He's betrayed in 18
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He's crucified in 19, In three
days He rises and chapter 20
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is in the 14th chapter, though
and we are given what I call
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The Promise, the words to
which we cling to the world
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marches forward to ruin.
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Jesus had stated that He would
be betrayed and delivered up
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to be killed, and this
news coupled with the departure
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of one of their own,
Judas, troubled the disciples.
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Where had Judas really
gone? And would Jesus actually
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leave them? Things
had been going so well,
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I mean, what are the
Palm branches and the
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cleansing of the temple?
Did that not indicate that
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Christ would soon rise
to power rather than fall to
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His death, and if not,
what would become of them?
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They had invested everything
in Him for He was the Christ,
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He was the Messiah. He
was the Son of God wasn't He?
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Jesus knew their hearts
of course, but I imagine that
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they're consternation
even showed upon their faces
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as they sat in the
Upper Room together.
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One empty place still warm
from Judas having so recently
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been there, Jesus addresses
them in John chapter 14
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and verse one. He says...
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Amen! At one of my
previous churches, we lost a
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beloved brother, I
talked about him, Ron Mackey,
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so in addition to some
other things, I had this verse,
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this one, John chapter 14 verses
1 to 3 printed on the wall
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to the right of the
sanctuary entrance, why?
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So that when our hearts are
troubled, we too may be reminded
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that Jesus will return
to receive us unto Himself.
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In fact, I urge you, dear
friend to write this promise
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upon your heart, maybe
even put it on your refrigerator
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or on a sticky note on your car.
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For Christ's words are as
uplifting today as they were
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two millennia ago, when He
spoke them to His disciples.
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Let's examine the passage,
firstly, Jesus states to not let
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our hearts be troubled, I
like this phrasing because it
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recognizes the
difficulty of this world and
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the presence of trouble.
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For instance, He does not say
Peter, don't trouble your heart
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but rather, don't let
the enemy trouble you, Peter,
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for I know that it is difficult.
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Now the word troubled is
terraso meaning to agitate
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or to tremble or shake
so literally don't be shaken
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friends Jesus says, it's
almost saying Peace be still,
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He goes on, You believe
in God, believe also in me.
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And that may be the most
important part of the verse
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and it clearly gives to us
the authority of Jesus Christ.
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Here is the nature
of the word He speaks,
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you believe in God, believe
in Me, hear this word for it is
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His word, Jesus, tells us that
He speaks with divine authority.
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Reading on...
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Peleus and Moneta, many
abodes, numerous living spaces,
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plenteous lodgings, if it were
not so, I would have told you
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I go to prepare a place
for you and if I go to prepare
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a place for you, I will
come again and receive you
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unto myself that where I
am, there ye may be also.
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Christ has ever wanted
to dwell with us, but we've
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pushed him away, huh?
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In the Garden of Eden,
in Genesis chapter three
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He was walking in the cool of
the day to be with Adam and Eve
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but due to the shame
of their sin, they hid.
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In Exodus chapter 25
and verse eight, God says...
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And then Israel
pushed them away.
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Isaiah chapter 59
and verse two states...
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God reaches to us, but
we pull away, how tragic?
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But in John 14, Jesus promises
that we shall be together
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in gory. The separation
will be removed and as
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Revelation 21 states,
God Himself will be with them
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and be our God.
Yes! Thank you, Jesus.
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I can't wait, I know you can't.
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So this friends
is Christ's promise
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spoken on the night of
His betrayal and on the eve
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of His crucifixion.
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Powerful words for the troubled
heart, but did you notice
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something? Christ says
that in the Father's house
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are many, many mansions. There's
space in the house of God,
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yet Jesus states that He
must go to prepare a place
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in the house of God.
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Even though there is space
Christ must prepare a place.
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The word place in the original
Greek is topos, which means,
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a place where one can settle
a locality, but it can also mean
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an opportunity. Christ
makes an opportunity for us
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Wow, that means that
though there is space in heaven
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we didn't necessarily
have a in place heaven,
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though there's room, we
didn't have a right to be there.
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Christ had to go and make a way.
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Here's a little illustration.
Some years ago, my parents
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came to town to
visit Anissa and I.
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Okay, that wasn't completely
accurate, they actually came to
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the grandkid's Anissa and I
just happened to be the kid's
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parents, it's all about
the grandkid's you know.
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But seriously, when they came
to visit, my mother rented a
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big white SUV Hybrid
thingy, which was a very popular
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vehicle at the time.
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So, we would drive over to
the hotel where mom and dad
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were staying, we'd leave our
car and then the entire family
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would ride around in the
big white SUV Hybrid thingy.
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One day, we trooped over to
a buffet, and we enjoyed a meal
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as a family, Amen, and on
the way out of the restaurant
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I stopped by the
restroom while my family went
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on to the vehicle. Now
upon exiting the facilities,
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I walked out to where
a white SUV Hybrid thingy
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was waiting. Going to
the front passenger's side,
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I opened the door, and I
hopped in, and the first thing I
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noticed was how quiet it was in
the cabin, now as the father of
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two small kids things were
constantly rowdy and boisterous.
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But it was super quiet, so I
looked up from where I'd been
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texting on my phone, and I
met the blue eyes of the man
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in the driver's seat, he
was terrified, and I glanced
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behind me to see two little
blond girls are almost fainting
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with fear. Oh No, I had
jumped into the wrong vehicle.
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So, making my apologies,
it's like I am so sorry,
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I hastily exited, and I found
my family is in a completely
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identical vehicle behind them
and they are all just laughing
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hysterically. And I am sure
those people in the other car
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are going to be telling that
story until the end of time,
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I know I certainly will.
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But I want you to notice
what happened, there was room
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in the vehicle, but I had
no right to be in the vehicle.
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There was space inside,
but I had no place inside.
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It appears that there is a
difference in one's ability
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to fit somewhere, and whether
or not they fit somewhere.
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Are they supposed to be there?
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Let's look at a Biblical
example in Revelation chapter 12
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we see an account of the
beginning of the great battle
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between good and
evil, between God and Satan.
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Let's read this account
beginning in verse seven...
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It says...
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Now, think not about
laser beams or whatever else
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the heavenly host may
have used in order to fight.
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The fact is that in
heaven where there should be
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perfect harmony, war
broke out. And what is war?
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War is a class of ideologies and
this case, the way of the devil
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verses God who is the
way, the truth, the life,
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these two sides
fought, but the dragon lost.
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Look at verse eight, it says...
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Did you catch that?
The dragon did not prevail
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and had no place in heaven
there was still room for him
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in heaven, but he
lost his right to be there.
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He was cast out,
rebellion has no place with God.
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Okay, so how
does that apply to us?
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Well, look at Romans chapter
three and verse 23, it says...
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Every one of us has
sinned against God, we have all
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rebelled, messed up,
transgressed and gone astray
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and what should be the
result of our having fallen?
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Look at Romans
chapter six and verse 23...
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Here's our place,
this is what we deserve.
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It is death.
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That's what we should be given.
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Death.
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Eternal separation from God
because sin has no right to be
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in God's room. It's
painful, it's depressing
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but the text is not
in there, it says...
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Even though we
had no place with God,
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Jesus prepared a place
even though we had no right
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to God's room, Jesus gives us
a right, this is His gift to us.
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And when He spoke this to
His disciples saying He must go
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to prepare a place, He
knew it meant that He had to go
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to Gethsemane, go to the
Chamber of Annas and Caiaphas
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the halls of Pilate, the court
of Herod, the end of the whip,
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the point of the nail up on
the cross, down in the grave,
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up in victory, on to
glory, just so you, yes you,
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could have a place with
Him, so I could have a place.
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So imagine with
me, the hour is late,
00:15:31.26\00:15:37.00
and society has lost its
mind, the world is in a chaos
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like never before, seven
plagues have ravaged the earth
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God's people have been tried
by literal and figurative fire.
00:15:49.58\00:15:54.22
Every prophecy has been
fulfilled, every prediction
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has come to pass, and as it
says in Galatians chapter four
00:15:57.35\00:16:00.99
verse four...
00:16:01.02\00:16:02.36
But this time it is not
a helpless babe that comes,
00:16:09.36\00:16:12.40
not a man who walks
the dusty roads on foot
00:16:12.43\00:16:15.74
but the conquering Son of God
whose chariots burn with glory.
00:16:15.77\00:16:21.01
All people feel a
deep rumbling in the ground
00:16:21.04\00:16:24.71
great ripples grow to tidal
waves and trees bow to the earth
00:16:24.75\00:16:31.49
and what is rapidly becoming
the greatest shaking this planet
00:16:31.52\00:16:36.42
has even known.
00:16:36.46\00:16:37.79
But unafraid of the tumult
God's people look eastward
00:16:37.83\00:16:42.86
and are not surprised, yet
are faith with joy as they see
00:16:42.90\00:16:48.80
a cloud
approaching on the horizon.
00:16:48.84\00:16:51.11
It is not very large at
first, just about the size
00:16:51.14\00:16:55.91
of a man's hand if he
holds it out before himself.
00:16:55.94\00:16:59.41
Thunderings and lightnings
rip the heavens as the cloud
00:16:59.45\00:17:05.02
grows to a great
size and fills the cosmos.
00:17:05.05\00:17:08.49
The blue of the sky
flees to the north and south
00:17:08.52\00:17:12.43
like a rolled-up parchment
leaving everyone looking into
00:17:12.46\00:17:16.30
the black vacuum of space
from which neighboring stars
00:17:16.33\00:17:20.70
appear to fall, these
great meteors it seems
00:17:20.74\00:17:24.37
have followed the
heavenly party to earth
00:17:24.41\00:17:27.64
the spectacle inspects the
globe and every eye on earth
00:17:27.68\00:17:32.21
see's for themselves.
Buildings are falling,
00:17:32.25\00:17:36.69
great stones are hurled
into the air, fire rages
00:17:36.72\00:17:40.66
on a planetary scale, it is as
if nature itself is completely
00:17:40.69\00:17:45.49
mad, people run aimlessly,
trying to hide from the pure
00:17:45.53\00:17:50.10
piercing light
issuing from the heavens.
00:17:50.13\00:17:52.90
The light almost sings it is
so bright, it drives men mad,
00:17:52.93\00:17:59.07
it pushes women to mindless
terror, but there are few
00:17:59.11\00:18:04.08
who, by His grace, you
and I and others praise God,
00:18:04.11\00:18:08.45
who are comforted by the scene
gaze longingly into the light
00:18:08.48\00:18:13.79
straight into the white beams.
00:18:13.82\00:18:16.62
And our eyes find joy as
we acclimate to the brightness
00:18:16.66\00:18:22.73
we discover thousands and
thousands of bright and burning
00:18:22.76\00:18:27.04
beings who raced through the
heavens, some swooping toward
00:18:27.07\00:18:31.07
earth. They do not look like
ferries, they look like warriors
00:18:31.11\00:18:35.74
their wings slice the air,
the sounds like blades cutting
00:18:35.78\00:18:39.75
silk and soon the earth quiets,
the screaming has stopped,
00:18:39.78\00:18:46.25
the rumble is but a sigh
in the bowels of the earth.
00:18:46.29\00:18:49.59
And though we know what
is coming, our knowledge can
00:18:49.62\00:18:52.89
not stop the tears as the sound
of a holy, holy wind instrument
00:18:52.93\00:18:58.77
a trumpet rises in volume
and is sustained for which seems
00:18:58.80\00:19:04.14
like eternity. There is
silence and it sounds again
00:19:04.17\00:19:09.74
before it has completed
its second call the earth
00:19:09.78\00:19:13.72
bursts forth in various
places with beautiful beings
00:19:13.75\00:19:17.85
coming forth, they are
smiling and praising God.
00:19:17.89\00:19:21.86
A few are met by the heavenly
warriors and are embracing
00:19:21.89\00:19:25.99
and they fly together
toward the light, so many from
00:19:26.03\00:19:31.00
forgotten graves and
overgrown cemeteries'.
00:19:31.03\00:19:33.87
People whose resting places
were under malls and suburbs
00:19:33.90\00:19:37.97
yet, who had not been
forgotten by their creator.
00:19:38.01\00:19:41.98
And do you recognize
a few? Of course you do.
00:19:42.01\00:19:44.55
We crane our heads
upward at a number that we could
00:19:44.58\00:19:49.78
never state. But
what is this now?
00:19:49.82\00:19:53.66
We are rising too, the world
that has held us for so long
00:19:53.69\00:19:57.69
has no hold on us now
and we rise together to meet
00:19:57.73\00:20:01.53
our Lord in the air.
Frozen there in time with Jesus
00:20:01.56\00:20:07.04
ahead and the earth below
that old song comes to mind
00:20:07.07\00:20:12.47
The World Behind
Me, The Cross Before Me,
00:20:12.51\00:20:16.81
no turning
back, no turning back.
00:20:16.85\00:20:21.28
Seven days, we travel getting
re-acquainted and witnessing
00:20:21.32\00:20:26.25
to the world when at
last we reach the mighty
00:20:26.29\00:20:29.62
towering gates of heaven,
we arranged, we are arranged
00:20:29.66\00:20:33.09
so that we will enter
through one of twelve.
00:20:33.13\00:20:35.90
And in we go to a life that
we could have never imagined
00:20:35.93\00:20:40.07
the light from God's throne,
the beauty that only sinlessness
00:20:40.10\00:20:45.11
brings and we see
Jesus, our Jesus, our Savior,
00:20:45.14\00:20:50.68
the nail prints still in
His hands, the thorn scars
00:20:50.71\00:20:55.58
still in His head, and He smiles
at us...It's the most beautiful
00:20:55.62\00:21:00.26
thing we've ever seen
and we've seen the cosmos...
00:21:00.29\00:21:04.06
Babies are placed in mother's
arms, sons embrace fathers,
00:21:04.09\00:21:08.56
great-great-grandparents
meet their distant children.
00:21:08.60\00:21:12.73
Let me ask you, friend, do
you feel imposter syndrome?
00:21:12.77\00:21:20.78
Do you feel as though
you shouldn't be here?
00:21:20.81\00:21:25.05
Walk with me to the river
of life, listen as our feet
00:21:25.08\00:21:31.59
click on the golden streets,
the river flows from the throne
00:21:31.62\00:21:35.92
but we're going
downstream, let's go this way.
00:21:35.96\00:21:38.63
I want to show you
something, ah, there, there,
00:21:38.66\00:21:44.10
that great big tree with
one half of the trunk landing
00:21:44.13\00:21:49.07
on one side of the river and
the other on the opposite side.
00:21:49.10\00:21:53.51
You know this tree, it's
the Tree of Life, no, I don't
00:21:53.54\00:21:59.51
fully understand this tree, but
I know that we lost access to it
00:21:59.55\00:22:04.42
when we sinned in the
garden, now it's right there.
00:22:04.45\00:22:07.22
We pluck, but before we
eat of it, listen to this verse
00:22:07.26\00:22:16.80
from Revelation
chapter 22 and verse 13...
00:22:16.83\00:22:22.97
No imposter syndrome
friends, for by God's grace we
00:22:47.13\00:22:52.37
have a right, we have a
right to the Tree of Life
00:22:52.40\00:22:56.40
we're supposed to be here.
00:22:56.44\00:22:58.51
We have a place in God's space,
Jesus prepared a place for us.
00:22:58.54\00:23:04.25
No, we aren't deserving,
no, we didn't earn it,
00:23:04.28\00:23:07.98
no, but Jesus gave His
life so that we may be here
00:23:08.02\00:23:12.79
He interceded so
we could be here.
00:23:12.82\00:23:15.49
He made a way just as
He promised so long ago
00:23:15.52\00:23:19.16
In John 14, and I can't wait
to see you there, I can't wait
00:23:19.19\00:23:25.83
to see Him there, He
gave all so we could be there.
00:23:25.87\00:23:31.31
Let's make a pact,
you and I, can we do that?
00:23:31.34\00:23:39.38
to take our place in
God's space, to take our right
00:23:39.41\00:23:49.36
in all of God's room.
00:23:49.42\00:23:54.50
After having
journeyed like that.
00:23:54.53\00:24:00.00
it almost breaks the
heart to have to come back to
00:24:00.04\00:24:05.74
the present doesn't it?
00:24:05.77\00:24:07.11
But I want to talk about
the present, we're not there yet
00:24:07.14\00:24:13.75
but that's alright,
it's coming, but maybe
00:24:13.78\00:24:18.59
you've experienced
something that I've experienced.
00:24:18.62\00:24:21.92
You get up in the morning
and you look in the mirror
00:24:21.96\00:24:28.60
and you see the sinner, you
think about how you used to be
00:24:28.63\00:24:39.64
or maybe you are
heartbroken because you aren't
00:24:39.67\00:24:45.91
God's grace, but you ought
to be, and in times like that
00:24:45.95\00:24:51.85
the devil pulls up a chair
beside you, and he whispers
00:24:51.89\00:25:00.06
in your ear, look at yourself.
00:25:00.10\00:25:03.80
Look at who you
are, what makes you think
00:25:03.83\00:25:11.44
you deserve to
get to the kingdom?
00:25:11.47\00:25:17.38
What makes you think
you ought to be there?
00:25:17.41\00:25:21.52
Look at yourself. And he
begins to pull out the records
00:25:21.55\00:25:25.79
you did this, you said
this, this is who you are,
00:25:25.82\00:25:29.56
this is your identity, what
makes you think you have a right
00:25:29.59\00:25:34.30
to even hope to
be in the kingdom?
00:25:34.33\00:25:38.23
And you know what?
If we listen to that
00:25:38.27\00:25:42.30
and we stay in that
space, it will break our hearts.
00:25:42.34\00:25:47.94
And it will discourage us to
the point that we don't even try
00:25:47.98\00:25:53.35
any more. But Jesus
said, hey sister, brother,
00:25:53.38\00:26:01.96
let not your heart be
troubled, don't be shaken,
00:26:01.99\00:26:08.03
ye believe in God,
you can believe in me.
00:26:08.06\00:26:13.40
In my Father's house are
many mansions, if it wasn't so,
00:26:13.44\00:26:18.61
I would have told
you, and then He says,
00:26:18.64\00:26:22.78
I'm going to prepare a
place for you, I am going
00:26:22.81\00:26:32.89
to make it so that you
have by my grace He says,
00:26:32.92\00:26:38.23
a right to be there.
00:26:38.26\00:26:41.30
Jesus is making a place for
you and me, and when the devil
00:26:41.33\00:26:49.84
says that stuff in your
ear, you can say as Jesus said,
00:26:49.87\00:26:54.34
get behind me, Satan,
I know what I used to be
00:26:54.38\00:26:58.61
and I know by God's
grace what I ought to be,
00:26:58.65\00:27:01.45
but the Lord is
still working on me.
00:27:01.48\00:27:03.99
And He is going to make a
place and while I don't deserve
00:27:04.02\00:27:07.66
to be there, by His
grace, I'm supposed to be there.
00:27:07.69\00:27:12.53
Supposed to... And you march
your way on into the kingdom
00:27:12.56\00:27:20.14
by His grace, because by
His grace, He has made a place.
00:27:20.17\00:27:27.94
Father in heaven,
You've already made a way,
00:27:27.98\00:27:32.88
stay with us and
help us stay with you.
00:27:32.91\00:27:37.52
until we get there, and
thank you for what you've done
00:27:37.55\00:27:41.52
In Thy name we pray. Amen.
00:27:41.56\00:27:44.56
You know God has plans for
you, walk with your hand in His
00:27:44.59\00:27:48.23
and He will lead
you to His destination.
00:27:48.26\00:27:50.17
May He bless you.
00:27:50.20\00:27:51.73
And as always,
friends, Be Encouraged.
00:27:51.77\00:27:54.44