Can You Predict The Future? Part 2 | TBN
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Can You Predict The Future? Part 2

Watch Can You Predict The Future? Part 2
May 4, 2019
27:32

The Connection with Skip Heitzig

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Can You Predict The Future? Part 2

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  • Looking for a ray of light
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  • Looking for something better than this
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  • Oh, so tired of the black and white
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  • longing for prism light
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  • Oh, the bliss
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  • Flowing at the speed of light
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  • Was a color in the night
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  • Moving at the speed of light
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  • Was a color in the night
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  • Joy unspeakable and full of colors
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  • Found a hope so bright and clear
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  • Living in the realm of grace so vivid
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  • Our Savior's radiance so very near to me
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  • male announcer: With all that's going on
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  • in the world today, it's easy to be overcome
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  • with feelings of hopelessness.
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  • But today on, "Connect with Skip Heitzig,"
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  • Skip explains how you can face an uncertain future
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  • with confident hope.
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  • Skip Heitzig: Paul's in prison,
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  • he's not sure how God's gonna deliver him,
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  • if he's gonna deliver him from the trial or through the trial.
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  • He doesn't know if he's gonna live or die but he goes,
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  • "I'm just fine.
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  • I know I'm gonna be delivered."
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  • Let me explain something to you.
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  • I prayed for a lot of people who are sick through the years and
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  • quite honestly, I prayed for some people and they get better,
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  • and it's always fun to watch that happen.
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  • I've even seen, on a couple of rare occasions,
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  • an instantaneous healing.
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  • I won't deny that.
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  • I've seen it with my own eyes.
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  • But then I've also prayed for people who don't get better,
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  • they get worse.
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  • I prayed for them, they get worse.
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  • I pray more for them, they die, so be careful.
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  • "Let's get Skip to pray for this one."
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  • I have no special ability.
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  • God is sovereign, he does what he wants.
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  • So, I pray for some people, they get better,
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  • some people, they get worse.
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  • Some people, they live a long time,
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  • some people they die.
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  • God delivered them all.
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  • Some people he delivers by giving them 20 years on earth,
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  • some people he says, "No, they're done with life on earth,
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  • let's take them to heaven."
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  • That's not a bad gig.
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  • They get delivered completely, and that's Paul's thought.
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  • "I am confident in my future that things will turn out
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  • for my deliverance."
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  • Now, what is the means of Paul's confidence,
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  • what's the agency of it?
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  • Well, it's twofold.
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  • Through the prayers of God's people,
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  • and through the provision of God's Spirit,
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  • look at it yourself, please.
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  • "I know this will turn out from my deliverance through your
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  • prayer and through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."
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  • Here's what he's saying, "As you keep praying
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  • and as God keeps providing, I'm gonna be fine.
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  • I face my future with confidence."
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  • Now, let's drill down a little bit.
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  • Consider prayer for a moment.
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  • I am absolutely confident in my future well-being
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  • through your prayer.
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  • He's assuming the Philippian church is already praying
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  • for them, but in writing this, he's asking for more prayer.
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  • Now, I'm gonna make a statement that might be shocking to you,
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  • but I believe it to be true.
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  • We marginalize prayer, we really do.
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  • Most of us believers, most of us,
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  • we marginalize prayer.
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  • We doubt that prayer will even work, quite frankly.
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  • You know how I know that?
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  • Because if we didn't believe that,
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  • we'd be doing a whole lot more of it.
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  • If we really thought prayer had the power to change things,
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  • to change us, to change people, we'd be doing it a lot.
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  • Paul is so sure that as long as they are praying for him,
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  • he can be joyful, and he can be confident in the future.
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  • A few years back, I had the privilege of going to London
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  • and visiting Charles Haddon Spurgeon's church
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  • called the Metropolitan Tabernacle and, of course,
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  • Spurgeon lived in the 1800s, died,
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  • but his church still stands.
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  • It has survived wars, burnings, bombings.
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  • The facade is still there, the church has been rebuilt
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  • but I loved going there because I remember all the stories,
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  • not only about Spurgeon and how many people came to
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  • hear him preach, but he would, if he took people on a tour
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  • of the facility, he would show them the great tabernacle
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  • where he would preach, but he took them to the basement
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  • where there was a little empty room, a meager room,
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  • and he'd point to the room and say,
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  • "This is the powerhouse and the reason that this church is
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  • blessed by God."
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  • It was a prayer room.
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  • He said, "When I preach, there's a group of people every service
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  • that meets in this room and they pray that the Spirit of God
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  • would be unleashed."
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  • This is the secret.
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  • This is the power.
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  • Leonard Ravenhill said this, "The church has many organizers,
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  • but few agonizers, many who pay but few who pray,
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  • many resters but few wrestlers, many who are enterprising,
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  • few who are interceding.
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  • A worldly Christian will stop praying and praying
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  • Christian will stop worldliness.
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  • Tithes may build a church, but tears will give it life."
  • 00:06:07.080 --> 00:06:13.070
  • Now, why should we pray?
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  • There's a lot of reasons, I'll give you just two.
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  • Reason number one, spiritual work always requires
  • 00:06:18.090 --> 00:06:21.160
  • spiritual tools.
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  • One of the most frustrating endeavors is to try to do
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  • a work of the Spirit in the energy of your flesh.
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  • You are doomed for failure.
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  • Second reason, it produces confidence,
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  • according to the text.
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  • I am confident through your prayers.
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  • It's a spiritual tool, it produces confidence,
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  • two good reasons to keep it up.
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  • So, one means of Paul's confidence is
  • 00:06:48.110 --> 00:06:51.240
  • through their prayer.
  • 00:06:51.250 --> 00:06:53.040
  • Notice the second, and the supply
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  • of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
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  • The Holy Spirit will give you everything you need.
  • 00:06:58.020 --> 00:07:00.230
  • Now, you see the word "supply" in that text.
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  • It literally means a lavish supply,
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  • a lavish supply.
  • 00:07:07.230 --> 00:07:09.240
  • The Greek word is "epichoregeos,"
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  • we get our word "chorus" from that.
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  • It literally means one voice upon another.
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  • So, if Ryan stands up here singing and Tamra stands up here
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  • and adds a harmony, and Stephen stands up here
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  • and adds yet another harmony, and their voices blend in melody
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  • and harmonies first, third, and fifth,
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  • you are stacking up the voices.
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  • Then if you add a choir next to them,
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  • you have an epichoregeos.
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  • You have a lavish supply of beautiful voices.
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  • So, what Paul is saying is this, "The reason I'm confident is
  • 00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:54.040
  • because you keep praying and because the Holy Spirit
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  • lavishly supplies everything I need to handle the future."
  • 00:07:56.250 --> 00:08:02.070
  • Here's the truth, the hand of God will never lead you
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  • where the grace of God cannot keep you.
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  • He will lavishly supply what you need.
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  • You know, Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6.
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  • You'll finish it as I start quoting it.
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  • It's not by might, it's not by power, it's by?
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  • Say it, "My Spirit says the Lord.
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  • Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord."
  • 00:08:26.210 --> 00:08:30.220
  • So, Paul is confident in the future.
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  • If there are praying friends and plenty of fuel,
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  • and the fuel is the Holy Spirit.
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  • So, Paul looks out of his prison bars.
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  • He sees two stars, the star of joy,
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  • the star of confidence.
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  • He predicts them both, but he sees a third star,
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  • the star of hope.
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  • Verse 20, "According to my earnest expectation and hope,"
  • 00:08:52.070 --> 00:09:01.270
  • earnest expectation means about the same thing as the next noun,
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  • "hope," they really go together.
  • 00:09:07.050 --> 00:09:09.200
  • Earnest expectation is like an intense form of hope,
  • 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:14.160
  • active hope, you might say.
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  • "According to my earnest expectation,
  • 00:09:17.090 --> 00:09:19.100
  • active hope and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed
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  • but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be
  • 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:26.240
  • magnified in my body, whether by life or by death."
  • 00:09:26.250 --> 00:09:32.030
  • Now, you know, you've known this 'cause you hear me every week.
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  • You know I love words.
  • 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:37.130
  • So, this word here, "earnest expectation," literally means
  • 00:09:37.140 --> 00:09:42.290
  • to watch something with outstretched head.
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  • Go ahead, stretch your head out.
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  • You've done an what this verse is talking about,
  • 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:51.190
  • this earnest expectation.
  • 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.220
  • Now, here's where the word came from.
  • 00:09:53.230 --> 00:09:55.210
  • In old times, when somebody would see something on the
  • 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:58.060
  • horizon coming like an army or a group of emissaries approaching,
  • 00:09:58.070 --> 00:10:01.290
  • people would stand on the walls and stretch their heads out,
  • 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:05.120
  • and they'd see what's now what's happening out there?
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  • Is that a war or is that a letter coming?
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  • What is it?
  • 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:12.110
  • It's the same thing if you go to a baseball game
  • 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:14.020
  • and the batter hits the ball into left center,
  • 00:10:14.030 --> 00:10:16.200
  • and everybody's head goes-- they're watching it,
  • 00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:20.000
  • they're kind of anticipating hope.
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  • Where's it gonna go? Where's it go?
  • 00:10:21.190 --> 00:10:23.040
  • Home run? Oh, he caught it.
  • 00:10:23.050 --> 00:10:25.100
  • When I was a kid, we used to watch golf on television,
  • 00:10:25.110 --> 00:10:27.220
  • which some people swear is a cure for insomnia.
  • 00:10:27.230 --> 00:10:31.040
  • But we used to love it.
  • 00:10:31.050 --> 00:10:33.180
  • And same thing, the ball is hit, and it goes into its trajectory
  • 00:10:33.190 --> 00:10:38.080
  • and you see everybody in the galley--
  • 00:10:38.090 --> 00:10:41.280
  • "Where is that gonna-- is that gonna go on the green?
  • 00:10:41.290 --> 00:10:44.060
  • Is that gonna go on a sand trap?"
  • 00:10:44.070 --> 00:10:46.000
  • So, here is Paul looking to his future saying,
  • 00:10:46.010 --> 00:10:49.100
  • "I have an active hope.
  • 00:10:49.110 --> 00:10:51.260
  • My neck and head are stretched out,
  • 00:10:51.270 --> 00:10:54.060
  • and I have an eager hope and anticipation."
  • 00:10:54.070 --> 00:10:58.270
  • I hope you're saying, "What for?"
  • 00:10:58.280 --> 00:11:02.230
  • I'll tell you what for verse 20 tells us,
  • 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:07.250
  • "That in nothing I shall be ashamed,
  • 00:11:07.260 --> 00:11:10.120
  • but with all boldness as always, so now Christ will be magnified
  • 00:11:10.130 --> 00:11:15.010
  • in my body, whether by life or by death."
  • 00:11:15.020 --> 00:11:19.110
  • Here's what he's saying, "As I look to the future,
  • 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.250
  • the one great concern that I hope for more than
  • 00:11:21.260 --> 00:11:25.080
  • anything else is that I will be a faithful witness for Christ,
  • 00:11:25.090 --> 00:11:31.200
  • that I won't be ashamed, but that I will be bold."
  • 00:11:31.210 --> 00:11:35.280
  • It's amazing that he says this.
  • 00:11:35.290 --> 00:11:38.250
  • He didn't say, "I have one great hope,
  • 00:11:38.260 --> 00:11:40.220
  • and that is that I get out of jail.
  • 00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:43.190
  • I have one great hope that I can escape this pain and suffering."
  • 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:47.210
  • He said, "I have one great hope whether I live or die.
  • 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:50.100
  • I want to be a witness for Christ.
  • 00:11:50.110 --> 00:11:52.150
  • I'm looking for opportunities to represent Christ.
  • 00:11:52.160 --> 00:11:56.190
  • What I hope for is that I might express my faith
  • 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:59.170
  • and exalt my Savior."
  • 00:11:59.180 --> 00:12:03.170
  • When I was a young Christian, I was morbidly afraid
  • 00:12:03.180 --> 00:12:07.220
  • of witnessing to another person, telling them about Jesus.
  • 00:12:07.230 --> 00:12:10.290
  • I was embarrassed.
  • 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.270
  • To be honest, I was embarrassed.
  • 00:12:13.280 --> 00:12:15.170
  • I was embarrassed about the gospel.
  • 00:12:15.180 --> 00:12:17.110
  • The reason I was embarrassed is because I was afraid that they
  • 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.050
  • would reject the message and that would make it seem like
  • 00:12:20.060 --> 00:12:23.240
  • they're rejecting me, so I just held back.
  • 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:28.080
  • For the first several months, it was very difficult then
  • 00:12:28.090 --> 00:12:31.080
  • something kicked into gear and I could never shut up after that.
  • 00:12:31.090 --> 00:12:36.220
  • Howard Hendricks put it this way,
  • 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:38.160
  • "In the midst of a generation screaming for answers,
  • 00:12:38.170 --> 00:12:42.060
  • Christians are stuttering."
  • 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:46.150
  • I was stuttering.
  • 00:12:46.160 --> 00:12:48.130
  • Paul is saying, "My great hope for the future is that
  • 00:12:48.140 --> 00:12:51.260
  • I will not stutter, but that I will be bold."
  • 00:12:51.270 --> 00:12:56.080
  • It means to have freedom of speech, bold.
  • 00:12:56.090 --> 00:13:01.240
  • You know what? We need to be bold.
  • 00:13:01.250 --> 00:13:03.240
  • While the world is breaking bad, we need to be breaking bold.
  • 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:09.090
  • That's what we need to be doing, breaking bold.
  • 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:13.090
  • You know the world--yeah.
  • 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:15.150
  • The world is bold about what it believes,
  • 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.170
  • and they're becoming bolder.
  • 00:13:20.180 --> 00:13:22.160
  • They're not ashamed of what they believe in.
  • 00:13:22.170 --> 00:13:24.210
  • They use every opportunity they can,
  • 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:26.160
  • every song they write, every news program,
  • 00:13:26.170 --> 00:13:28.190
  • every sitcom, every movie, to further their agenda.
  • 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:32.190
  • They are not afraid.
  • 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:33.290
  • They're bold to share their values on abortion,
  • 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.250
  • on homosexuality, on promiscuity.
  • 00:13:36.260 --> 00:13:39.230
  • They want to get that out there and get it in your face.
  • 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:42.040
  • It's time for Christians to get out of the closet and be bold
  • 00:13:42.050 --> 00:13:47.090
  • and not be embarrassed and not be ashamed.
  • 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:49.100
  • You say, "Skip, I can clap for that but boy,
  • 00:13:51.110 --> 00:13:53.060
  • that's hard for me.
  • 00:13:53.070 --> 00:13:55.060
  • I'm just not that-- I'm not a vocal person.
  • 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:56.240
  • I'm not a bold person."
  • 00:13:56.250 --> 00:13:58.040
  • Fair enough.
  • 00:13:58.050 --> 00:14:00.160
  • Just ask God to make you bold.
  • 00:14:00.170 --> 00:14:04.050
  • I'll be bold.
  • 00:14:04.060 --> 00:14:05.210
  • I'll be a witness as long as you keep praying and the Spirit
  • 00:14:05.220 --> 00:14:07.250
  • keeps providing see, so let's just start there.
  • 00:14:07.260 --> 00:14:09.260
  • "God, make me a bolder person."
  • 00:14:09.270 --> 00:14:14.130
  • So, he's praying for that, he wants that,
  • 00:14:14.140 --> 00:14:16.140
  • he hopes for that.
  • 00:14:16.150 --> 00:14:17.240
  • That's his earnest expectation and hope that,
  • 00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:20.040
  • "in nothing I shall be ashamed."
  • 00:14:20.050 --> 00:14:21.190
  • But look at this, "With all boldness as always,"
  • 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:24.110
  • he's always been bold up to this point.
  • 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:26.010
  • "So now in this person situation facing Caesar Nero,
  • 00:14:26.020 --> 00:14:29.240
  • so now Christ will be magnified in my body,
  • 00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:35.200
  • whether by life or death."
  • 00:14:35.210 --> 00:14:38.280
  • You know what magnified means?
  • 00:14:38.290 --> 00:14:41.240
  • Magnified, it's really what it means.
  • 00:14:41.250 --> 00:14:44.140
  • It just means to enlarge something,
  • 00:14:44.150 --> 00:14:46.110
  • to make it bigger than it is, to enlarge it,
  • 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:49.220
  • to make it bigger or to make it greater.
  • 00:14:49.230 --> 00:14:53.080
  • So, I have a question for you.
  • 00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:55.030
  • How can you make the greatest person in the world greater?
  • 00:14:55.040 --> 00:15:01.170
  • How can you magnify Christ in your body?
  • 00:15:01.180 --> 00:15:04.240
  • He's already great, how can you make him greater?
  • 00:15:04.250 --> 00:15:07.260
  • Well, I'm glad you asked.
  • 00:15:07.270 --> 00:15:10.190
  • I'll give you an example, then an explanation.
  • 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:13.110
  • If you look up tonight at the stars,
  • 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:15.220
  • if there's not a light pollution,
  • 00:15:15.230 --> 00:15:17.140
  • you can see some of the stars flickering.
  • 00:15:17.150 --> 00:15:20.030
  • Those stars, those little twinkles,
  • 00:15:20.040 --> 00:15:22.080
  • some of them are enormous.
  • 00:15:22.090 --> 00:15:25.170
  • Some of those stars are 1.000 million miles in diameter,
  • 00:15:25.180 --> 00:15:32.290
  • or 12.000 times larger than the sun,
  • 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:40.060
  • yet you look at them and they just twinkle, they flicker.
  • 00:15:40.070 --> 00:15:44.290
  • You can barely see him.
  • 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:46.130
  • So, if you want to see them better,
  • 00:15:46.140 --> 00:15:49.220
  • what do you look through?
  • 00:15:49.230 --> 00:15:52.150
  • A telescope.
  • 00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:53.270
  • When you look through a telescope, what happens?
  • 00:15:53.280 --> 00:15:56.000
  • They get magnified, you're magnifying them,
  • 00:15:56.010 --> 00:15:59.090
  • you're enlarge them.
  • 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:00.220
  • When you enlarge them, it seems like you brought them closer
  • 00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:03.230
  • and now you see them clearer.
  • 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.050
  • So, here's how it works.
  • 00:16:07.060 --> 00:16:08.210
  • To most people in this world, Jesus Christ is 2.000 years ago.
  • 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:14.100
  • He's so far away, he's so in the distance,
  • 00:16:14.110 --> 00:16:17.270
  • he's so unapprehendable.
  • 00:16:17.280 --> 00:16:20.100
  • He's so irrelevant.
  • 00:16:20.110 --> 00:16:21.280
  • That happened 2.000 years ago, until you show up.
  • 00:16:21.290 --> 00:16:26.200
  • Now, by you, by them looking at your life,
  • 00:16:26.210 --> 00:16:30.200
  • he's either magnified, brought closer, clearer, or minified.
  • 00:16:30.210 --> 00:16:38.190
  • Remember, as a kid, you'd take that telescope sometimes just
  • 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:40.280
  • for fun, you'd turn it around, you'd look through the other end
  • 00:16:40.290 --> 00:16:43.200
  • and everybody could be right in front of you.
  • 00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:45.130
  • They seemed like they're 40 miles away.
  • 00:16:45.140 --> 00:16:48.110
  • Paul says, "you know what I want?
  • 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:50.040
  • I want boldness.
  • 00:16:50.050 --> 00:16:51.160
  • I'm looking for opportunities to represent Christ 'cause
  • 00:16:51.170 --> 00:16:53.190
  • I want the great one to be even greater through my body.
  • 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.260
  • As I give him my hands, my feet, my mouthpiece,
  • 00:16:57.270 --> 00:17:00.270
  • let him use my life.
  • 00:17:00.280 --> 00:17:03.000
  • I present my body," Romans 12:1, "as a living sacrifice,
  • 00:17:03.010 --> 00:17:06.210
  • holy and acceptable, which is my reasonable service."
  • 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:10.210
  • Christ is magnified by our bodies.
  • 00:17:10.220 --> 00:17:14.060
  • So, Paul looks out from his prison bars,
  • 00:17:14.070 --> 00:17:18.060
  • doesn't seem mud, he does see stars.
  • 00:17:18.070 --> 00:17:21.000
  • He sees the star of joy, confidence, and hope.
  • 00:17:21.010 --> 00:17:25.130
  • He predicts that.
  • 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:26.270
  • There's a fourth star and that is the star of life.
  • 00:17:26.280 --> 00:17:31.190
  • Verse 21, sums it up, it's sort of his motto, his slogan.
  • 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:35.110
  • "For me to live as Christ and to die is gain."
  • 00:17:35.120 --> 00:17:40.090
  • Now, that's one of the most famous verses in the Bible
  • 00:17:40.100 --> 00:17:42.100
  • among Christian circles.
  • 00:17:42.110 --> 00:17:44.130
  • You've heard it, or you've heard it quoted,
  • 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:46.160
  • or you have quoted it.
  • 00:17:46.170 --> 00:17:49.220
  • This is Paul's slogan.
  • 00:17:49.230 --> 00:17:52.220
  • This could have been on Paul's tombstone.
  • 00:17:52.230 --> 00:17:55.210
  • Wouldn't that be great? "Here lies the Apostle Paul.
  • 00:17:55.220 --> 00:17:57.190
  • For him to live was Christ, to die was gain."
  • 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.070
  • Every time I read words by Paul in the Bible,
  • 00:18:04.100 --> 00:18:08.190
  • I kind of step away from going, "Who is this guy?"
  • 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:13.290
  • I'll tell you one thing, Paul wasn't a guy for small talk.
  • 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.110
  • You know, you might sit down with a cup of coffee,
  • 00:18:16.120 --> 00:18:18.070
  • and he might get past the hellos pretty quickly and just say,
  • 00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:21.120
  • "Let me ask about Christ."
  • 00:18:21.130 --> 00:18:24.290
  • Why do you ask them about Christ?
  • 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:26.090
  • "Because for me to live is Christ.
  • 00:18:26.100 --> 00:18:29.030
  • My life is Christ and if I die, I keep living
  • 00:18:29.040 --> 00:18:31.140
  • because I'm with Christ.
  • 00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.190
  • For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
  • 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.200
  • Reminds me of a kid who went to Sunday school,
  • 00:18:35.210 --> 00:18:38.050
  • went to a new church in a new town and the first day of church
  • 00:18:38.060 --> 00:18:42.140
  • after Sunday school, his parents said,
  • 00:18:42.150 --> 00:18:44.190
  • "Well, how is Sunday school?" He said, "Oh, it was good."
  • 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.120
  • Said, "Well, tell me about your teacher."
  • 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:49.120
  • And he paused and he says, "Well, she must have been
  • 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:52.130
  • Jesus's grandmother because Jesus was
  • 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:56.000
  • the only one she kept talking about the whole class."
  • 00:18:56.010 --> 00:19:01.070
  • I like that.
  • 00:19:01.080 --> 00:19:02.170
  • That's sort of like Paul the apostle.
  • 00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:04.120
  • "He must be related to Jesus 'cause that's the only guy
  • 00:19:04.130 --> 00:19:07.200
  • he talks about."
  • 00:19:07.210 --> 00:19:10.100
  • "For me to live is Christ, therefore to die is gain,"
  • 00:19:10.110 --> 00:19:14.170
  • 'cause you'll be with him.
  • 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:16.090
  • Now, take that little phrase and make it your own for a minute.
  • 00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:19.100
  • "For me to live is," blank, fill in the blank.
  • 00:19:19.110 --> 00:19:23.080
  • And then to die is blank.
  • 00:19:23.090 --> 00:19:26.230
  • The only one that would--only thing or person you could put
  • 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.190
  • in the first blank to make it say gain would be Christ.
  • 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:35.220
  • Let me show you this.
  • 00:19:35.230 --> 00:19:37.060
  • Let's say you were to say, "For me to live is wealth,"
  • 00:19:37.070 --> 00:19:40.180
  • well, then you have to say then to die is loss 'cause
  • 00:19:40.190 --> 00:19:43.190
  • you cannot take your wealth with you.
  • 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.140
  • You leave it all behind.
  • 00:19:46.150 --> 00:19:48.140
  • So, for you it is getting a lot of money then when you die,
  • 00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:51.200
  • it's a total loss.
  • 00:19:51.210 --> 00:19:55.090
  • If you were to say, "For me to live is fame,
  • 00:19:55.100 --> 00:19:57.100
  • and notoriety, and status," then you'd also have to say,
  • 00:19:57.110 --> 00:19:59.190
  • "For me to die is loss 'cause you lose it when you die.
  • 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.170
  • You're famous only here, but not there.
  • 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:07.060
  • If you say, "For me to live is having a perfect physical body,"
  • 00:20:07.070 --> 00:20:12.120
  • well, you're gonna have to put loss there too because
  • 00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:15.180
  • when you die, you get real ugly real quick, like in a day.
  • 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:23.020
  • The only one or thing you could put that says gain is Christ,
  • 00:20:23.030 --> 00:20:27.190
  • for me to live is Christ, to die is gain.
  • 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.120
  • That's why this is the summum bonum of Paul's life.
  • 00:20:30.130 --> 00:20:34.200
  • This is the pinnacle statement that sums up everything.
  • 00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:38.120
  • "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."
  • 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:41.170
  • Here's Paul he's in prison, doesn't know
  • 00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:43.040
  • if he's gonna live or die.
  • 00:20:43.050 --> 00:20:45.050
  • If I live, I'll live for Christ. If I die, I'll live with Christ.
  • 00:20:45.060 --> 00:20:48.000
  • Either way, there's a life in either equation.
  • 00:20:48.010 --> 00:20:51.260
  • Jesus said this, "I am the resurrection and the life.
  • 00:20:51.270 --> 00:20:57.010
  • Whoever believes in me though he may die,
  • 00:20:57.020 --> 00:20:59.260
  • he shall live.
  • 00:20:59.270 --> 00:21:02.020
  • And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die."
  • 00:21:02.030 --> 00:21:05.210
  • Paul believed that, Paul believed that.
  • 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:08.290
  • Now, we should close by telling you what happened to Paul.
  • 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:12.290
  • Paul, in jail, will be set free, and he'll spend a year
  • 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:22.060
  • out of jail.
  • 00:21:22.070 --> 00:21:24.100
  • We don't know what he's doing but I'll tell you what,
  • 00:21:24.110 --> 00:21:25.280
  • for him to live is Christ so he's out there doing
  • 00:21:25.290 --> 00:21:27.150
  • something for Christ.
  • 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:28.260
  • He's preaching the gospel, starting some church somewhere.
  • 00:21:28.270 --> 00:21:32.100
  • A year later, he gets arrested again in Troas and brought
  • 00:21:32.110 --> 00:21:36.250
  • to Rome the second time.
  • 00:21:36.260 --> 00:21:38.140
  • This time he's not under house arrest like he is now
  • 00:21:38.150 --> 00:21:40.280
  • with a little bit of freedom.
  • 00:21:40.290 --> 00:21:42.170
  • The second time he is placed in a prison called
  • 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:44.200
  • the Mamertine Prison in Rome.
  • 00:21:44.210 --> 00:21:46.170
  • It's still there.
  • 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:48.150
  • It's a hole in the ground. There are no windows in it.
  • 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.100
  • It is solitary confinement.
  • 00:21:51.110 --> 00:21:53.010
  • He gets food that is lowered through a rope in the hole
  • 00:21:53.020 --> 00:21:57.070
  • in the ground.
  • 00:21:57.080 --> 00:21:58.250
  • That's where he spends his final days.
  • 00:21:58.260 --> 00:22:01.220
  • He's taken up out of the Mamertine Prison,
  • 00:22:01.230 --> 00:22:03.170
  • taken to the Basilica Julia, a building that was built
  • 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:07.060
  • by and for Julius Caesar named after him.
  • 00:22:07.070 --> 00:22:10.200
  • And he is given the death verdict,
  • 00:22:10.210 --> 00:22:15.060
  • condemned to die.
  • 00:22:15.070 --> 00:22:18.180
  • History tells us how he died.
  • 00:22:18.190 --> 00:22:20.180
  • Let me tell you how A.T. Robertson describes it.
  • 00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:24.100
  • "The crowds flowed into town, some were going out.
  • 00:22:24.110 --> 00:22:28.230
  • Paul was only a criminal going to be beheaded.
  • 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:32.060
  • Few, if any in the crowd, would know or care anything about him.
  • 00:22:32.070 --> 00:22:37.140
  • At a good place on the road some miles out,
  • 00:22:37.150 --> 00:22:40.000
  • the executioner stopped.
  • 00:22:40.010 --> 00:22:42.180
  • The block was laid down.
  • 00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:44.010
  • The executioner stood ready, ax in hand.
  • 00:22:44.020 --> 00:22:47.060
  • The men stripped Paul, tied him kneeling upright
  • 00:22:47.070 --> 00:22:53.090
  • to the low pillar which exposed his back and his neck.
  • 00:22:53.100 --> 00:22:57.050
  • The lictors beat him with rods for the last time.
  • 00:22:57.060 --> 00:23:03.000
  • He groaned and bled from his nose and his mouth.
  • 00:23:03.010 --> 00:23:07.070
  • And then without a hint of hesitation,
  • 00:23:07.080 --> 00:23:09.240
  • the executioner frowned as he swung the blade down swiftly
  • 00:23:09.250 --> 00:23:14.050
  • hitting its mark with a dull thud.
  • 00:23:14.060 --> 00:23:20.060
  • And the head of the greatest preacher of the ages
  • 00:23:20.070 --> 00:23:23.020
  • rolled upon the ground."
  • 00:23:23.030 --> 00:23:28.170
  • That's how Paul died.
  • 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:31.030
  • Now, Paul said, "For me to live is Christ,
  • 00:23:31.040 --> 00:23:35.120
  • to die is gain."
  • 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:39.170
  • For that one year, he was preaching Christ.
  • 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:41.280
  • Now, in that one brutal moment, Paul moved from
  • 00:23:41.290 --> 00:23:49.190
  • the imperial city of Rome to the eternal city of heaven.
  • 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:53.260
  • He was preaching Christ, now he is with Christ.
  • 00:23:53.270 --> 00:23:58.120
  • And Paul knew it all along, that's why he wasn't afraid.
  • 00:23:58.130 --> 00:24:03.260
  • "If I live, I'll preach Christ.
  • 00:24:03.270 --> 00:24:05.090
  • You kill me, I'll be with him.
  • 00:24:05.100 --> 00:24:07.190
  • Either way, I win, either way I'm delivered.
  • 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:10.170
  • Either way, I'm gonna rejoice.
  • 00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:14.270
  • I'm gonna be confident, I'm gonna have hope
  • 00:24:14.280 --> 00:24:18.060
  • because I'm gonna have life either way."
  • 00:24:18.070 --> 00:24:21.200
  • Now, I told you at the beginning of this study,
  • 00:24:21.210 --> 00:24:23.220
  • that you can predict your future responses but not
  • 00:24:23.230 --> 00:24:26.170
  • your future circumstances.
  • 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:28.090
  • I was wrong actually.
  • 00:24:28.100 --> 00:24:30.180
  • There is one circumstance you can predict and that is,
  • 00:24:30.190 --> 00:24:35.070
  • will you spend eternity in heaven or in hell?
  • 00:24:35.080 --> 00:24:39.240
  • I can predict accurately that because I believe in Jesus
  • 00:24:39.250 --> 00:24:43.150
  • Christ and not my own good works or my religious works,
  • 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:45.280
  • but I trust in his finished work,
  • 00:24:45.290 --> 00:24:48.120
  • unequivocally no doubts at all, I'm going to have it.
  • 00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:52.190
  • I have no doubts.
  • 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:55.050
  • And many of you have those same set of confident hope
  • 00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:04.190
  • that I have, some of you don't.
  • 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:08.000
  • And if you don't know Jesus Christ,
  • 00:25:08.010 --> 00:25:11.220
  • if you don't receive what he did for you,
  • 00:25:11.230 --> 00:25:13.290
  • if you don't humble yourself and turn from your past
  • 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.230
  • and turn to him, which is called being born again,
  • 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:20.190
  • Jesus said, you'll never see the kingdom of heaven.
  • 00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:23.150
  • 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:29.100
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  • from the very beginning.
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  • announcer: Did God really create the world in seven days?
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  • from the first book of the Bible.
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  • to attend full or part-time.
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  • If you've always wanted to learn more about God and his Word
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  • in an academic environment, visit calvaryabq.college.
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  • Applications for the upcoming academic year
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  • are due by August 16th.
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  • announcer: Do you have certainty about your future?
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  • If you'd like to talk to someone about how you can be sure
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  • of your eternal future, give us a call 800-922-1888.
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  • We'd love to hear from you.
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  • "Connect with Skip Heitzig" is a presentation of connection
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  • communications connecting you to God's never changing truth
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  • in ever changing times.
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