Citizens Walking with God

Thank you very much, Melanie. Happy Sabbath, brethren. Our lives are typically spent fitting in with the culture of our country, with its society, with the rules, the flow of things. We're born, we grow up, we work into our professions, our careers, our families. And it could be possible that as you and I look at life in God's church, that adding some love to our presence in society and whatever country that we are in, that we are citizens of, and some good works makes us good citizens in God's eyes in general. And if we were to simply have that viewpoint, we might be missing a major theme in the Bible from beginning to end.

The Bible speaks of God's people actually coming out of this world and its societies, being dramatically different from the darkness that exists in the human minds caused by Satan, and coming into a bright light and actually being something unique and different that is bright and brilliantly different, that Jesus described like a city sitting on a hill in the night, this bright that cannot be hidden. And so coming out of a society that we grew up in, the wrong elements of that society is part of our calling, a big part of our calling.

When talking about the society and the country that Jesus grew up in, he said, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not of this world, the Greek word cosmos, the society. One definition of that is the arrangement, this arrangement that humans have made since going back to Babel times, that arrangement, that society, that fabric that's called Babylonian that was picked up by the Medes and the Persians, and then by the Greeks, and then the Romans, and then down through successive iterations of the Roman Empire, we come up to a time where we live and we might be thinking that it's all pretty nice.

All we need to add is a little bit of love and fit right in. In John 17 and verse 14, before Jesus died, he prayed to the Father about us and him. Let's notice here John 17 and verse 14, I have given them your word. Now this is not what society is built on. It is not built on a foundation of the prophets and the apostles and Jesus Christ. Society is not built on that. It is built on a different society. And Jesus has given us this word, the Word of God.

And he said here, continuing on, verse 14, and the world has had a different viewpoint of them. Being negative, right? Love them less by comparison. Seeing them as odd. You know, your view of things, your practice of things is out of step.

You are a foreigner and a stranger in that sense. If you really come into the family of God, you're going to be stepping out of self-pursuits. You're going to be stepping away from stomping on and violating the principles of God's Word.

And that's going to be a little different. So he has given us the Word of God, and he says the world likes them little. And the reason why is because they are not of the world. So whatever country that is, whatever arrangement that is, you can go through all the world.

Every country has a nice arrangement, a nice governance, some laws, some languages, some rules, some religions, sometimes multiple religions. And citizens of those countries are expected to fit in. Play nice. Fit in. And if not, of course, there can be consequences. But as we go on, he says here in verse 15, I do not pray that you should take them out of this society or this world, but you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth. So we've come to that point. We've got a distinction. Now we have a job. Next verse. And you sent me into the world where I am different. And they killed him. I also have sent them into the world. So here we are.

This is us. This is what God intends us to be. Different than society. The church, remember, in the New Testament period, I believe it was Ephesus with the Apostle Paul, was said to be turning the world upside down. In a sense, that's what we're here for, to turn the world upside down. Beyond today, his goal and mission is to turn the world upside down.

So is your life, my life, Jesus Christ is coming to turn the world upside down. We are part of that. When you say turn it upside down, though, it actually depends on your orientation. If you're already upside down, it's getting turned right side up. It's just people don't see it that way. It was the local culture that said they're turning the world upside down. We are part of a world that is right side up. And that's what we are striving to do. How can we please God as citizens of His family and want to be citizens, prospective citizens of the kingdom of heaven, literal stepping in as full citizens of a kingdom of heaven?

It's a good question. It's really the question that drives all of Scripture and all of our purpose and all of the reason why we have the earth and sky and planets and people and bugs and trees and fish and all the wonderful things that we see. Those things should remind us, wow, God has done all of this for that. And am I doing my part at this point in time in seeking that kingdom of God as a citizen of the God family? There is a biblical success story we'll get to in a minute that can help guide us in that.

The title of the sermon today is Citizens Walking with God. Citizens Walking with God. That's what God wants us to be. He wants us to be in step. He wants us to be journeying with His Son, Jesus Christ, through the difficulties of this world, this life, our own human nature, but on the path well lit by the sun, by the light and reaching a destination which is citizenship in the kingdom of God.

So let's begin. When God called the Israelites out of their country of residence, they were residing in Egypt. Generation after generation after hundreds of years they had been. That was their country. They weren't necessarily welcome there, as many immigrants had found sort of a resistance from local cultures, but that was where they were from.

And we come to Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 22, and we have an invitation for them to immigrate to a different country, a brand new country. This is going to be quite a new country, actually. Everything about it is different. And there were some rules and laws in the new country that they would have to come under, they would have to agree to, they would have to follow, they would have to obey.

In God's country, he says in verse 22 of Deuteronomy 11, for if you carefully keep all these commandments, which I command you to do, here's your new country, here's your new sovereign leader, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to hold fast to him. Now let's pause here just a moment and think about this.

You and I are citizens, as we'll see in a minute, of God's family, and we are heading towards citizenship. We're like immigrants now, and we are migrating from our old country to where God wants us to go. This is kind of my little view of how this kind of fits, but we'll see in Scripture that it does fit pretty well. If you carefully keep all these commandments, which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, walk in his ways, hold fast to him, drop to verse 24, every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours.

You're going to be in the new land, but if you don't, you're going to be deported. And that's what happened to the Israelites, right? They got deported. Adam and Eve, Adam was brought into a new land, right? He was created over here. He was brought into the garden. God gave him the laws, and he decided not to abide by them. He got deported out of the Garden of Eden. So we find that if you come to Revelation chapter 3, you'll find various churches that Jesus Christ talks about.

One of them was Laodicea, and they were straying from carefully following God's commandments, walking in his ways and holding fast to him. And Jesus said, I'm going to deport you if you don't change. I'm going to essentially vomit you out of the body of Christ. So there is a responsibility that citizens have to a country or immigrants have to a country. You'll know in your own country if you have immigrants come in. There are certain rules, regulations, and they can pursue citizenship through a process.

And that reminds us of this church. We are in process of heading towards a heavenly country, and we can pursue citizenship in that heavenly country. But there are rules, and there are things that we must do. God just laid them out. Love God, agape, two great commandments. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and might. Love your neighbor as his self. Walk in all his ways. Hold fast to him.

Now in the New Covenant, I would say we are immigrants seeking citizenship again in a heavenly country. In Hebrews 11 and verse 12, we begin to see this formulated in an analogy, an analogous way here. Hebrews 11 and verse 13 says, These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. So they're looking for something that's out there in the future, seeing it afar off. And we're assured of them. Now this is you and me. That's why we're here today. Think about it. You are here because you see the kingdom of God. And you see it's afar off. It's not even in our dimension. It's in the heavenly realm. We see that. And we are assured of them. We absolutely are assured. And embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. So we're not really mentally citizens of any earthly construct. We are rather joined with the spiritual mind of God in the body of Christ. And we tend to then be strangers and pilgrims in the view of society on this earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. This isn't our homeland. This isn't the kingdom of God.

We want citizenship in the kingdom of God. And we are members in the family of God, as sons and daughters, when we're converted. In verse 15, and truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out from, they would have had opportunity to return. Do you and I want to walk back into the societies of this world and go back into the worldly ways? No, we really don't.

But now, verse 16, they desire a better that is a heavenly country. That's what God has put in our hearts. That's what God wants us to achieve. He and his Son and all the creation and all that they do are for that reason, for us to achieve our desire. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. When you look through Scripture, you'll find He is the God of Abraham and Isaac. He is the God of Israel. He is the God of the church. He tells us to call Him our God, our Lord, our Father. And we really need to zone in and make that a part of our life to where we know who we are.

We're not just some drifting kind of mixed in with wherever we live, people trying to do good. No, that's not it. We are literally part of a divine family that is growing and heading towards a destination. We need to really appreciate that. That it is our God that He is calling us to.

When we look at a country, let's say, and if we are seeking a country, each country has its system of governance, has its laws, it has its way of doing things. It may drive on the left, it may drive on the right. And when you go to that country, it may speak in a different language.

There are many different rules of all types within a country, and that's what makes a country unique. And if you come to that country and say, I want to reside, I want to be a resident here and pursue citizenship, then you have to follow the rules, the laws, the government, etc., etc. To some degree, as God will allow it. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 19, as we pursue this relationship with the God family, notice what it says, Ephesians 2, 19.

It's talking just before that, through Jesus Christ we have access by one Spirit to the Father. So you and I have access to the Father, we have this relationship with God. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Now the world will consider you that, but you and God's eyes are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints, citizens of what? Well, we're not in the kingdom of God, are we? We want to be in the kingdom of God. It's our goal, that's God's goal for us, but going on. You are citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. So we are part of the family of God under our Father, under our Lord, under our husband that we betrothed ourselves to at baptism. We are children of God, we are brothers and sisters. We need brethren to really have this as part of our being, not just a religious thing on the weekend, but who we are, who you are. We are fellow citizens of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. My purpose is that we don't get so distracted by everyday life and all the pressures and all the complexities and all the things that go on. And you know what it's like. We all say the clock is like a fan. The calendar just sort of skips week to week, month to month, year to year.

And with all that's expected of us, we could set the Word of God aside and start acting and fitting more with society than we do with the family of God if we're not careful. Now, to that end, think of some of the things Jesus Christ talked about. Five virgins, foolish wise, right? That's half, right? He talks about the sheep, the goats, the wheat, the tares. He keeps talking in his parables, in his statements about us, get serious here. This is your time. This is your opportunity.

There's one kind of scary one with the 50-50 rule or 50-50 analogy. And that is when the Son of Man comes. He says this in two different gospels. When the Son of Man comes, two will be sleeping in bed, one will be taken, one left. When Christ returns, the first resurrection, he talks about two in the field, one taken, one left. Why doesn't he say 50 in the field? 49 taken, one left. I think the point is just a seriousness, just that we need to understand that we are citizens of the family of God and we need to be walking with God, walking in faith, walking in the Word of God, and daily needing that bread of life of His Holy Spirit. Every morning, do you get up and pray that God will give you the daily bread we need? You know, that spirit, just revitalize more of your Holy Spirit. Lead me, guide me, help me to think the thoughts of the family, of the kingdom of God.

And so therefore, when we are doing that in our calling, we see in Ephesians 2.19, you're no longer strangers and foreigners of God, but you're fellow citizens with a household of the saints, members. Of course, we're not yet citizens in the kingdom of heaven. What exactly is meant by the term citizen? You know, we have that word. What does it mean? What is a citizen?

Merriam Webster says, a citizen is a legally recognized member of a state or country.

By law, citizens are granted specific rights and protections. Who we just read of one. We have access to God the Father in verse 18 through Jesus Christ, through the Spirit, direct access to the holy the God of the all things. God the Father is our Father. And we can call him Daddy Father, Abba Father. You know, that's a wonderful thing. And we have the blessings of angelic intervention when God wants it. We have the blessings of good lives if we use God's Holy Spirit. Great, great opportunities and blessings. So citizens are granted specific rights and protections. And in return, they owe allegiance to that government and must obey its laws.

If we're going to be citizens of the household of God, we need to fit in with those requirements.

Certain benefits we have. One is the new covenant, the blood of Christ, the Holy Spirit now, and the promise of the first resurrection. Those are some special rights. But we also have the responsibility to have allegiance to that government. Remember, Jesus said, if you deny me, I'll deny you. We have to have allegiance to God, to Jesus Christ, all the way, at all times, every minute of the day. So, I'll give you an example. Mary and I lived a couple of years over in England, and there you had a queen at the time, and all of its parliament, and the side of the road you drove on, and ways and customs. And we were foreigners, and you really fit in like a foreigner, and you tried to learn the ways, and you tried to, you know, but we weren't immigrants. We're just visitors. After we got married, we became immigrants to a commonwealth of the British Empire, or not the British Empire, but the British Commonwealth. And we applied for immigrant status with the ability to pursue citizenship. And for 42 years, we were immigrants. We were residents of the country of Canada. We had a daughter there who is a citizen, a dual citizen, but all that time that we had that status, we could pursue citizenship. Now, citizenship was a process.

You had to meet certain requirements. One of those requirements was tenancy, or you had to be there a certain amount of time. But other things was, you know, work and whatever, whatever.

The country is very different. We lived in a city much of the time called Victoria, which is a capital city with a parliament building, and we received royalty from England.

The sovereign was Queen Elizabeth. It's currently King Charles. Now, you're talking about a society in a country that is quite unique, right? And you have to obey its laws. Now, I just use that as an example of something where you're going somewhere that's quite different. We want to go somewhere quite different, God's family and residency in the family of God with an application and expectation of permanent citizenship. Let's go to Psalm chapter 1 and verse 1 and talk about that process a little bit. We don't want to think that we've made it, certainly not, but at the same time we don't want to get discouraged and think we're not where we need to be. Now, perhaps we aren't. You have to assess that yourself. But let's just say this. Maybe you haven't prayed in a few days and you know how it is. You go another day, well now it's even been longer, I'm too guilty to pray, I probably will never pray. If you're stuck in that rut and people get stuck in that rut, right now, this second, just pray to God and apologize and say, I'm back, all right, now you're back. I mean, just, it's an emotion, that's all it is. And the same thing if you have stepped out and you think, oh, I've just, you're just emotional, get back and just start doing what God says. Psalm 1.1, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. First verse in the book of Psalms, the man is supremely blessed who is not walking in the counsel of the ungodly, but nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. Verse 3, but his delight is in the law of God. We've got to get back and say, all right, what is God wanting me to do? And I need to, like David, learn to love this law. It solves everything. It solves my relationship problems. It solves marriage problems. It solves work problems. It just solves all problems.

It's wonderful. So, in Psalms then, what we see is a person is blessed, whose delight is in the law of God, and in his law he meditates day and night. How can we meditate in the law of God if we don't read a little of it? And so the United Church of God produces sermons online. We have know your sword. It pops in twice a day on your phone or your email if you sign up for that. We have, beyond today, we have ABC, Ambassador Bible College. It'll teach the Bible. We encourage people to read their Bibles. We have Bible study correspondence course. We have, I don't know, but we have yet, I have to ask Scott Delamater, but we have we have had a million pages of God's Word available, right, on our websites. So we're striving to do that, and we have opportunity to do that.

So how is my walk as a citizen of the family of God going? Ask ourselves that question. Can we step it up a bit? Are we a little off the path? Do we need to get back and walk in the light of God and His Word and Jesus Christ? Several generations after Adam, there was a man born named Enoch. Enoch. It's not a whole lot said about Enoch, but there's enough. Enoch walked with God, the Bible says, and Enoch pleased God. Now you might say, okay, but that's a long, long time ago. That was before the flood. But stop. What was going on in those days before the flood?

Well, there was a small, godly line that we can pick up. There was Abel. There was Enoch. There was Seth and Enoch. You know, you go along, you find Noah. Not a whole lot of names there. Eight people on the manifest on the ship. And that was it, you know, when Noah sailed. Not a lot there.

But Enoch was interesting because his life was very busy. A lot of moving parts. It reminds me of our life. If we go to Genesis 5 and verse 21, Genesis 5 verse 21, here we have an individual who's walking and pleasing God in a time when the world and society around him was going the opposite direction. In fact, Cain killed Abel over the truth. You think about it. Abel was living God's way and he got killed for it. And down through time, we see that there's a few people who are struggling like you and me in our world. There's only a few of us on earth today out of over eight billion people who are walking this way. And it says in Genesis 5, 21, Enoch lived 65 years. He got married and he begot Methuselah. He had a son. Verse 22, and after he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. 300 years he walked with God and he complicated his life, he and his wife, with kids. Now wait a minute.

Okay, so now you've got some sleepless nights with every child and you have their needs, you have their clothes, you have their food, you have housing, you know, it just goes on and on and they grow up and you're continually doing... got some balls, you know, bouncing hair, plates spinning.

And these transition through various parts of life with their needs and other housing, homesteads, other generations. And still they needed to eat and they needed to have all types of cookware and cooking things. And I don't know, verse 28, Lamech, his son or his grandson Lamech, in verse 28, lived 182 years. He had a son and he called his name Noah, say... now forget, forget Noah who Noah was for a minute. He called him Noah saying, this one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.

So if you remember back in Genesis 3.17, God said, cursed will be the ground for your sakes and toil. You shall toil through toil. You will eat from it. Sound familiar in our life? Do you have a garden? Do you ever try to grow something? You know, the toil that goes into it and the bugs and the weather and I don't know, lack of good soil. And it's... Imagine not having a grocery store and having to feed yourself. That's going to consume a lot of time for you, your family, etc., etc. Verse 18 of Genesis 3, both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. Got some of those? Yep. The sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground.

So you start adding in some things here and you realize this man walked with God and we'll see that he pleased God, but he had a lot going on in his life. A lot packed in. We didn't talk about shepherding flocks, making corrals, breaking out of fences, cutting sheaves of grain, grinding the grain, firewood, managing meals, dishes, I don't know, whatever. And repeat those things two, three times a day. Kind of like our life in a way. How can you and I do this? In Jude chapter one, there's only one chapter, so let's say Jude verse 14. Let's go to Jude 14 right before Revelation.

Jude 14. He's talking here about those who come in and agitate and mislead church members.

And he says in verse 14, now Enoch, here's the same person, the seventh from Adam, what else did he do in life? He prophesied about these men saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints. He's looking forward to the same thing you and I are looking for. Jesus Christ is coming with the resurrection of the first fruit saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly needs, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. This is crying aloud, sparing not, telling my people their sins. This is preaching the gospel. This is preaching the word of God. This is what you and I are involved in, just like Enoch. And he is participating in the very same thing while doing all these other things, walking with God and pleasing God. Let's go to Titus chapter 2 and verse 12.

Titus chapter 2 and verse 12. This is exactly what you and I are called to be part of and doing in our in our lives. Titus or in the Dua Lue language of East Africa, Tito.

I'm still trying to find Titus.

Okay, Titus 2 verse 12. Well, the grace of God that we heard in the special music that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us, Jesus Christ teaches us to deny ungodliness. Oh, we just heard Enoch talking about that. Deny ungodliness and worldly lust. We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So this is who we are as citizens of the household of God. Looking for, now we're looking for something else, we're looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, which interesting Jude says that's what Enoch was talking about. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. Again, we need to have this identity of who we are, what country we really are seeking, what family we belong to, what laws and rules we're submitting to. Who is the sovereign, the sovereign ruler in our life, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, Master, Head of this Church. So the result in God's eyes when we are like this is so precious. And you have to look through the Scripture, sometimes a little hard, to get past all the correction and the warnings and the statements to see how God feels about us as we're going forward. But let's look in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6 at what God saw as a potential for the Israelites coming out of Egypt. Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6, he's saying to them, come out of the world, be separate. And then in verse 6, because, or for, you are a holy people to the Lord. Holy, you're a godly people, and you're a special set-aside people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself.

I hope that when you wake up in the morning and go through your day, you think of yourself as that individual. Holy to the Lord your God, God has chosen you, and you are a people to himself, going on a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth at this point in time.

God has poured himself into that. Jesus Christ has poured himself into that. They continually pour themselves into that. Are we responding by pouring ourselves into that? That's the question.

God invites us, as what I might say are immigrants at the moment, to pursue citizenship through the process that he set up in the New Covenant. That's what we're pursuing.

In 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 and 4, 1 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 3, in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope. So we have again this living hope, and we're begotten to it. But notice, it is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, verse 4, to an inheritance.

An inheritance. Why is it an inheritance? Well, because we're marrying the one who owns it all, Jesus Christ, and he will share everything he has with us.

In corruptible, undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

We're not there. That's our citizenship in heaven that we are looking for. You who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. So, I mean, from God's eyes, this is really, really, really special. And again, he sees us in Ephesians 2.19, no longer strangers and foreigners, but citizens and members of the household of God. Now, so it kind of comes back to a core question.

How is my walk as a prospective citizen of the kingdom of heaven going?

Am I walking with God only when it's convenient, only at little times? Or am I part of that relationship all the time? Is God's Spirit prompting me when I'm talking to somebody, when I'm thinking of doing something, when I have a plan? Does it say, wait a minute, how about other people? What are they needing? What should I be doing for other people versus just what I am planning to do? Am I walking with Him when I'm busy, when I'm tired, when I'm pressured? Satan would love to distract us. I mean, all the stuff that's going on and everything that we can pile in on top of that and then fill it up with entertainment or social media or something, we can choke out the Word of God. We can literally choke it out. There's just no room for it. Paul says in Romans 7 and verse 14, an encouraging thing, actually. It's negative, but it should be very encouraging. It's always encouraging me. He says in Romans 7 verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm physical. It says, carnal, it means I'm physical.

Sometime you might want to have a talk with God about that, if you haven't already. You know, I really want to do what you want, and I just find myself human.

You know, I just find myself a bit carnal, and I'm fighting it. It's like two steps forward and two steps back at times, and you think, I'll never make it. So Paul says, he says, we know the law is spiritual, but I'm physical, sold under sin. For what I'm doing, I don't understand. What I want to do, that I don't practice. But what I hate, that I do practice. Do you ever feel like that? And you automatically say, well, therefore, I'm not worthy. Therefore, I'm failing. This is the apostle Paul talking. Later he's going to say, there's a crown waiting for me. This is just the fight we're all in. And when you go to the Feast of Tabernacles, and you go to a site where you've never met anybody, maybe they're in a different land and a different culture, and they don't even speak your language, you have this in common. And if you get into a discussion with them or through a translation translator, they might just be down and say, you know, I want to do, I just don't seem to be able to do, and I'm just fighting with myself. I always put my arm around that person. I say, hey, welcome to the family. This is what we all do. They're like, really? This is what we do. The apostle Paul encourages here, because he said, I'm like that too. The great apostle Paul is like that too. That's why I loved it so much. So he says in verse 24, O wretched man that I am, great, good assessment. We all need to find those things, right? Who shall deliver me from this body of death? Well, it just so happens Jesus Christ gives us forgiveness of sin every time we repent of it. Like I said before, not praying, repent of it. Doing something, repent of it. It's gone. It's done. It's forgiven. It's forgotten. Move on, right? I thank God, verse 25, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So this is part of our journey towards the kingdom, and it's part of the striving and the fighting that we have. If you are not baptized and you are finding yourself stuck there and striving to push through wrong thoughts, wrong actions, sin, and find yourself incapable of doing that, it might be time to talk to a minister about that particular situation, because that's where we all come to before baptism.

We fall on the floor and say, I can't do this. And God says, oh, thanks for letting me know, because I have a helper for you. We're going to give a helper there to put God's law in your mind, in your heart, and before you think and do those things. We'll give you a little clue there that a decision is needing to be made. Up to you to what you do with that, but it's a good thing.

When we want righteousness and we strive for it, and we do make the two steps forward, one step back, that's encouraging. God gets excited about that because that's progress.

And we have this progress. Paul's talking about that. Sometimes, even what I preach and what I stand up for, I find myself not quite doing. It's frustrating.

Great. Well, how does God think about that? Let's go to Psalm 16.3. Here's something David wrote that I really think could be actually a statement that God inspired him to write from God's perspective.

Psalm 16.3. Listen to these words. As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

Wow. Do you think God looks at you like that? He does. The saints, those who have God's Spirit, those who are called, those who are in the struggle, who are on the earth, who are not in the kingdom, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. Nothing pleases God more than children. Children in progress, children in process, family members in the divine kingdom, new citizens in the kingdom of God. And so God was also well pleased with Enoch. It says in Hebrews 11.5, For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. He pleased God.

You please God. God is well pleased. More than anything else that ever happens, God is pleased when you and I conform and grow and develop in righteousness. So in conclusion, brethren, God's growing family, His precious children, they are going to be the first fruits, the very first ones from the human volume of billions of people that God created.

The first ones. Jesus Christ came and went back, but the first harvest that's coming in will be the first divine members of the Godhead. And God has been looking forward to that forever.

And it's about to happen. It's about to happen. So it's very pleasing if we put into practice the effort of walking with Him and really being part of His citizenship in His family. Let's conclude with Colossians chapter 1 and verse 9. Colossians 1 verses 9 through 13.

He says, for this reason we also, He's writing to the church at Colossae, we do not cease to pray for you and ask that you may be, so here we go, filled with the knowledge of His will. What is God's will? God's will is for you to be a citizen in the kingdom of heaven. Go to 2 Peter 3 verse 9. It's not God's will that any should perish, but all should come to repentance and all should live forever in the kingdom. That's His will. So, filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord. We're going to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power for all patience, with long suffering and joy. And in verse 13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. That word kingdom can mean dominion.

Right now, we're in the dominion of the Son of His love. So, here we are in the body of Christ, the Church of God, the family of God, brother, sister, father, Lord, master, husband. Let's be good citizens in that kingdom, devoted to God, walking on the narrow, difficult path towards full citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.