Come, Lord Jesus

Well, good afternoon again, brethren. It's good to see all of you, and thankful to have you here today. I started to get nervous, right, as Mr. Erbom was starting to speak. He started mentioning all the things that had been happening. I thought he was going to talk about the exact same thing I'm talking about.

Of course, he went a little totally different direction than I was going. But all of us certainly have to be aware of the tragic mass shooting at a school here just a little over a week ago. A week ago yesterday, up in New Town, Connecticut. I wanted us to maybe consider, whenever this type of thing... Unfortunately, it really is amazing that this type of thing is not really all that uncommon.

It's painful to watch being explained on television, kind of what went on, what was happening, what do they know, what do they learn later. And yet, ultimately, you find that an individual who is very troubled ends up going into the school and using a gun to kill 26 people after earlier killing his mother at home. And so, undoubtedly, people ask questions. They wonder, what's going on? Why is this? Why does God let this happen?

And yet, of course, maybe to try to answer that question would be a very difficult question to try to answer. And yet, I think it's important that, as we have these type of things... And, of course, this is not the only one we've had right here in the United States. And there are actually other killings of either children or at either schools or at malls that happen periodically. And that's a very sad commentary on the society that we live in. The society that we live in is struggling. And it's struggling in many ways, as Mr.

Urbom pointed out. There are a lot of different difficulties that you find. And maybe from week to week, we find ourselves a little bit deeper into some of the difficulties that at least this country suffers from and labors with. In thinking about this tragedy up in Connecticut, I know that certainly there has been a lot of response from people to try to help, try to encourage, try to provide a certain level of comfort.

I wanted to reference a service that they had. I think it was Monday evening. It may not have been. It may have been Tuesday whenever I saw part of this on television. But they had a memorial service. This had happened on Friday, a week ago.

And so the memorial service, I thought, was somewhat interesting because they were gathered together in the high school from Newtown, Connecticut. They were gathered together in a pretty good-sized group of people. I'm sure many of those who had lost loved ones, lost children, and lost either parents or adults that they knew. They had a number of different Protestant denominations.

I'm sure Catholicism was represented. I don't remember directly seeing that. There were some Episcopal priests there who said different things. At least from trying to think of the ones that I recall, there were a couple of different Jewish offerings, as far as different individuals who came up on stage and who tried to offer words of comfort, tried to be uplifting as best they could.

There was even one man from the Muslim religion who made a presentation. After that, after the part I saw, I saw a representative get up and talk because they were from that area. The governor of Connecticut got up and talked. Finally, President Obama was, in a sense, the keynote speaker of this memorial service that was being held for, in a sense, the survivors. Those who were going to deal with the grief. Those who were going to deal with the aftermath of the suffering.

Certainly that town experienced. In a sense, the whole country experiences it because we all hear it so easily and quickly. And yet, undoubtedly, they will suffer immensely here in the weeks and months, surely years to come. I was struck by one of the things that the president mentioned in his address. Actually, what he covered, I'm sure, was well-meaning. It was trying to reach out and trying to be concerned.

He mentioned even a couple of scriptures, which I thought, that's good. That would be a good thing to add to a type of a memorial service. But what really struck me was what he said a little later on in the memorial part that he offered. Because what he said was that, you know, all the world's religions, and so many of them represented here today, start with a simple question. And he said, that question is, why are we here?

What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose?

He went on to say, we know our time on this earth is fleeting. We know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain. And even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it's wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will in some fashion fall short of what we hoped. We know that no matter how good our intentions, we'll all stumble sometimes in some way. We'll make mistakes and we'll experience hardships. And even when we're trying to do the right thing, we know that much of the time will be spent groping through the darkness. So often, unable to discern God's heavenly plans.

There's only one thing we can be sure of, and that's the love that we have for our children and our families and for each other. That certainly was a good point to make. But what struck me so much was His clarity in saying, we don't have any idea why this happened. We essentially hear all of us trying to console one another in this service, and as those of us who were watching and observing what was happening, it says we're groping in the dark. We are unable to discern God's heavenly plans.

And I'm not sure that that's altogether comforting, but it struck me as something we should consider and think about. Because it is really expressing a lack of knowledge, a lack of information, a confusion, and just groping in the dark. That's pretty much a description of the way that this world actually is. And trying to determine what's the purpose of life. That would be clearly something that many people may try to figure out the answer to, and maybe often different religions try to answer that question. And yet certainly all of us should feel unbelievably blessed. Because I'm pretty certain that many of us do know. Many of us do know what the purpose of life is. We know what God is planning. We know where we're headed. We know what our future holds. We know what the future for these young children who were slaughtered. We know about some resurrections. We know a purpose in life. And of course, we can't really take credit for that. That's at the mercy of God that we happen to know that. That we happen to be aware of what the purpose of human life is.

I also thought I would just... When you think about the confusion and the darkness that people stumble around in, you have to ask yourself, well, why do these things happen? Why does God allow them to happen? And of course, the answer to that, and we had a little section here in our E-News that came out here yesterday or the day before. It answered, in a sense, kind of what really the case is.

People wonder why, they wonder where to turn, they wonder what to look to. And yet, what we can clearly say, what is clear, is that this is not God's world. This is a world that is run by the prince of the power of the air. This is a world where the God of this world has been allowed to influence everything. And you see some unbelievably despicable acts of anger and hatred and murder in this world. And were those people who were victims of that?

Were they worse sinners than the rest? Well, obviously not. That clearly wasn't the case. But see, we are not living in God's world as yet. We actually have a world that is full of conflict, hate, mental and spiritual deviation. That's driven by a spirit of evil. They actually mentioned that a few times. I don't know that they mentioned it a little more recently, but initially, they try to talk about... They'll never maybe put it in full context as, well, the God of this world is the evil God, who is inspiring much of the horrible things that happen on Earth.

But we certainly have to conclude that man with all his efforts has failed to bring peace and universal civil behavior. We're at a loss. People act in unbelievably, amazingly confusing ways. And certainly we have a world that is groaning. A world that is laboring and suffering. And actually it's waiting for something. It's waiting for you. It's waiting for me. It's waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. Brethren, that's a blessing that we understand.

That, again, does not make us any more important than anyone else. It does place responsibility on us to yearn for that sonship, that daughtership, to occur, which is going to happen when Christ returns. So the whole world is groaning and waiting for the sons of God to be born. We're actually looking for another world. A world that is completely different than this world. This world doesn't have the answers. They're groping in the darkness, as the president correctly mentioned. We don't really know. I don't know, again, how comforting that would be to hear on those settings, but that certainly is an admission that it's a blessing to know the answer to that question.

I'd like for us to look in the book of Job, I mean, thinking about trying to make sense out of something that's so totally senseless, we've got to be able to answer the question, What is God's purpose for human life? What is God's purpose for creating Adam in a physical form and pulling together some dirt, some mud, and making a physical being, and then breathing into that man the breath of life?

And then creating and forming and shaping Eve out of a rib from Adam's side. Why did God do that? Well, again, I think we know that, but we need to be reminded of that as we see such tragic situations occur around us in our country. Often we hear of horrible things that happen in other parts of the world, and to a degree we're kind of detached from that, and we may not think about it a lot, but when something happens here, when it captures the media for several days or weeks, we have to pay attention to it.

But it's important for us to think about what it is that God has been so merciful in giving us. And I know that certainly was something that I wanted to know when I was about 16 years old. I wanted to know what in the world is the purpose of life?

Is there any purpose? Is there any reason to go to college? Is there any reason to get a job? Now, if I wanted to eat, I guess I'd probably figure that out eventually. But I really wanted to know. I thought that was, as I look back, I don't know that all the 16-year-olds were thinking about that, but I was.

And I was deeply gratified to find that God actually showed me that answer. He showed me what the purpose of life was. He showed me why I was born. And, of course, that ties into our understanding of God's plan and His purpose for man. But here in Job 7, I want to just refer to a short section here. Job 7, verse 17. Of course, Job is an infamous book, an infamous, I guess, character, in the sense that he was suffering.

He may be as famous in other ways because he certainly was a very righteous man. He was a good man. He was a man that God called good. God called him a righteous man. And yet Job was by no means perfect.

Job had more to learn. And, of course, what we find is you read the book of Job, if you labor through all the discussions that his friends and he had, and then finally a younger man came and talked to Job and gave him some information from God and said, you know, Job, this is really what you need to know. And you need more help than you realize.

And ultimately, God showed Job that Job, you're a good man. You're a righteous man. You do right things. But you need to grow closer to me. You need to have a deeper and more intimate relationship with the God who created you. And thankfully, Job figured it out. He finally decided I've talked way too much. And now I'm going to be quiet, and I'm going to listen, and I'm going to learn what God wants me to know.

But here in Job 7, this is early, and he's certainly in a bad situation as far as his family having been lost, his property having been lost, his health, taking a huge hit right at this point. He says in verse 7, what are human beings? That you make so much of them, that you set your mind, the mind of God, on them, that you visit them every morning, that you test them every moment.

And Job was actually appealing to God. Please help me! Please answer! Please take this away! And yet he points out something that's really significant, because a little later on here, he points out that God's the watcher of humanity. He's clearly aware of everything that goes on here on this earth. But he's not directly guiding every aspect, and certainly the evil aspects that we see going on in society today. You know, I think God probably groans over that too. He surely would have concern and compassion for people's suffering.

But see, what we find here in Job 7 is what we also read very clearly in David's writing, in Psalm 8, where he talked about, well, why is that God is so mindful of humans? What is so particular, so specific about God's design and God's purpose in dealing with human beings and dealing with us in the way that He has? I want us to go to Hebrews 12, because we see what David wrote in the Psalms.

We see it repeated by Paul, and it says in Hebrews 2, it says someone in verse 6 is testified somewhere, What are human beings that you are mindful of them? What are mortals that you care about them? You made them a little lower than the angels. You crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet. That's what Paul quoted out of Psalms. But he went on to say, Now in subjecting all things to them, God is left outside their control, or God left nothing outside their control, but as it is, we don't yet see everything in subjection to humans.

But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, and yet now is crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. But he said in verse 10, it's fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons and daughters, many children to glory, that He should make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Now clearly Paul was talking about how significant Jesus Christ is in our salvation. In anyone's salvation, Jesus is the key that we always want to be mindful of. But what we see him saying is that God is in the process of developing a divine family. He's in the process of bringing sons and daughters to glory. And see, that's what we want. See, we can talk about it or say that, well, that would be salvation, or we can say, well, that is being given everlasting life, or that is being given eternal life.

But primarily, it is being a part of the divine family. It is taking on a divine nature, and then being transformed to where we are glorified in the family of God. And that's a truly significant thing for us to consider, for us to think about, and for us then to be growing in. See, God has given us an answer of what his purpose is. We don't have to grope in the dark. We don't have to stumble about wondering what God wants us to do.

You know, we should be able, with God's help, to discern God's heavenly plan. See, even though, for the most part, people in general are not going to discern that, there really has been a blessing given to each and every one of us, where we can discern the things of God. We can know the things of God. That's not, again, because of our brilliance. I don't know that any of us have got an IQ of 140 or 50 or 60.

Some of you may, but I might, but I'm really hiding it. Now, probably closer to 100 or 90 or less. I don't know what it might be. I don't know much about IQ levels. But see, it isn't because of our brilliance that God would reveal something to us that actually just helps us understand the things of God. I want to go to a book that Paul wrote.

It's a book that, again, I'm sure many of you are familiar with. It's a book that you could go ahead and turn to. Of course, there's 14 of them to pick from, if you want. You can pick one of the books. I'm going to go to 1 Corinthians, the first book of Corinthians. I think it's unique to see what God inspired the Apostle Paul to write in this book of 1 Corinthians, which is really an amazing revelation. It's an amazing implication of how significant your life is because of something that God has done.

Now, what can we know or what do we know about the Corinthian church? Well, the Corinthian church was in the city of Corinth. It was in the country of Greece. Paul had spent a good deal of time there helping the church start and causing more people to become a part of it. He was very concerned about them. He loved them a lot. But what do we read in the first part of 1 Corinthians? Paul is writing to the church, and they're in chaos.

They're in chaos because they're divided. There are this faction and that faction and arguing about things and taking each other to law. They've got people who are sinning, and everybody knows it, and nobody seems to care. And they've got people who are using the spiritual gifts that they've been given in inappropriate ways. And you find in the latter part of 1 Corinthians that he talks to them about a spirit body and how different that would be than to have the physical body that you have. He had to write a lot of things to this church. And the primary thing you think of when you think of Corinth is their division, their factions, their inability to get along and not cooperate totally different than the family of God.

Totally different than the nature of the Father and the Son and that the nature that He wants to cause all of us to grow in. And yet you find, well, here in chapter 1, verse 10 on down, through verse 17 describes the divisions that were taking place. He says, I appeal to you brethren, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no division among you, but that you be unified in the same mind and in the same purpose.

But it's been reported to me that there are quarrels among you. Quarrels, disagreements, fighting, bickering, pitting one member, one minister against the other. Pretty sad situation, but as we know, it isn't too uncommon for people to get caught off guard and to be confused in the way the people here in Corinth were confused. Over in chapter 3, he says, brethren, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as babes in Christ.

To hear he's talking to a divided, a confused, a conflicted congregation of the church of God. One that Paul was intimately familiar with, and that he probably talked to most of the people who came into the church initially and caused them to come to an understanding of God's purpose for their life.

And yet here he's writing to them a little later, you know, you've got all kinds of problems. You are not maturing like you need to. You're not growing. And in verse 2, I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. But even now, you're still not ready, for you still are the flesh, for as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and are behaving according to human standards? You're living according to the flesh. You know, that type of action clearly describes what would just be normal, ordinary, human, conflicted activity. He says that's despicable. That should not be.

And so, I think it's interesting that as Paul was writing, in a sense, somewhat of a corrective letter to help them out, to shake them up and to get them on track in many areas, what is it that he reminded them of? What is it that he reminded them of that was of most importance? What did he remind...he could tell them what they needed to do and all the things that I've already mentioned, but what he reminded them of is God has brought you into the church, and He has given your life purpose.

And He has given you help to know the things of God and be able to know, you know, what the future holds and how God will help you to be successful here and now in this life and for eternity in the family that He is causing to grow. See, that's what we read here in Chapter 2. See, I read Chapter 1 and 3 because it kind of sets the framework for the people who were in the church there. They were pretty scrambled, like many of us. We're needing help. We all need help.

And yet, in Chapter 2, let's start in verse 6. Here he describes God's plan, God's purpose. He says, Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it's not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to perish. See, what he told them was, you know, I've got something to tell you and it's supporting what I told you earlier when God brought you into the church and brought you to repentance and brought you to conversion. So he wanted to remind them of what God did, how important that was, how significant.

See, some of us would have a hard time thinking back when that was for us. I hope we can all remember, kind of, generally. I know, as I think back through 45 years ago, I know what was going on in my head. And I know what was going on and what needed to go on and how much I needed God's help. But he said, I want you to be reminded that the wisdom that I'm offering you is not just coming from Augustus Caesar.

It's not coming from the Roman system that we live under. It's not coming from any of the leaders there around Greece or in Corinth at all. He says in verse 7, we speak God's wisdom. See, his preaching was God's wisdom secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. See, he was pointing out that I have something to say that gives an understanding of the purpose of life.

Verse 8, none of the rulers of this age have understood this. For if they did, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord Jesus. Clearly, they lived in the Middle East. It was right across the Mediterranean where Israel was. It would appear they were at least conversant about activity that takes place there. But he says they certainly wouldn't have killed Jesus if they had understood what the wisdom of God is about the purpose of human life. But he says in verse 9, as it is written, I has not heard nor ear has ever seen, nor the human heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

He says, what God is holding out before us, what God wants us to focus on, is not arguing among ourselves about what are we doing or who's in charge, because that's what they were doing. But he says, I want you to focus on the purpose of life. I want you to focus on what God holds out before us, about being a part of the divine family of God, and actually being cultivated in the nature of that family here and now, because that's what we're told.

We are to grow in the divine nature. And he says in verse 10, these things God has revealed to us. So he says, human eye or ear or heart has never figured out what the purpose of life is, but God has revealed what He is preparing by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God. See, again, how significant was it when God graciously granted you the Holy Spirit? How significant? Well, again, I think back and I can very much remember where, when, how. Did I feel different?

No. As I don't think any of us feel directly different, there's no physical manifestation that we would probably look back to. But we can certainly think about how much we wanted, how much we needed. I clearly needed forgiveness, and I certainly knew that I could not function. I was aware of enough of the Bible to know I cannot function without the Spirit of God. I cannot function without an understanding of God's purpose for my life. And that's what He's done for you as well. He says, these things God has revealed to us in verse 10 through the Spirit.

For He goes ahead to describe in verse 11 what human, what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit in man. That is within him. And of course, we have come to understand that. I think for the most part we all do understand that man is different than an animal because the Spirit in man has been given to us. He's given us the ability to think and reason and make decisions and be able with free moral agency to choose to obey and to repent and to be able to do things that are wrong. But He says this is the way human beings are.

It goes on to say in verse 11, so also, no one comprehends what is truly God. What are the things of God except through the Spirit of God? That was how important. That was how significant. That was how meaningful it was for us to be a recipient and then, as we're told, we should do to be led by the Spirit of God for the remainder of our growth and development toward a divine family, toward being a glorified son or daughter in the family of God.

See, here Paul is talking to a fragile, weak, somewhat confused congregation, but he reminds them God gave you the answers. He gave you the future. He gave you the purpose of life. And he wants you to continue to grow in that. He says in verse 12, now we have received, not the spirit of this world, but we received the spirit that is from God so that we may understand the gifts bestowed upon us by God.

So that we can understand the growth and the development, the things of God that God is wanting to do in us. He's given us that spirit. And so that spirit should be cultivated, that should be nurtured, that should be appreciated, that should be maybe thanked God for that spirit that sets us apart. And he says in verse 13, we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit of God, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. And so in a sense he told them, you had access, you were given opportunity to receive the Spirit of God, you need to cultivate that some, you need to appreciate what that is.

And in verse 14 he says, those who are natural, talking about just mankind in general, do not receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. And so, you know, Paul makes a wonderful case for the value of the Spirit of God living in us. The value of that spirit having been given to us and for us to, with the help of that spirit, appreciate, you know, God's purpose. See, we don't have to grope around in the darkness, as, you know, the memorial that I mentioned earlier, we don't have to grope in the darkness for that.

We don't have to somehow not be able to explain what God's doing because of the help of the Spirit of God. Now, lest we think too highly of ourselves, we can back up to chapter 1 and be reminded of what it says in verse 26. Consider your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men, after the flesh, not many mighty, not many powerful, not many noble, have been drawn by God, have been called by God. But, he says in verse 27, God has chosen what is foolish in this world to shame the wise. He's chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. He's chosen what is low and despised in the world, things that are not to reduce to nothing, the things that are so that no one might boast in the presence of God.

And so, again, that's not because of our greatness or because of our righteousness. Even when you think back in the book of Job to the description of Job being, from God's standpoint, even a good man or righteous man, he still needed a Redeemer. He still needed to be forgiven. He still needed God in his life. He needed to understand God more fully. He needed to have a more intimate, close relationship with God that he cultivated. And see, he cultivated a relationship with God that was, in many ways, just always doing the right thing.

And he could write about what he did here and what he did there and how he took care of these people. And all the stuff he did was right. And see, God says, I want you to understand that there are still many, many things that you are yet to learn. And a part of that is your relationship with me and my giving you the help, not only to repent but to grow in my divine nature.

That's what Job came to see. He came to see something totally different. He came to see God differently than he had ever seen or ever known God before. And certainly, brethren, we have had that blessing because of what we read here in 1 Corinthians 2. The value and the significance of receiving the Spirit of God is what makes us different. It's what gives us a future. It's what gives us the hope of knowing what God is going to do.

And certainly, as all of us do, we pray, thy kingdom come. That's clearly what we ought to pray, and that's the way we conclude our telecast and some of the other articles and things that we write. We pray, thy kingdom come. We certainly would want for Jesus to intervene and to come back and to stop the fighting.

And yet, we also know that there are things that are yet to be done. Yet to happen on this earth are pretty horrible things. Pretty... how would the news media describe what we read about in Revelation?

About the calamities that will happen in the last few years before Christ returns. They wouldn't have any way of describing it. They're going to be blown away because they wouldn't be able to describe that. But beyond that, there is an answer and a kingdom. There is a world, a world that's coming and a world that we look forward to and anticipate and pray for. I want us to also take a look at Romans chapter 8 because as we think of God's purpose for our lives, the value of our lives, not simply in obedience to God, which he does expect, he does desire for us to obey.

He desires for us to respond to him in obedience. But he wants us to cultivate a relationship with him, cultivate a closeness to him. He wants us to grow in the characteristics that he describes as his so that we can be glorified. I want to be glorified. I certainly take a lot of polishing to try to shine me up.

And yet, that's what God says he will do and that he can do and that that is his purpose for life. Romans chapter 8, again, I think most of us are aware that this chapter talks about, and you read from verse 1 on down to verse 17, it talks about how the Spirit of God works. How the Spirit of God is so significant, it is so important, it's so meaningful.

It is a transforming spirit. And of course, it initially helps us realize we are hostile to God and his law. And I want to retract that hostility. I don't want to be hostile to the law any longer. I want to be in subjection to God and his law. And of course, he talks about how wonderful this indwelling of the Holy Spirit is. But what I want to focus on is, in part, what I've discussed already about God's purpose for our lives.

Because he says, starting in verse 18, I consider it the sufferings of his present life or time are not worthy compared with the glory that is about to be revealed in us. Now, yes, Paul wrote this 2,000 years ago, so it was going to be a little while from then. But as far as we're concerned, it could be very short. Very short. Because we live lives that can be cut short very easily.

And yet he says, I consider the sufferings of his present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed in us. For the creation, this whole earth, and the planetary system that we watch circling the sun, and way beyond that, the entirety of the universe, that at this point, we can only glimpse into with some of the fabulous telescopes and cameras that they have to be able to see into the universe and the galaxies that are far beyond us.

He says, this whole creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. So this earth needs us. It needs us to become glorified as sons and daughters of God. He says, for the creation, in verse 20, was subject to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it. And he did that in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

See, that's what this whole world needs. It needs God to bring about the conclusion to His plan. He needs God to return in sending Jesus to the earth. That's what this world needs. That's the answer to the unanswerable questions that people have about why does this evil thing happen and why does that evil thing happen. He says in verse 27, we know that this whole creation is groaning in labor pains until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves.

We ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit grown inwardly when we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. And in hope, we were saved. See, not only this whole world needs the children of God to be brought to glory, we need that. We want that. Certainly as we age, as we labor with certain limitations, it seems that they can grow.

We yearn for that transformation that will take place. And as described here, I think very beautifully by what Paul writes as the whole earth is waiting for God to intervene and for Him to transform us. Where He has fulfilled His purpose in our lives and we can then help Him serve others through the world tomorrow, through the white throne judgment, throughout the expanse of the new heavens and the new earth.

What we read in the latter part of the book of Revelation goes long, far beyond what we normally even think about. See, that's what this world is groaning for. It's waiting for. And so, I think it's good for us to be reminded. To be reminded that when horrible things happen, when drastic, tragic, horrific things happen, we want to be brought back, and even as Paul did there in 1 Corinthians, even to a church that was struggling, he said you need to be reminded of what God's doing.

You need to be in mind of how God is preparing you to be a son or daughter, to be glorified. How He is going to cause you to be a part of His divine family. And, you know, I know we're aware of that. We know that. We can know about God. We can know about the Kingdom. We can know. And certainly it gives us comfort about some knowledge of the resurrections, as you hear about the death of so many young people, and even older people, perhaps.

Because, you know, understanding resurrections is not something people in general do. They rarely think about that. And yet I hope that we can all groan for the time that we can become a part of God's divine family. And that's really the answer that this memorial the other day, they had to admit, that, well, we're simply groping in the darkness, and we're unable to discern God's plans. But with the Spirit of God, that's what it said there in 1 Corinthians, with the Spirit of God, we can know the things of God, and we can know what God's purpose is.

And so we can then pursue that purpose. We can grow with that Spirit, and we can grow to be a part of the divine family. So I hope that as we think about maybe understanding the significance and the importance of what God has chosen to reveal to us, that we can yearn even more for the kingdom to come, that we can pray more emphatically, as Jesus told his disciples, to pray thy kingdom come. Pray for the will of God to be done on earth, for that to be changed, because right now it's allowed to be ruled by the God of this world, but the kingdom is coming.

And certainly we want to pray not only for our development and our being transformed by the Word and by the Spirit of God, but we want to yearn for the time that we know brings all the answers, because all of those answers are wrapped up in Christ's return to the earth. And so as John concludes, the book of Revelation, the last few verses of the book of Revelation, actually almost close to the very last words of the Bible, he in essence says what the answer is, and he tells us to look toward that answer.

And he tells us to yearn for the time when the solution will come, and that solution will come when Jesus returns. And that's why he says, and encourages us perhaps also to say, come, Lord Jesus.