First Resurrection Is the Better Resurrection

That was fantastic! What a wonderful beginning. A good sermon, of course, and wonderful special music. And I really appreciated, Mr. Morigian, that you hid the orchestra under the stage.

I don't think that's ever been done before. You guys can come out now, wherever you are. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had an orchestra? Well, in the world tomorrow, we will. We'll have an orchestra. And the finest orchestra, it will be an exciting time. You know, I was looking at Mr. Willis as he was moving this stand around. I thought we might have to anoint him for his back. And also, we've had a number of miracles in the church in Oakland. God has been very good to us. And I was pointing out to Mr. Willis also, he was standing over here, and I said, you know, is that a plastic plant down there?

Is it growing? Look at this thing. It's coming up right here. It's got a shoe. It's a fern, but it's got other stuff coming out of it. It looks like a tree of some sort. So let's make sure we keep this tree. What I'd like to begin today's sermon in Hebrews 11.

And Hebrews 11, as you know, is called the faith chapter. But in Hebrews 11, in verse 17, let's notice here, it talks about faith all the way through here. That's why it's called the faith chapter. But in verse 17, it says, by faith Abraham, when he was tested, yes, God does test us in this life, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.

And so Abraham went through it, of whom it is said, in Isaac your seed shall be called. So we have the Anglo-Isaac sons. You know, if you're familiar with history, Isaac is, of course, a name that is a part of the Anglo-Saxons. So the Anglo-Saxons are Isaac's sons or children. We go back in history. But it says in verse 19, concluding that God was able to raise him up, he was willing to sacrifice Isaac.

He could raise him up from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Now think about that. You know, he had to believe, didn't he? He had to believe what he was doing, and he blessed Jacob, and he blessed Esau. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worship, leaning on the top of his staff. So he was an old, old man. Remember, you know, he blessed his sons. He blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. Remember, they were little boys, came from between the legs of, you know, Joseph and Jacob blessed them.

And so, here when he was dying, you know, his thought was to bless his children. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, I think it says it this way, for a purpose, brethren, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents. His parents had to have faith, didn't they? Because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer no friction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasure of sin.

So he made choices in his life, and he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater than what he could have gotten in Egypt. For he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, verse 27. By faith he kept the Passover, verse 28. And by faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land. And so, you know, this is what they did, all of the patriarchs of God down through history.

And, you know, the patriarchs and the matriarchs who endured throughout their lives through manifold trials of one kind or another. And these believed so much. Again, they blessed the next generation. They were so confident about what was going to happen. They blessed their children, even when they were in the time of dying in their lives. And during their life, they made hard choices while being the only ones. Imagine this, the only ones on the face of the earth making those choices. They were the only ones. Abraham and Sarah were the only ones. They were, you know, they couldn't go down to Sodom or Gomorrah and find a local church to meet with and to gather with at that time.

They were by themselves, and they made these choices. And many people today, you know, in the church, do the same thing. They're in towns and communities where they're the only ones in those communities that are living God's way of life. Now, I ask you, brethren, here this morning, what was so important, brethren, that they were doing and seeking all of their lives? You can picture Jacob, you know, leaning on his staff, still thinking about the things he was doing in his life.

What was so important to them? Well, let's go on down through here in verse 32. Verse 32. And it says, And what more shall I say, Paul said, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jepha, also of David and Samuel, and of the prophets, he could tell all the stories about their lives, Paul is saying, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Daniel, of course, whence the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

They have done it all. Paul is saying here, women received their dead rays to life again, others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. So what was so important? They wanted to obtain a better resurrection.

Well, recently we had a dear friend that died, Charlie Reed, not long before he did, another dear friend, Hal Green, died. Both, of course, are very fresh in our minds, and they made choices in their lives that lasted years.

Now, I know Hal Green made choices back in the 60s, and I know Charlie Reed and Janet were making choices in their lives as well, about in that period of time, maybe a little later in the 70s, when they began to make those hard choices in their lives to do something different, something nobody else was doing in the world. You know, the Bible, surprising to most people, not to you, hopefully, but the Bible reveals there are three major resurrections to life, and two of those involve eternal life, and one of them is called a resurrection to damnation. And Jesus spoke about that time. It is a resurrection where somebody is going to face the judgment of death upon them. You know, so, you know, in those resurrections, and one of the resurrections, a person will be given the chance to live in the world quite unlike the world that you and I live in today. They will have the opportunity for eternal life as well, and in that time, the world will be a utopia. It will be a utopia, like a Garden of Eden. There will be no wars. There'll be even no locks on doors. You don't have to worry about your children going out and playing in the streets. You won't have to worry about famine ever again. Sickness will be eradicated. You know, people dying will be a thing of the past. At a particular time when that occurs, that will be a time when people aren't going to be dying of aggravating diseases like we do today. In so many cases, people are not going to have the mental problems that many people in the world today have. What about 10 or 15 percent of the people are have mental problems in this country? Around the world, imagine! Mental problems of one kind or another. Some of them may be not serious, but nonetheless have mental problems. Hang-ups. Really bad hang-ups. Let's go to Micah chapter 4.

Can you imagine a world, brethren, where there's no more war, no fighting, no bickering? Who is it? John Lennon? Who wrote a song entitled, Imagine? Imagine. No fighting, no war.

Of course, he goes on to say some things in there I would not agree with, but in Micah chapter 4 in verse 1, notice it's describing this wonderful time. Now it should come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house, a mountain is a symbol of government, by the way, and so the Lord's house is going to be a mountain. It's going to be a government. It's going to be, in fact, a very giant government, and it's going to exercise lots of authority. And it says, and shall be established on the top of the mountains. It's going to be above all nations upon the earth, and shall be exalted above the hills, all the little cities, and hamlets around the world, and people will flow to it. Many nations will come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. You know, in your community, when you came to services today, did you notice that you didn't have a lot of people coming out of their car, putting their briefcase in the car and heading down to Oakland, did you? In fact, they probably wondered what in the world you were doing. They were probably out putting up the Christmas lights, mowing the lawn today, more than likely, a lot of them, washing their car if they were up. It's pretty chilly this morning up in the Brentwood area. You know, we have it so hard here, don't we? What is it? 50 degrees? Brrrr! So cold! I used to live in Idaho, so I put my time in the cold. I know what cold is, but I'm sure some of you who came from Wisconsin, Minnesota, places like that, you know what cold is too, but we don't have cold here, do we? But anyway, people are going to have an attitude. Let's go up to the mountain of God. Let's consult with God to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways. He's going to show us His ways. When's the last time that ever happened to you, brethren? And we shall walk in His paths, for out of Zion the law shall go forth in the word of God from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between nations and rebuke strong nations afar off. It's going to be a powerful government, but a good government. No, dictatorship is not wrong as long as you have a good dictator, and Jesus Christ is going to be a good ruler. I do not wish to call Him a dictator, because He will not be a...you know, that brings up a wrong connotation about Jesus Christ. But it's going to be a theocracy, as we understand, from Jesus Christ on down. And it says, and they shall beat their swords and the plowshares. They'll take the swords and beat them into something that are implements of good. And there are spirits in the pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, so war will be obliterated. We will defeat war. And it says, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Imagine this, brethren, a thousand years of no war. A thousand years. A thousand years where nobody fights each other. No one punches anyone. No one is of that mentality, because people won't even know that kind of mentality. They just won't be aware of that.

After a generation or so, they will forget completely what it was like. And it says, but everyone shall sit under a vine and under a fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. No one. I planted a fig tree behind my house in Phoenix, by the way. And it grew, but it never got big enough for me to sit under it. I wanted to sit under a fig tree in Phoenix, but maybe the guy who bought the house, he's sitting under my fig tree right now, but in eating my figs, that's what he's doing. But in that time, everybody gets to sit under a fig tree, and everybody gets to eat their own figs. And no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Eternal has spoken. For all people walk each, it says, walk each in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Eternal, our God, forever and ever. And of course, there will be only one God. And it says, in that day, verse 6, it says, the Eternal, I will assemble the lame. I will gather the outcasts. So he's going to bring together the lame, the blind, the, you know, with other scriptures, talk about that. And he will gather the outcasts. And he says, in those whom I've afflicted, I'll make the lame a remnant. And the outcast a strong nation. So the Eternal shall reign over them in Mount Zion. From now on, even forever, forever and ever and ever. Think about that, brethren. Vines. We went up to, you know, a visit up in the Santa Rosa area this past Tuesday, and just, you know, row after row of breaks. Beautiful thing to see. I really love doing that. Jonah and I both love seeing that. You'll see vines, you'll see fig trees in the world of moral, in the thousand-year reign. And those who are outcasts in society today, you know, are going to be welcome without prejudice. You know what's going to happen? Brethren, peace is going to break out. Of all things, you're not going to be hearing on television, well, war just broke out between, you know, China and this country or that country, between Syria and Israel or whatever. But maybe you're going to have somebody come on and say, today, peace broke out between these two nations have been against each other for so long. And after a while, peace will be the norm, won't it? In that time. But in this incredible world of play and prosperity, this incredible world of peace and universal love, there's going to be love in that time. Brethren, most of humanity, most all of humanity is going to be brought up at that time in the resurrection. They're going to be given a robust life. Maybe in this life they didn't have that. They'll be given a robust, physical life and a first chance to learn God's way of life. They're going to learn God's ways.

And there will be no struggle at that time with the devil, like it is today. There won't be struggling against Satan all the time. It will be a much easier way to learn God's holy ways. Imagine, brothers, you didn't have to struggle against the devil. And society, for that matter, you didn't have to worry about peer pressure. You didn't have to worry about what it was going to be like at school or work or whatever. In this world of society, you went into Walmart and you didn't hear the music that oftentimes is blaring. I went into Home Depot the other day. Jonathan and I are building a sauna behind the house, by the way, a small sauna. And I've been visiting Home Depot. And, I mean, they are really into Christmas music. They really are. I mean, I was going around buying these little boards for the sauna and caught myself whistling a tune. What in the world? What's going on here?

But again, in that time, in the world of tomorrow, if there is a Walmart, then maybe there will be. I don't know. You won't have those kind of problems. We'll go to JC Penney, Jock Penney, as we say, the famous French designer. And you won't hear that kind of stuff. Let's go to Revelation 20, I should say. Revelation 20.

Because over here is where the resurrections are described. But in Revelation 20, in verses 1 on down to verse 5, let's notice here, it says, And then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. Now, why does he have the chain in his hand? And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. So right at the beginning of the thousand-year reign, an angel is going to take a hold of Satan, the devil, and bind him for a thousand-year period. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things, he must be released for a little while. We don't know how long, but at the end he will be released for a little while. And then eventually cast into outer darkness. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness to Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. So here's talking about people sitting on thrones here, who are going to reign with Christ a thousand years, it says.

But then he says in verse 5, he says, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

That's a parenthetical statement. You just put parentheses around that, because John wanted people to know that what he just described in verse 4 does not pertain to those who are going to be brought up at the end of a thousand years, but it pertains to those who will be in the first resurrection. So he's describing two resurrections here. First, those are going to be sitting on thrones, and we'll describe that a little bit later, that had to face in this life the difficulties. They had to face the beast system. They had to reject the mark of the beast. They had to reject those things, and they are going to be given the chance to live in the reign with Christ for a thousand years. And John goes on, verse 5, saying, This is the first resurrection. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. And so Satan will be bound, though, at the beginning of the thousand years, and at the end he's going to be loose for a short season.

And then after that, he will be cast into outer darkness.

And during that period of time is when another resurrection is going to take place after the thousand years is finished, and that will be what we call the second resurrection, or the general resurrection. But for them, and for those who will be there in the time of the millennium, by the way, the devil won't be a problem like it is today. It's much easier now than then that it will be now for us. These verses, again, speak of a time when there's a first resurrection and then a second resurrection. Verse 12 is talking about that second resurrection, because it says, And I saw the dead, small and great. Now, how many of you are small in the world? I am, personally. I'm small in the world. Do we have any great ones in the world today? How many of you are mediocre in the world today? Well, I don't even think I'm mediocre in the world. But, you know, at that time, those are small, and those are a great standing. They're standing there forgotten. The books were open. And another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which are written in the books. So, during this time is when people are going to come up at the end of a thousand years, and it says that the books are going to be open for them. This is when most people who have lived are going to be brought up.

And when they're brought up, the world will have been ruled by Jesus Christ for a thousand years. Think about that. So, Christ will have worked on the world for a thousand years. Do you think the world is going to be the same at the beginning of the thousand years? Will it at the end be better, do you think? I think it's going to be a utopia after a thousand years of the rule of Jesus Christ. It's going to be a wonderful world. And it is a time that is going to be so beautiful. Let's go to Amos, back in the book of Amos. I love the minor prophets because they delve into the time of the millennium when things are going to be changing.

Back there in the minor prophets, remember it's Hol, Jose, Joel, and Amos. Amos, for those of you who may have a hard time, it's on page 631. But you have my Bible. But in Amos 9, Amos 9 verse 13.

Well, I flipped my Bible and it kept slipping. Somehow. I hate to lick my fingers, but I have to do it. Amos 9 verse 13. Behold, the days are coming, says the Eternal, when the plowmen shall overtake the reaper. You know, we've got to see this, Reverend, when this happens. The plowman is going to overtake the reaper. He's going to have to say, get out of the way. I've got to plow for the crop. Get what you get. It's going under because we've got to plow again. And the traitor of rapes him who sows seed. And the mountain shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. There's just going to be a time of great abundance. And I'll bring back the captives of my people, Israel. And they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. And I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I've given them, says the Eternal, your God. And so this describes a time when those in the second resurrection are going to come up. Except they will come up after the world has gone through this renaissance. You know, they will come up with a utopia, an incredible utopia. It reminds me, when we talk about this wonderful world that is going to come when God's kingdom is set up of the bounty and the plenty. It reminds me of Louis Armstrong. I love hearing him sing the song, What a Wonderful World. I can almost break into singing that right now. But What a Wonderful World. And then he goes, Yeah, you know, I can't. But a thousand years without agonizing poverty, brother. A thousand years without the gruesome diseases of the body and the mind today. A thousand years without war. Imagine how it's going to be.

But by contrast, brethren, those who will be in the first resurrection, we have to live in this world. We have to live in this world now, with all of its problems we have to battle Satan. Then they're not going to have to battle Satan and the devil.

We live our lives and we have many trials, manifold trials.

And then when the time of the resurrection for the first resurrection comes will be changed into spirit beings at Christ's second coming. And at that time be given eternal life. Now the question, why would anyone want to come up in the first resurrection? Like you and I are striving to do. Like Charlie Reed, strive to do.

In fact, why is it called the better resurrection?

Why is it called? It sure looks like to me the second would be a whole lot better. You take a thousand years of peace, a thousand years of prosperity, you come up in a utopia.

You know, it's going to be a wonderful world like Satchmo Sains. What a wonderful world it will be.

Those in the first resurrection have to swim against the current of the world and face many trials. I was reading last night a little bit about a trial that Charlie and Janet had with a piece of property that they were going to buy up north. And, you know, they had sold a house and had money to invest, and so they were going to buy a property. Forget where it was, was it up and ready? Yeah, up toward in that direction, let's say. And anyway, they bought 70 or 80 acres, something like that, and laid down quite a bit of money. I think they put down $5,000, and they found out the man lied to them about the property. And then it was a matter of trying to get their money back. And, you know, sometimes that turns into a real trial, but that was just one of the many trials that they went through. But he describes how God did bless them, and they got their money back on that, didn't lose it. But a lot of people do lose their money. You know, they do. They go through trials and difficulties. I know they've gone through many trials in their life. But, you know, first resurrection, you've got to swim against the current of this world with so many trials. Why not forget all that and live in ignorance of the world today and be brought up in the second resurrection? You know, Charlie Reed told Janet, and she was telling this to us, you've got to be tough to live this life. And that's certainly true, especially if you're trying to live God's way of life. In this life, we have to prepare for the kingdom, you know, daily in our lives, and then we have to wait. And we have to wait either until we die, and then we rest in the grave until the resurrection.

Or we wait until we're changed at the return of Jesus Christ.

And we have to witness the hatreds that are in the world. We have to witness all the bad things that happen, the sickness, the disease, and all of that. And on top of it, we've got to deal with the devil every single day of our lives. Because he isn't bound up yet, is he? He's still very active, and he's always trying to get at us in some way, and in some manner. Let's go to 1 John 3. 1 John 3. He's always active in some way, trying to trip us up, trying to cause us to stumble, and to fall away, to give up. In 1 John 3 and verse 8, it says, He who sins is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the son of man was manifested, and he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. And what that means, of course, is that when we are begotten of God by the Holy Spirit, that we do not practice sin. John is not saying we never make mistakes, but what he's saying is that somebody that has begotten of God through the Holy Spirit does not practice sin.

He says, In this the children of God and the children of devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning. We should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's works were righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. So, you know, here John says the world hates you.

So we see this going on all the time, and we see the cause of human wickedness as Satan's influence in this world that began right there with Satan and Adam in the garden where sin began.

So we live in a world where you have broken marriages, you have torn up families, you have distorted ideas about what is a family even. Now, in our time, the Supreme Court is debating about, you know, same-sex marriage and whether, you know, same-sex couples can receive benefits. You know, we see firsthand, in other words, right here on the ground floor, as it were, the impact of the roaring lion that is called Satan the devil.

Let's go, brethren, to 1 Peter chapter 5. The Bible calls again Satan the roaring lion. And he is a roaring lion. He's trying to consume us, trying to eat us up, as it were.

But in verse 8, he's called that roaring lion that we have to be sober and vigilant, because he's our adversary, he's our enemy. But in verse 9 it says, resist him, steadfast to the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. So everyone who is a part of the church, everyone who is a part of the brotherhood is experienced in the same things, the same sufferings. But may the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, established, strengthened, and settle you. Now, brethren, I ask you, what is the one word that stands out in all that Peter says here to you? What word stands out? Suffering, right? The word suffer.

That basically is what Peter is saying. You're going to suffer in this life. God did not promise us, if we were called now, that we would live in a rose garden. We're not there yet, brethren. Those brought up in the second resurrection, however, will be in a rose garden. You think about it. They will have a garden of Eden.

You know, for us, Satan is not a thing of the past. He's a thing for the present to deal with all the time. And this kind of thing, brethren, is not going to be happening in the world tomorrow.

And in order to comfort, you know, the apostle Paul talked about the resurrection being changed at Christ's second coming, or those who are dead are going to be brought up in the resurrection. He says, he said, don't be ignorant of that, but he said, be comforted by it. Over in the book of Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4.

And so, brethren, you know, in looking at our lives and the impact of the devil and all that we have to go through, it does get difficult. It is tough to live in this life, God's way of life. You are swimming against the current. No matter what you do, you're going against the current. What do you think is right, the world thinks is wrong, that it's becoming more and more that way. So why, then, would anyone want to be a part of the first resurrection?

Well, brethren, the key is we must see what our calling is all about. Otherwise, it would be like the fellow I once visited one time who said, after he heard the truth, can I just be in the second resurrection? You know, after he heard about the first resurrection and the second, then he said, I want to be brought up in the second resurrection.

And he asked me that, and I told him, I said, well, I think you sort of know too much.

You know, if you know enough to ask that question, you probably know too much.

So, brethren, we must keep uppermost of our minds at all times what God is calling us today to do.

For you see your calling, brethren, Paul said, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

And all we have to do is look around the church to figure that out.

We can see that God isn't called the noble and the wealthy of the world.

Generally, he's called the poor. Now, a lot of us call ourselves middle class, don't we?

But, you know, I was looking at my income, you know, and comparing it to what, in fact, the world classifies as poverty. You know, my wife and I basically live in the poverty zone, especially here in the Bay Area. I mean, we, I don't know, I think we may even qualify for food stamps. I never checked to see. But, you know, I don't feel like I'm in poverty. I don't feel that way. I feel God's blessed us abundantly. But I would suspect that most everybody in here is in the poverty zone. Maybe some are not. Some may make much more than that. But God is called the poor of the world, generally speaking. And in some people that may be a little better off than being poor, but, you know, God's called the weak of the world. He doesn't want us, though, to stay the weak of the world. That's not why He called us. He called us to raise us up. He called us to bless us beyond our wildest dreams.

But you know what? You know, we're told in the Bible that those people that are calm this time, Jesus said, He said, you know, He says, No one can come to Me except the Father draw Him. And I will draw... I will raise Him up the last day. I'm going to raise Him up, in other words, in that first resurrection period, those that are drawn to Me. So Jesus Christ saying, the Father Himself has to draw us to Christ.

So God, right now, brethren, is not taking any volunteers. We are in a time where you must be drafted. You have to be drafted.

I remember my brother, Sonny, got drafted back in the 60s. You know what they say, don't you? Uncle Sam wants you. And so he was drafted, went into the military, became a tank commander. Never saw duty, by the way, thankfully. In Vietnam, he spent his time in Germany having fun, enjoying himself, I'm sure. But, you know, God is not just... He's not taking volunteers now. He is choosing. He's drafting his shoes, choosing and calling. Those are a part of the Church. Let's go to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 4 should be close to where you are there, I think, where we were last. But down in verse 12, let's notice 1 Peter 4, verse 12, it says, Beloved, do not think it's strange concerning a fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. So in this life, brethren, fiery trials occur. And boy, did I find that out.

You know, my wife and I had a barn burner in 2012. I mean, it was a fiery trial. I'll tell you more about it, maybe sometime.

Some of you may have heard some things, but, you know, I don't want a fiery trial, is now. I thought I had a fiery trial before. But now I know what a fiery trial is. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings. Is that word sufferings again? That when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproach for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory, and of God rest upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, or an evildoer, or a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what shall be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? And it says, now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? You know, where are they going to come up? Well, you've got the answer to that, don't you? They're going to come up with the second resurrection, not the first resurrection.

But notice again a predominant word through here, brethren. Suffering. Suffering. We go through suffering in our lives.

Preparing to be used by God in his kingdom is not an easy task.

Again, we must suffer.

And, brethren, this is sure a contrast to the opportunities that are going to be afforded to those who are going to be in the second resurrection. I'm sure they're going to go through their own, brethren, but, you know, they're not going to go through what we have had to go through in our lives. And so, brethren, those who were in the faith chapter, they endured because they wanted to obtain a better resurrection.

And so that special time is what we're seeking, too.

In this life. That's why they willingly endured, and that's why we've got a willingly endure in our lives. Why is the first resurrection, brethren, the better resurrection? Why is it the first resurrection is the better resurrection? Life looks better, easier, more pleasing for those who are going to be in the second resurrection. Right? I mean, it looks that way, and I think it is going to be a wonderful time for people. And I'm glad, by the way, my parents are going to be brought up in that time. It's going to be a wonderful time. And I think that you're going to be there to greet your parents like I'm going to be there to greet my... I'm going to say, welcome aboard. You know, good to have you. At least I pray I can say that. I pray I can be in that first resurrection. But why is it the first resurrection is the better resurrection? Well, number one, because God is calling an elite group of people who will rule with Jesus Christ. That's what He's doing. You know, already we know that Jesus Christ is going to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, right? Who are the Lords going to be? And who are the Kings going to be over which Jesus Christ is going to be a King? If He's the King of Kings, who are the other Kings? Who are the other Lords? Well, God is calling an elite group of people now who will rule with Christ. So those called now get in on the ground floor of the new world that is going to begin. A new opportunity for us and a new opportunity, brethren, for the whole world. Let's go back to Revelation 20. Revelation 20, down in verse 6, and it says, "...blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection." Notice it goes on to say, "...so happy and holy, rather, is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power." So those who are going to be brought up in that first resurrection cannot die again. The second death has no power over them. "...but they shall be priests of God..." They're going to be Lords, in other words. "...priests of God and of Christ, and show rain..." They're going to rule, that word rain means rule, "...with him a thousand years." And so God is calling people who are going to have this awesome privilege of reigning with Christ, ruling and working with Christ. Imagine this, brethren, ruling with Christ, working with Christ for a whole thousand-year period. You're going to be very close, aren't we?

My wife and I have been here 11 years now. Some of you, I met for the first time. I know we know you very well now, after 11 years. But imagine a thousand years going by, but we're going to have that time with Christ. And we're going to love it. We're going to love it. I'm not going to go over, but Jesus Christ talked about the parable of the pounds. You remember how He described in the parable, about how each was given a pound, and told to occupy, and until He returned. And when He came back, He demanded of His servants He said, what have you done with it? And one said, well, your pound has gained 10 pounds.

And in the parable, the servant is told, you're going to rule over 10 cities.

Another, He said, well, your pound, since you've been gone, has gained five pounds. Well, good and faithful servant, you're going to rule over five cities. And so, the parable shows us, and there's a couple of parables about that, that God is looking at what we're doing right now. He's looking at our productivity, and how we are applying the things that we know. You know, are we taking care, for instance, of the little things we have? Money is called the little thing. Are we managing our money? Correctly. Are we tithing? Are we, you know, saving for the feast? Are we taking care of our families? Are we doing those things? That's a little thing in God's eyes, and God's looking at that. And, you know, are we taking care of our children? Are we being loving toward our mates, our wives, and our husbands? Are we doing these things? God looks again at what we do. How do we represent Jesus Christ? Are we good examples, brethren, to those that are within the church, and those that are without the church? Now, we should not get in our head, in any way, shape, or form, that we're qualifying for eternal life. But we are, too recognized, brethren, that we are qualifying for a reward for the kingdom. So what you're doing now is going to determine what your reward is going to be in the kingdom. Will you rule over 10 cities, or five cities? Who knows? Will you rule over a province or a state?

You know, we're a district. I don't know how things will be divided up. I'm just using that as an example of what it is like in the world today. God's looking at what we're doing, and He's making that determination. He's already determined that Jesus Christ is going to be the head. He's going to be the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He's all—and now God is making decisions about where He's going to put each one of us in His kingdom, what we're going to be doing.

And I have a good idea that He knows where He's going to put Charlie Reed. He knows where He's going to put how green. I can't imagine, you know, God allowing one of His servants to die before He had come to that conclusion. You know, so it was time, and, you know, Mr. Reed lived a long life, and so God says, well, I know where I'm going to put Him. I know where He's going to be. And, you know, God already has made those decisions about what He's going to be a king over, where He's going to be. Where would that be? You know, that would be a wonderful thing to know now, but we don't. But you know what? God does not offer the same opportunities to people who are going to be brought up after the millennium is over. To those in the Second Resurrection, they're not going to be given the chance to rule with Jesus Christ. They're not going to be given the chance to be a king and a priest in the world tomorrow and work with God to work with Jesus Christ. They're not going to be given those chances. Now is the time to stand up and be counted. Now is the time. We're going to wait, you know, and be like every other Tom, Dick, and Harry that walks the streets of this world. You can, but boy, you're going to miss out on a whole lot, and you're going to be kicking yourself. If you can get your foot back there, you'd be kicking yourself as soon as you were brought up. Especially when you meet a man who already has been alive for a thousand years, and you knew him, and maybe you heard the same message he did at the same time, but you didn't do anything about it. Now is the time, brethren. God's offering that to us. Is it big enough for us, God? So God is calling an elite group of people right now to rule with Jesus Christ. Number two, what we endure in suffering in this life is a part of our training. That's what we have to go through, the fiery trials and all. It's a part of our training, and we have to endure difficult trials and problems. Some come into the church, they lose their jobs because of the Sabbath. Some maybe even lose a mate.

We've had a few that have lost wives or husbands. When their mate decided they were going to live God's way of life, some have lost their whole families over it. For many, called now, a lot of pressure has been brought on them by the wiles of the devil. And remember, Job was an example of that. He got a whole book to read about what happens when the devil attacks you.

And I believe he does it quite often in the church. But God wants, brethren, us to build holy, righteous character in this life. That's what the training is about. Continue to make those right choices in our lives. God wants to make our character, brethren. He doesn't want to break us. He doesn't want to tear us apart. He wants to put us together. He wants to make our character. So, brethren, we endure the suffering in this life as a part of our training. Number three, we have the best of both worlds. That's why, brethren, we're in the better resurrection. We're given the knowledge of the truth now, at this time, so that we don't have to to grow old in ignorance. Plus, brethren, we're given the keys to having a happier life now. We don't have to live like the people in the world, many of which are miserable out there. No matter how good, we may think that some of them have it. They're miserable in their lives. But we've been given an opportunity, brethren, also that few have ever had the chance to do in this lifetime, and that is to change the whole world for the good with Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow. So, we have those blessings, brethren. And when we speak of those in the Second Resurrection, we must remember that they still have to live through what you and I have lived through in terms of overcoming. The only thing is, is they're going to have to overcome themselves.

We have three enemies. We've got Satan, we have the world, and guess what we have ourselves?

And guess who is sometimes the hardest to fight? Ourselves. It's hard to fight ourselves. And when they're brought up in that Second Resurrection, they're going to still have to confront their nature, their problems, their difficulties, and they're going to have to overcome. It will be easier, but it's still going to be difficult. The vast majority in this world, brethren, live and die ignorant of why they were born. They have no clue. Little children grow up in Africa, brethren, living in a little village out in the middle of nowhere, no roads. My wife and I have been able to journey out to Mapoco. Mapoco in Zambia, if I took you there, well, first of all, I couldn't even find it. I couldn't find it. I don't know how in the world Mr. Nkoma found it. But we took a vehicle down through there, and all there are trails, basically. You ever go out the forest and go deer hunting? You see a trail? Except in their forests, I mean, they have forests, they have jungles. You have a trail that goes through the jungle, and I guess you just don't know which trail to get on.

Me, I'd be back in California, take the wrong trail, or be on the edge of the ocean.

But people grow up, brethren, they don't know why they're born, they don't know why they live the lives that they have to live. You know, the majority of people don't know why there's so much suffering in the world. They have no clue. Why is there death? Why is there sickness? They have so many questions. Why? Why? Why? And they are born in the darkness of deceit, and they die in darkness. Imagine, brethren, being born blind, I think it would be akin to that, being born blind and never having seen the light of day.

They really don't know what God is doing upon the earth, and why doesn't he intervene to stop wars and famines, diseases, and epidemics? Why doesn't God do that? I used to ask those questions. I know now it's because God has a hands-off policy toward this world, because basically, go back to the Garden of Eden. What did Adam do? He rejected God. So God took him out of the Garden of Eden, and he put an angel there with a flaming sword that turned, you know, either way so that he could not enter back into the garden. He kept man from the Garden of Eden, from the Tree of Life.

And even so, you know, God gives us this book, doesn't he?

He gives us this book, and he puts it in the lap of every person on the face of the earth. Think about it. Anybody that wants a Bible can have a Bible. This is the most published book on the planet, brethren. But how many understand it?

I told you when I was called, I didn't understand it, and I got mad at myself because I didn't understand it. And I said, I said, God, I am going to understand this book. And I'm more down, and I started reading, reading again. And then I was praying to God, and I said, God, if you will open my eyes to this book, just show me what it means. I promise you that I will live by the words that you revealed to me. Boy, I didn't know what I was getting into. I didn't know.

But, you know, a promise is a promise, and that's what I kept. I kept that promise. And so God, brethren, hides the truth in plain sight for everybody to see, right? It's right there. But you can't understand because it's coded. The Bible says, but if our gospel is hid, it is hid to those that are being lost. It says, lost, are lost in 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4. In whom the God of this world, who is Satan, by the way, has blinded the minds of them, which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. So the world is blinded. It's got a veil over its head. Can't see. And when I asked God to show me the truth, He took the veil away. And then I read it, and I understood. I saw. That's what happened to you, brethren. When that veil was taken away, He started seeing. Oh, I see. I should keep the Sabbath. I should keep the Holy Days. I should do these things.

So that blindness has been taken away in us, brethren. So God has allowed mankind, the last 6,000 years of human history, 5,000 of it recorded for us going clear back to the Samaria, and the Romans. God has allowed the world to be under this blindness, and He's called out a few out of this world. And why has He done that? Why has He kept the world in blindness? I'm not going to go to it, but in Romans 11 and verse 25 and verse 32, you'll find the answer there. That God shut up Israel in blindness so that He could have mercy upon them. That's what He's done with the world. He shut them up in blindness so that He could have mercy on them. Because, you see, if you see, if you understand, if you comprehend, then you're held accountable. Then you know. That's why I told the man who wondered if he could be in the second resurrection.

You know, instead, I think you may know too much, because we're accountable when we know.

But God has chosen to take that blindfold and veil away from us so we can see now. Our eyes can be open. I ask you, brethren, would you want to go back to that blindness so that you can lead a life of ignorance right now? Would you want to choose the easy way or the hard way?

I think most, if not all, would rather carry through and finish their calling.

Christ warned us it would not be easy. He said, Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads to life, and few there be that find it. But he talked about the broad way that is out there that most people are on.

So let's contrast the two resurrections. In the first resurrection, you have tension, you have suffering, you have poverty. Sometimes in your own life, you have poverty. You have temptations, you have trials, you have hard work, you have sword, you have war, you have fighting, and you have to see and be around, and you have to fight yourself. You have to fight yourself. You have to fight against Satan, and you have to resist the world as well. The second resurrection is going to be a time of relative ease, a time of plenty, a time of prosperity for everyone, a time when Satan is going to be cast away, and it's going to be a time of harvesting great crops, a time of great abundance, a time of peace, a time when war implements will not have existed, in fact, for a thousand years.

Amazing. No more bombs, no more guns, no more of those kinds of things that we see in the world today in that way. So those are the two resurrections, brethren. Yes, people are going to have to face their own lives, their own selves. That's not going to be necessarily easy. But, you know, the Bible doesn't say that the first resurrection is the easier resurrection. It doesn't say that. It says it's the better resurrection. It isn't easy by any stretch of imagination. It's got to be tough to live this life, like Charlie said. We will have trials galore. It is the toughest thing, the toughest job a person can ever do. The second resurrection, by comparison, is easy. But, you know what? It lacks the great rewards and promises to those who are called now.

So often, brethren, we can become very, very tired. We can get wearied. During the week, we often are stressed out by life and can't wait for the Sabbath to arrive because we are in need of some measure of peace in our lives. Well, brethren, never forget that all the striving, all the struggling in this life is going to be worth it. In fact, Paul says it's not worthy to be compared. The sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to what is going to be revealed in our lives in the future. We are proving ourselves to be leaders, brethren, in God's coming kingdom. So keep in mind, brethren, that life must have its pressures today if God is the forge in us, the character, so that we can be the new leaders of the world tomorrow. It cannot go easy for us this side of the kingdom. It really can't. The peace of the kingdom is going to come. And thankfully, brethren, we get a taste of that every time we are healed. We get a taste of it every time we keep the Sabbath. We have a taste of it, a foretaste of it, when we go off to the feast of Tabernacles. Until the kingdom comes, brethren, and we're changed, we need to keep reminding ourselves that God has chosen us for the better resurrection, for the better resurrection. I hope you're thankful for that.