The Fairness Of God

Hello, my name is Matthew. I'm a business construction business. We try to get things level. My dad was a home builder. I grew up spending my summers on the job with dad helping to build houses. I know how important it is to get level foundations, floors, and level level. Transits are used, spirit levels, and different tools to get things level. When things are level, it makes everything work better. Men who have worked either in remodeling a house or in construction building a house where the initial things have not been done, level with level foundations, know it can create problems and makes it a lot harder in what you have to build and do.

There are businesses that specialize in re-leveling foundations, houses, and such. Floors will sag. Maybe they weren't level to begin with. Maybe they've just aged and sunk a little bit and sagged. I knew one man who was going under houses and putting in jacks, piers, whatever it took to get everything jacked up and level where everything in the house was level. Otherwise, in the house, you might have to go around with shims and take those shims and shim furniture, different things, so they didn't lean.

As you know, the house we bought, which we're very thankful for because of its location, the privacy, and everything of it, and it has what we needed. That's what we were buying. We were going with what we needed. The house was built the same year I was in 1950.

Just like I'm not exactly decrepit, but I've got some age on me. The house does, too. It was completely renovated in 1982. But the floors in it are not totally level. There's a little sunken here and all, and I've had to take a few shims. But maybe it was level when it was built. Maybe it wasn't. But in the end, when things are level and construction, it makes everything work better.

Again, there's buildings, there are businesses that specialize in re-leveling foundations. In our day and age, there's a phrase we use. We talk about, quote, level playing fields. You ever hear that term? Sure you have. It's a fairly common phrase, level playing fields. And certainly in sports, all is done that can be. You know, rules are put into place to try to make fields as level as possible, the game as level as possible. Take the NFL. Of course, playoffs are going on right now.

There was a time when the receiver could be hit at the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped. He could be hit as many times as he's going down the field. He could be knocked flat off of his feet. He could be tackled whether he had the ball or not. There was a time.

And so those receivers back in those years who had good records, they accomplished more than once now because now, you know, you have to allow the person to have a chance to catch the ball under certain circumstances. But there are rules put into place to try to make the fields of play as level as possible. And in life itself, we try to make the playing fields as level as possible, don't we?

You heard the term again, a play on that other one, level the field. Well, we need to pass this rule or that rule, this regulation, in order to level the field. And, of course, in putting in rules and regulations to try and make such a play, sometimes we have more success with one thing than we do with something else.

Obvious. But people, people, we're people, and we deal with people. People are very concerned about things being level, aren't they? Okay, well, let me take the word level and let me use a substitute for that word level, fairness. Isn't that what we're talking about?

It's fairness when it comes to a level playing field for people and the field we have to play upon as people making things fair. They try to make things fair in sports. They try to make things fair in life. Why? Well, for one thing, people are very concerned about fairness, about what's fair and what's not. One of the most common statements that I have heard since I was a child, heard it all through my life, I will hear it to the day I die. I don't hear it every day, but I've heard the phrase, and I will continue to hear the phrase, that's not fair.

That's not fair. Let somebody run ahead or cut line and watch the reaction. Now, if you're going to cut line, look at who you're cutting light on. If you think you can get away with it, you might decide to chance it. But then again, depending on who you're cutting line on, I'm being a little facetious here, of course, because I'm not advocating cutting line. You look at who you're cutting line on and you think, oh, boy, I don't dare cut line on that person.

But just watch. I've seen it. I've actually been places where somebody cut line, you've got this long line and somebody jumps ahead of somebody else, and watch the body language of those who unfairly have been pushed back by somebody cutting line. I've seen places where, okay, Angela and I might be in line somewhere, and she goes to the bathroom because it might be a fairly long line.

And I'm standing there in line, you know, and somebody else comes in the line when she's not in sight. And here she comes back and she goes and cuts in line the way it looks. And I've seen the reaction on their face. I've read it. Who in the world is she thinks she is cutting line? And then they say that she's with me and they relax. So it's just interesting. The desire for and the expectation of fairness, that is innately built into us.

It's automatically part of our makeup. It's one of the factors. It's one of the forces that drives us. And you know, it's so important, and you've got a Bible here, and you read this Bible, and you think, what's in here is important? Absolutely. You think it's important to know it? Absolutely. It's also important to understand people. Of course, you learn a lot about people by also reading the accounts of people in here.

But it's very important to understand God's Word. It's very important to understand people. When I say people, I include us in it, to understand ourselves and what drives us, and what picks us up and encourages us, and what ticks us off, and what makes us mad, or what gets us discouraged. It's very important to understand the factors and forces that drive us. We are susceptible to those things. We're susceptible to its impact. We're susceptible to its influence. And due to that, just whether it's, well, step into the realm of the uncalled.

You know, there are the called of God, and there are the uncalled for the time being. But step into the realm of the uncalled, who don't grasp certain spiritual things that go with being the called of God. They themselves are also concerned about trying to make life be a level playing field.

And we have, we run into one major problem.

Life is not a level playing field. It isn't.

And you can't make it be. You can't make it be. That's the reality. You know, there are a lot of realities that maybe they're not easy to accept initially.

One of the realities is life is not a level playing field, and you can't make it be. If you have children, then I'm sure that at some time during their growing up, you've heard, or you hear from one or more of them. That's not fair. That's not fair. If you had or you have more than one, then you know that it was not, it is not possible to make everything be the exact same for each. You can't do it. It's not possible to make everything be the exact same for each. There are always varying factors of circumstances and conditions.

It's kind of like the birth order, the birth order. The set, the configuration that the firstborn is ushered into, that set of conditions and circumstances, that particular configuration is not exactly the same that the second born is born into or the youngest.

It doesn't take much thought to see that. You don't have to give it much thought. You can't make it be the same. How many times, if you have two children, if you had two or more, why did you let him do that and you won't let me? Well, he got to do that and I can't. Or he had this opportunity and I didn't. Life is fluid. Situations change. If the youngest were to say to you, Mom, Dad, why couldn't I be the firstborn? I didn't pick to be the firstborn. My brother didn't pick to be the youngest. The twins didn't pick to be in the middle, sandwiched. It is interesting that just simply as a human being, we fare better in this life. And you know, if I could think of a way to fare better, if you could think of a way to add to the betterment of your life, wouldn't you want to do it? Well, there are numerous things that do add to betterment of life. And it is interesting that just simply as a human being, we fare better in this life. We handle it better with less stress and frustrations when we accept the idea, which is really an inescapable reality that life isn't going to be fair. We talk about when we're young and how the young are so idealistic. That's part of God's design. And that's wonderful and great.

But we talk about how as you age and move through life, you lose a lot of that idealism. And you do. And, of course, the downside danger is that you can become a pure skeptic or you can become purely cynical. You don't want that. You want to give up and lose some of the naivete. You want to mature. But moving into cynicism is not maturity either.

But one of the illusions when you're young growing up is you either think that life can be made fair or at some point it's going to be fair. Or you can do things to make life fair. And you find out you can't. I'm not saying there are not some things you can do. But you can't make life be totally fair.

But you can appreciate the fairness when it's there, when you have it. And you can deal responsibly with the unfairness when that's the reality. Well, guess what? That whole type thing gives us an important flexibility. You've heard this statement. It's been used many a time.

And I have a little bit different version I like to add to it. And I've said this before.

Because I have seen many a supple tree bend before the wind and the wind passes and it stands back up straight. It was bent but not broken. Along this line of thinking and in keeping with flexibility is Luke 21.19. So turn with me, please, to Luke 21 verse 19.

Luke 21 and verse 19.

As they say, do you want to hang on to yourself? Do you want to keep things intact?

Do you want to be in possession of yourself properly, responsibly?

Do you want to be on the road of ultimate success spiritually? Okay. Luke 21.19. In your patience, possess you your souls. See, this is in keeping with that flexibility of being bent but not broken. This presents a certain quiet acceptance of, a certain patiently enduring of, and plodding on. And along this line of thinking is also Romans 2.7. Romans 2 and verse 7.

And I've always found it interesting that there's a double emphasis here. In Romans 2 verse 7 it says, "...to them who by..." and that's you and me, to them, let's talk about the ecclesia, the body of Christ. "...to them who by..." and then here's this double emphasis, patient continuance. It could have just said, to those who by patience in well-doing. It could have said to those who by continuance in well-doing. But put a double emphasis to them who by patient continuance. They're continuing on, but they're not just continuing on with all the stresses and the frustrations and the anxieties. Oh yeah, they're keeping on. But boy, are they chafing and all of that? No, they're patiently, with a certain calm, quiet acceptance of the reality, and they're patiently continuing on. It speaks to just a steady carrying on. And you bear in mind God's awareness. As you do, you bear in mind, you keep it in mind God's awareness that He's aware.

That He is aware of all reality, of each and every reality. You know, as God looks down today on the planet, as He looks down on the universe, as He looks down upon all life, human flesh and blood, angels, holy angels, fallen angels. There is not an aspect of reality that God is not aware of. He's aware of every single thing that happened yesterday. He's aware of everything that is happening today. He is very attuned. And again, as we've said, most of all, there is no area that has His focused attention and captures His heart more than those who either carry His Spirit in begettle in their makeup, His Spirit combined with their spirit, or who have His Spirit with them, working with them, whether they be a child or an adult, where He is placing His Spirit and His working and His enlightenment. He's very aware, and He's very aware of our exact placement in it. Now, I substituted fairness for the word, level. And that's part of the title. I mean, that is the subject matter. God is aware, and He cares. Let's look at Matthew 6, verses 25 through 34. I just want to read through it. You don't have to expound on it that much, but just primarily read through it. Matthew 6, verses 25 through 34. And bear in mind, this is the Sermon on the Mount. This is the discourse, the message, to specifically His disciples, set apart from the multitude in a private place and instructing them. And so His audience is...it is those who are the pre-runners of the Eclaecia. Those who are going to be the Eclaecia. Those that He is working with and calling that's going to be given His Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And, of course, there will be others added to them along the way, even up to that point. But these are some of those that are called to be part of the Eclaecia of God. And He says to them, Therefore I say to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. It is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment. Now, He's not saying you never care about it. Okay, I'm supposed to be at the job at 8 o'clock, but who cares? You know, this Scripture says I don't have to worry about it. So I'll go in at 10. Or I won't even go in at all today. You're not going to keep the job very long. And God will say, You're worse than infidel. You're not even willing to provide for your family. So you have to balance these things, just like Christ said, if your hand offends, you cut it off. If your eye offends, you pluck it out. There are certain statements He makes that are said, it's called exaggeration for effect, to really drive the point home. What He's talking about is anxiety. He's talking about people getting all been out of shape, getting all worried, getting all concerned. And we know people who live with such a load of stress and anxiety and all that it just... Well, in some cases, it literally does destroy them, but it certainly ruins their quality of life. But He's trying to point out something to them to get things in order. Look, look at the birds of the air. They know so. They don't reap. They don't gather into barns. Yet your Heavenly Father has provided for them. See, He feeds them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to your stature? If that was possible, I would have been six foot two. Minimum. And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field. How they grow, they twirl not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not a raid like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow it's cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you? O, you of little faith? He's really talking about them getting their priorities in order. Therefore, take no thought saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Don't get bent out of shape. Don't worry about it. Just go about responsibly like you should, and you're going to have God's support in His backing. Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? He says, For after all these things did the Gentiles seek? We could say the uncalled, spiritually speaking, the uncalled, spiritually speaking, the unconverted. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. And we know He's really emphasizing the priority on it, and God's awareness, and God's concern, and God's support and backing, because He says in verse 33, But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. And when you look at what pertains to the righteousness of God, which does have to do with planning, and vision, and thought, and work ethic, and honesty, and all of that kind of stuff, and you attend to what you should be attending to, and you're seeking the kingdom of God first, it's the front thing that you're headed for. And keeping in mind, yeah, you're going to have His support. Take heed therefore, take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. It's just putting things in perspective. And we have that, what in a sense I call the standard standby of God's focused attention upon us out of His love and concern that you have in Matthew 10.

Again, very familiar territory, verses 29 through 31. Matthew 10, verses 29 through 31, He says, are not two sparrows sold for, let's say, a penny, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father, not that your Father ordains their fall. The little word may have fallen just because He flew out in front of your grill at the wrong time.

But what He's saying is, God the Father is so attuned to everything going on, not even a bird falls, that He's not aware that it failed. You shot that seven-point buck, God saw that you shot that seven-point buck. And it was very important to you, if you're a hunter, that you got that seven-point buck.

You stubbed your little toe. You wondered if you broke it or just sprained it. God knows you stubbed your little toe because He saw it happen. That's how attuned He is to us. See, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Now, for some of us, including myself, it gets a little easy for God to keep up with the number of hairs on my head because they're thinning out. And I'm beginning to shine in the sunlight and the other lights a little bit more.

He says, fear not therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. See, don't fall prey to and don't give in to the negative feelings, frustration, stresses, anxieties that the on-level playing field of the world presents because it does present very much so an on-level playing field. Keep in mind, bear in mind two things.

Number one, this is not God's world. You cannot make it be. There is no power that can make it be. I hear these people talk about, go change the world. Graduation exercises every year. And I understand why they do it. I mean, I don't have any problem understanding why they do it. You know, you're the graduates of whatever year it is. You're going to go out here and change the world. No, you're not going to go out here and change the world. Now, you can make sure that your contribution is a positive one. And that's good. But you're not going to go change the world because the very first thing you'd have to do to change the world is what Christ is going to do when He comes back. He's going to remove the power of the world. He's going to bind Satan. And you have no power to go bind Satan. And that's the main thing in why this is not God's world. But it's not God's world. No. 2, He is. God is with you in it. That's crucial. When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it's a little bit scary. And it's a little bit difficult. Sometimes that's a whole lot scary and sometimes it's a whole lot difficult. When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and that's when you really need God to walk beside you. And He is. David talked about walking through the valley of the shadow of death and God being with Him. No. 1, it's not God's world. No. 2, He is with us in it and behind. I want to go back to that point, though. This is not God's world. Okay. We say we believe that. We say, I don't have any problem understanding that. Okay, then why would we have a problem understanding that it's not going to be a level playing field? In other words, it's not going to be fair. Why does it surprise us if we run into a lot of unfairness? Why does it surprise us? Why would anyone of us say, life is not fair and I don't understand it? Life isn't fair. And again, you can't make it be fair. The playing field of the world upon which the first fruit you and I will have to train is the most unlevel, unfair field of all man's time. What is man's time? I can tell you what man's time is. It's basically, from what we understand from Scripture, 7,100 years. 6,000 years of this age, 1,000 years of the millennium, brings it up to 7,000, after the millennium is finished. And the devil is loosed a little while upon the peoples of the millennium as a testing thing and then put away. Then the general resurrection, the second resurrection. All these untold billions from this age brought up.

Of those three epochs of time, this age, the millennial rule, the time of the last great day, that eighth day, holy day, with what it's all about.

This age is the most unlevel, unfair field of all man's time. And you're not called, you are not called, and I am not called, to do spiritually upon the field of the millennium, or the field of the last great day. We're called to do spiritually, responsibly, on this field. And this is the most unfair field of all. It's the most tilted of all. Take life. Take what life feels like these days. You know what life feels like for so many people, including us in God's Church? It's like we're on a treadmill, and we're walking along on this treadmill. And as time goes on, the incline of the treadmill is raised more and more, and the speed of it more and more. And so many people are just pushing harder and harder just to try to get by, make ends meet, keep their heads above water, keep their sanity. And we're not affected by that, too. No, we're affected by it. It's the most tilted of all time. It is the toughest field. Guess what? It produces the toughest team for God. The 40 years in the wilderness of the 19 and younger, who 40 years later came out of that wilderness ages 59 and younger, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. Joshua was 85, Caleb was 80. That was the toughest generation. The one that settled the land, the one that was the foundation of the physical promised land, the foundational generation, that was the toughest generation that ever existed in the land of Canaan. The first fruits are the ground floor. They're the foundational floor. They're the toughest generation that will ever be produced. And no one entering the kingdom of God after us will have a better and a stronger appreciation for fairness, because we have lived with the most unfairness that we've had to deal with in life. Nobody will have a better and stronger appreciation for fairness and a greater incentive, understanding and motivation, for maintaining a fair and level playing field of life for them in the millennium and the last great day. And as much as that can be produced for human beings during the millennium and the last great day, the world tomorrow, we will do it as we assist Jesus Christ. We, from this age of the greatest unfairness, from the most unlevel field of man's time, we will be the most aware and we will be the most resolved regarding the value and the impact of a level playing field. Fairness will be very deeply ingrained in our fiber, most deeply ingrained through the unfairness of this world. Again, I go back to point 1. This is not God's world. We bear that in mind as we deal with... Okay, let's read John 15. Let's go to John 15, verses 18 through 20. In John 15, verses 18 through 20, Christ said, If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own, but because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you. Remember it. The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they've kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Of course, they crucified him. And we live at a time now where the more you stand for what is good and right and solid, the more you put a target on your back and your chest. Because we're seeing our nation swing more and more into abominable ungodliness. Every year, the godless element in this nation gains more ground.

John 17. And as it does, we become more and more a threat the way they see it. Because what we believe indicts them. In John 17, verses 14 through 18, I've given them your word, and the world has hated them because they're not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil. That they don't absorb the evil. They don't compromise into it. They don't let it become a part of them. Because it crowds out the righteousness of God in Christ. They're not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Set them apart through your truth. Your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Now, this is not God's world. How many Scriptures would we have to read to really finally say, Okay, I accept that reality. It's not God's world. I mean, we read in 2 Corinthians 4.4. I'm not going to turn there. But 2 Corinthians 4.4 plainly says that Satan is the God of this world, or that is the God of this age. He is the prime being of this age. I want to go to, in light of that statement in 2 Corinthians 4.4, I want to go to Luke 4, verses 5 and 7 in the battle of minds in the wilderness where Christ had to face off with the devil.

In Luke 4, verses 5 through 7, now it says that Satan is the God of this world. He is the prime ruler of this age, of this time, on this planet. Luke 4, beginning in verse 5, and the devil took him, taking him Christ, up into eye-mountain, showed to him all the kingdoms of the world. Now, notice what it says here, all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Some kind of panoramic vision showed him all these kingdoms. And the devil said to him, all this power will I give you, and the glory of them.

Now, notice what he says, for that...understand something. The devil knows who he is dealing with. He is dealing with Christ. He is dealing with the one who had been there with God for eternity. He had, as the former Lucifer, gone back and forth to heaven before the throne of God. He had dealt with this being who was now flesh and blood before him. He knew exactly who he was dealing with, and he knows if this is not true, all Christ has to say is, why are you trying to pull that?

You're simply lying about what you just said. Christ did not contest that. What he said was, for that is delivered unto me, and to whosoever I will, I give it. He is the God of this world. That doesn't mean God cannot intercede any time God wants to step in and intercede somewhere, as Scripture shows he does, and as we know that he can and that he does and that he has, he can step in.

But he doesn't take those kingdoms until the seventh trumpet sounds. And in the meantime, they belong to Satan, and his power, his spirit, permeates this age. See, if we go to Ephesians 2 and verse 2, Ephesians 2 and verse 2, which to me has always been the companion Scripture to 2 Corinthians 4, 4, it says, wherein in time past you, talking to the ecclesia who have reversed their steps, turned around on a spiritual U-turn from sin towards righteousness, you walked according to the course of this world.

Okay, the flow, the course, the current, the flow of the world, which is set according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. So he makes this statement to the Ephesians here in this letter, and as you read on through the letter, you come to Ephesians 6 verse 12, and in Ephesians 6 and verse 12, it really follows up on what he says in Ephesians 2.

He tells them that up front in the letter, and before he closes the letter, he says, look, you know, you've got this spirit that permeates the world. It's out there, it flows. It's the current, it's the course, and it has its impact. And he says, for we, Chapter 6 verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Oh, flesh and blood instrumentality may be involved. But the real core issue of that current, of that course, is unseen powers that are affecting and influencing. But against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, or as it can be rendered, against wicked spirits in high places.

So, again, honesty with the Bible, honesty with the atmosphere of this age, we have no other conclusion other than simply the reality, this is not God's world. The flow of it is against us. It is against us. I have swam a lot, done a lot of swimming in my lifetime, and years past. And I have been in currents that I could swim very easily against. They were very mild, and there were currents that I couldn't gain any ground.

I have been a top canoeist at one time. And there were times when the winds were so strong against us that you could see the shore, and you couldn't get to it. All you could do is just basically hold your ground, paddling as hard as you could. You could hold your ground, but you couldn't gain. The best you could do is not lose, just hold still until the wind finally let down just enough that then you could begin to gain some headway, and just be achingly tired from the struggle. And that's the way it is sometimes. There is a flow, and it's against us.

And for us as first fruits in this age, we are the ones for whom the field of this age is most unlevel. Now, you go out here in society and just observe. Nobody has got a level playing field, basically. As a human experience, everybody is having to deal with an unlevel playing field.

But as far as the field of this age is concerned, it's most unlevel, it's most unfair to the people of God. Because we not only have to fight society, Satan, but also self. We have the greatest challenge on our hands. And in that sense, in one sense, it's the most unfair. Notice Matthew 5, to go back to the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 5, this time verses 10 and 11.

Matthew 5, verses 10 and 11.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake.

Now, you and I know that if we do righteousness, and seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that if we do righteousness, that in and of itself is a blessing. Because it's part of the process of being spiritually successful to having eternal life in the family of God, the kingdom of God. We understand that.

He says, blessed are you, those who get persecuted because they're doing the right thing. They're seeking righteousness.

There will be times where you can do the right thing and avoid drawing attention to yourself.

You can stay under the radar. There are times when you can do the right thing, and in doing the right thing in a wise way, you can stay under the radar. But then there are times where in order to do the right thing, you are fully in the radar. You cannot go under it. And you catch it for doing the right thing. There are times when you are positioned to do the right thing, put you in the full glare of the spotlight. And to do the right thing, you can't avoid it. And you get persecuted for it.

For there is the kingdom of heaven. Verse 11. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you lying. And King James says falsely, it also could have been translated lying for my sake.

Understanding and accepting the reality of the unfairness of this time, well, it's like, okay, that helps us to better and more successfully deal with it.

Well, it's nothing weird, nothing strange. Prophesied that there would be times when it happened. Now, let me throw a clarifier in. There are times and situations where you can and should fight for what's fair. There are times. Now, you've got to be wise to be able to discern those times and discern how to go about it. But there are times and there are situations where you can, and you should, fight for what's fair. But that's another subject for another time. But again, point one, it's not God's world. Knowing that presents us with the realization that we must never lose sight of, okay, if it is not God's world, it can't last. It can't last. It will pass. It's kind of like this life. Now, I've spoken on enough that that could be some of you thinking, oh, is Mr. Bing ready to give up life? No. My earliest memories take me back to age three. I can't remember before age three. But I have some very distinct memories in my mind of being in Chicago, Illinois, when we lived there for six months when I was three years old. I've got very distinct memories of when I was four and five. And I've got very distinct memories of being ten years old and thinking, boy, it's going to take a long, long time to get grown. That's so far away. I mean, I'm going to get grown someday, but boy, it's such a long wait. And I can remember years ago when I thought, the year 2020? Well, that would be the year I turned seventy. I'll turn seventy during 2020. Well, that is so far off. You know the saying, this too shall pass? I can look in the mirror and say, oh boy, oh brother, your life is about past. This too shall pass. I may live to be eighty. God may bless me to live to be eighty. He may bless me to live to be ninety. He might bless me to live longer than that if this age stands. Eighty is only ten years. Well, eleven years, I guess I could say. I'm in my seventieth year of life. I just haven't completed seventy yet. But basically, eighty is roughly a decade away. I just think how we have that saying, this too shall pass. If you're sitting in a dentist chair and they're about to give you a shot of Novocain and drill on a tooth, you're telling yourself, this too shall pass. This too shall pass. You keep that in mind, this too shall pass. You know, all these situations, this too shall pass. Well, this world too shall pass. And boy, how do I look forward to it? And frankly, it is passing. But I want to turn to 1 John 2. This world too shall pass. I love life. I love living. I love God's truth. I love the serving, the sharing, the relationships. I love life. I don't like everything that I have to deal with in this life. But I realize it's only for a time and with tremendous rewards beyond it. But in 1 John 2 verse 15, don't love the world. It's not talking about the people. We're supposed to love people, yes. But all this garbage that people get caught up in and what too many times is important to them, that shouldn't be important, or how they let themselves be run and operated by elements and spirit and peer pressure, and what's the latest fad or whatever that may be totally corrupt on the way over here. Angela and I, on the way over here, we cut through a neighborhood. Up in front of us, a car had pulled over and they were switching drivers. And the driver got out and had two guys. The guy got out and he had on sweatpants. The sweatpants were under his hips, showing he had on red boxers.

Angela, don't look! Ethel, don't look! The streak, remember? I mean, where's people's...where are they thinking? I don't know what they glorify in, what they glorify. Love not the world, neither the things are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I didn't like seeing that. God doesn't either. For all that is in the world, and again, the emphasis is on the lust. The lust itself is not bad. It's our composition. It's what's written into it. But it says, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.

The eyesight is wonderful. And the pride, it's that pride and arrogance of life. Life is good. But the lust, the lust, the pride is not of the Father, but is of the world. And bear this in mind, John is saying, the world passes away. And the lust that goes with it, but he that does the will of God, abides forever. Yeah, it will pass. How wonderful the sound of a particular trumpet. Revelation 11.15. How wonderful.

If you'll just bow down and worship me, I'll give you the power of all of these kingdoms. No. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to stand for God. I'm going to stand for what's right. Approximately, just to round it off. Approximately 2,000 years from the time that the devil offered that to Christ, the most important trumpet will sound. Revelation 11.15. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world, which Satan offered if Christ would just worship him.

No, Christ. No. No way. Not going to. No. That's wrong. That's sin. No. I'm going to stay the course. I'm going to do what's right. Round it off. Let's say 2,000 years later, approximately. The announcement, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever. It's not God's world.

That's only for a time. Only for a time is it not God's world. This world is destined to change. A new world is going to be ushered in. And when it is, I will be ushered either from the grave, or I will be ushered, as I stand on my feet, from a material composition into something that is called Spirit that is eternal.

A new world is going to be ushered in. The world of God and Jesus Christ and you and I, me, we, as resurrected firstfruits. And that brings up the second thing to keep and bear in mind.

Number two, as I said already, He is with us in it and beyond. He is with us in it and beyond. Hebrews 13 and verse 5, think of this when Paul said this to them. In Hebrews 13 and verse 5, he says, "...let your conduct be without covetousness." For the most part, not totally, but for the most part, covetousness is related to things. What I mean is, for the most part, people covet this and they covet that.

Now, obviously, it's not just things. They can covet somebody's mate. They can covet position. It can be numerous things. They covet. But he says, "...let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, for He has said..." And this is the last chapter of Hebrews. He's concluding the letter, isn't he?

And he puts this in. He makes sure he gets this in the letter. "...I will never leave you nor forsake you." He's saying that to the Ekklesia. What's going to happen to him? This is in the early, at most, mid-60s. In 66 AD, war is going to break out in Judea. In 70 AD, Jerusalem and the Temple is going to be destroyed. And the world that they have known in Jerusalem and the sister cities and congregations of Judea is going to be gone.

And he is helping to set the stage for them to be prepared spiritually, living in a way that neither are they caught in it, nor do they feel like their whole world has collapsed. Because don't make this world your world to the point when it passes, you feel like you're passing with it. Utilize it properly. Bear in mind, see, the church then lived through something we haven't lived through yet.

And you and I may live through some of the same thing. But the key thing he's leaving on that is, God sent. I will never leave you nor forsake you. And of course, we know that scripture in Matthew 28, 20, where as Christ, as the book is concluding there in Matthew 28, verse 20, He says, I am always with you, even to the end of the world. I'm always with you. Seek you first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, Matthew 6, 33. Again, this point, point 2, that He is with us, He's with us in, is the most important reality.

That's the most important reality. My mother said before she died, in the last year or two, before she died, she said, in this life, she says before this life is finished for any one of us, we may not know what we have to go through. She was a first fruit. She was an ecclesia. And she said, I'm not afraid of dying. She said, I don't know what I may have to go through between now and that point.

The most important reality, and the reality of this age that surrounds us, that we have to live and deal with, because it's around us, is this reality that God is with us. And it's this second reality that makes the other reality, the world not being God's, indurable and livable. It's this second reality, Him being with us in it, that really makes the difference with the other reality. And Him being with us is with us now and for the beyond, for beyond this life, for whom we are no longer mortal or immortal.

Let's go back to Matthew 5. We were there a little bit ago. Let's go back to Matthew 5 and let's go back specifically to verses 10 and 11 again. Because the full title, the full title of this subject of fairness is the fairness of God, the fairness of God.

Matthew 5 verse 10, Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. It's unfair to be persecuted for doing the right thing. Now, just on a straight-on basis, is it fair for somebody to persecute you because you do the right thing? Because you're doing the right thing and you catch, as they say, heck for it.

You catch it for doing the right thing. Is that fair? No! That's not fair. God never said it was fair. And anybody knows that if you're doing the right thing... A man won't lie for his boss. I'm sorry, boss. I can't lie. I won't lie for you. I can't. I can't lie for you. I have a greater allegiance. It's to God. I can't sin against God. I can't lie for you.

If you can't lie for me, then you don't have a job here. I'm sorry, boss, but I can't lie for you. Then you're fired. That's not fair, is it? Is that fair? No, that's not fair. Look at verse 11. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely are lying for my sake. Is it fair that you're doing what you do for God's sake?

For Christ's sake? For the Father's sake? And you're reviled? And you're lied about? Is that fair or unfair? Look, I don't play with words. I don't stick my head in the sand. It's not fair, is it? No, it's not. And God doesn't say it's fair.

But you know what God does do? God makes it fair. That's the difference. He makes it fair. How does He make it fair? Okay, verse 10 again. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs. Yeah, you're treated unfairly. But guess what? Yours is the kingdom of heaven. It's not for them. It will be only when they repent. Only when they go the route of repentance and seeking the kingdom and righteousness, which may have to be in the last great day. It's not fair they do that to you. But I'm going to make it fair because you are willing to put up with that unfairness. The kingdom is yours. Yours is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God. Notice verse 12. Verse 11? No, it's not fair to be lied about. But notice what He says in verse 12. I'm going to make it fair. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. In the face of the unfairness, keep this in mind, great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted are they the prophets which were before you. Great is your reward in heaven. The greatest rewards go to the first fruits. I didn't say the only rewards, but I said the greatest. The greatest rewards go to the first fruits. Go to the sons and the daughters taken from the most tilted and unfair fields of mankind. You will find this phrase used in Hebrews 11.35. I'm not going to turn back there. But in Hebrews 11 and verse 35, the faith chapter, those of faith of this age who obtained that good record, the phrase, a better resurrection. Don't play that down. Don't delete better. The first resurrection when Jesus Christ returns, any resurrection into eternal life is wonderful. From the millennium, the last great day, you know, any is wonderful. To have eternal life is wonderful. But it is a better resurrection. The greatest rewards go to the first fruits. Also, the first fruits obviously are the ones who have to play spiritually, responsibly on the most unfair, untilted field of all the ages. But this is why Paul wrote in Romans 8.18. As we wrap this up, he wrote in Romans 8.18, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, the glory which shall be revealed in us. He understood, Paul understood the unfairness of the age, but most importantly, he understood the fairness of God.

And he said, if you could only capture a true vision of the glory that is to be revealed in us, you would understand that it would, even though it's hard to understand it while you're flesh and blood, yes, but if you could, it would put the sufferings in the shadow.

Are they sufferings? Yes. Is it still pain and sorrow and hardship? Yes. But it would put it in the shadow. It would shrink it because of the glory that you're going to have. He understood how that God was going to more than make it come out fair.

And so we have Romans 8 and verse 28. Again, a very familiar and encouraging Scripture. He knew that God was and is in it with us for the beyond that is coming. And so he said in Romans 8, 28, we know that all things work together.

All things can go to serving that goal. They can be worked together in a way for good. Even the mistakes we make, we learn from them, we grow from them. Notice to them that love God. You have to love God. We have to learn to love God. We've got to show God that we do love Him and grow in love for Him in His ways. For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the call according to His purpose. For good, the ultimate good. In this same chapter, if you back up with me to verse 17. In verse 17, and if children...back up to verse 16. The Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God. That's inheritors. We all know who Jesus Christ is. He was God forever, without beginning, without end. Pre-existent, eternal, always been. With the Father, became flesh and blood, made it possible for us to have eternal life, to enter the family of God by and through Christ and the working of God's Spirit. He's God. He's God the Son. He has inherited with the Father. So we know who He is, so what does it say about us? It says that we're joint heirs, joint inheritors, co-heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. You think about it. Heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ, glorified together with Him in glory, sharing in His glory when He comes. And when you read about a new heavens and a new earth in Revelation 21, your reading of benefits we have to look forward to, your reading of inheritance, that new heavens and new earth, that's part of our inheritance. That belongs to God and He's giving us ownership also in it as co-heirs with Christ. Final Scripture, Daniel 7, verse 18. Daniel 7, verse 18, which is simply supportive of this. Daniel 7, verse 18, the prophecy, but the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and, wonderful word here, possess the kingdom. That's ownership. Possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. No, life is not fair. This age is not fair. It's a tilted, unleveled playing field, especially for the saints and especially for the firstfruits, but God is the great leveler. He will make it come out more than fair for us in the end. He will more than, as we say, square the account. And when that day comes and we're able to see and hold everything in the balance, we will testify fully and firmly as tremendous witnesses of such to ourselves, to each other, to God, to those of the millennium, to those of the last great day. We will testify fully and firmly to the fairness of God.