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I'm sure you have heard of King Solomon.

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He was not only a very wise man,

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but a very rich man.

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In fact, the Bible says King Solomon was

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wealthier than any man before him or after

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him.

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King Solomon was so rich he could stick

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Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in his shirt

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pocket.

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I know some of you have a bucket

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list of things you want to do in

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life and places you'd like to visit.

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I know I had a bucket list for

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traveling.

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I wanted to visit the Parthenon in Athens

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and see the Colosseum in Rome.

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I wanted to visit the Blue Grotto on

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the Isle of Capri and see that fantastic

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blue water of that cave.

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Well, I got to do all those things

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and more.

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Some of you have achieved much in life

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and have done much of what you set

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out to do.

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You can say you were satisfied by achieving

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these things.

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Well, King Solomon was like that.

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He had a big bucket list in life

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and he had the means and the money

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to fulfill his wildest desires.

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He says in his book, Ecclesiastes, I gave

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my heart to seek and search out by

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wisdom concerning all things that are done under

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heaven.

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I said in my heart, go to now.

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I will prove thee with mirth.

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Therefore, enjoy pleasure.

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So King Solomon set out to experience all

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the pleasures of life, all the pleasures that

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money could buy.

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Can you imagine, friend, having so much money

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that you could go where you want, when

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you want, buy what you want, when you

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want, with no limits?

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That's the kind of dough this old boy

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had.

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Listen to what he did.

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I made me great works.

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I builded me houses.

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I planted me vineyards.

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I made me gardens and orchids.

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I planted trees of them and all kinds

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of fruits.

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I gathered me also silver and gold.

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I remember when I was young, the price

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of silver was going through the roof because

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some Texas millionaires, the Hunt brothers, in the

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1970s were trying to corner the silver market.

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Well, I took all my savings and I

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bought bars of silver and I kept them

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hidden up in my parents' attic.

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I thought I could get rich quick in

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silver, but I soon needed money for a

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car, so I ended up having to sell

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those silver bars to a neighbor for about

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what I paid for them.

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But people today hoard silver and gold coins,

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hoping to get rich from it.

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They even put money in bitcoin.

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It's just crazy.

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Well, King Solomon told himself, and whatsoever mine

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eyes desired, I kept not from them.

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When you read about this man Solomon, you

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will soon learn he had in today's dollars

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over a hundred million dollars in gold coming

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to him every month.

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He got the gold bug.

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And his throne was a great throne of

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ivory overlaid with pure gold.

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All his drinking vessels were pure gold.

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None were silver.

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In fact, this guy was so rich, when

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the Queen of Sheba came to visit him,

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she said she had trouble believing the fame

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about him until she came and saw it

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for herself.

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And she said that it exceeded the fame

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she had heard.

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King Solomon was a man who had it

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all.

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He'd been everywhere, done everything.

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He was the man of the world.

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In fact, he owned a good portion of

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it.

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But the craziest thing about this guy is

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the fact that the Bible says King Solomon

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had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

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Well, that's a train wreck getting ready to

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happen.

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It's hard enough for a man to keep

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one woman happy, let alone a thousand.

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Can you imagine the credit card bills?

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But with all this money and with all

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those lovely ladies, King Solomon says a startling

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thing.

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He says, I hated life.

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Money can't buy happiness, friend.

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I remember watching a TV interview years ago

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with the actor Peter Falk, who played Detective

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Columbo on TV.

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He said all his Hollywood friends, the producers

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and the actors that he knew, he said

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no matter how much money they had, every

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one of them was miserable.

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That's what he said.

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You know, you can taste so much of

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life, friend, that you realize it's just all

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an empty bubble.

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It's like this.

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Here is man.

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And it's as if he's riding in a

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boat in the river of life, going along

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with the current, tasting life's enjoyments and pleasures

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as they come and go.

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And after a while, things begin to lose

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their taste, lose their excitement.

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Some people who chase the world end up

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with the whirlwind, and they hate life.

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That's why so many of the rich and

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famous have committed suicide.

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Life no longer satisfied them.

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They were chasing the wind.

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King Solomon determined that all was vanity.

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In all the supposed pleasures of life, he

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found no satisfaction.

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The more he tried to find happiness in

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the things of this world, the more he

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hated life.

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He learned some things, though.

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He wrote, One generation passes away, and another

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generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever.

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He saw that death came to all men

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alike, and no one was exempt from it.

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One event happened to them all, and that

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was death.

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He saw that man was no different from

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the beast, as one died, so did the

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other.

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He observed, All go unto one place, all

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are of the dust, and all turn to

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dust again.

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King Solomon declared, Regarding mankind, I saw vanity

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under the sun.

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There is no end of all its labor,

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neither is his eye satisfied with riches.

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In other words, there is man, there in

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his boat, going downstream, tasting all he can

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of life's pleasures, drifting along, continually being pulled

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by the tide, but at the end of

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the journey is a vast cascade, waiting where

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man will tumble over it into a vast

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void of death.

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He'll one day leave this world for another

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world.

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Life is short.

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Eternity is forever.

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Solomon came to the end of his life

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much wiser than he was at the beginning,

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for he had learned repentance toward God, and

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he came to a final conclusion of life.

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The last two verses of his book Ecclesiastes

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declare, Let us hear the conclusion of the

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whole matter.

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Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this

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is the whole duty of man.

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For God shall bring every work into judgment

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with every secret thing, whether it be good

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or whether it be evil.

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I don't know about you, friend, but I

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found out a long time ago that this

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world does not satisfy.

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There is only true satisfaction in Jesus Christ,

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the Son of God, who came down here

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so we can go up there.

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In John 14, 6, Jesus says, I am

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the way, the truth, and the life.

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No man cometh unto the Father, but by

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me.

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Here, Jesus answers the three greatest questions of

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the human heart.

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How can I be saved?

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Jesus said, I am the way.

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How can I be sure?

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Jesus said, I am the truth.

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How can I be satisfied?

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Jesus said, I am the life.

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And in John 6, 35, Jesus declared, I

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am the bread of life.

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He that cometh to me shall never hunger,

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and he that believeth on me shall never

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thirst.

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Listen, friend, the gospel is for the hungry,

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the weary, and the thirsty.

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Are you hungry for God?

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Are you weary of your sins?

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Are you thirsty for Christ?

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Christ is the bread of life.

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He invites poor sinners to come to him

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and believe on him.

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The duty required is to come.

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And he has a pure gospel promise to

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all who come.

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And him that cometh to me I will

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in no wise cast out.

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Get to Christ, friend, before it's too late.

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Only Jesus can satisfy.