Faith, Hope and Love

God created man as a perfect physical human being. Indeed, we are wonderfully made. It's just amazing how the body works, how everything functions, and a tiny little thing goes wrong, and it affects everything, and a whole lot of things are impacted. As part of his creation, God first put Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, and God gave instructions to Adam and Eve on how to live, how to decide what is right and what is wrong. And God also gave Adam and Eve, and God gives you and I freedom to choose. As we read in Deuteronomy 30, verse 15, See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. God has given us the choice to choose good or bad. You and I have free moral agency. Then a little later, in verse 19, still under Deuteronomy 30, it says, I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live. And may live, really, when you think about it, means may live eternally, eternal life.

You see, we have the choice before us, and as we make a choice, we make a commitment to do it. That was exactly what happened in a garden of Eden. There was a choice to be made between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life would symbolize a commitment to choose and to believe and to trust what God was saying was right and wrong, and therefore make that commitment, and as outcome of that, mankind would receive God's Holy Spirit. And that's what happens to you and I when we make that commitment, that choice, and we are baptized, which symbolizes that commitment, we then receive God's Holy Spirit. But the choice was for them, and the choice is for us, to choose for ourselves the knowledge of what's good and evil, symbolizing that you and I have the brain power and the capability to have our own self-developed knowledge, or so-called science, of what is good and evil based on our human reasoning apart from God. And that, in other words, is the way of death, or it could have been called the tree of death. So Adam chose, and mankind has continuously chosen to go the way of death. In other words, the way of choosing for ourselves, deciding for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.

And that's because we have free will. Free will. And God will never take that away from us, because that would be against this plan, because he wants his children in the kingdom, and it is absolutely required for his children to have free will. But that free will implies that we must trust God. We must trust him and what he says, because he is our Creator, and he knows what is good for us and what is not good. And we, therefore, are to follow his instructions, because he knows what's better for us. And so we have to trust him. And we, you and I, and before we were called, we were following this way of death, choosing for ourselves what was right and wrong, and not submitting ourselves to the trust of trusting God what is right and wrong.

You see, brethren, in Hebrews 11 verse 1, we read, for instance, in the new international version, it reads, Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Faith, in a sense, therefore, is trust, trusting God. You know, it was a confidence and assurance, you know, it was a trust in God, that what he says is the correct things to do and to live.

And faith is therefore based on their hope. Brethren, today I want to show you the connection between faith, hope, and love in this great plan of God. And the choice that Adam and Eve made and that we make until God calls us has become a mindset which is deeply rooted, in other words, deeply ingrained in our society in many ways. And it affects us more than what you and I can imagine.

In practically all areas of knowledge in this world, mankind, scientists, knowledgeable people have taken a deliberate choice to ignore what God said and what God says, what's right and wrong, and they're following the way of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in other words, the tree of death. In Proverbs 14 verse 12, it basically addresses that same point, Proverbs 14 verse 12, and there we read, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. You see, that's the way of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

That is the way of death, because it seems right to a man. We end up drawing the wrong conclusions, and through those wrong conclusions, it leads to different ways of doing things in the society, different ideologies or different statements that people say that says, well, as long as nobody gets hurt, I'll do what I want to do, or competition brings the best out in people, and the end result is hurt, pain, suffering, and death.

On the other side, the tree of life, following God's instructions of what's right and wrong, leads us to peace, true peace, peace of mind, true happiness, true harmony, because of God's knowledge, and because when we commit to go that way, God gives us the helper, God's Holy Spirit, to help us go that way.

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, in 1st Timothy chapter 6, 1st Timothy chapter 6, 1st Timothy chapter 6, reading right at the end in verse 20. Timothy, God what has been committed to your trust. You see, there's an area of trust that we have to trust God, and God trusts us as his ministers and servants to do it. So it's committed to our trust, avoiding profane and idle babblings and all these contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, the knowledge of this world.

If you read that in the King James Version, it says this way, oppositions of science falsely so called. See, not all science is true science. It's knowledge that is falsely called knowledge. You see, brethren, mankind has rejected God as the source of knowledge. In other words, we do not trust God.

That's what it is. We, as human beings, we don't trust God. Because we don't understand God's great plan. You see, God has an enormous plan for you and I. And through this plan, it is an absolutely key requirement that you and I have free moral agency.

You'll never take that away from us. But man needs to learn the lesson and prove to himself beyond a shadow of doubt that our own self-developed knowledge is a way of self, of pride, of greed, of competition, which will only bring misery, suffering, unhappiness, and death.

You know, God's plan could be said that it is a 7,000-year plan, symbolizing seven millennial days. And God has given the first six days for our labor, for our work. But after those first 6,000 years, God will intervene. In the meantime, during these 6,000 years, God is calling some.

Many are called, but few are chosen because few actually commit to do it. But God is calling some now, preparing them, in other words, preparing a people, preparing them for the Kingdom of God in the seventh millennial day, the millennium. Those will be resurrected because not only were they called, but they were chosen because they were doing it, and they were faithful till the end. And the end is when you and I draw the lost breath or when Christ comes, whichever comes first. Then we'll be selected, we'll be chosen, we'll be qualified, we'll be trained to be world leaders, world teachers, the ones that are going to teach the rest of mankind the way of the Tree of Life. Mankind then will appreciate, and then they will trust God because they prove to themselves that the other way just doesn't work, and it causes too much pain, suffering, and death.

You see, it's mankind that has separated themselves from God due to mankind's own choice.

Man has rejected God. Man has rejected God's grace. What do I mean by grace? Well, you and I can think of grace as one way, which is true, but God's grace is also His knowledge, His education, His teaching to us of what is right and wrong. That is gracious towards us. God's laws are for our good, are God's goodness, God's grace. And so, mankind has put aside God's knowledge of what's right and wrong. Mankind has put aside God's trust. Mankind does not trust God, and therefore they don't do what God says. They don't follow the instructions in the instruction book, which is this book, the Bible. And so, mankind has not followed the instructions. Mankind has cut themselves off, and it all actually started from the first man and a woman in the Garden of Eden. And it has just continued since then. You see, when you read the parable of the wedding feast, starting in Matthew 22, you see that there is a feast, many are called, and they say, no, I'm not coming because of this or because of that, or they all have an excuse. And then at the end of that parable in verse 14 says, many are called. How many people receive or have heard the good news of the kingdom of God through, for instance, the plain truth or the Beyond Today magazine as of late? And many people have actually chosen and committed to follow that way.

A fraction. A fraction. Many are called, but few are chosen. They chosen, few are chosen, because they themselves disqualify themselves in that selecting selection process.

So what is God's plan for us? Well, God's plan is revealed, as you and I know, by his Holy Day plan. And his Holy Day plan is clearly described in Leviticus 23. So we'll turn there briefly, Leviticus 23, and in verse 5 first talks about the Passover, because God's plan has to start with the death of our Savior to buy us back from this way of death. And therefore, through the blood of Jesus Christ, you and I are saved from the penalty of sin. We are redeemed. Then, in the next section, in Leviticus 23, we have the days of 11 bread, the 11 bread season, which we have just completed, in which we make the commitment to obey God completely, therefore for seven days. And then during that period of 11 bread, as we can see in verse 11, there is a wave sheaf, a wave sheaf which is waved before the Lord to be accepted on our behalf. And there we see the resurrected Jesus Christ being accepted on our behalf as our high priest. And then we move on to verses 15 through 17, in the count of seven Sabbaths from there, from the wave sheaf, plus one day to 50, which is Pentecost. And then on verse 15 through 17 talks about that. And then in verse 17, it says that you are to bring two wave loves which are baked with 11, as you can see in verse 17. And that is significant because it represents you and I with living. We still have sin. We still physical human beings with living. And we are, and it says, they are the first fruits to the Lord. Yes, you and I are the first fruits, not yet, not yet the ultimate first fruits that we'll be, as we'll show you in a moment. But in the day of Pentecost, what happened is that we received God's Holy Spirit. And God's Holy Spirit is given to us to help us overcome ourselves, our human nature, our carnal mind, and be like God is, have a mind like He is, a mind of love. And that is, you think about Israelites, kept Pentecost. They kept Passover. They kept the Days of Unleavened Bread. They kept Pentecost. But they missed the mark. And the eye is a lesson which is important because they had the best education they could. They had Moses himself out there, instructed by God, teaching about this way. They had healthy genetics. They were healthy for 40 years. They were in the desert. And they did well, physically speaking. They had many blessings, but they did not have God's Holy Spirit. And they chose continuously the wrong way. And therefore, they had a lot of problems, and they ended up going into slavery.

You see, they sinned. And it's easy for us when we read the Old Testament to say, how could they do that? But as you and I read, for instance, in Isaiah 64, verse 6, Isaiah 64, verse 6, we all are sinners. And in Isaiah 64, it tells us that we are all like filthy rags. Let me just read it. It says, but we all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags. You see, we can't really do it just by ourselves. We need God's helper. We need His Spirit. And as we learn to believe in Him and trust in Him, we then need to make a commitment and do it. And as we do it, we receive God's Holy Spirit. And what God's Holy Spirit helps us is help us to have God's love. If you read in Romans 5, verse 5, Romans chapter 5, verse 5, it reads, Now hope does not disappoint us. You see, we need to have this hope of this plan, of what God is promising us, of the kingdom of God. We need to have this hope. And this hope does not disappoint us because the love of God has been poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us, symbolized by Pentecost. So the Israelites said all this. You can read in Deuteronomy 5. You can also read in Exodus 20, but in Deuteronomy 5, starting around verse 6 and then going on, it describes the Ten Commandments. And then they say, well, God, don't talk to us directly. And then they said, we will do what you tell us to do. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Let's go there, Deuteronomy chapter 5. And then we read in verse 27. You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say. That's what the Israelites are saying to Moses. And tell us all what the Lord our God says to you, Moses. That's what God says to Moses. And we, the Israelites, will hear it and do it.

I think that's probably the greatest lie out there, because they didn't do it. Because they didn't trust, and they didn't obey. And they didn't trust, and then they didn't commit, and they ended up not obeying. And really, in the end, it's because they did not have their minds open through the power of God's Holy Spirit. And we see in verse 29 that God says, Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever. You see, they didn't have God's Holy Spirit. Now, I'm sure that amongst the Israelites, there were some really nice people. It's like today, amongst a lot of Christian religions or even non-Christians, there are some really nice people. They're very kind. They're very good.

And we could draw the conclusion, therefore, God surely is working with them, because they're kind, they're nice, they're loving.

They're very sweet. They're very giving. They're very outgoing. And yes, they are. But the point is, brethren, the human spirit is capable of good. It sees the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It's capable of good. But the human goodness is not complete. Complete. You see, in Galatians chapter 5 verse 22, Galatians chapter 5 verse 22, it says, But the fruit of the Spirit.

It amazes me, how many people who are often add an s. to this very plain and simple Scripture that says, the fruit, it does not say the fruits.

You see, the fruit of God's early Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or meekness, and self-control. The fruit of God's early Spirit has all these features or characteristics or attributes. It's like saying an orange is yellow or yellowish, but that's not enough, because it could be a lemon, it could be a pineapple, just because of the color. It's going to have other attributes for it to be an orange. So just because you are loving does not mean it's the fruit of God's early Spirit. Or because you are loving and long suffering and kind and good does not mean that it is the fruit of God's early Spirit. There are many other attributes to it. You see, brethren, the fruit of God's early Spirit includes many other characteristics, such as humility, related to gentleness and meekness, related to humbleness, related to self-control, that you are careful what comes out of your mouth. You know, James talks a lot about this, about the tongue is a dangerous evil. And so there's a lot of characteristics. And the point is, you and I are not quite there yet. We need to strive for perfection, for maturity, but we need to be striving that way. And therefore we need God's early Spirit to bear this whole fruit.

Turn with me to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. In Romans chapter 8, it's a really beautiful set of scriptures of verse and meanings. But then halfway into it, starting from verse 14, says, as many as are led by God's only Spirit. They are the children of God. We need to be led. We need to show that trust and a willingness to submit our self-will to God's will. And therefore then it says, then we are children of God, and heirs of God, and joint heirs of Christ. And it says in verse 18, it says, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory. You see this? We need to have a good vision as much as we can, that God wants us in his family. That's why he made you and I as his children. He wants us there. He's made everything possible for you and I to be there. He gave his son. His son came and died for us. And he's now in heaven as our high priest, interceding for us as our defense attorney, our advocate. He's done and he's doing everything for you and I to be there. But we have to have this vision, this hope of glory. Now, we can't see it very clearly because we see through a glass darkly, but it is an enormous hope that we have to keep in mind all the time.

And it says, for the earnest expectation of creation, there is the whole hope of creation, eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Now, what is creation? That means everything that is physical waits for something that is going to happen. It's like freaking a switch. And then God maybe will change some of the laws of physical nature so that maybe, as it says in verse 20, for the creation was subject to futility. It was to corruption, to get ill and things like that, not willingly, but because of him who's subjected in hope. You see, there's a strong connection between us trusting God and trusting him that he's got a plan. We've got to see that hope. It is so important. And then it says, because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption, of decay. You know, you leave something out there and it decays, gets corrupted, gets rusted.

Is it implying? Now, I'm speculating, but is it implying that in new heavens and in new earth, those things will not corrupt? Everything's possible to God.

And that will be the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together till now. Not only that, but we also, you and I also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit. You and I are the first fruits of the Spirit. There is the meaning of Pentecost. We are the first fruits of the Spirit. And we, as it says, we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for their adoption. Or maybe a better translation would have been sonship, because the word eotheseia means placed as a sun. You know, it was waiting for the sonship, the redemption of our body. When our body is going to be brought back to a new body, that will not be corrupt.

You see, this is a hope. For we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what does one still hope for what he sees? So we have a hope because we don't see it yet. You see, we're going to trust God, and part of that we've got to look at this.

You see, this is a glorious opportunity for you and I to be sons of God. When? Well, you and I know, Danny, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 23. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 23, it says very clearly, but each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits. And afterward those who are Christ's, in other words, we now have the first fruits of the Spirit, symbolized by Pentecost, afterwards those who are Christ's will be resurrected at his coming, a trumpet, symbolized by trumpets. And you see that also in verse 52, he says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, symbolizing the trumpets. You also read in Revelation 11, verse 15. Revelation 11, verse 15.

Revelation 11, verse 15.

Then the seventh angel sounded, that's the seventh trumpet, which is the last, and there were sound voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And so that's the last trumpet. That's when you and I will be resurrected, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 15, 23. That's the symbol of the day of trumpets.

Those that state that the resurrection is symbolized by Pentecost are not stating the biblical truth. You see, today, as we read in James chapter 1, verse 18, James chapter 1, verse 18. He sees of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now we are a kind of, in other words, we are a type of, or what will become, which will be the anti-type at resurrection. We are now the first fruits of the spirit because we receive the God's early spirit symbolized by the day of Pentecost. We are kind of first fruits, but we're not yet the first fruits because we have to remain faithful till the end. And that he's coming, symbolized by trumpets, we will be changed to spirit. You see, that he's coming, as we read in Revelation 17 verse 14, with him will be the called, chosen, and faithful. And you see, any faith without works is dead, as James chapter 2 clearly explains it. And so faith is nothing else than trust on what we don't see.

It's more than trust because we don't see it, but because we don't see it, we have hope. And so, as we surrender to God in living faith, that is trust of what we don't see, and as we repent and commit ourselves to God, God gives us his Holy Spirit so that you and I can obey him. And as you obey him, God gives you more of his spirit, you understand a little bit more, and as you understand a little bit more, you commit even more, and you're more grateful to God, you're more faithful to him because you've got to be faithful to the end. And as this faith, and as you see this vision a little bit better, you then obey more, and God gives more of his spirit. And then what we have is a virtuous circle, a play on the word of a vicious circle, because it's a positive, motivating, growing circle of fearing God, trusting him, having hope in what he says, and then as we do that, he gives us more of his spirit, and his spirit is the love of God. And so we have this tight connection between faith, hope, and love. On the day of Pentecost, in fact just before the Pentecost, Christ said to his apostles, he read that in Acts 1, verse 4, 7, and 8, he says, wait for the power, for the promise that it's going to come from above. That's the power that brings us eternal life, that helps us to obey God. You and I cannot by ourselves obey. Now I want to address the young people very specifically. In 1 Corinthians 7, verse 14, says, because your parents are being faithful to God, you are set apart. You young people have deliberately been called by God today, whilst most of mankind has not.

Now you can reject it, like many are called if you are chosen, but God wants you there. And because of your mom and dad, you are called even though you're not baptized yet. God's Holy Spirit is with you. God's Holy Spirit is with you, young people. God wants you there. That force, God's Holy Spirit, is power, is a force. And using maybe an idiom, as we heard in the sermonette, of a movie that you probably have seen, the true force is God's Holy Spirit. And if God's Holy Spirit is with you, the force is with you.

So it is a promise from God that God is going to make you able to have a happy life. But you have to exercise your choice to do the right thing. It's a promise from God that He wants you, young people, in His family, in God's family. And that is a great hope. That is a vision for you. Do we share that vision?

When I worked at IBM many years ago in South Africa, we were always told IBM will never leave South Africa. But one day they did because of political pressure. And so the employees got together, and they drove a program called Shared Vision. And we, the managers, shared with every single employee the vision of this new company which had been IBM but now was not. And that vision which was shared to all employees built a unity and a motivation and a drive in those employees to make that company succeed.

In parallel to that, there was a time when IBM International made the worst loss ever in history until that time. But the new South African company, which was ex-IBM, let's call that, made the biggest profit and success in all its history. I attribute that to the fact that every employee shared the vision. God is sharing his vision with you and I that is the hope of the kingdom for you and I to be there. We have to embrace that vision. A scripture that gives us that very vividly is in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Behold, what manner of love the Father is bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God.

You and I are the children of God. We are granted. We are not yet spirit beings, but we are begotten. We are fathered as God's children. We are still, quote-unquote, growing in the womb until the time of the end. We have received God's early spirit when we were fathered, in other words, symbolized by Pentecost. And we will grow in the womb until birth, remaining faithful and growing successfully in the womb until birth, symbolized by, spiritually speaking, the day of trumpets. So we are now children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it does not know Him.

Verse 2, Beloved, now we are the children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. You see, we're still human beings. It has not been revealed what we shall be as spirit beings. Because when He says, but when He is revealed, that's Christ, we shall be like Christ, like Him, and we shall see Him as He is. We will see God as God is today.

You know, I can't see God in that way. Right? That's what I mean. You can't see God in what He actually is, because the intensity of His power and brilliance and glory would practically burn us alive. But then we will be able to.

And everyone who has this hope in Him, we need this motivation. We need to crystallize in our minds this vision. We need a vision, brethren. It is so important to have a vision. Hope is that vision. And everyone who has the hope in Him does what? Purifies Himself just as He is pure. He is going to work to make sure that He stays pure. Doesn't this excite you? Doesn't it motivate you to be a Son of God through the power of God's Holy Spirit? That is the force that is in you.

That is the power that is in you that makes it all possible. The force that you and I will be able to travel and go to anywhere in the universe with Jesus Christ and admire the great works that He has done in other unknown galaxies. And you will be able to go there at the speed of thought and admire some things that are just unbelievable. And that will be part of your inheritance. Do you know there are more galaxies? And galaxies got billions of suns and planets and billions and trillions.

There are more galaxies than human beings that ever lived. So you could have not just 10 cities, you could have 10 galaxies with trillions and trillions and trillions of stars and planets under you. You see, we just cannot visualize and grasp the plan of God. You see, it's all because it starts with trust, and then we need that hope, and we need God's Holy Spirit, which is His love in us.

And that's why faith is working through love, as we see in Galatians 5 verse 6. And that's why we need to desire the greatest gifts of all, as you read in 1 Corinthians 13. And then right at the end of 1 Corinthians 13 it says there remain three, faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of them is love, which is outgoing concern, because God is love. And see, this big promise is far better, far greater than the Garden of Eden. The Kingdom of God is something for us to look forward to.

God is calling you and I, and so let us pray that God will help us to have the faith, the trust, the hope, and the love so that you and I can be trained now and prepared to serve God and humanity in the wonderful world tomorrow.