Well, good morning, everyone! I'm a little speechless after that (referring to special music).
I appreciated Jason' sermonette talking about a friend. We sometime—and I'm not trying to give his sermonette; I'm not trying to override it or overshadow it—but when we think about friends, we always think about a peer. And yet, the friendship we have with God or with Jesus Christ it is obvious that there is a great void between us, and yet for Them to consider us friends!
I've learned something as a grandparent. A friend is someone you want to spend time with. You want to share interests. And some of my closest friends are my grandchildren. I just with Kelty, seven years old, and we get up in the morning. I hate to say this. He has his own Starbucks cup. We go into town and we stop and he gets his hot chocolate and then, he's the scheduler. "Okay, what's on our list today, Kelty?" And we'll go to Home Depot or whatever and go through that. It's just priceless time—and the same with Kayden.
It's interesting when you start thinking of friendships. I think God helps us redefine those because it's not a peer. You can be very good friends with your children and with your grandchildren and desire to spend time with them. And it's helped me understand how God desires to be with us and to share the interest with us.
Anyway, the song just sort of inspired me to think about that as she was singing. I really appreciate the special music. I appreciate everything everyone has done for the Feast and every bit of it makes it richer, more meaningful to all of us. Of course, thank God for the talents, as Steve brought out for the gifts that He gives us. And yet those gifts are not for ourselves, they are to give away, to share, to provide service to another. And again, thank all of you for sharing your gifts with each other.
When I first started reading the material that was put out by the Church—and this was in the late sixties and early seventies—one of the books that gave me a great deal of—I'm going to call it—food for thought was a book called The Wonderful World Tomorrow, What Will It Be Like? It was seven chapters long. The first three were focused on the current causes of the world's problems. And the last four chapters were devoted to explaining what was going to happen to government, to education, to religion. And it pictured the utopia that was coming.
If you hard the earlier hardbound—and I'm just going to ask for a show of hands. How many of you had the hardbound that actually had the newspaper insert in it? There was actually a newspaper insert that was sort of—I'm going to call it a—pseudo front page for a newspaper. And it heralded the closing of hospitals. There was an accident between a harvester and a tractor pulling a plow.
And we focused on that, in my opinion, all of us to help gain a vision of what God was doing with mankind. And, of course, we know that God is going to be bringing mankind, going to be bringing nature, everything into harmony and to unity with Him. And we know, by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles focusing on that, by keeping the weekly Sabbath when man will rest from the labors, it served as a picture of man truly getting a rest from the toil and really to enjoy what God had created. And, as was pointed out, provided, given to man, really desired for man to have.
And we all looked forward to that as we read that, as we would go to the Feast. We all looked forward to living in that state. However, in the early Church, we did not focus as much on the roles or the activities of the firstfruits. We really tended to focus on what the world was versus what we, what our role, our calling, and what we were going to do during that time.
Those of us that are called now and will become what I'm going to say the post-Worldwide era, we've come to refer to as the Bride of Christ. And I think in the early days of the Church with all of the—and I don't mean to be—the testosterone of the ministry and everything, you just couldn't talk, those were things that girly-men talked about "Being a bride." How can a man with a hairy chest be a bride? So we just kind of left that alone. And it was only afterwards that we—when I say "We became comfortable" I don't know. There's a continuum of even that of comfort.
But I'd like for you to just hold that thought for a moment. Let's go to a very familiar prophetic Scripture. And I'm going to maintain—and you've got to dig hard in this one—not only prophetic but it also contains some millennial material in it that will give us an introduction to this. Turn over to Matthew 24. And I think as we turn over to there, we go "How could there be anything millennial in Matthew 24?" This is the Olivet Prophecy. I would say if you look in your Bible you can probably see the Olivet Prophecy just holding the book, the pages up because that's one that we have all spent a lot of time on. But let's go over and see what—because remember this focus is on the very end time and it talks about beyond that. Matthew 24 and we'll start in verse 1. It says:
Matthew 24:1. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. (NKJ)
And it was a very beautiful sight.
Matthew 24:2. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
3) Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when … (NKJ)
And this is just an aside. They, just like us, what is the question we have? When? When is this going to take place? When is the end coming? I also want you to notice He never answered their question! I think they were looking for "Well, it's going to be July 27, 2000 whatever!" I mean everybody would have liked to have done it. He never did.
What He did, though, was He told them what to look for—the signs that were going to come about, the markers that would occur. It says:
Matthew 24:3b. … "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (NKJ)
Now that part, He answered.
Let's just skip down. Again, you probably don't even have to, but let's skip down to verse 21 and let's see the summary. It says in verse 21:
Matthew 24:21. "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (NKJ)
There's going to be tremendous cataclysmic events that are leading up to what Christ described as the end of the age. He goes on to say and notice this! That if he didn't intervene, all human life would cease to exist. Verse 22:
Matthew 24:22. "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved … (NKJ)
We're familiar with this verse. Have you ever asked yourself why? Why is He going to shorten the days to prevent flesh from being erased? And the Bible gives us the answer. And I want you to ponder this.
Matthew 24:22b. … but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. (NKJ)
I want you to let that thought roll around in your mind a little bit. Why is God not going to allow? Because He's the Creator. He can create life as He did with Adam and Eve. He can resurrect as He did. Why is God going to not allow human flesh to cease from the earth—and mainly referring to mankind?
Let's go over and look in the companion Scripture Mark 13, just the next book over. It just has one additional point. Mark 13 verse 20, and it says:
Mark 13:20. "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. (NKJ)
If you want a title for today's sermon, it's simply "For the Elect's Sake." This morning I'd like to put that statement under a microscope to see if we can—I don't mean this to be a double entendre—see if we can flesh out what He meant by this. Why did He say that He's going to shorten it to save human life for our sake?
You see, I believe that the thousand year period, which we're observing by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles—
And, Brethren, this is the last day. My youngest granddaughter, the little pirouetter if I could use that, when I'm talking to her on Skype on the computer and sometime Karlene will open up a page that will come in front and she'll go, "Where'd he go?" And I'm sitting there like her, thinking about Feast going "Where did it go?" Here we are. It's almost in the history books.
But I believe that the Millennium and the Feast of Tabernacles has much, much, more to do with the firstfruits than we have perhaps previously imagined. This period that we're looking forward to is not just for the salvation of physical man and the restoration, but it's also about the firstfruits, the Bride, and what's in store for us. And I'd like to spend some time focusing on that concept and developing that.
Look over in Jeremiah chapter 4. Let's look an Old Testament prophecy regarding again, I think sometime before we focus in on the good news, let's look at what leads up to it. Jeremiah 4, let's look at this Old Testament prophecy of the time period, a time which Christ Himself called "a time of great tribulation, the likes that were never before and never will be." Jeremiah 4 and verse 19, it starts out:
Jeremiah 4:19. O my soul, my soul! (NKJ)
That's not a good translation because it does not refer to life or to breath. It's Strong's 4578, me` ah (may-aw') and it refers to the bowels or the belly. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah all refer to the tribulations as the pains of a woman in labor.
Don’t turn there 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Remember he said:
1 Thessalonians 5:3. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (NKJ)
It says:
Jeremiah 4:19. O my soul, my soul! [Or my bowels] I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20) Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, and my curtains in a moment.
21) How long will I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22) "For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."
23) I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light.
24) I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.
25) I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26) I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, by His fierce anger.
27) For thus says the Lord: "The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end.
28) For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it. (NKJ)
Set a mark there. We might, if we have enough time, we'll come back to it just to reread.
But here's a question to ponder: Does it make any difference to the elect if they are alive or dead when Christ returns? We know that there will be some elect that will be alive. But that does make any difference in the Millennium?
Look over in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and let's answer that question because, if they're alive, they're instantly changed to spirit beings anyway. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13, it says:
1 Thessalonians 4:13. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15) For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (NKJ)
So those that are dead are actually going to rise first. Nobody is going to be counting whether they're going to be actually older than the other because they were dead as spirit beings than the ones that are physical. I don't know. Is it a millisecond, a second? Whatever it is, but the Bible is unambiguous that the dead will actually be resurrected as spirit beings before those that are alive will be changed from mortal to immortal.
Verse 17:
1 Thessalonians 4:17. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18) Therefore comfort one another with these words. (NKJ)
So let's ask the question again: If there will be physical beings that will be saved alive for the elect's sake and we see that it has nothing to do with whether we the elect are alive or dead, then why? Why does it say? And remember Christ doesn't waste words. He doesn't say things He doesn't mean. Why does it say for the "elect's sake"?
Well, Brethren, I believe—and we'll look into this—it has everything to do with the Millennium. It has everything to do with the time that we are observing now.
But before we go there, let's examine one more thing. There was a promise made to the Church regarding that. Look over in Matthew chapter 16. Because before we ask the question, let's look at this one obvious Scripture. Matthew 16 verse 18, this is where Peter had just revealed that he understood that Christ was the Messiah. Verse 18, he says:
Matthew 16:18. "And I also say to you that you are Peter … (NKJ)
"You're a little pebble," petros.
Matthew 16:18b. … and on this rock [that He was talking about] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [or the gates of the grave] shall not prevail against it. (NKJ)
We all know very well that this Scripture is referring to the fact that the Church will never die out. From the time of the founding of the New Testament Church until now there has always been someone walking the earth that has God's spirit and are sons of His.
Now my opinion—I can't prove this. We know from the Old Testament there were people that had God's spirit. This is strictly my opinion. I believe from the time that Abel walked the earth until now except for perhaps some unspecified time between Abel and Seth. Again, I don't know, but there's always been someone on the earth that's had God's spirit. Again, it's not doctrine. It's just my opinion.
Based on the concept of the Last Great Day, which we'll be keeping tomorrow, there will be resurrected human beings from the time of Adam forward. And I believe there will be spirit beings that have lived during every era of man's life. There will be spirit beings that will be able to minister to them because they were alive during that time. And again, that's my opinion. Put that over in the speculation column. But it just seems to be the way God works, very orderly. That He's going to allow anybody to come up, there will be somebody to say, "I've been there. Let me help you. Let me show you. I understand the situation."
While we could conclude what Christ was telling the disciples in Matthew 24 that no flesh would be saved alive for the elect's sake was related to this promise that the grave will not prevail against the Church. In my opinion it doesn't hold up under scrutiny. "The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church for the elect's sake" is because I believe God promised it and He purposed it. The elect are going to be resurrected or changed regardless of their state at the time.
Okay, let's do go back to Jeremiah 4. Just reread something. Jeremiah 4:27, hopefully you've kept your place. It says:
Jeremiah 4:27. For thus says the Lord: "The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end.
28) For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed [it] and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it. (NKJ)
The fact that flesh will be saved alive for the elect's sake does not mean that there will be elect alive because remember when He returns, they're going to be changed into spirit beings. It means that there will be physical flesh and blood human beings carried over into the Millennium for the elect's sake. Remember Christ was clearly talking about saving flesh alive for their sakes—for the elect's sake.
Why? Brethren, it has everything to do with what we're going to be doing during the thousand years. Here's the key to the vision. Look over in Revelation 20 and verse 1. It says:
Revelation 20:1. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2) He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
3) and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished…. (NKJ)
And we understand that this is going to take place just before the beginning of the Millennium on Atonement.
Revelation 20:4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5) But the rest of the dead … (NKJ)
And this is key, Brethren!
Revelation 20.5b. … the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished…. (NKJ)
You see God has purposed there are two resurrections. There is a First Resurrection and all of that resurrection is going to be the firstfruits to eternal life. The Second Resurrection is not going to take place till the thousand years is finished. Brethren, it's almost too simple, but God determined that the Second Resurrection is going to take place at the end of the thousand years. Yet, He's also determined that the elect is going to be resurrected at the beginning and reign as kings and priests.
If all the flesh is dead, if it's all erased from the earth, who would the elect reign over? Who would they be kings and priests over? What would they be doing? Because God's not going to resurrect until afterwards to the physical! The kings and priests, they're going to be doing the civil and the ecclesiastical administration. Let me be just a little silly—Paul said, "Speaking as a fool"—but if all human life was erased from the earth, the firstfruits would be sitting around the Millennium playing Old Maid going, "Boy, I wish we had somebody to rule over!"
Now let's understand that at the Great White Throne Judgment, there will be billions resurrected that we're going to be serving.
But when—and this is where I want you to think—when will we have time to learn how to administer God's government to humans?
Let’s go to another very well-known millennial prophecy. Look over in Isaiah chapter 30.
You see, Brethren, human beings that are going to live over and, of course, we know the earth because as we read, "It's going to be without form and void." It's going to be destroyed. The sun is not going to give its light. Christ is going to have to intervene and He's going to have to restore because it won't even support human life. But the Millennium is a very important period that there is man there and as He said—not me—as He said, "It's for the elect's sake." It's for our sake. The Millennium is for us.
Isaiah 30 verse 18:
Isaiah 30:18. Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.
19) For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.
20) And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers.
21) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. (NKJ)
Now how many—you don't answer this—how many are teachers here? We have teachers. We have engineers. We have trades people. We have crafts people. We have people that develop and make technical presentations or skills transfers we call them. My point is in our physical lives we all pass on knowledge and skills to each other. How do we gain that knowledge and that experience? Life. On-the-job training. Those of you that have gone to school and I know we have some that have doctorate degrees and master's degrees, post-graduate or graduate degrees. Those of you that do that understand that academic training only prepares you to learn. It only gives you the tools to learn. You have to, in order to get the skills, you have to learn how to apply that knowledge in real life application and gain experience.
My son-in-law Jason that was here before me, he just trained a student and she received her pilot's license. And the way he put it was, "She now has her license to learn." But pilots, they spend hours, hundreds of hours in simulators. And they can put them through all the paces in a safe environment. They can do an engine out and if they don't react fast enough, the television set that they're looking at that looks like the cockpit, they crash. And they go, "Okay, don't do that again. Here's what you did." And they go and go again.
We know, Brethren, God is a Family. And we know that the governmental structure of God and what He uses is that of a family. How is that learned? How is that passed on?
You teachers, engineers, crafts, whoever, you know that when you prepare to teach—and I was talking with Jack Elder just before this sermon—you learned ten times what you pass on to someone in that preparation. A teacher or an instructor, what they know and what they understand is passed on, but in their preparation for that, the skills, the understanding, the history, the knowledge that they gain is much, much greater—I don't know—ten times, twenty times what they will ever be able to pass on to a student. And in that way, if you consider that, there's more benefit to being the teacher, the instructor, the one that's doing that then there ever is to the person that's being trained.
As anyone that gives a sermon or sermonettes and they'll tell you. The study and the preparation they do are much more than what they convey to others. I think it was like what Steve was talking about God giving us gifts to give to one another. And yet, everything God does—there's not a win/lose with God. There is a win/win. And every gift that God gives us, not only in passing it on, but in trying to learn how to effectively use it, the person that is doing that benefits tremendously. It's just the way God is! And it's the way God is wiring us that have His spirit. There is a tremendous benefit to both, those that are served as well as those that serve.
Christ himself came to this earth for the benefit of mankind. No one will argue that. He came to show us a path to the Father, into God's Family, and also to serve mankind by giving his life as a ransom to buy us back, to redeem us, to earn that. Did Christ receive any benefit from that? Look over in Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews 5 and in verse 6, it says:
Hebrews 5:6. As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek";
7) who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
8) though He was a Son, … (NKJ)
And this is God. This is the One that spoke this into existence. This is the One that inspired the Bible!
Hebrews 5:8. though He was a son, [Notice!] yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
9) And having been perfected, He became the author … (NKJ)
And that "author" means the alpha, the first one, the trail blazer, the prototype.
Hebrews 5:9.b … He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, (NKJ)
God Himself, Jesus Christ by coming to this earth and experiencing and what He did, which tremendously benefited us. We would have no hope without it! And yet, He learned and He grew and He was perfected by that experience.
Keep in mind, He was called "Master," "Rabbi," and "Teacher." He was viewed and referred, even by the Pharisees and the Sadducees as a "Teacher." Don't turn there, John 13:13. He said:
John 13:13. "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. (NKJ)
So He Himself validated, "Yes, I am a Teacher."
Brethren, a teacher is also a student. And if this is true—because we're going to be kings and priests—when do we learn to fill that role that we're going to be functioning as the Bride and being kings and priests in God's Family as spirit beings? There are some that feel that we're learning that today. I agree that we as very limited human beings are learning some very valuable lessons.
Those of you that have been around a long time were taught that—and I think Gerald Waterhouse used to refer to the three and a half years as the "place of final training," in other words, the Place of Safety was that. But consider this, the number that's going to be in the Place of Safety if you look at the entire Bride is a very small number. And I asked someone this sort of almost not expecting an answer, but if that is, in fact, what prepares them, what is there about those few that are going to be there that they would receive that the others—and I again personally believe 144,000—what is it that they didn't need to receive that's going to be taught in that three and a half year period that we could leave all the others out and they still learn to function?
Again, I think we, as children, I'm not sure we even have the capacity—and when I say "children," humans, limited flesh and blood—I don't know that we even have the capacity to grasp what's ahead of us and what God has in store, much less to prepare to step into that role and start functioning from day one!
I've shared this with some of you. One of my favorite TV commercials—it's an insurance commercial and that dad's sitting watching TV. And this little five year old girl comes and says, "Dad, I want the keys to the car." And he goes, "Well, what are you going to do." "Well, I'm going to take my friend …" "Well, who's going to be …?" "Well, Dillon and " on and on. So he gives her the keys and when she stands up, she's an adult. And it's obvious that he's looking at her through his eyes. She's still the child. And then the next thing, this little, I don't know, three or four year old comes out with his coat over his shoulder. And he goes, "Well, where are you going?" "I'm going to work," as if, you know!
I think sometime we might look that way to God. We just kind of think we've got it figured out. And "Well, where are you going?" "Well, all I need now is to be resurrected and I can be a king and a priest." And, Brethren, we're going to be spirit beings. We're going to have things that I don't think we've even thought about.
Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 9. It says:
1 Corinthians 13:9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. (NKJ)
It doesn't say "We have all the answers!" It doesn't say, "We've got it all figured out!"
1 Corinthians 13:10. But when that which is perfect has come … (NKJ)
And has this happened yet, Brethren? This is clearly looking forward to a future time!
1 Corinthians 13:10b. … then that which is in part will be done away. (NKJ)
We will grow beyond that.
1 Corinthians 13:11. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (NKJ)
Of course, there's the application of this that you're not childish. That you mature. And we think Paul is referring only to the difference between a child and an adult comparing their behaviors, but if we continue reading, we'll clearly see he's comparing and contrasting the human experience to the time in the future when we're going to be spirit beings. Verse 12:
1 Corinthians 13:12. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then … (NKJ)
And when is "then"? Looking to the future!
1 Corinthians 13:12b. … face to face. Now I know in part, but then … (NKJ)
And when is "then"? In the future!
1 Corinthians 13:12 continued. … I shall know … (NKJ)
Here was someone that spent three and a half years with Christ! The disciples that walked with Him during His ministry said, "We don’t know what it's going to be like to be a spirit being. We just know when He appears, we're going to be like Him. We're going to see Him as He is."
Yet, Brethren, we sometime, I think, get the mistaken idea that by the time we die we're going to have it figured out how to be kings and priests and function as spirit beings. We're very limited in our capacity. And I just don't think that the day we're born into God's Family, we're going to have all of it. Star Trek—what was that? Something out there, the cosmic conscious known as the Borg, and when someone joined the Borg and they kind of by osmosis or whatever they just became absorbed by the Borg and became part of the collective consciousness without any individual thought or action.
I think the physical that we live is a subset of our spiritual experience. We all have our individual personalities and God called us with those personalities. Not so that we could all become just like one, but because of those differences. We have different interests. We have different talents. Thank God for that! We have different knowledge. And I just don't believe that's going to be provided just by instant fiat. That we're just going to all of a sudden—excuse me, ladies—be hairy chested men with all the knowledge and we're going to be all knowing.
When the disciples came to Christ and asked Him when He was going to return, He told them He didn't know. Only the Father knew. I think that James brought this out in, I think, it was his Trumpets sermon. There's information and knowledge that One of the Spirit Beings knew that the other One didn't. It's not a collective consciousness.
And here's my point: Even in the spirit realm, we're not just going to all collectively know everything by assimilation or by osmosis. Now I want to be clear. We're going to have a greatly enhanced capacity for learning, a greatly expanded capacity for correlating those experiences. But, Brethren, even God Himself continues to learn and to gain understanding and to grow. It's a process that will never end. Becoming a spirit being is the beginning of a process. Not the terminus! It's not all over when we are changed. That's just the start of it. And we're going to live forever without end and we're going to learn forever and we're going to grow forever and we're going to serve each other forever and whatever God has in store!
So, here is the answer: Brethren, God long ago determined that there was going to be an individual resurrection of the saints into the spirit realm. The next resurrection, as we read in Revelation, will take place a thousand years later of billions of people back to physical life, which we're going to focus on tomorrow, the Last Great Day.
The fact that there will be physical beings that live through the tribulation, through the destruction into the Millennium, as it clearly tells us, is for the elect's sake. It's for our sake because in a reduced capacity, it's going to give us the time to learn to function as kings and priests during a thousand year period. The Millennium is going to be a time of tremendous joy, of peace, of plenty for all those that remain and live over—an idyllic setting, a perfect classroom setting where the Bride will learn how to function in her new role as well. The teachers will also be students. That's why flesh will be saved alive for the elect's sake.
One day is as a thousand years to God and a thousand years is as a day. We're going to be given a very intensive one day, post-graduate, doctorate level class, but it's going to be on the job training. I'm sure there's going to be some lecture, just I believe as Christ when He walked the Garden of Eden with Adam with Eve, but He also had the surroundings to show and to teach and to give them the lessons. There's going to be a one day, post-graduate level of functioning as a Bride of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Look over in Matthew chapter 13. There's an interesting thing about God's approach to everything. Here is a very familiar parable. I want you to look at this, Matthew 13.
Remember, and we have said this many times, God always starts with something very small and allows it to grow very large and very great. And there's a process. That process, as we know, is not confined to just the spirit realm. Even in the building of a family, it's staged. A child grows up. They get married. They have a family. And those children start out very small. And that family grows large.
As a grandparent, it started off with my wife and I. And then we had children. And those children married and had more children. And it will continue on.
Matthew 13 verse 31, it says:
Matthew 13:31. Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed … (NKJ)
I remember when I was in school the girls had a little necklace. And it was big magnifying glass. It was a little ball that they would wear around their neck and it had a mustard seed in it. You really needed the magnifying glass to look it over.
But it says:
Matthew 13:31b. "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,
32) "which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
33) Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."
34) All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,
35) that it might be fulfilled … (NKJ)
Brethren, just again hold that thought. And let's look at this from another angle and then we'll bring them together.
We know that the Holy Days picture God's plan for reproducing Himself and creating a God Family. And the Fall Holy Days have four distinct Holy Days in them—the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day. And each of these represents a very distinct step in God's plan of building that Family. Trumpets pictures one of the darkest days of man's tenure on the earth as well as the brightest time because that's at the time Christ will return with the elect and put down all of man's rule and his governments and establish a government which for the first time in history will be a government for the benefit of mankind. The Day of Atonement pictures the binding of Satan for a thousand year period, which is during the time we're picturing now.
There's another event that takes place on the Day of Atonement that we don't focus on as much, but it's very significant in my mind for the Millennium. Look over in Leviticus chapter 25. In addition to taking Satan out of the way, there's also another thing that happens. Leviticus 25 verse 2, it says:
Leviticus 25:2. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the [Eternal your God].
3) 'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;
4) 'but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.
5) 'What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
6) 'And the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,
7) 'for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land-- all its produce shall be for food.
8) 'And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
9) 'Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. (NKJ)
The Jubilee Year, the fiftieth year of Jubilee, started on the Day of Atonement. Not only is Satan put away, remember this is a Sabbath of Sabbaths.
Leviticus 25:10. 'And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim [Notice this!] liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee [to] you; and [to] each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
11) 'That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
12) 'For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
13) 'In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. (NKJ)
It's interesting in the Garden of Eden (James Smyda brought this out.), when He brought Israel into the Promised Land, God provided for them. They didn't have to toil. God gave it to them. And, I believe—now we've lost count, but—the Jubilee Year will begin the Millennium. And that will be a period where not only is it going to be a Sabbath of rest; it's going to be a Sabbath of Sabbaths. And all the property that rightly belongs to Jesus Christ, that Satan has stolen, he's going to be put away and all of that's going to be returned to Him. And it's going to be a time of great joy and a time of plenty and enjoyment. Not only for those that live over but for the Bride!
The Jubilee occurs after the marriage to the Lamb of His Bride. The firstfruits, after the return to establish the rule— Let's look over in Deuteronomy 24. It's interesting because there's the wedding supper. There is the Jubilee. God gives very special instructions to newlyweds. He gave them time. He gave them a year to get to know one another, to learn their new roles as a husband and wife unencumbered by the everyday demands that life puts on them. Deuteronomy 24 and verse 5, it says:
Deuteronomy 24:5. "When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. (NKJ)
Brethren, do you not think that as the Bride of Christ there's going to be a honeymoon?
Yesterday, Stuart read from the Song of Solomon and he pointed out it's a very graphic love story of Jesus Christ and His Bride. And I would just highly recommend you read it and ask yourself: If after the wedding supper and the marriage is bound and consummated—I don't know what that means, but trust me, it will be done!—but after it's bound and consummated, if whatever happens in the spirit level, you think we're going to wake up the next morning and go, "Okay, everybody fall out for reveille. Four o'clock in the morning! Grab your shovels. We're going to do a little calisthenics and then we're off to the salt mines." Not on your life! We, who picture ourselves as teachers and kings and priests, Brethren, we're also going to be a blushing Bride learning to function in that role. The Teachers will also be students.
That's just the way God is! He's very consistent in His approach. He's given us the physical to help us understand the spiritual. We understand that to the point that much of the physical is patterned after the spirit realm. God's given that because we're so limited. We have a number of Scriptures that tell us the Temple and the accoutrements of the Temple are patterned after the heavenly things. The Bible talks about Jerusalem from above. The animal kingdom patterned after the angelic realm, what we understand of it. We're patterned after God and Jesus Christ.
James in his sermon on Prosperity talked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how God prepared it for them. Let's just briefly go back and look at that in Genesis 2. It was interesting because He brought this out. It's going to save me a little development time.
And since this is the last day and everybody is feeling it, perhaps I'll quit a little early. I'm not promising you! I did that one time and then I went way over. And Steve has not let me forget about it (laughter).
Genesis 2 verse 8, it says:
Genesis 2:8. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
9) And out of the ground [Notice!] the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (NKJ)
Verse 15:
Genesis 2:15. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [What?] tend and keep it.
16) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (NKJ)
"There it is. It's yours. I built this for you and I'm giving it to you. And what I want you to do is just dress it and keep it. Take care of it and it will provide your needs and your wants and your desires. However, there is a tree that will hurt you. And I want you to stay away from that tree."
And then He saw that man was alone and He provided him one of the greatest blessings and that was a helper comparable to him, a help fitting for him.
James went on to show that God did the same with the Israelites after He made a covenant with them. He took them and gave them a land that was already productive. It had already been built up! The infrastructure was in place. And their job to go in—God was going to take care of it—and their job was to dress and keep and to enjoy what God had provided to them.
Look over in John 14. We know that in the Millennium God is going to rebuild the earth. And it's going to become like a Garden of Eden for those that live over. What about us? John 14, and ask yourself this: What are God and Jesus Christ doing at this very moment? And I'm not saying a single action. Where is their focus? John 14 verse 2:
John 14:2. "In My Father's house are many mansions [or places]; if it were not so, I would have told you. (NKJ)
What is He doing right now?
John 14:2b. I go to prepare a place for you.
3) "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (NKJ)
You see not only is this place being prepared throughout time for humans. Right now the Father and the Son are preparing a spiritual place for us in His Family. And it's going to be turned over to us. And I believe we're going to, after the marriage supper, we're going to have some time. I can only relate it, if you've ever taken a cruise. You get on the ship and the first thing you do is you walk all the desks and you sort of look around and you see all the different places.
Well, no, no. The first thing you do is you go up to the snack bar and you eat your way down the line and then you go walk around and then you come back and eat your way up the other line. That's a different story!
But, Brethren, this place that's going to be prepared for us, I believe we're going to be looking at it. And we're going to be learning how to take advantage of it. Not for ourselves, but to learn how to use the tools and everything. But God right now, the work of God right now is preparing that place for spirit beings, for the Bride of Christ. So that when that wedding supper comes, they will be ready.
I spent some time in the Middle East, a good bit of time in Persia, Iran. They say over there—I hope no one speaks Persian because this could be—they say to get married, you have to have "tach"—a telephone, that's the T; an automobile or an auto machine they call it; and a "cholanai", which is a house. In other words, it's not even considered that someone can get married over there— (And, oh, by the way telephones over there are thousands and thousands of dollars because of the very ancient exchanges that they have. I don't know if it's still that way. This was in the sixties.) But before they got married, they actually had to have these things.
Christ is doing the same thing. Before we marry, we've got to have a place to dwell. I don't even know what that means in the spirit realm, but He said He's doing it and I believe him! And I believe that during that honeymoon period, part of what we're going to be doing is understanding that and getting to know it and learning how to function.
If you look at how God dealt with Adam and Eve, with the children of Israel, he was consistent. First, He prepared a place. And He prepared a place that would require a minimum of labor to sustain it. And to me, that's a part I think we sell God so short on, the fact that realizing the love that He has for us that He wants to give that much as a parent wants to provide for their child. He then populated it by turning it over to them. And the third thing He did in all the cases, He taught them. With Adam and Eve, Christ, who was the God of the Old Testament, walked among them. I don't know how long that was, but He taught them Himself. When they went into the Promised Land to take it, remember He provided the Levitical priesthood the profits to teach them about God. He dwelt among them just as He initially dwelt with Adam and Eve.
Brethren, I believe that analogy carries on in the future. He's going to bring His Bride into a place He's currently preparing. He's going to populate that spiritual mansion. And again, I have to tell you I have no idea in terms of specific activities what this means. I just know that's what He said and He doesn't lie. He's going to populate that place with His wife. And then there's going to be a thousand year period where, I believe, the Bride learns how to function in the new role of not only being a spirit being with immortality, but also as a king and priest with a greatly reduced population.
Look over in Luke chapter 13. God is very orderly. Well, I'll tell you we've already been there. It's just that God starts small even with who lives over into the Millennium. God has decided. There's not going to a resurrection to physical for a thousand years because God can recreate life but His plan is not to do that. I believe He wants a great distinction between the First Resurrection to spirit life and physical resurrection a thousand years later.
Look over in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. It says:
Isaiah 9:6. For unto us … (NKJ)
And this is a prophecy of the Messiah.
Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7) Of the increase of His government … (NKJ)
And increase of His government implies that it's going to start out smaller and it's going to grow.
Isaiah 9:7. Of the increase of His government … (NKJ)
And I'll just say it again for emphasis.
Isaiah 9:7b. …. [of the increase of] peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (NKJ)
Brethren, we're here keeping the Feast of Tabernacles which pictures a time in the very near future that peace and prosperity are going to come on this earth, a time when Jesus Christ will reign with His Bride and truly rule with justice, with equity, with mercy. And that's for the benefit of mankind, those that are saved alive, that live over into that Millennium.
Brethren, it's also a time for the elect, then spirit beings as a fitting helper of learning a new role in God's Family. You see, Brethren, God will see there's a remnant of mankind that will be preserved and live over into the Millennium for the sake of the firstfruits in His Family, a time when we can effectively learn to function as kings and priests.
The period of time that is pictured by the Feast is another step in God's plan of building a Family. At sundown today, the Feast of Tabernacles 2010 will be in the history books. But we're not going to go home after tonight. You see, Brethren, there's more.
Let me give you just an introduction into tomorrow. Revelation 20, we read it. We'll end with it. Revelation 20 and verse 4, it says:
Revelation 20:4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned … (NKJ)
Remember Mr. Armstrong used to say, "In order to be a kingdom, in order to reign, you've got to have laws; you've got to have an area; and you've got to have subjects." Those are going to be those that are saved alive for the sake of the elect.
Revelation 20:4b. … And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (NKJ)
And notice it says:
Revelation 20:5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. (NKJ)
The bigger job ahead, Brethren, is when those countless billions will be resurrected and will need to be served and will need to be taught.
The great God has revealed Himself to us. He's given us a priceless calling. And, Brethren, we can measure—I think we lack the capacity as humans to fully appreciate what God has offered us and what He is offering. Even in the other Being that he didn't hold back, as Steve pointed out, but He's also extended mercy to us. And He's called us a fitting Bride for His Son. He's also promised us to be an active part in the Family that He's making.
Let's take this vision with us from the Feast. Let's renew our zeal and desire to be a part of what God is doing. The earth will again be destroyed due to the rebellion of Satan, but, Brethren, the earth will be populated because God is not going to allow it. The earth will be populated by those that God will preserve to live over into the Millennium. And, as Jesus Christ Himself said, He will do it for the benefit of the espoused Bride. "He will do it for the elect's sake."
Transcribed by kb December 28, 2010