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b'(Amos 6:1,4-7;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.146:2,5-10;\\xa0\\xa0 1Tm.6:11-16;\\xa0\\xa0 Lk.16:19-31) \\xa0 \\u201cKeep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.\\u201d \\xa0 The Lord is coming.\\xa0 First of all, know this.\\xa0 \\u201cThe King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see\\u201d will reveal Himself \\u201cat the proper time.\\u201d\\xa0 Shall come the end of this world and the birth of the new in the presence of our all-holy God.\\xa0 Do not doubt this.\\xa0 Do not question it in your hearts.\\xa0 But believe. Second, know the nature of our God.\\xa0 This our psalm makes abundantly clear: \\u201cThe Lord gives sight to the blind\\u201d and \\u201cprotects strangers\\u2026\\xa0 The fatherless and the widow He sustains, but the way of the wicked He thwarts.\\u201d\\xa0 And since \\u201cthe Lord raises up those who were bowed down,\\u201d we must bow down and serve Him, bringing His love to this world; keeping \\u201cfaith forever\\u201d we must give \\u201cfood to the hungry,\\u201d showing His unending compassion to all those in need. Third, know the fate which awaits those who fail to adhere to His command of love, those who stain themselves with comfort and riches in a vain existence and have no heart for those who suffer now by their lack.\\xa0 As He prepares a place of refuge in Abraham\\u2019s bosom for those who \\u201cpursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness,\\u201d so a place is set for those \\u201cwho dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day\\u201d but who were \\u201cnot made ill by the collapse of Joseph,\\u201d who have no regard for the destruction of God\\u2019s people \\u2013 who step over and upon the poor lying at their doors as they pursue the fatting of their bellies.\\xa0 \\u201cA great chasm is established\\u201d between the redeemed and the condemned; as Lazarus had no way to enter the door of the house of the rich man, so he cannot pass now into the arms of God\\u2026 only now that darkness without is eternal \\u2013 his torment shall not end. It is popular to believe that Jesus somehow did away with punishment, that in His all-embracing love there is no longer need for justice, and so hell is no longer a factor.\\xa0 The \\u201cGod of the Old Testament\\u201d is presented as the one of punishment with Him of the New conversely being of love.\\xa0 Brothers and sisters, they are one and the same God.\\xa0 And as in the time before Christ, the Lord forever showed compassion for the humble of the earth, so now Jesus shows condemnation to the wicked who refuse to turn from their ways.\\xa0 Only now the love and justice, which are also one, are made eternal by the coming of the end of the age in the Person of Jesus Christ.\\xa0 Continue to keep yourselves pure and serve the Lord \\u2013 His Day is at hand. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "The Child and the Beast" from Remove the Mask of Lies, second album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us make the poor man our brother,\\xa0 and we will know Jesus and so be with you.\\xa0 YHWH, you secure justice for the oppressed; the poor and the downtrodden you raise up even as you cast their oppressors into the bowels of the earth.\\xa0 The path of the righteous you indeed bless, but the way of the wicked you thwart.\\xa0 You confuse those who do not listen to Moses and the prophets, those who reject your only Son, for you are just and no man can own what he readily spurns.\\xa0 If it is the belly upon which we set our hearts, it shall grow fat and keep us from entering the narrow gate.\\xa0 If upon our own needs and wants alone we look, failing to see the longings of others or help them in their plight\\u2026 we shall fail the test you place before us, and be unworthy to be called your sons, dear God.\\xa0 For you are kind and loving, O LORD, and care always for the hungry and those in captivity.\\xa0 Though you dwell in unapproachable light, to us you come with great mercy to raise us to Heaven with your only Son.'