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Ok. Here we go.
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This first one comes from Alexander.
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Here's what he says,
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"I've been reading Revelation,
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and while I'm saved,
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and I know what it is to be enraptured by God,
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I am fearful after reading Revelation 20:12..."
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(Now, I'll read that to you in just a second.)
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He says, "it states that all people,
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good and evil, will have their deeds judged.
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While I'm grateful and assured of my salvation,
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I'm fearful that any good deeds I've done
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are simple and personal and will not compare
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to great missionaries and so forth.
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I'm afraid that after giving my life to God,
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I will be embarrassed in front of all creation
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by the little good I've done in Jesus' name,
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when compared to the mistakes I've made.
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Am I right to be afraid?"
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Here's the first thing I want to say to you guys:
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If you put this up,
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and anybody out there that comes across
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this and listens to it, or any of you folks,
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listen: I have tried to find this on a number of occasions
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and I can't find it.
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There is a Spurgeon sermon,
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and I think it might be one that has to do with heaven,
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but I'm not absolutely certain.
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And he says many envision
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the Second Coming of Christ
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and Judgment Day and the entry into heaven.
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And all the famous people:
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the Whitfield's and the Wesley's
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and the Luther's and the Calvin's.
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They're going to go all marching into heaven
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in great parade and pomp.
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While all the little seamstresses
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and the little people of the Kingdom
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are kind of off to the sides,
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and they just get to watch.
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And he says if that's the way you read heaven,
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you've read it all wrong.
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If anybody can find that,
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where Spurgeon says that,
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please tell me what sermon it's in.
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Please tell me where I can find it.
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He goes on to describe this little seamstress
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in some back alley of London.
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Riddled through with some disease
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and bed-ridden half the time.
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But she has an aroma of Christ about her
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and she loves the Lord.
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And from time to time,
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somebody will come visit and she will be able to share
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the things of Christ with them.
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He says if you think that woman
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is not going to be at the head of the parade
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in heaven, you've read heaven all wrong.
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Now listen, that's what Spurgeon says.
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Of course, we're doing a Bible study.
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We're concerned about what the Bible says.
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But if you can come across that,
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please tell me where it is.
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You know what I have right here?
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When I heard this question,
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I just started thinking through,
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who are the people and who are the churches
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that are made much of in the Bible?
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And I just let my mind go through...
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and guess what the first one is that came
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shooting into my mind.
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The widow and her two mites.
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Now this woman was not a great missionary.
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This woman was not the great Apostle Paul.
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This woman was not Martin Luther.
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This woman was not John Calvin.
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You know what? This woman was so obscure,
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and so out of the way,
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that we don't have any idea what her name is.
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You know, it's really been striking me lately,
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just from Sunday,
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just a leper.
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A thief.
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A widow.
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We don't even know their names.
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Just a widow.
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A woman who was a sinner.
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Just no name people.
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This isn't a mighty Peter or a mighty Paul.
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Just a widow.
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And you know what, Jesus looked up,
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this comes out of Luke 21:1-4.
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He looked up. He saw the rich putting
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gifts in the offering box.
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He saw a poor widow
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put in two small copper coins.
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He said, "Truly, I tell you this poor widow
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has put in more than all of them."
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And do you know what He's saying?
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He's saying on Judgment Day,
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she is going to be commended
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more than those people
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that apparently did a whole lot.
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I'm telling you,
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there are people who,
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it doesn't appear that they do much,
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but they serve Jesus Christ with all they have.
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You know what this woman had?
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Two copper coins.
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You know what she served the Lord with?
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Two copper coins.
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And He said she put in more than all the rest.
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You know what? We can look at people with great gifts;
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we can look at the Charles Spurgeons,
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and the John G. Patons, and the Hudson Taylors,
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Adoniram Judsons and the William Careys.
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We look at them and we think, "Oh no!"
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And no doubt, they did a lot.
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And they expended their lives,
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and I don't take away from any of those guys.
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But you've got little no-name widows,
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little no-name single men and women in our church.
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Some of you, you're giving yourself,
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you're taking your two coins,
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you're taking what God has given you,
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and you're seeking to serve the Lord with them.
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And you know what it says?
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Where does it say it? Hebrews 10?
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God does not forget.
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God is not slow to remember those deeds
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that you have done.
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You've got this little woman. Who else?
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The woman with the alabaster flask.
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Listen to this:
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Mark 14:3 "While Jesus was in Bethany
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in the house of Simon the leper,
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He was reclining at table when a woman came
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with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard,
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very costly, she broke the flask and poured it over His head.
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There were some who said to themselves indignantly,
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'Why was the ointment wasted like that?'"
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Some - it was not just Judas.
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It's likely Peter was there.
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"The ointment could have been sold for more than
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300 denarius and given to the poor.
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They scolded her.
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But Jesus said, 'leave her alone.
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Why do you trouble her?'"
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And He says two things that are just amazing.
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"She has done a beautiful thing to Me.
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For you always have the poor with you,
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and whenever you want, you can do good for them.
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But you will not always have Me.
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She has done what she could."
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Now you know what's really amazing?
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"She's anointed My body beforehand for burial,
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and truly I say to you,
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wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world,
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what she has done will be told in memory of her."
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That is phenomenal!
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You know what Jesus is saying?
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He is specifically making this woman an example
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to you who feel like:
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I'll never be a great missionary.
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I'll never be a great pastor.
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I'll never be...
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you know what?
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Both these ladies - again, this woman,
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just called a woman with an alabaster flask.
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Some surmise that this was Mary Magdalene.
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Or Mary the sister of Lazarus.
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And it could be.
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I think maybe it's not.
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I think probably two separate situations.
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But you know what?
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The fact is, what this is telling us,
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is on Judgment Day,
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you think this woman's going to be embarrassed?
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Look, I come back to this...
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do you know what Jesus Christ said?
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John 17. Concerning His disciples.
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Praying to His Father, He says,
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"They have kept Your Word."
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Do you know what this guy right here?
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This guy's afraid that
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compared to his mistakes
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he feels that his good is pretty little.
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Well, you know what? I've been there too.
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I think we've all felt that.
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But isn't it amazing after the unbelief
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of these guys, after the pride of these guys,
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as Peter falling on his face,
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and "Get thee behind Me, Satan"
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and "you Sons of Boanerges,"
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you "Sons of Thunder"
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- you don't even know what spirit you're of.
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Jesus Christ rebuking these guys; the pride;
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who's going to be greatest?
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They want to sit on His right hand and left hand.
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And after all this, Jesus can say,
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they've kept Your Word?
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You've got people like Sarah
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in Hebrews 11
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It says by faith. By faith?
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I go back in the Old Testament
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and I see her laughing with unbelief.
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But you know what it is?
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When you're in Christ, it's like
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we don't even remember it.
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Don't even mention their sins.
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That's what's going to happen.
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This guy, "am I right to be afraid?"
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Look, it's good to have a healthy fear of God.
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There's no question about it.
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But you know what?
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Matthew 25:23 - "His master said to him,
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'Well done, good and faithful servant.'"
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Who is going to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant?"
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"You've been faithful over a little."
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You know who's going to hear it?
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You just be faithful over a little.
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If God has given you a little, just be faithful.
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Who else?
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Think about Philadelphia.
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Think about the two churches
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that are commended in Revelation 2-3.
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Which two? Smyrna and Philadelphia.
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Listen to Philadelphia.
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"To the angel of the church of Philadelphia
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write the words of the Holy One, the True One,
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the One that has the key of David Who opens
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and no one can shut, who shuts and no one opens.
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I know your works.
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Behold, I have sat before you an open door,
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which no one is able to shut.
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I know that you have but little power."
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This is a whole church, they're just little,
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they're nobodies.
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They have a little power.
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The world looks at these people and says,
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"What are they?"
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Kind of like a little bunch of people meeting at Fatty's.
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Who are they? Just a bunch of despised,
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off-scouring of this earth.
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"Yet, you have kept My Word."
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There it is again.
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"And have not denied My name."
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Listen to this: "Behold, I will make those
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of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not
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and lie, behold, I will make them come and bow down
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before your feet,
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and they will learn that I have loved you."
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Can you imagine that?
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Your enemies are going to come bow down
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at your feet.
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To who?
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Some mighty Melanchthon out of church history?
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No, to these Philadelphia Christians
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who we don't even know them.
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They have little power.
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How about 2 Corinthians 8?
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You've got the Macedonians.
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Listen to these guys.
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Severe test of affliction,
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extreme poverty,
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these are a bunch of nobodies too.
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They don't have any wealth. They don't have anything.
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Extreme poverty and extreme affliction.
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And you know what?
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They're commended for all time
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in 2 Corinthians 8,
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as the example of those who are givers.
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Right alongside the widow.
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Folks, who are the ones that are blessed of the Father?
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In Matthew 25, I'll read it to you,
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"The King will say to those on His right,
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'come, you who are blessed by My Father,
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inherit the Kingdom prepared for you
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from the foundation of the world.
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I was hungry, you gave Me food.
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I was thirsty, you gave Me drink.
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I was a stranger, you welcomed Me.
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I was naked, and you clothed Me.
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I was sick and you visited Me.
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I was in prison and you came to Me.'
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Then the righteous will answer saying,
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'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You
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or thirsty and give You drink?
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When did we see You a stranger and welcome You
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or naked and clothe You?
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When did we see you sick or in prison
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and visit You?'
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And the King will answer them,
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'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these,
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my brothers, you did it to Me.'"
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And I'll tell you what, there's another place
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in Scripture that says if you but give a cold cup of water;
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you give a glass of water to somebody
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you'll not lose your reward.
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And in fact,
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you give something to a prophet
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in the name of the prophet,
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you do something because they indeed are one of the Lord's,
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and it says you'll have a prophet's reward.
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But I tell you this, I read that one right there.
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This is the character of the works,
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whether your name is well known or not known.
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These are the characteristics of the works.
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You've been entrusted with a little and you're faithful with it.
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And you use it.
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And this young man, Alexander.
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He says that his works are simple and personal.
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By personal, you don't want to get away from Matthew 25,
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where our works need to be expressions of love
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to other people.
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And I'm not sure exactly what he means by personal.
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But if he means that he's kind of cloistered himself,
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and all his good works are done there,
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that's not characteristic of the life of the child of God.
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We may be forgotten, we may be unknown,
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we may be no-names,
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but we definitely want to be pouring out our love
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for the sake of people.
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And though you quietly do it from a sickbed,
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though you quietly do it in the background.
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Listen, I hope you guys are hearing this.
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Let me tell you something,
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I've said this on and off through the life of our church,
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and I can say it in the life of this Bible study too.
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People come and people go.
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Now some true Christians will come
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and they'll go away for whatever reasons.
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That's not to say that everybody that comes to our church
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and goes away isn't saved.
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But the truth is, people fall out of rank.
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People fall away.
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People come and try it; they come and taste it.
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They come and see it, they come and hear it.
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And there may be a little thrill in the beginning.
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There's a parable of the soils for a reason.
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Even if you're a no-name, be faithful.
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Be faithful to the end.
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What I'm seeing lately is people falling out of ranks.
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You know why?
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Because they're not in this thing seeking to
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please the Lord and to love others.
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They're looking for what they can get.
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They're looking to be ministered to.
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They're looking for what they can receive.
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There should be an expectation in the church
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that there's a giving and a receiving,
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but if you come and you're just coming to get,
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and you're just coming to make friends,
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and you're coming to be socially accepted,
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and you're coming - and if people don't dish out
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to you what you think you deserve,
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you're going to be all offended,
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and you're going to walk away.
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That's so opposite to this.
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These people that were commended
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are the people in poverty,
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the people in extreme affliction,
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the people in extreme circumstances,
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that are seeking to do good.
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And you know what?
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They don't need all the limelight.
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They don't need all the applause. They don't need all the attention.
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They don't need to be the ones that are being catered to.
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They don't need to have everybody's arm around them,
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and have all the attention.
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That widow threw it in.
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And you know what?
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She didn't know anybody was looking.
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And I'm certain she had no agenda to tell anybody.
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Brethren, be faithful.
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You may never have any fame,
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any attention in this world,
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but I guarantee you,
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if you will be faithful, you will one day hear,
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"Well done, good and faithful servant."
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And just like Spurgeon talks about this seamstress
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just buried away in her hovel down at the end
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of some poverty stricken alley in the
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inner city of London in his day.
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I'll tell you what, when that welcome is made into glory,
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people just forgotten by this world
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and oftentimes people forgotten in human history.
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Most of us in this room,
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all of us in this room,
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are not going to have biographies written about us.
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I can say most - one of you guys
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might rise up and go to the mission field
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and become a famous missionary.
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I don't rule that out.
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Remember these folks.
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Let the Macedonians,
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let the Philadelphians,
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the Smyrnans (if that's how you say that),
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the woman with the alabaster,
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the widow with her mite.
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Remember these people.
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Let them be examples to you.
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Brethren, be faithful.
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Like I say, people are falling out of the ranks.
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People are giving up the race.
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People are becoming offended.
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The love of many will grow cold.
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That's what it says. Where?
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Matthew 24?
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The love of many grow cold.
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They fall out of ranks.
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People want what they can get.