God is Faithful to His Promises to Abraham

I want to thank Paul McNeil for his sermon that he gave about true liberty, because, indeed, true liberty from God is only possible when we obey God's commandments. And, indeed, as we see in our country, in the States, we see now God removing his blessings. We are ever so grateful for what God has given us, but God is removing his blessings because there is a responsibility as God's people, both spiritually and physically, we all have a responsibility in doing God's work. And God's work is, in many ways, in multi-fascets. Physically speaking, the nation should have been a positive example to other nations, so that, through the nation, many other nations could be educated in God's way and could likewise be blessed. But we want to analyze why these blessings and how God works. God has a plan for all of us to be his sons and daughters in his kingdom. He's building a family of children, children in glory, and to achieve that plan is working through families. And the first family that he started working through was Abraham. And through that family, then certain promises were given to Abraham, and the intention would be that through that family, the whole world ultimately would be blessed, because God is working through certain people, and then more, and more, and more, and then to the whole of mankind. It's not that a nation or a group of people are better than others. No. It's just that God, as the master potter, has a plan and he decides to work with some clay first, and then with other clay. But in the end, all the clay will be part of his children, glorified children, unless we deliberately reject that. So today, brethren, we want to look at God's physical and spiritual promises to Abraham. In other words, the family that became the fathers of the faithful. God is faithful. We read that in Psalm 111 verse 3 to 5. God is faithful and is loyal to his promises. And that's why we can have faith in God, because when he says something, he will do it. He says, yes, he says, yes. He does not lie. And therefore, we can rely on him and we can trust him and we can have faith for him. God cannot lie. We read that in Titus 1 verse 2. And therefore, his promises will be fulfilled. There's no questions about it. And his promises are that he wants to have a family. Now, you know you as parents, as fathers and mothers, you only want the best for your children. And you protect them and you look after them and you want to bless them. But you also know that sometimes you can't bless them too much at one time, otherwise they get spoiled. So it's got to go through a certain process of time. Also, you realize that sometimes your children have to go through certain difficulties to learn some lessons.

And at a greater level, God basically sees it the same way. So, we start reading in Romans chapter 4. In Romans chapter 4, because we see about the spiritual blessing.

I'm starting briefly with the spiritual blessing and I'll end with the spiritual blessings, but I want to concentrate mostly also on the physical blessings. But as we read at Romans chapter 4 verse 3, Romans chapter 4 verse 3, we read, Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace. Oh, I beg your pardon, I was reading verse 4. Verse 3, for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. You know, you as a dad, you as a mom, you know that when the children believe in you and believe what you say, that means a lot. They trust you, they believe in you. So, yeah, we have a case that Abraham trusted God. There's no question he trusted God and because of that, that was granted to him as righteousness. If your children believe you, even though they may do certain things wrong, obviously they need to overcome and not do those things wrong, but the mere fact they trust you and believe you because you only want the best for them, that helps them to grow, but in your eyes, the act of them believing you and trusting in you is treated as they're good sons. They're coming right because they believe in me and they trust me. So, even though they've got a few things wrong, they'll come right because they're trusting me. And it's the same thing with God. Abraham believed God, he trusted God, and that was granted to him or is accounted to him for righteousness, even though there were certain things that he didn't have quite right. You know the story that he lied, he went, oh, that's not my wife, that's my sister, and things like that. You know he lied, he wasn't perfect, but the act that he believed God was granted to him was righteousness. That is a lesson to all of us. Now, does not mean we can now have free license to do so by God. No, but what God looks at your trusting him and in time, as we try and make through life and get better, we will overcome the other issues. So, you see in verse 8 of Romans 4, verse 8, You and I are blessed if God, when we sin, does not impute it. In other words, he overlooks it. Does it mean that God allows us to sin? No, but he forgives through the blood of Christ, and that is a wonderful blessing we have.

Again, that does not mean that we now have carte blanche to sin. No, we got to stop, we got to overcome. But because we believe in him and trust in him and we're working on it, he is helping us through that. And look at verse 13. Look at verse 13 of Romans 4. For the promise that he would be an heir of the world, and it was that Abram would inherit the world, was not to Abram or to his seed through the law. It was not given to Abram and to his descendants, and he has double statement, descendants, but also the seed represents Christ as well. But it was through the righteousness of faith, through loyalty, through faithfulness, through being faithful, because what I say is what will be. It's an absolute confidence and trust, because he is faithful. And then a little bit further, you read that in verse 16. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all of the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abram, who is the father of us all. In other words, through this, Abram has become the father of the faithful, which means if we are faithful as well, if we become true to our words, we will be having the same promise.

Let's look a little bit further in Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. We're going to read verse 13. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 13. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, surely blessing, I'll bless you, and multiplying, I'll multiply you. In which God was saying to Abram, I'm going to bless you. Now God is faithful. He did not need to swear, but to make the promise absolutely sure, he then said, he swore by himself, I am going to bless you, I'll multiply you. And so God's promise to Abraham is sure. Looking a bit further, verse 17. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things. One, it is impossible to God. And two, because he swore, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This is a hope before us. It's immutable. It's gonna happen. You and I must not doubt, because if we're doubting, we're not believing God.

And remember what Abram did, he believed God. So it's kind of a catch 22. We cannot doubt. Otherwise, you know, we're gonna lose it. But the promises that God gave to Abraham have not yet been fully accomplished. And we read that in the 5th chapter. If you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11, just a few pages ahead. And you read in Hebrews chapter 11 about men of faith, such like Abel, such like Noah, such like Abraham, such like Moses, and others. And many others, it cites many. But towards the end of the chapter, in verse 39, it says, and all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, it was they believed, they trusted, they had faith, they believed in God, they didn't doubt.

Nevertheless, they did not receive a promise. The real end-time promise, the final goal, the final objective of the promise, has not been received by them yet. Verse 40. God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So they are dead and waiting, asleep, for the resurrection. And then when we, if we die, or if we are alive at the Christ's coming, or if we die before Christ's coming, then we, with them, will receive the promise together. Because the ultimate promise is the kingdom of God. The ultimate promise is eternal life. The ultimate blessings is the blessings of a spiritual life, which any blessing that we receive today is nothing compared to the blessings to come. I know many of us think, how well I want to have this, I want to have that, or whatever physical things we may think of having.

And it may be a lovely home, it may be lovely things, but they're nothing compared to the eternal blessing that we will have as spirit beings having eternal life. But in the meantime, there are blessings. There are physical blessings, because physical blessings point to a spiritual blessing, ultimately. It's all part of the same, even though it's physical, but they are, in a sense, stepping stones to help us realize greater blessings, which are spiritual. You see, as physical beings, we cannot understand the spiritual unless through an analogies, or metaphors, or physical examples that help us to understand the spiritual. And so, physical blessings come to help us understand how much bigger blessings are still to come.

Now, not everybody is blessed, and that's up to God. Some are blessed more, some are blessed less. That's up to God, but ultimately, we all will be blessed with eternal life, and the blessings of eternal life if we endure and persevere till the end. So, turn with me to Jeremiah 33. In Jeremiah 33, we see the prophet Jeremiah mentioning something rather interesting, in verse 14 and verse 15. Be all that is coming, says the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. And brethren, as I mentioned, God is working through a family. That family, Abraham, became a tribe, or tribes. They multiplied, became a nation. But the ultimate goal of God is to use that to reach other nations, and then God's goal is all nations to be blessed. So, when we say, is he a promise to the house of Israel and house of Judah, we need to read it in the context of the ultimate goal to God, is the whole world. It's a blessing to the whole of mankind, to all people. Verse 15, in those days, and at that time, I will cause to grow to David a branch of righteousness, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. So, out of King David, there will be a branch of righteousness which we know is Christ, there will be a branch of righteousness which we know is Christ, and Christ will execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. And then the whole earth will be blessed. The blessing will be reached to all of mankind in the world tomorrow, through God working through a family, and extending that blessing to others. So, let's look at how those promises were first given to Abraham. Let's really look at how God started, because the beginnings are always important, are always important for us to understand. And the beginning is in Genesis chapter 12 verse 1. And now the Lord said to Abram, Get out of your country from your family, from your father's house, to a land that I'll show you, and I'll make you a great nation, I'll bless you. You know, Abram could have said, you know, things are good, yeah, I'm here with my family, no, I don't want to go now, I'm here with my family, no, I don't want to go now, maybe in a few years time, maybe I'll do it, but not now, it's inconvenient, it's lovelier, I don't want to go, I don't want to do it. But when God tells you to do something, you got to believe God, and Abraham believed God, and he did what God asked him to do.

So that is the very act, that he was called, and he answered that calling.

In a spiritual analogy, you and I have been called, are we answering that call? Are we believing God, like Abraham believed God? It'll be a fact that we are, yeah, we are believing God, so, but it's just good for us to look at it from an analogy point of view, because he says, I'll make you a great nation, I'll bless you. That is physical, that is a physical blessing that your family will be big, you'll have more children, and from children you'll have grandchildren, and it will become a big family, a big nation. But then, look in verse 3, I will bless those who bless you, and I'll curse him who curses you. Wow! Which basically means, think about your children. You say to your children, I want you to do well, and if anybody treats bad my children, I am not going to look at them happily, but if they treat well my children, I am going to look at them in a nice way. That's what God is saying. He says, you obey me, you do what I say, you follow me, you trust in me, you believe in me, and I'll protect you. I'll put a hedge around you, I'll protect you.

And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Again, through him, through his family, that family will then become a group of families, large groups of families, and then it will go onto the whole world, because that family will then teach other families, and therefore the whole world will be blessed. So it's that pyramid of blessings going down to the whole of mankind. And so, Abraham will obey. Look at verse 7 a bit further. Look at it a bit further, verse 7. Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to you, the sentence, I'll give you this land. So Yahweh can see again that physical blessing. Look at Genesis 13. Genesis 13, verse 14 through 17. He says, and the Lord God said to Abraham, after a lot that's separated from him, lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, all the land which you see. So you can see it's a physical blessing.

It's a physical blessing. And then you read a bit further in verse 17. Arise, and walk in the land through its length and its worth, for I give it to you. And so we can see that blessing. Look at chapter 15. Chapter 15, starting in verse 1. And after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in the vision. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceeding great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me seeing I don't have any children? You know, sometimes for many years things don't look kind of they are happening. And I think our lives sometimes, we go through trials, we go through difficulties, and looks like when are these blessings? Because we're just going through difficulties and trials. Some people in the church are going through terrible trials, terrible health issues, a lot of pain, consistent, permanent, day-to-day pain, pain, pain, excruciating pain, some people. And there's nothing in some cases that medicine can do for them. Or maybe they can take some painkillers, but the painkillers have other side effects, so they got to keep that to a minimum and so they live through that pain.

So, yeah, yeah, Abram saying to God, I don't see this. Are you going to bless me through, through my, as he says, through Eliezer, the servant? You've given me no offspring, says in verse 3.

And then verse 4, Behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir. Your heir will not be, will not be from Abram. But one will come from your own body, shall be your heir. So be somebody from your own body, out of your own children, out of your own blood. And then he says, Are you counter-stars? And then he says, And then you read in verse 6, And Abram believed in the Lord. He actually trusted, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. It was accounted to him for righteousness.

Let's look at chapter 17. Chapter 17 verse 2. Again, now Abram was 99 years old, and he said, so he had been waiting now a number of years, decades, he's been waiting. And he says, I'll make my covenant, and he says, and let me be a part of verse 1. It was 99 years old. The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless, and I'll make my covenant between me and you, and I'll multiply you exceedingly. And then Abram fell on his face, talk of God, and then in verse 4 it says, As for me, be all my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be Abraham, but your name shall be Abraham, for I've made you a father of many nations. So it means his name was changed, his name was changed, you'll be a father of many people. And then we see the story that Isaac is born in chapter 21. And then in chapter 22, as we know, God tests Abraham. So he's waited all these years. He says, you're going to have many nations after you. First he didn't have any children. Then he only had one son. And now God says to that son, to Abram, sacrifice that son.

How's this possible? That's a test of faith. And you know the story. He believed that maybe God would maybe resurrect him or whatever, but he went ahead and he went and as he was going to do it, then God blessed and intervened by saying, stop, now I know, now I know, then really trust me.

Therefore, these promises from this moment became unconditional. Became, that's for sure, that's the way it is. There's no doubt it's going to happen. So the promises became unconditional, unconditional blessings. You can see that in chapter 22 verse 16 and 17. And it says, by myself I've sworn, says the Lord, because you have done the sin and have not withheld your son, your only son. Blessing, I'll bless you and multiply you, multiply you, descendants as the stars of heaven and as a sand which is on the seashore.

And your descendants shall possess the guide of the enemies. In other words, that is a fact. That's going to happen. This is going to be the outcome. But you read in verse 18, and this is an important point here in verse 18, which is often over read. In other words, it's read out. People don't take note of it with its deep meaning. In verse 18 says, in your seed, singular, which is one of his seeds, specifically, as we know, it's Christ. All the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you've obeyed my voice.

So it's basically saying that through him, Christ will be born, as we know now, many years afterwards, and all the nations will be blessed through Christ. It now is a spiritual blessing. We can see the promise then goes to Jacob, and then we know the story of Jacob as a dream, and the promise is passed through Jacob to his children, and then we know that Joseph is born, and then you know the story that Joseph ends up going to Egypt, and then the story goes that then Jacob is called back into Egypt. You know the story.

I mean, it's a very exciting story, but you read it in your own time. And then as Jacob comes back to Egypt to be with Joseph, and Joseph is like the prime minister of Egypt, as Jacob gets older, he gets very ill. Then in Genesis 48, Genesis 48, in verse 1, it says, I came to pass after those things that Joseph was told, indeed, your father is sick.

In other words, Jacob is very sick, because Jacob's name had been changed to Israel, as you remember, or may remember. And Jacob was told, look, your son Joseph is coming to see you. And then in verse 4, and he says, Behold, I'll make you fruitful and multiply, and I'll make you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.

So we see that both children, the children of Joseph, come. There's the firstborn, which is Manasseh, and the secondborn, which is Ephraim, they come. And in verse 5, And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you in Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. So he's now saying, These two sons, they're actually not just my grandsons, they're my sons.

So I have 11 sons, plus you, Joseph, is 12. But these two now, in a sense, replace you, so they're actually my sons. So in the end, he's actually 13. That is interesting when we heard in the sermon that there were 13 colonies. An interesting comparison there. But anyway, so these two children are now treated as part of Israel.

Part of Israel, and it was part of Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. Then we read in verse 14 and 15 of chapter 48, and he says, Then Israel, that's Jacob, stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger. And his left hand on Manasseh's head, and he guided his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. So he crossed his hands deliberately and put his right hand on the younger, which is Ephraim.

And then he says, and then Joseph said, God, before all my fathers, Abraham his son, walked the God who has fed me all my life, the angel is the redeemed, bless the lambs, let my name be upon them. And the name of my father's Abraham Isaac, let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. So Yahweh sees that they're going to grow, they're going to be blessed. And Joseph said, Dad, you've got the hands the wrong way around. And he says, No, no, I meant it that way. Look at in verse 19. He says, but his father refused and said, I know my son, I know, he also shall become a people and he also shall be great. But truly his younger brother, that's Ephraim, shall be greater than he, that's Manasseh, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. So out of Ephraim, there'll be a multitude of nations. And so we have today, out of Ephraim, which is today is great Britain, and a multitude of nations, which is a combined group of nations. While Manasseh is one nation, which is the United States. Then we continue reading in chapter 49. In 49 now is about dying, and then he's going to bless all his children. So he's going to give the blessing to all his children. And he says in verse 1, at the latter part of verse 1, he says that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. So it's basically prophecies for the end time. And then we read in verse 22 through 26, showing how Joseph, in other words Ephraim and Manasseh, those two nations, will be blessed at the time of the end. And brethren, that's what we see today. Those nations have been blessed, and in a way a degree of fulfillment of blessing happened at the time of Solomon. But the promise was there, and through it the promise was extended to the whole family. And that's why, brethren, we are blessed in these English-speaking nations. Because we are given a responsibility to share our gifts, our generosity, our blessings we have with others. And many of you have done. The Church has done many things to help the Church in other countries. And many people have done good things, which God is well pleased with. But unfortunately, our nation has sinned deeply, has broken God's laws, and is being a bad example to the world, instead of being a good example to the world. And therefore, we know in Scriptures like Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, they say, you obey me, you'll have these blessings. You disobey me, you'll have these curses. And the promises that were initially fulfilled through Solomon, but they are in much greater way being fulfilled at the end time, because we saw in Genesis 49 that the promises would go far extended to the whole of the world. These promises that have been fulfilled, we as a nation have been a terrible bad example. And here's a danger. When people become wealthy, when we become prosperous, it's easy to forget God. It's easy to forget God. You look at Isaiah 58. It says, cry aloud to my people. And you are fasting, or you are praying in vain, because you are still being hard to people. You're not releasing people. You read that in Isaiah 58. You're still having burdens on other people. And this prosperity and this thing has put you in a way that you become number one, number one, and you don't put God first, and you don't even keep my Sabbaths properly.

It's easy when we prosper to forget God, forget His holidays, forget His Sabbaths, and put our feet on our God's Sabbath. It's easy. We've got to be careful, brethren, that we don't do that. We've got to be careful, because there are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. And that's why the nation is disobeying. And even though people might pray, pray for a leader to bring happiness to the nation, the only leader that is going to bring happiness to this nation is Jesus Christ when He comes back, because all the leaders today are corrupt. To the left or to the right, they're all imperfect.

Unfortunately, many of us get involved into the day-to-day things and forget that we as a nation have sinned, and therefore we're bearing the fruits of that. But understand that these blessings, the physical blessings, pointed to a bigger blessing, which is spiritual. And look in Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 verse 26. Luke chapter 1 verse 26.

3.33.

Now it was the sixth month. The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed, to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, the virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favorable one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his sign, and considered what manner of greeting was this. And then the angel said to her, Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have been found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive a new womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and will be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end. So we can see that spiritual promise through Abraham's seed, which was Christ, in fact, through David's seed. And that blessing was here being born, being appearing on earth, and through him, we know salvation has come to the whole of mankind, not to just Israel or Judah. Look at Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3 verse 8. Galatians chapter 3 verse 8.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham.

Before and saying, in you all nations shall be blessed. This is the spiritual blessing, not just physical, because the physical is a preamble to the spiritual. It's an example to show us the spiritual, but it's an opportunity to train and educate and create an environment with which would be a sound, healthy environment to train and educate other people, so other people will then receive the same blessings. So it's like a cascading effect from one to the other, all the way to all the nations. Yeah, we see that salvation, therefore, is not a matter of physical lineage.

It's not a birthright of the Israelites. Salvation is to all humanity through Christ. Look at verse 16 of Galatians chapter 3 verse 16. Now, to Abraham, any seed where the promise is made, it does not say to seeds, plural, as of many, but as of one, to your seed who is Christ. And this are saying that the law, which was 430 years later, so this promise was given to Abraham. We saw that in Genesis 12. 430 years later, when the Israelites left Egypt and they got the law in Mount Sinai, then they were given also the law of sacrifices. This law of sacrifices was added because of transgressions, because we need the sacrifice of Christ to pay for our sins. You see, the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. You see, brethren, that law, that ceremonial law, was added. We can read that in verse 19. For what purpose does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions. The law was added. The law of sacrifices was added to God's commandments and God's principles and God's laws because we need a Redeemer. So those sacrifices pointed to Christ as our Redeemer, as the one that died for us. And till the seed, that's Christ, the real sacrifice, should come to whom the promise was made and was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. So the law of offerings was appointed through messengers. Reading them a little bit further in verse 24. Therefore the law, verse 24, the law, that means the sacrifices of bulls and goats and lamb, was our tutor to bring us to Christ. And so the law pointed to Christ, because the real sacrifice is Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under the tutor. So that law of sacrifices, of killing lambs and bulls, etc., we don't need it, because our real sacrifice is Christ. Verse 26, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as we are baptized into Christ, into Christ. This is important for us to understand into Christ. The word into implies a direction. Into Christ. What do you mean into Christ? Into the body of Christ. What is the body of Christ? It's the Church of God. We are baptized into the spiritual body of Christ, which is the Church of God. We're not baptized into this human organization, or that human organization, or another human organization. We're baptized into a spiritual organism, which is the body of Christ. We're baptized into Christ. And we have put on Christ. In other words, we put on the example. We follow Christ. We imitate Him. We are His disciples. Therefore, there is not a Jew, no Greek, because we are part of that spiritual body organism, which is Christ. Therefore, because we are part of Christ, and Christ is of the descendants of Abraham and David. And we are baptized into Christ. We are like those wild olive branches grafted into the right, the pure virgin olive tree.

As a symbolism, as an analogy. Therefore, we are now, whatever nation we are, Brazilians, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, German, doesn't matter. We are all, spiritually speaking, grafted into spiritual Israel, because we're baptized into Christ. That's why I said, verse 28, there is neither Jew, nor Greek, there's neither slave, nor free, there's neither male, nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We're all one body, a spiritual body. And if you are Christ's, then you are able to succeed and is according to the promise.

That promise is to us as well, is according to the promises. So salvation is freely open to all of mankind. Physically, we have blessings, so that the nation can teach others physically, so that others then can actually be grafted in and be part of the same blessings. So brethren, God is the master pater. He has architected this plan so that in the end, everybody will be part of his family, one family, not Jew, not Greek, not one family in the kingdom of God.

He decides, however, who to work with in his own time. Some people, he's working with them first, others you'll do at the later farm. We read that in 1 Corinthians 15, you know, Christ's first fruits and then those that are his, that he's decided to pick up and choose first, and then the rest. But each one in their own order. God's got an order. So then, why is it an order? So that you train these people, so these people now can train others, and then these others can be an example and train others, and that's why we need to be an example. That's why our biggest responsibility is to be a light, is to be the salt of the earth. In other words, to be an example. In the end, this will be done. Turn with me to Revelation 21. Revelation 21 verse 4. Revelation 21 verse 4.

It says, the time will come, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, no sorrow, no crime, no more pain. For the former things have passed away. The ultimate goal, the ultimate blessing, the ultimate promise is eternal life, not only in the world tomorrow, because the world tomorrow is only a thousand years. What is a thousand years when you have eternity? It's only a couple of years, okay, for us, a thousand years, a long time. But to God, that's a day. That's a day. To God, a thousand years like a day. You know, what's a day? It comes and goes.

The real goal is a new heaven and a new earth, and that's coming beyond, eternity. And then there'll be no more pain, no more sorrow. That will be so much greater than all the problems and difficulties we go with, with, or live with today.

So continue reading in verse 6. And then he said to me, it is done. Do you know what? To God, it's done. It's a fake accompli.

Why? Because God's promised, and he's got the power to do it. And it is as if it is done.

You and I will be there, unless you walk away from it. You have a choice. You can walk away. You're a free moral agent. But God wants you there. He's done everything possible for you and I to be there. And even if we're struggling, maybe it'll take us a little longer to overcome certain things. But he's training us to be there.

Which one of you, as a father, as a mother, does not want the children, even though maybe they're doing things wrong, to one day come right?

God is giving us time, because he wants all to come to repent us. But to God, this plan is done. It's there. It's complete. I am the Alpha and the Omega, and this is Christ speaking, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of the world of life freely to him who first he who overcomes. Oh yes, you and I have to do our part. You and I have to pick up socks and do our part. We're going to roll up sleeves and do our part. Yes, he's giving us everything that you and I need to succeed. But we have to lift our finger. We cannot sit on our back sides. Let's call it that. We have to do our bit. So he who overcomes shall. Shall! Does he say might? Could be. Or if I'm in a good mood, they will inherit. No, they shall inherit all things and I'll be his God. And he shall be my son. And brethren, for that purpose, that's why we've been blessed. But let us not be neglectful. And with these blessings, forget God. We've got to keep God in forefront because that is part of overcoming. But if we overcome and put God first, instead of self first, put God first. We will be there. It is done.