God's Two Great Works!

Today, I would like to discuss the two great works that God is presently involved in. These great works are so important to him that he's been involved in them for thousands of years. As a matter of fact, he implies, as we'll see a little later, that these two great works have been in his mind for millions of years.

Most people on earth today don't even know what God is doing on our small planet, let alone have the understanding that he actually has two works that he's passionate about. Well, it's my hope and prayer that all of us can become more zealous about these two great works, as zealous as God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ are about these two works that they're involved in. There was a time when these great works began in a spiritual essence, in the mind of God and his planning and thinking, but then there was a time when the physical stage of these two great works began. Let's take a look at that physical stage. If you'll turn with me to Genesis 2, beginning in verse 8, we'll see when God began the physical stage of his two works.

Genesis 2, chapter 8. It says, The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I want you to notice here that God establishes a garden, a paradise, a beautiful place in this land that we know as Eden.

There he created the first man, and he placed him in the center of this paradise of pleasant living, a paradise of peace, of serenity. There was beauty. There were good things to eat. There were lots of wonderful things that God prepared for the first man. And he also placed two trees in that garden. And these two trees would be used by God to shape and mold mankind's character so that we could be formed and developed to be in the family of God. Let's drop down now to verse 20. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and he closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman. And he brought her to the man, and Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Or as I've heard it explained, he opened his eyes and he saw this beautiful gorgeous creature. And he said, Whoa, man!

And that's how the term woman came about. That may not be biblical, but it's fun to say anyway.

She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. So we see here that God created the perfect compliment for the man, and her name was Eve. And Adam and Eve were able to soon enjoy two great gifts on the Sabbath that occurred after creation. They were able to have a direct personal relationship with their creator God, and they were able to enjoy a garden paradise that was intended to be just a down payment of what God wanted to do over the entire world. Not only, or not simply, in Eden. Sadly, we know that their sin removed those gifts and those blessings from their individual lives. Let's go to chapter 3 and verse 6. It says, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and to tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings, and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Now, this is interesting because we see that Adam and Eve sinned, and it started all human suffering and alienation from God that we witness in our own world today, many generations later. But first of all, we see that they lost their innocence. They lost a childlike innocence of the simple joy of living, something that they had never experienced entered their hearts, and it's called shame. And that was a sad thing because once you experience something like that, you cannot recapture the innocence of simply living and enjoying life, and enjoying an intimate relationship with your Creator who would walk in the garden. He would walk and talk with you and teach you, and you had that kind of relationship with your Creator God that was so wonderful, so intimate, so deep. God has always had a deep affection for His creation.

And from this point on, the first great work that God is involved in began. It was God's desire to announce and to establish, or we could use the phrase re-establish or restore His presence on the earth. And we know that as the kingdom of God. God wanted to offer hope that He once again would renew a reconciliation with mankind, and that He would restore that paradise that He created at Eden that was always intended to grow and encircle the entire earth. He wanted to encourage His creation to know that that is His will and that He certainly would do that. That is God's first great work. Let's take a look at, just quickly, some prophecies without a whole lot of commentary to see how important this work has always been to God, because it was a message that He also gave to His prophets. Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. Again, Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6.

The prophet Isaiah wrote, looking forward to the time of Jesus Christ, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever, he said, there's going to come a time when a child will be born and that child will do certain things and show that he is the Son of God and he will establish a government and a kingdom from that time forward, even forever, throughout all eternity. And it concludes here at the end of verse 7, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So we know that God had created a paradise in the garden where he had placed Adam and Eve, and ever since the time of their sin, it has been his will and his desire and his work to restore that paradise, not just in that little piece of earth called Eden, but for the whole world to establish his intimate presence and his relationship, his loving desire for his creation in a garden that would encompass the entire earth.

Micah chapter 4 and verse 1, another beautiful prophecy. Micah chapter 4 and verse 1.

The prophet Micah said, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established at the top of the mountains. It will be the most high, because it will be a kingdom blessed by the most high, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us of his ways, and we, will walk in his paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth. And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, he shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations from afar off.

So the scripture says that out of Jerusalem, out of Zion, will begin the seed that is planted from the return of Jesus Christ, that will grow and eventually encompass the entire earth. And in all nations, all peoples will be blessed because of what God's will has designed from the very beginning. It says continuing, they will beat their swords in the plowshares. Now, that's very millennial. A sword is something you do to kill someone. It's used traditionally as an act of violence to destroy. But instead of destroying, people will be building. They'll be planting crops. They'll be building homes and cities and wonderful things to live in because of this law that will come out from Zion, that will go forth, that will change people's lives, that literally will change the world. Continuing, and their spears and the pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

God's first great work continued to be announced and trumpeted. Zechariah chapter 14 verse 1.

Zechariah chapter 14 beginning in verse 1. Another prophet, Zechariah, said, Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravaged. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. Of course, we know that as the Battle of Megiddo, or what traditionally is known as the Battle of Armageddon, which is so swift and so powerful because of the all-conquering Christ. It's not really much of a battle, but it does destroy the nations that have rallied against Jesus Christ. It says in verse 4, In that day his feet shall stand in the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move towards the north, and half of it toward the south.

This reminds us that there is often a very fearful side of prophecy. There are many terrible events that are yet to occur on this earth, and sometimes we refer to that as the Ezekiel warning message, and that is important. Prophecy does have a fearful side. It does tell us that there are going to be some very terrible events that are going to occur on the earth.

Though the rest is prophecy, and we have to talk about it, what he wants us to emphasize is the positive conclusion of prophecy. That's why Jesus chose a term that is translated into our English language, his gospel. Jesus said that his message was the good news, not the terrible news, not the tragic news. It was the good news of the conclusion of God's plan for all mankind, the establishment of the kingdom of God, when everyone could live in peace and harmony through God's law and have a close relationship with their very Creator. Let's drop down now to verse 16. And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whatever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, on them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt will not come up to enter in, they shall have no rain. They shall receive the plagues which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, the prophecy about the establishment of the government and the kingdom of God.

Now, why specifically does God expect all nations to send their representatives to the Feast of Tabernacles? Why not the days of unleavened bread? Why not Pentecost? Why not trumpets? Well, the answer is actually very simple. Because of all of the holy days, it is the one that represents the restoration of the Garden of Eden. That holy day we know of is the Feast of Tabernacles represents the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. It is for that reason that representatives of all the nations will be expected to come and celebrate and worship the king and celebrate the kingdom of God during those days. That's very important for us to understand and appreciate. Now, does God give you and I something to announce the kingdom in advance? Does he give you and I a gift so that we can celebrate the kingdom of God in advance? You know, holy days are wonderful, but there aren't that many of them throughout a year. Does he give us a gift, something to help us to have a foretaste of his kingdom and to celebrate the fact that his first great work is the establishment of his kingdom on this earth? He certainly does. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 8. We know of it, of course, not only as one of the Ten Commandments, but it's something that's very precious to us, and that is the Sabbath day. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 8.

Moses was inspired to write, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant, nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it. Brethren, the Sabbath is a gift, and it's a weekly reminder of what the earth once had for a short period of time, a garden paradise. It reminds us that God's presence was on this earth at one time at a place called Eden. It's a weekly foretaste of what we have been promised. That promise is His first great work, the restoration of the kingdom of God, and that's why the Sabbath should be a delight to us. It should always be a time when we can see that sun go down and say, ah, this is wonderful. I'm going to relax. I'm going to study God's Word. I'm going to spend some extra time with my loved ones, and I'm just going to savor the time and the gift that God has given me because this is what it's going to be like in His kingdom. It's going to be a time of peace and serenity and joy and reflection and knowledge and an opportunity to worship and praise my Creator God. That Sabbath is a gift for us and a weekly reminder of His first great work. Now let's survey the message that Jesus Christ Himself preached. It's the same message that the disciples preached. It's the same message that the early church preached, and it's the same message that the United Church of God preaches today. Let's go to Luke chapter 1 and verse 31, and I'll go through a number of these scriptures rather quickly just so we can understand how important this was to Jesus Christ that He mentioned these things so often. Luke chapter 1 and verse 31. First, the message given to His mother before He's even born. Mary is told, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. So Mary is clearly told that Jesus would be the Son of God, and that He would reign over a kingdom, the kingdom of God, God's first great work, that kingdom that would never end. Let's drop down to Luke chapter 9, beginning in verse 1.

This is the message that Jesus told His very own disciples to give to the world. Luke chapter 9, verse 1. Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. So notice the message that Jesus sent His disciples to preach. He says, I want to give you the ability to do two things that are going to occur in the kingdom of God. To heal spiritually, that's demon forces, to relieve people of spiritual distress, and also to be healed physically, to be able to heal people of their physical infirmities. Their message was that what they were doing was just a sample, a foretaste of how it would be in the kingdom of God. The entire world will be healed spiritually. We know, of course, the Day of Atonement itself pictures Satan being put away so that he no longer influences the world. And, of course, people will be healed physically within the kingdom of God. All pain and suffering and death and disease will be wiped away. Let's now go to chapter 10, Luke chapter 10, verse 1. It says, After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and He sent them by two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. So they went as messengers just before Christ got there. Verse 2, And He said to them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. And you know, brethren, it's no different today. The harvest is great, but I'm looking out among this audience, and the laborers are few. But with God's power, what mighty laborers they are! We have a mission to do. We have a role to fulfill. It's our calling to be part of God's first great work. And also the warning He gave us. Go your way. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. This is a difficult world to preach the gospel in. A very difficult world. But we will continue, in spite of our adversaries, in spite of those who do everything they can to stop this work, we will continue to do what God has called us to do. Luke 10, verse 9, He said, And heal the sick there, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near you. Now let's go to the book of Mark. Mark chapter 1, verse 13. Mark chapter 1, verse 13. Mark wrote in his gospel, and he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beast, and the angels ministered to him.

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel. That's the good news, the encouraging, inspiring news of the kingdom of God, saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Change your life. Listen to this life-changing message that offers hope and comfort. And change your life. Turn around in another direction. Believe the message that you're being told. Mark chapter 16 and verse 15. And he said to them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, and he who does not believe will be condemned. And they'll continue to be condemned until the time comes when God opens up their minds, to the time that God intended for them to understand and have their minds opened, until we are saved by the shed blood of Christ. We are condemned. Doesn't necessarily mean we're condemned for eternity, but until we accept that shed blood of Christ, we are not saved. We are, and all mankind is, condemned. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 6. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 6. Jesus makes a statement here about prayer that's very important. He says, But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. Don't use a mantra, just the same thing over and over and over again. It has no meaning after a while. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things you would need of before you ask him. So then why do we pray? If he knows what we need before we ask him, why do we pray? We pray because it's that link that gives us an intimate relationship with our father. It's that asking. It's that humility of coming in prayer and saying, Father, please intervene in my life. Please help me in this area. Please make this happen. Please heal this person that I love and that I care for. It's important for us to demonstrate the discipline and the willingness to go day after day to God's throne and to ask him for the things that we need, even though he knows those things even before we ask. Verse 9, in this manner, therefore, pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Why would we pray that? Because it's God's first great work.

He's been thinking about it for millions of years. It's been on his mind.

He says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that's so important because it is rare that God's will on earth is as it is in heaven.

You know, there's a difference between God's will and what God allows. God's will is the ideal. It's what's good for everybody and everything. But God allows a lot of negative things to happen. Because he allows something doesn't mean it's his will. It means that out of his compassion or mercy or because he wants to use it as a learning experience, in spite of the fact that it's not his will on this earth, he allows a lot of things to happen that are negative and bad and painful. And Jesus said a good prayer is to ask that whatever is done in heaven, which is according to God's will, will someday eventually through the establishment of his kingdom, that his will will also be done on earth just like it is today in heaven. Matthew 24, verse 14.

Jesus said, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. Let's drop down to the 28th chapter, Matthew 28, verse 18. It says, And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen.

Now, I think the message of Jesus is pretty clear. Jesus Christ is pretty clear. We just surveyed some of the gospels. We understand what his message was. That's been the great commission of the church for 2,000 years. How about in just a couple of places in the book of Acts to realize that it didn't stop with him? That the same message, that first great work of God, and the message that it entails, were continued by his disciples, Acts chapter 8 and verse 12. In this case, it is the disciple Philip.

Acts chapter 8 and verse 12. It says, But when they believed Philip, as he was preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. So after the establishment of the New Testament church, beyond the day of Pentecost, they know what their mission is. They know what God's first great work is. Acts chapter 28 and verse 30. A very positive commentary made about Paul.

It says in Acts chapter 28 and verse 30, Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

So here is Paul also with the same message as the original messenger Jesus Christ himself. I could go on and on. We could go in through Paul's writings. We could go through Peter's writings. And I could show you consistently how they preached about the gospel, the kingdom of God, in their writings. But I think we understand that. We're here today on a Sabbath because we love God and we seek to worship Him. And we look forward to the return of Jesus Christ and the restoration of that garden paradise on this earth. What I would like to encourage you now is to realize not to allow anyone to take from you the joy of being part of preaching the gospel message to the world.

That is God's first great work. Don't allow anyone to distract you from doing that work that is going on now in a powerful way. So how can you preach the gospel?

That's an excellent question. I'd just like to give you a few things to think about. If you are savvy at all with the internet, there are a number of things that you could do that I would just like to give you as food for thought. On our members page called members.ucg.org is a little link called, Preach the Gospel. And if you go there, you'll see different ways in which you can literally help you in your home in the evening to preach the gospel. For example, you can watch a YouTube video. You might say, well, what will that do? Well, what a YouTube video will do if you watch it is eventually that YouTube video on Google, which is the world's largest search engine on earth and dominates everyone else, it will move higher and higher in the native rankings. So if someone types in violence, Sabbath, God, various keywords, eventually those videos get to the first page.

And people, when they're searching for something, rarely go beyond the first page or two. Normally, they find what they're looking for in the first couple of pages. So that when we do something as simple as watch a YouTube video, it helps move our many videos that are on the web go higher on the Google search engines. Another thing you can do is you can post links or articles on your own Twitter account. Now, we have a couple of members, Bob and Jody Shenfield, who have done an excellent job in doing this.

It is phenomenal how many followers and how many ways they have been able to put a link on their Twitter account that is tweeted to all of their followers that show various videos or articles or other things provided on the church for people to look at. And when I give you some statistics in a minute, you'll see the kind of power that that can have the ripple effect throughout the world. If you'd like to know more about how you can do that, because you can set up your own Twitter account, I encourage you to talk to them.

You can volunteer to manage our local website. Now, by default, I inherited that two weeks ago, but I'm not married to it. I can do it, and I'm happy to do it, but it's a responsibility that I would like to eventually be able to give someone else the opportunity to manage our local website. You can embed a GN commentary, Good News commentary, on your own website if you have one, or if you have your own blog.

Locally, you can distribute the Good News magazine. You can get tri-fold brochures and distribute them to the local community, and you can see little Joe Horton, if you would like more information on that. But there are a lot of things that we can do beyond the traditional pray and fast and ask God to bring more laborers and more individuals to call into his church. There are things that we can do locally to promote the preaching of the Gospel.

One of the difficulties that I see among us as a people, as human beings, is that after a while we just take things for granted, and after a while we just don't appreciate the things that were given in life. You know, when I look at a lot of what the United Church of God does, we have now broadcast television on WGN America. If you go to our website, we have 35 downloadable booklets, even more booklets than that. We have 60,000 copies of the world news and prophecy that we promote.

We have Vertical Thought magazine for our kids. The United News is now going to be available and cover 350,000 subscribers to the Good News. And after a while, because those just come consistently, like clockwork, they always show up, we just begin to take it for granted. We can forget about the talent and the financial and other resources that it takes to provide that kind of quality in literature day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

And because it's always there, and it always shows up, and because the quality is high, it's very easy for us to take those things for granted. And we shouldn't, because we know in Scripture there's going to come a time when there's going to be a famine of the Word.

There's going to come a time when people will not have access to the truth that we have. I'd just like to give you some other statistics that I hope will help you to understand all that we're trying to do in order to fulfill God's first great work. We have something that we call print advertising, and that includes brochures and waiting rooms. It includes new stand distribution in areas of the country. It includes direct mail. It includes inserts that we put inside of little mail packs.

It includes take one brochure that's put in things from dentist offices to anywhere that we can get them placed. And it's very powerful. I'd like to give you an example. We've been working on that for a long time, and because of our print advertising, we have placed 118,131,000 pieces in U.S. households over the last 12 years. That's 12 years.

118 million plus homes have been impacted by our print advertising. That has resulted in the last 12 years of 954,000 subscribers being added to the Good News. Now, as with anything, unfortunately, some of these folks subscribe, and after a period of time we ask them to renew, and they may choose not to. But we're out there working very hard to sow the seed of the kingdom of God.

We're working very hard to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God through a variety of ways. Television just being one of them, but a very important way. We created something called a free Bible study guide, and in its first year it had 94,000 unique visitors. That means a person who came one time. If you come the second time, you're not counted again. 94,000, that's like eight or nine times the size of the church that we're reaching, the size of church members, through our free Bible study guide.

Including those who came back, 138,000 people went to that site in the year 2010. I mentioned earlier that we have videos on YouTube. We put some of the commentaries and snippets of the TV program on YouTube.

I want you to think about the size of the church, which is extremely small compared to the world. How many people do you think in the world have viewed those YouTube videos? The number is 1,466,000 people around the world have watched those videos. I can tell you that's not each church member clicking on 58 times, right?

These are new, fresh people that never have received the gospel in their lifetimes, even a semblance of it, who are watching a video that offers them literature, that offers them more information on a life-changing event that we know of as repentance, that we know of as the foundation for establishing the kingdom of God. Another area on our webpage is called the Bible Frequently Asked Questions. During this last year, 738,000 people visited our Frequently Asked Questions section of our webpage. We have email campaigns. Sometimes we purchase through Google and others the ability to be at the top of a page. And I've done that in my own business. If you natively or organically can't get to the highest part of a page, you can sponsor yourself. You can pay per click and you can be number one, which is a great way to get people to click on you. Well, we've done that. And over a period of time, we've received 476,000 clicks to our website as a result of email campaigns. That's impressive. It's reaching the world. Now, for those who connect to the Apple Eye bookstore, as we may have a few, 31,006 of our booklets have been downloaded from the Apple Eye bookstore to Apple Devices. And that number is growing every day. And the point that I'd like to bring home is that we are working very hard in the United Church of God to preach this Gospel message to the world. It's not easy. It's not something you can start overnight. It needs talent. It needs resources. It needs a level of dedication that we have consistently provided for 15 years and that we will continue to provide until the very return of Jesus Christ. Why? Because we are committed to the fact of being part of God's first great work.

And I hope and pray that you are as committed as the Church is regarding that.

Now I'd like to move on and discuss God's second great work. And this work is near and dear to his heart. This work is so important to God. Let's begin to understand it in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 1. Paul says in chapter 1 verse 1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. I spoke about the will of God earlier. Here's his will. To the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you in peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessing be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. That is a long time before the world was even created. The one who knew the beginning from the end, the Alpha and the Omega said, I am going to choose people that I'm going to call and they're going to be my firstfruits and I'm going to work with them throughout their entire lives for a very important reason. A reason that I'll get to in a minute. Continuing that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. You see, calling us is pleasurable to the Father. He loves us. This is what he always wanted. He doesn't look at us and hold his nose. He doesn't say, oh, what a mistake I made. These people are so stubborn. They just don't get it. That's not the way he looks at us. It says he has pleasure when he looks down at us. It's part of his will. Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he has made us accepted in the beloved. We are accepted in the beloved. We're not rejected. We're not considered skunks to the Father or his son, Jesus Christ. We are accepted in the beloved. Verse 7, in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound towards us in all wisdom and prudence having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself. What is the mystery of his will? The mystery of his will is his second great work because his second great work is important for him to complete his first great work. Verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together and one all things in Christ both of which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. As we know from the book of Revelation, there will come a time when the new Jerusalem will descend to the earth after so many events have occurred and literally the throne of God the Father will be on earth. That's what this verse is talking about. Verse 10, verse 11, in him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory.

That's how he feels about us. Verse 13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation. There's that good news again. In whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, not rejected, not isolated, sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. We have God's Holy Spirit when we receive that. It's a guarantee, 100% guarantee of our inheritance. All we have to do is stay on the right path and seek our God each and every morning and when we get up and stay close to him. That's all we have to do is our part, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Wow, is this a powerful number of scriptures? Very rich and wonderful statements in this scripture. It says we were chosen from the foundation of the world. It says our calling brings God pleasure and is according to his will. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our eternal inheritance. What Paul is saying is that you, you, are God's second great work. That's right, you, every one of you. God is working inside of you and doing a great work. Let's drop down now to chapter 2 and verse 4. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4. Paul continues to this congregation. He says, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Verse 7. That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. Verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works lest any one should boast. So all the good deeds, the good works that we do cannot save us. That is a gift from God. Grace being being pardoned and favored by God is a gift, not something that we can earn. Verse 10. For we are his workmanship. See, I told you that you were God's second great work. And Paul says here that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Yes, brethren, you too are one of God's great works. Now, certainly we all experience regular trials and tribulations and problems. We all have our own cross to bear in this life. And I know right now that some of us are facing financial problems or marriage problems, career problems, child-wearing problems, health problems. We just have lots of problems as God's people, don't we? That's part of what life is about. But I want you to know that what sets us apart and allows us to go through these experiences is tapping into the Spirit of God.

And having an attitude of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The longer I live, the more I realize that indeed attitude is everything. And if you have the right attitude, you look at everything in life through a healthy and positive and growing perspective. And if you have a stinking attitude, then you see the exact same events and you define them in negative, selfish, judgmental ways.

But we don't want to look at life that way, do we? We don't want to look at life that way at all. And here's why 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Paul said to this Corinthian congregation in the second letter that was a follow-up to some very strong words he used in 1 Corinthians. He said in this follow-up letter to this congregation, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.

You see, at conversion, we became a new creation. What's new about us? Well, when we receive God's Spirit, we require an added dimension. We now become a unique spiritual being. And God intends us to have a fresh attitude, a new approach to life, a new purpose, a new direction to guide us every day. That old way of living, which is sour and negative and destructive, is intended to disappear. It's intended to be submerged by the new creature that is filled with zeal and enthusiasm for the positive things that God offers us and that He gives us.

Brethren, being critical of others, judging other people's motives, claiming that we can read people's minds, making negative accusations towards others isn't new.

That's old! That has nothing to do with being a new creature. That's the old carnal self, just rising itself out and taking control of our lives. And we just should not allow that to happen.

It's not good for our growth, and it's not good for the people who love us and the people that are around us, because like a cancer, it begins to affect the way that people think and act, and it distorts the way that they view the world.

John, chapter 15 and verse 10.

Something else about this second great work. John, chapter 15 and verse 10.

The words of Jesus himself. He says, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. That's one of the things that God wants us to have as new creatures, is to be filled with joy. Now, it's hard.

It's incompatible to be filled with joy, and also to be critical and negative and suspicious and cynical and negative of others, judging people's motives. They're incompatible. You either have joy or you have the other. And what Jesus says here is that I want to remain in you, and I want your joy to be full. Verse 12. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, and to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, where a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends.

Wow! What a relationship! Not just master and slave, not just do this, do that. He says, you're my friend. I love you. I think about you. I'm pulling for you. I'm always there for you.

He says, but I have called you friends. For all things that I heard from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain. Not just fruit for a season, not just fruit for five years or ten years, and then we shrivel up like an old fruit tree. He says that your fruit should remain year after year, decade after decade, as a light, as an example to others within your family, in your community, in your congregation. That whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you, these things I command you that you love one another. I want you to notice how much Jesus Christ loves us. Not only did he give his life for us and shed his blood, he offers us the joy that he has. He also calls us his friends because we have a special relationship with him. It goes beyond just being a master or a slave. And it's good for us to understand that God, who sees the beginning from the end of time, planned a long time ago, far in advance, to call us in this lifetime for a great reason. We've been called to be his friends and to produce good works that reflect the glory of God. He's working with us every minute of every day to mold us into a new creature, something that's more positive, something that is better. Let's go to Psalm 37 and verse 23. Do you sometimes make some terrible mistakes? Do you sometimes sin?

Do you sometimes do some things that you're ashamed of? Say some things you wish you hadn't said or do some things that you wish you hadn't done? This is what the psalmist tells us in Psalm 37 verse 23. It says, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. In the words of God, when he says that you are righteous because of Christ in you, he considers you a good man. Your life becomes part of his will. He works with you. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way. He delights in you. You are someone precious to him. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with his hand. I'd like to read that from the translation of God's word for today. When he falls, he will not be thrown down head first because the Lord holds on to his hand. You see, brethren, when our hearts are right and when we live by God's way of life, we give him delight. Even when we stumble and do shameful, silly things, he is always there to cushion the impact of our error because he loves us. We worship a God of second chances who is quick to forgive us when we repent and we fall short of his law. He is always there for us.

I hope you realize that your father, your spiritual father, is your biggest supporter and he has great favor for you. You're not a mistake or an embarrassment to God. He believes in you even more than you believe in yourself. He wants to use you and he wants to love you in spite of the fact that we all have weaknesses that we struggle with. Final scripture today, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6.

1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 6. Peter wrote, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, meaning even though you never physically saw Christ yet, you love him because you understand your role in being part of God's second great work. It says, Though now you do not see him yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I think that's a very beautiful scripture. And in closing, brethren, I want to remind you that you are the future. You are the hope of the world. Jesus Christ is training, tested, and committed, brethren, to serve as kings and priests in his wonderful world to come, the one that he has longed for and wanted to restore since the Garden of Eden. The fruit that God desires in us is the result of things that we do every day in enduring our daily trials and having patience and overcoming and perseverance and faith. Those are the qualities that God respects and admires in us. Most people in the world today have many questions. Is there a God? What is his will? What's the purpose of human existence? Brethren, you! And what God is doing in you is one of God's answers to those questions that the world is asking. The frightened and confused people God will call in the future will need teachers who have been there and who never quit. They'll need instructors who had the courage and the empathy to work with them and to love people because they also felt the pain that comes from trial and testing. They'll need friends who walked through the valley of the shadow of death and trusted God to the very end. They'll need love from those whose love was refined through the fiery trials of affliction. They'll need spiritual brothers and sisters who never stopped believing and preparing for a better world. They need you! So, brethren, support the Church of God and both of his great works. Never cease being part of his great end-time worldwide work.

And please, never ever forget that God is also doing a work in you.

Have a wonderful Sabbath!