Believe the Gospel

Ladies and gentlemen, the Apostle Paul wrote on a number of occasions about the mysteries of God. What are the mysteries of God? We might think that the mysteries of God deal with every little question we might have in our own minds regarding things we've always wondered about. Did Adam have a pet dinosaur? Things of that nature. But when Paul wrote about the mysteries of God, he had something very specific in mind. It wasn't to answer every last little question that you and I have. The Bible is not designed to do that. The Bible is a book largely about principles. There is history. There is salvation material. There is prophecy. But it is a book largely about principles, principles in how to live. And when the Apostle Paul wrote about the mysteries of the kingdom of God, he was talking about the mysteries of salvation. The world would love to know those mysteries. People would pay great deals of money, treasure to understand what the mysteries of God are. People have gone to their graves wondering what life is all about. Today, in 45 minutes, we're going to look at the basis of that discussion. We're not going to cover every last little bit. But we are going to look at, as I said earlier, the principles. And as we go through the material today I want to cover with you, you are going to see a marvelous future that our minds can't begin to grasp. That our great God wants to share with each and every one of us. We're so used to living in this world where people don't want to share anything. They amass wealth, they amass power, they want it for themselves. Here you have God the Father and Jesus Christ who want to share eternity with us. They want to share power with us. They want to share the wealth of the universe with us. Now before we get to that point, we've got to start where we're at right now. Before we get to a destination, we need to know where our starting point is. We're leaving home, right? We want to go on a trip, we drive out of our driveway, we head down the road, our side street, our subdivision, wherever we live. So I want to spend some time at this point in taking a look at where we're at now in a journey God wants us to take so that He can share with us the beauties of His mysteries.

And the Apostle Paul did make those plain. He didn't just talk about those and walk away leading people wondering. Today we're going to take a look very briefly at that and give you some understanding about that.

But let's, again, start with where we're at. A quick snapshot of a lot of different areas regarding where we're at today in the world. When we look at our world today, not just this country but around the world, we live in a world of hostility. All of us are aware of what's happening over in Syria. We watch the daily news. We see what's happening with President Assad's government. He wants power. He doesn't want to share power. He's going to hold on to that as long as he can.

Because President Assad is a part of a very small group of people in that nation of Syria called the Alawites, making up maybe 12 or 13 percent of the population, who have ruled that nation with a rod of iron, very ruthlessly. President Assad realizes that he may be able to escape. He probably can get into a jet someplace, go someplace where there's no extradition, probably live a fabulous life with wealth he's acquired.

But he also realizes he can't get everybody out of that country. He realizes his Alawite friends and relatives probably would be slaughtered by the rest of the population because of the way they've ruled that country. And so he's going to rule Syria with that iron fist until the very end. Take a look at what's happening with Iran.

The world is very concerned that they are in the process of developing a nuclear arsenal. That they have got weapons that could take those nuclear weapons once they are fully developed and shoot them off into Israel. Israel is very concerned about that. It is thought that because Iran is getting so close to having a nuclear weapon with a delivery system capable of reaching Israel, it is thought that maybe within the next two months, prior to our national election for president, November 6th, it is thought by some people watching the scene very closely, that Israel may well attack Iran.

And make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, if that happens, that will affect you. We suffered 9-11 a number of years ago. We've not had something like that since. But if Israel goes to war with Iran, the United States will be pulled into it. The world will be pulled into it. And there's going to be a lot of carnage all over this globe. Now, the Bible has something to say about that. Probably in a series of lectures we'll have next year, we'll be going through some of these prophecies.

In addition to living in a world of hostility, we live in a world of economic uncertainty. Unfortunately, we live in a global economy. What's happening, for example, in Europe does affect us. They are very unstable. Our markets, our financial markets, watch what's happening over there. And because of that, because of their instability, we are unstable as a nation. Of course, we are the largest debtor nation the world has ever seen.

It used to be, just a few years ago, we were the largest creditor nation. Just not that many years ago. We were number one in giving people and lending people that money. Now we are the number one debtor nation in the world. And that has tremendous consequences for us down the road. We live in a world of dwindling raw resources. We are depleting our raw resources at an exponential rate.

Mankind simply can't go on like that. And I don't want to continue on with the litany of all the woes that each nation is facing internally. Crime, violence, sickness, disease, poverty. But I wanted to give you a snapshot of where we are right now. The Buddhists are looking for the fifth Buddha. The Hindus are looking for Krishna. The Islamic world is looking for the Grand Mahdi. The Jews looking for Messiah. We're looking for the second coming of Christ. People realize these are difficult times. And they realize something has to be done. And you know, we've got God's Word that tells us something will be done.

But we also see in the book of Revelation, which we're not going to go into today, but we see in the book of Revelation that at the time of the end of the age, people can no longer be on offense. Either they are going to be going Satan's way or they're going God's way.

And each of us in this room have got to ask ourselves the question, where are we going to be at that time? Where are we right now? So with all of that in mind, Jesus Christ came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. And Jesus Christ said, we must believe the Gospel.

This is a message, not only as I said at the very beginning of the outset before Mr. Workley spoke, it's a message not only about spiritual salvation, it's a message about physical salvation. Each of us in this room have friends and relatives, people we love. And many of the people we love may have no desire to have a relationship with God whatsoever.

And whether they do or don't doesn't alter what's going to happen in the future. It's incumbent upon each and every one of us to understand what's going to happen, to be there for our family, to be there for our friends, to be able to answer their questions should they ask. Let's begin by turning over to Matthew 7. Matthew 7. Now, in my Bible, my New King James Bible, this is a red letter Bible that I'm about to read here in verse 21, is all in red ink. Matthew 7, 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Now, make no mistake, United Church of God is a church that teaches and believes in, is founded on the concept, the idea, the truth of the grace of God. Paul said, we stand in his grace. We are saved by his grace. But Jesus Christ here is saying yes, and that grace also means something in addition.

That by the grace of God, we are to live a different life. We don't just say something with our mouth, as Christ says here. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, takes more than just the words, it takes action. It takes deeds. Of course, those actions and those deeds are done by the very grace of God. And as Christ says here, he who does the will, who does the will of my Father in heaven, will be in the kingdom.

So we need to know what that will is. We need to be about our Father's business doing that will. 2 Peter 3 2 Peter 3 In verse 9, 2 Peter 3 9 10 Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust under the punishment for the day of judgment.

3 Peter 3 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Mr. Workley quoted some scriptures that were very similar to this earlier today. But notice, if we don't repent, we perish. And that is true for every human being. We need to repent of what we have done, and actually we need to repent of who we are. Because who we are is we are sinners. And what we've done is we've sinned. And again, Mr. Workley went through how that process works over there in the book of James. But notice the beauty here, and it says that he is long suffering toward us. Our God is a loving God. Our God is a God who loves us tremendously. It has a tremendous future for us. And we're going to cover that in just a little bit. Now, we do have literature. We've got a number of pieces here on the table. There are a couple I would like to just let you know about. One is The Road to Eternal Life. A tremendous booklet. It's very short, but again, it gives you the principles that we need to understand. Chapter headings will be talking about repentance, your first step. Water baptism and the laying on of hands. The forgiveness of sin. And staying the course. You know, many studies have been done about people who have given their life to the Lord. And I'm not, in any way, negating their desire. But studies have been done that people who do this strictly on an emotional basis only stay with God a very short period of time. We want more than just emotion. We need to have things from the heart. But we need to have them from the head as well. There's another booklet that goes into a great deal more information about salvation issues, and that is transforming your life. The Process of Conversion. This is a tremendous booklet. Generally speaking, when I'm counseling somebody for baptism, they want to go the way of God. They want to understand how to go the way of God. They want the various questions answered. This booklet is going to tell you. So that's something that we would consider for you to... you should consider reading. Believing the Gospel... and let's make this very simple. We need to understand four major things. One, who and what God is. Secondly, what God's purpose is. Thirdly, who man is. And fourthly, what man's purpose is. If we understand those things, and we're painting a broad brush here, if we understand those things, then we'd understand what God is trying to accomplish. And again, we've got literature on His table that will walk you through those things. We've got a study course online, ucg.org, that you can go to. Several study courses, as a matter of fact. We've got sermons on that site, and all sorts of other Bible helps, Bible discussions. You've got interactive blogs and things of that nature you can attend to. Let's answer that first question I posed a moment ago. Who and what is God? God is a Father. He is our Father. Now, those words come out of our lips very easily. We understand that. But let's drill down deeper into what that means. God is your Father. He is my Father, and He desires to have that kind of relationship with each and every one of us. A Father-Son, a Father-Daughter relationship, a family relationship. It has always been what God has wanted. Let's take a look at how we are the children of God. 2 Peter 1 At first, we're going to look at Jesus Christ, our Savior. 2 Peter 1, verse 17. For we receive from God the Father honor and glory. When such a voice came to Him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. You know the story about when Jesus Christ was baptized? These words were heard. God the Father was uttering these words about His Son, Jesus Christ. So God is the Father of Jesus Christ in a very unique sense. Isaiah, chapter 64. Let's go a little closer to home. Let's look at our situation. Isaiah, chapter 64.

And verse 8. But now, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are potter, and all we are work of Your hand.

Now, in that verse, you see a glimpse of the mystery of God. It's a beautiful verse. You see a glimpse of the mystery. That God is our Father. That God wants sons and daughters. That we are clay in His hands. And He's working with us. He's shaping us. He's molding us. Because He wants us to be a part of His family. God is spirit. He wants us to be a part of His spiritual family. We're not going to live forever in His flesh. We don't want to live forever in His flesh. I don't want to live forever in His flesh. I'm tired of getting up in the morning and wondering what works and what doesn't work. Or what hurts and what doesn't hurt. Or what's...you know, even on a day you feel good. You say, well, today I feel good, but what about tomorrow? I'm looking forward to a time when I am a being that is composed of spirit. And that's a part of that mystery. That God wants to share His life with us. His very life. He's not going to be like President Assad or other dictators or other people who want to hold back the goodies. No. God, the best things of the universe, He wants to give us. Each and every one of us. The very choices, the best things He wants to give us. He's a God of love, a God who believes in sharing. He has created us. He is working with us. So we are His children by creation. But more than that, let's look at Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians chapter 3 and verse 26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. So here we're looking at not just being the children of God physically by physical creation. We are the children of God by spiritual creation.

And each and every one of us in this room. We're here in this room because we have a desire to understand the Word of God. We're here in this room because we want God to touch our lives. We're here in this room because we want to commit ourselves to the knowledge we have about that God.

And we're here in this room because as we do those things, we know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And we're going to be diligent in seeking Him. So the first thing we understand about who God is is that God is a Father. And He wants a family relationship with each and every one of us. Something else we find out about God is that God is a Creator. We touched on this just a moment ago, but God is a Creator.

Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. Verse 9. Ephesians 3.9. And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery. We've got that phrase again. The fellowship of the mystery. Again, that's not trying to understand all the little things that you and I would ask in life. All of us have, I don't know, maybe millions of questions that we would like God to answer. But that's not what Paul is referring to.

He's referring to a very specific subject, and that is the plan of God. To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of ages has been hidden in God, but, you know, it's not hidden anymore. When you walk out of this room, you will know what God wants, what God has as a plan, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ. God is a creator. He delegated His creation to Jesus Christ. But that still means that God is a creator. The buck stopped with Him. He just simply delegated to Jesus Christ.

So we understand a couple of important things. God is a Father. God is a Creator. What is He creating? John 4. Here we see another glimpse. We're going to be doing some detective work here today. A detective takes a look at all the clues, puts all the clues together, and begins to see a picture. We want to take a look at all these various clues.

We see that God is a Father. God is a Creator. What else about God in terms of who He is? John 4 and verse 24. It says, God is Spirit. So that's what He is. Now, that's not new to any of us here. But it's good for us to take these things one at a time.

Sometimes we've all watched mystery movies, or we've read mystery novels, or whatever. And sometimes people overlook things because they overlook the obvious. And they don't see...it's like those little pictures you have where you look closely and you see something that may be hidden by the eye because of the way the things are. This is obvious, but let's not overlook the obvious.

God is Spirit. And those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth. A popular belief today is that God is trying to work with every human being. And if that is true, God is losing. If that is true, God is losing. And God's been losing for a long time if God is trying to save everybody right now. Now, God does have a plan of salvation. Everybody will be given a full opportunity in the proper time. But if you're in this room right now, the chances are very great. Your time, your opportunity is right now. It's right now. And God wants us to remember that just as He is Spirit, if we're going to worship Him properly, we can't do it just physically.

Oh, we will physically sit in seats. We will come to services. We will do various things. But we need to have another dimension in our lives if we're going to worship Him spiritually. And that means we need to be spiritual to worship Him spiritually. So we've seen who God is, what God is. He's a Father, He's a Creator, He's a Spirit.

Now, let's take a look at His purpose. What God wants for every one of us in this room. And here is where the mind... This is where Paul talked about it being a mystery. People simply... The very first time I read these verses with understanding, I said to myself, surely I can't be seeing what the Bible's talking about. Surely this can't be true. God wants this for me. He wants us for all of us. Hebrews chapter 2. Yes, He does. He wants this for each and every one of us. Because our God is a loving God who as a loving Father wants to share the very best for His family.

He's not going to hold anything back. He has created us to share with us who He is, what He is. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things. Talking about Christ, that through Christ we have all things. He's the Creator. That being delegated to Him by God. Notice now the next phrase. In bringing many sons to what? Bringing many sons to glory. To glory! To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

God wants to bring many sons to glory. Our Creator is creating something in us that is spiritual, that is a family orientation attached to it. He wants spiritual sons and daughters, living on the same plane that He lives on.

Can you imagine living on the same plane that God does? No longer physical, Spirit. No longer temporal. We will live for all eternity. Now, God the Father and Jesus Christ will have more power. There will always be obviously over us. We are the children. They're, you know, Father and elder brother. By saying we're on the same level, I'm not talking about the same authority. We're talking about the same...

Just like a family. A son is living on the same level, or a daughter is living on the same level as a parent's. We are all physical. But there's coming a time where, as the children of God, we will all be on the same spiritual plateau, living spiritually. 1 Corinthians 15. This is referred to as the resurrection chapter. Paul wrote this.

And again, I would say to all of us sitting here that this is what God holds out for us, but we need to do something about it. It doesn't come to us by wishing and hoping. Mr. Weckley was saying earlier, and as we've talked about in other of these seminars, we do believe in the great grace of God, but that grace has got to be accepted. And then, as Paul said, once we accept that saving grace, we need to walk in that grace. We need to do the will of God through that grace. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 15. Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

You and I, simply, the way we are constructed right now, we can't get there. It's impossible for us to get there. We don't qualify to get there. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. Now, here Paul is refining what this concept is about. The mystery deals with our change. It deals with the plan of God. I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we all shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound in a deadly raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Now, here's some prophecy, talking about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. At the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, at that last trumpet, the saints will be resurrected. No longer to be physical, now to be incorruptible, now to be immortal. Verse 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. That's what God wants to share with each and every one of us. Who He is, He is spirit. He is immortal. He lives forever. He wants that for us.

Revelation 20. I'll delve into this a little more deeply. Revelation 20. Revelation 20. I saw thrones, and they that 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, for the word of God who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. They lived and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Mr. Ruckley in his segment was talking about people wanting to live to be 100 years old or more. Here we see where the resurrected saints are going to be reigning for a thousand years, and that's just the beginning. That is just the beginning. But notice also here in verse 4, it talks about what some of the saints have gone through.

Some really tough times. They have been beheaded for their witness. They have not worshipped the wrong things. They have not allowed themselves to have received this mark on their foreheads, or on their minds, or on their hands. What they did in their hands, they did the works of God in their minds. They thought the things of God, they dedicated themselves to God. And that means we have to, each and every one of us, have to do something.

We can't do it on our own. We have to do this by the grace of God. We always must make sure we understand that. Again, as I've said in the past in some of these seminars, it has come so clearly to me over the last year or so, Paul said there in Romans 5, that I stand in the grace of God. I stand in the grace of God, and so do you. And so do these people here that we see in Revelation chapter 20, verse 4.

Let's go back a little bit to chapter 5 of Revelation and see another prophecy. Talks about our future. What God wants for us. Living forever is part of it, but what do we do? Do you want to be bored forever? I don't like being bored for five minutes. I've got a couple of kids. They've got some age on them now. They're 30, my daughter's 27. I remember when they were little ones. If we were doing something they didn't like, I'd hear a chorus out of the backseat in the car.

Boring! We don't want to be bored, right? We're not going to be with God as God is our Father and us on this level of existence. Revelation chapter 5, verse 10, says where God is made as kings and priests. And we shall rule, reign on the earth. The Bible talks about Christ as being king of kings. Who are those other kings? That's us. Lord of lords. Who are the other lords?

That's us. But again, we have to adopt a way of thinking, a way of living. We just can't wish in hope. We've got to live by the grace of God and live by every word of God that we see here in the Scriptures. And as we do that, God says, okay, when the time comes, you will be a king. You might have a smaller kingdom. You may have a larger kingdom, depending upon how you've overcome with God's help.

So there we see some of the, you know, what God's purpose is for us.

Who's man? Let's take another step back and look at, come at this from another direction for a moment. Let's go right back to the very first chapter in the Bible. Genesis chapter 1. Here in this very first chapter of the Bible, we see God telegraphing to us what His desire for us has been and will be all along.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 26, then God said, let us make man in our image.

Now, we know that God did that physically, but when you put the other scriptures together, the part of this mystery that we've been talking about, you put all the clues together, we realize that from the very beginning, from the time of Adam and Eve, God has had a plan. And that plan is to make human beings in God's image. He starts physically, but then He elevates that to spiritually. Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion. Now, here we see dominion over various aspects of the earth.

It's a learning ground. All of us realize that as when we were younger, that our parents gave us certain responsibilities as we progressed, as we matured, our parents gave us more opportunities to grow. God is going to do the same thing. He starts out physically. How can we handle ourselves physically? Then He calls us spiritually. Then He gives us various trials in life. He sees how we handle those. As we handle those, He says, well, you know, at the time of the resurrection, because they've handled those so well, I'm going to give them dominion. I'm going to give them dominion.

Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4.

Humankind was created with the potential of living forever in the kingdom of God, in a beautiful kingdom.

You know, when Christ returns, if you know much about prophecy, you understand that when Christ returns, this world will be in a horrible state of affairs. As you read the book of Revelation, you understand that Christ has to tell the angels not to hurt certain of the green things anymore, because if they did, then human beings simply couldn't get a breath of air. We're not talking even fresh air, because air won't be fresh at that point. World War III will have been long into existence.

Nuclear war, probably chemical war, probably biological war, lots of people having died, so many that the rest of the people cannot bury them. I mean, it's going to be an awful world, just when Christ returns.

Revelation talks about everything in the sea dying. Can you imagine the smell?

A very, very difficult time.

But God has created us to be His sons and daughters.

But again, we have to understand what's going to happen before we are His sons and daughters.

Here in Galatians 4, take a look at verse 19.

My little children, for whom I labor in birth again, until Christ is formed in you.

Christ being formed in us. Remember the Scripture we talked about where He was, we are the clay, He's the potter.

He's our Father, He's our Creator.

When we begin to put all these clues together, we begin to see a beautiful picture that is now emerging.

That through the trials we go through, they each have a purpose.

They each help us to become closer to the picture of what Christ wants for us.

I'm sure all of us, when we were kids, went with our parents shopping, and we wanted to get some clay.

Remember the days when we had play-doh or clay? We had these various colors, and we'd take them home, and we'd try to sculpt or do something.

Well, at first, you've got just a lump of clay.

I come from a family, I have none of this myself, but I come from a family of artists.

Great artists, great with oil painting and sculpting, different things that they do.

I can draw my breath. Every once in a while I draw a paycheck, but that's about as far as I go.

But we take the clay. God takes the clay, and He molds. He takes something that's just a blob.

We start out as spiritual blobs, and then God molds and shapes, and every one of those trials we go through, every one of those difficulties, we're becoming...

And if we accept the challenge, we can fight it, and sometimes we do.

But if we accept the challenge and let Him mold us, then when He's done, we're going to look like God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Christ is going to be formed in us.

Let's go back to Ephesians, or over to Ephesians. Ephesians 2.

Ephesians chapter 2. Let's start here in verse 4.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead and trespassed and said, and made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved.

And raises up together, Mr. Workley was talking about baptism, raises up together out of that baptismal tank, out of that physical tank of water, that symbolized the old person spiritually being buried in a watery grave.

We come up out of that grave. The sin stays back there.

Raises up together and has made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us.

In ages to come. Paul wrote this a couple thousand years ago. We're living in those ages.

Christ is probably going to come, I believe, in our lifetime.

Verse 8, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves.

Now, we need the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And again, make no mistake, our holy, righteous living before God, that doesn't wipe away any sins.

The only thing that wipes away sins is the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

But once those sins have been washed away, God does call us to a new life.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast, by the grace of God through the sacrifice of Christ.

But now notice verse 10. Let's see the whole picture here, the whole dynamic.

For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before Him that we should walk in them.

Again, this whole creation analogy. We were created to do great spiritual works.

Great spiritual works to become more like God.

We read 1 Corinthians 15 about our being resurrected to a new kind of life.

Let's look at Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8.

Again, this whole overarching thing we're looking at right now is the purpose that God has for man.

Romans chapter 8 verse 16.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

We are His kids.

And if children then heirs, and please understand, let's really understand this verse.

If children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, then we may also be glorified together.

Yeah, in this life we're going to do some suffering. In this life we're going to go through some trials.

It's not going to be pleasant to be a Christian.

In Satan's world we've got to stand up and be counted as Christians.

But notice, we are heirs.

Heirs of what?

We are heirs of the whole universe.

When you look out in the evening sky into the heavens, depending on where you live, it may be easier for some than others.

If you're living out in the country, away from the city lights, it might be a lot easier for you to take a look and see the beautiful stars.

Science tells us that they can't see the end of the universe.

It just goes and goes and goes.

Our God, our Father, is unlike any other ruler you've ever heard of.

He doesn't hoard this for Himself. He wants to share it.

He wants to share eternity with us. He wants to share His lifestyle with us.

He wants to share eternal life and all the riches of the universe.

How much gold is out there?

Today we think about investing.

The best investment we have is the Kingdom of God.

The best investment we have is understanding what God has for us.

Now, we don't do this because we want gold and silver and foreign other planets.

We're not Trekkies.

As the children of God, we're going to be just like our Father.

God is the greatest servant, Jesus Christ. They are the greatest servants who have ever existed.

And we live on their level. We, too, will be just like them in terms of beings that want to give and serve.

We've often speculated, what are all those planets for?

Why wouldn't God want to take and populate the entire universe and then have people such as yourselves who have accepted the challenge and you are now a spirit being dwelling on that same level that God is.

And God says, I'm going to not only give you five cities or ten cities, I'm going to give you five planets or ten planets or five solar systems or five galaxies.

And I want you to work with the people in those galaxies.

I want you to love them. I want you to serve them. I want you to be there for them. Christ will always be our Savior. God will always be the Father.

But God says, work with them, just like He had disciples. God says, work with these people.

God's going to share that beautiful future with us.

It all comes to understanding what His plan is for us.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we've, almost jokingly said, we've taken 45 minutes to see the answers of the universe here.

But in truth, that's exactly what we've done.

We've taken a snapshot of what God has for us.

The beauty, the wonder, the awesomeness.

Matthew 6. Let's go back there for a moment.

We're coming to the conclusion of my remarks for you today.

Matthew 6. Let me get back there. I was on John 6 for a moment.

Matthew 6.

Mr. Weckle, I referred to this earlier. Here we have a model prayer that Christ gave.

Christ realized, as He gave this Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the heart and core of what Christianity is, that people needed instruction.

People want to pray to God, but they want to do it in a proper way.

So God gives us a proper model.

Not that we just repeat this mindlessly, but these are principles that we use in our prayers to God.

Verse 10. Your kingdom come. Your kingdom.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Well, we know what God's will is and how it's being played out in heaven.

Earlier I talked about what the world will be like under man at the end of the age when Christ returns. It will be a pathetic place.

The Bible, there are scriptures, there are prophecies that talk about how the earth will teeter like a drunkard, because it will well be knocked off as access because of all that's happening.

Various earthquakes, tsunamis, the earthquake that took place in Japan, what was it, a couple years ago now, the island that was closest to the earthquake was moved six feet.

That island, that small island, moved six feet by that one quake.

Scientists say the earth was knocked off its rotation by about four inches.

It hasn't affected us that we're aware of.

But when all these cataclysmic things happen, it's going to be horrendous.

But on the other side, when Christ comes back, when you are made an immortal spirit being, you're going to help in the most tremendous reclamation project that the universe has ever seen, starting with planet Earth.

The Bible talks about a one thousand year period.

And in one thousand years, this planet of ours will be reshaped, reformed, and the whole planet will be like a giant garden of Eden.

Why? Because after that one thousand years, God is going to resurrect all those who never had a full opportunity for salvation.

God loves every human being that has ever lived.

Our God is the greatest God of inclusion mankind could ever begin to think of.

There are plenty of people, perhaps billions of people, who have lived who, they never made a history book, they aren't famous, they're dead, their bones have disintegrated to dust, no one will remember where they are or who they were, but God does.

And they'll be resurrected into an opportunity for salvation.

This is all a part of that mystery.

Christ asks us to believe in that mystery.

He says He is bringing many sons to glory, and that includes each and every one of you.

Each and every one of us.

Revelation 21. I've only got a couple of scriptures to go here before we conclude today.

Revelation 21. After the Second Coming of Christ, after this one-thousand-year period that we called the millennium, there is a period of time where those I made mention of just a moment ago were resurrected. People who never had an opportunity for a full opportunity for life will be given an opportunity.

And all that is said and done. All that is said and done.

And all we have in the universe are beings who are spirit, who love God.

Satan and the demons will somehow be dealt with. God will take care of that, will allow God in His only way to take care of that.

But in terms of we who were once human, we are now at this point spirit.

But notice what it says here.

Revelation 21, verse 1.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

Also there was no more sea. A new heaven, a new earth.

We're even going to start working on the universe.

The Nijon, so the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, repaired as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

And He, God, will dwell with them, and they will be His people.

God Himself will be with them and be their God.

How many times have you said, Boy, I would sure like to talk to God about that?

I've lost track of the number of times I've wanted to have a little powwow.

I mean, I have, we all have our talks with God through prayer.

The idea that as a spirit being, we can look God in the eye.

We're not going to dissolve. He's spirit. We're spirit.

We're going to have a discussion with our dad. Hey, Dad!

Kind of curious as to why you had me go through certain things.

Maybe, you know, I thought I was doing pretty good.

I thought I was kind of on the same page.

Obviously, you didn't think that because you wanted me to kind of come up to speed.

Why do we do some of those things?

We're going to have an opportunity to ask God those kinds of questions.

And because He's living right with us.

I'm sure He'll probably chuckle at me and say, Oh, you know, Randy, you were pretty tough to work with at times.

You know, you were a piece of clay, but you had some nuts and bolts in there.

It was kind of hard-fashioned of you.

Verse 4, but notice verse 4.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There shall be no more death.

No more death!

You know, I've lost track of the number of funerals I've conducted over the years.

I was ordained into the ministry in 1979.

What was that, 33 years or something like that?

I've lost track of the number of funerals I've done.

I've lost track of the additional ones I've gone to.

And I don't know how many tears of grief I've seen.

I don't know how many people whose lives have been so hurt by death.

All of us have been hurt by death.

And yet there's coming a time when there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, for there shall be no more pain.

The former things shall have passed away.

Now, we talk about people dying, they've passed away. There's going to come a point where death itself is going to pass away.

That's what God has for us.

And what we want is to do what this lecture today, in the lecture that Mr. Workley gave, we want to do is believe what God has for us.

We want to act on what God has for us.

Because we want to have said to us what was said there in Matthew 25.

We want to be standing in front of God the Father and Jesus Christ as a well done, good and faithful servant.

You've been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.

Enter the joy of your Lord.

That's what we want.

That's what God wants for each and every one of us.