God's Ultimate Plan for All

Well, I'm looking forward to sharing with you a topic, maybe more than just a topic, but it's an understanding about God's plan that we were going over in our Bible study the other night in Topeka. We've gone through the writings of John in Topeka, we've gone through the Gospel and then the epistles of John and now the Book of Revelation, and we're covering right now, we concluded the other night, the final two chapters, Revelation 21 and 22. That is, you know, as you're familiar with what those chapters cover, it's talking about a new heavens and a new earth, and talking about a time beyond when human beings have been dealt with by God and have been taught and have been allowed to look at the plan of God and the purpose of God and the reason that God created us physical and human and, in a sense, very, very limited.

Why he did that and why he is looking toward the future in such a wonderful way. See, whenever we read in Romans that God is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God, that's a statement that you read in Romans chapter 8, and it tells us that we need to be anticipating that.

We need to look forward to that. We need to know that that's in the end of the book. It's at the end of all of what's going to happen with human beings. There's going to be a time when the family of God, and Mr. Keener very clearly mentioned this earlier, there will be a time when the family of God is in complete harmony. Complete peace, complete order, complete direction from God. And then, what God is going to plan, and this is what we read in Revelation 21 and 22, what God is going to plan, he doesn't detail everything that's going to happen, but he does talk about inheriting all things.

And he talks about living under the supervision of God and clearly under the supervision of Jesus Christ for the entirety of that spiritual family. And I'd like for us, we were talking about, thinking about this the other night, there is a time going to come when God will have completed his work with men and the family of God can be completely in harmony and at peace.

If we will, look at Philippians, where I'd like to begin today, because Paul tells us in the book of Philippians, and starting in chapter 2, Philippians chapter 2, I want to read, I'm actually wanting to focus on a couple of verses that are a little further down, but we might as well begin by reading what it says here in Philippians chapter 2, verse 1. Because Paul tells the people there in Philippi, he tells his congregation that was one that he loved, one that he had begun, one that he had been directly involved in bringing Lydia and the jailer and others into this congregation, and they had been very generous and very helpful to Paul.

But he says in verse 1, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete. He was telling them, I desire for you to reflect what God is going to do for the entirety of humanity. Now clearly he was appealing to them, he was appealing to them as a congregation who had been given knowledge and who had been given the Holy Spirit and who were being encouraged to choose to honor and obey God. He says if there is any consolation, make my joy complete. In verse 2, be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind.

See, that's clearly not something we see in the world today. People are headed every which direction. They have all different kind of ideas. They have misinformation. They are completely off track as far as what God is going to do. But he says in verse 3, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, regard others better than yourself. Let each of you look to one another's interest or not to your own interest, but to the interest of others. In verse 5, a verse that we commonly will use, it says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Jesus Christ. See, that's my goal. That's your goal. That should be the goal of every single one of us, male or female.

We want to have, we need to have the mind that Jesus had. Now Paul goes ahead to describe how it was that Jesus had the mind that he had. Now obviously, he was the Son of God. He was the Word prior to coming to the earth. He had a lot of benefit that way, you would guess. But see, what's described here is just incredible. It says Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, he was of the God kind, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited or misused or cling to, but he was willing to empty himself in taking on the form of a servant.

That's what Jesus wanted. He was taking on the form of a servant. And it says, being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So what we find Paul saying here was, he was inspired to explain how the outcome for the family of God was displayed by the manner and way in which Jesus had willingly come to the earth.

He had willingly given up the God form and taken a human form. And he says, because of his humility, he humbled himself and he was able to be the kind of servant that all of us want to emulate. And what I want to focus on, particularly, is in verse 9, 10, and 11.

Because of what Jesus has done, because of what he has provided for us, and of course his sacrifice was to be given for all. Not just one of us or a few of us who are good enough, but for all who are willing to accept that sacrifice. It says, therefore, as Jesus has been willing to do this, he says, let this mind be in you, because Jesus has humbled himself. And therefore, in verse 9, God was highly, or has highly, also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.

So that the name of Jesus, every knee should bend in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. See, now that explanation we can read over, or we can easily read through, but what it points out is that ultimately, if we're going to be a part of God's family, all of us are going to seek to have the mind that Jesus had.

We're going to seek that mind by seeking humility, and we're going to seek that mind by bending our knees, by bowing our head, and by certainly acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the Lord that we worship and that we respect a great deal. And I point this out, or mention this, because all of us who are going to be in the family of God, see, and this is what we need to think about, all of us who are going to be in the family of God, who we have such an incredible destiny before us, such an incredible potential, we have the privilege and the opportunity to know that and to then pursue that.

Every one of us who are going to be in the family of God are going to have to choose. That's actually, if you want a title for the sermon, choose life. Choice is what God has placed before us. Every one of us have to choose to obey God, to honor God, to worship God, to worship His Son. You read about this choice throughout the Bible. And yet I want to point out here in Deuteronomy 30, how that in Deuteronomy 30, a verse again that I know we're familiar with, Deuteronomy 30, this is written by Moses and he's stating it as the children of Israel are about to go into the Promised Land.

He's telling them not to be forgetful, not to be ignoring, or don't relax. Keep your eye on God. Keep your eye on the blessings that God can provide, because if He blesses you, or if you obey and honor Him, you can receive those blessings if you don't. You can expect the opposite. But here in Deuteronomy 30, Moses was starting in verse 15. He says, The sea I have set before you today, wife and prosperity and death and adversity.

So he said, I present to you, and he was talking to the children of Israel. He was talking to descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and the tribes had expanded to the point to where Moses could talk to them. Now, did all of them have great understanding? No, they didn't. They needed a lot of help. But what he points out here in this section is that they were told by Moses, you need to choose. I've said before you today, life and death. With life comes prosperity, with death comes adversity.

If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, I'm commanding you today by loving the Lord your God, by walking in His ways, by observing His commandments and decrees, then you shall live and you shall become numerous. And the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

He says, if you look to me, if you keep your eyes on me, if you remember that I'm the one who is able to assist you and help you and lift you up, then I'm able to provide blessings, I'm able to provide prosperity, He says, in this case. And He says, I'm able to provide you life, abundant life. But, He says in verse 17, if your heart turns away and you won't hear, you won't listen, but you're led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, then I declare to you today that you shall perish.

You shall not live long in the land that you're crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. See, He was telling them, I call, in verse 19, again a verse you probably have marked in your Bible, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death. And what I want you to do is to choose life. See, He was encouraging them, I'm giving you a certain amount of knowledge. I've given you, in a sense, a calling. You are the children of Israel. You have been designated to be the people of God.

But as I give you this knowledge, as far as obedience as opposed to disobedience, then it's up to you. You have to choose life. He goes on to say, choose life so that you and your seed may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, holding fast to Him, for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob.

Now, how important is this idea or this topic of choosing? How important is it to each one of us personally and individually? And I think we should all consider just what am I choosing? God has given us that free moral agency. But with that prerogative to choose, with that prerogative to obey or disobey, He also tells us, He gives us responsibility. He wants us to choose life.

He wants us to be in His family. But see, God is not going to force us to be in that family. He's not going to make us be a part of the family of God. He's going to empower us. He's going to enable us. He's going to encourage us. He's going to love us, but He's not going to make us. That's something we have to choose to draw close to God, to yield to God, to be thankful to God.

What we were covering in Bible study here in Revelation 21, again, as I said, this is talking about a time beyond human beings, a time beyond what you might call the human project. The human project, in a sense, kind of concludes here in chapter 20. But in chapter 21, it's talking about a new heavens and a new earth.

It's talking about a time when the entire family of God is in complete harmony and peace with the Father and with the Son. That's the description. You see a lot of different emblems or symbols that are used to describe that. And yet, what I want to point out here is in chapter 21, starting in verse 7. At the end of Revelation, as we see a description of this new heaven and new earth, in verse 7, he says, Those who conquer, those who overcome, those who choose to overcome, that's got to be us.

That's got to be us individually, and we would hope collectively, but individually at least, those who choose to conquer, to overcome, will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. There he's talking about the divine family. He's talking about the type of relationship and the type of rapport and the type of love and the type of sharing and caring that he wants to have with his family. And he says, those who have overcome, those who are conquering their nature, those who have come to understand the kind of nature we have and how it is that it pulls us down, it draws us away from God, it helps us identify with everything that's wrong, unless we resist that and then yield to God and follow God, we can't fit into the category of inheriting all things, where we can be the children of God.

He even goes on to say in verse 8, In contrast, as for those who are cowardly or faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all wires, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Here he actually makes a contrast between being a part of the divine family of God and inheriting all things and being the children of God, having conquered, having overcome, having loved God so much, having fought the good fight. We read that about Paul the other day. Paul said, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. But right before that, he said, I have fought the good fight.

What kind of fight was he fighting? Well, he was battling a lot of difficulties that he had to endure. But more than anything, he was battling his own nature, a nature that he acknowledged. Pulled him down, drew him down, caused him to be less than what he wanted. And yet, brethren, we've been given that information. And the contrast that you read about here in Revelation 21, verse 7 and 8 is between overcoming and being a part of God's divine family and inheriting all things, and on the other hand, dying.

Dying permanently. See, the second death is something, of course, all of us must avoid, because the first death can be reconciled. God's going to resurrect all of us if we have a first death. We might live until Christ returns. We might be alive, and we might, at that point, be changed. We don't know whether we're going to live or not until that time. But if we do die, God's going to resurrect us. That's not a problem to God.

But when he talks about the second death, he's talking about someone who simply chooses to disregard what God has offered. He's talking about how it is that it's up to us to choose life. And so, what will you choose? Will you accept God's gift? We've been given a gift of the Holy Spirit. That was something we saw we needed, and we asked for, and God provides that power. He provides the incentive. He provides the power and love and the sound-mindedness that we need to have to be able to be the people of God and ultimately to be the children of God. But he also says, I have a gift of eternal life that you have to choose.

You have to accept it from me. And I hope to be able to point that out to you as we go through the rest of the sermon. As God deals with all of humanity, and I'm not just talking about it as he deals with people today, because, yes, we have seven billion people on earth today, and there have been multiple billions of people who have lived and died over the last six thousand years. But as God deals with the entirety of humanity, has he dealt with everybody in exactly the same way?

Clearly not. That isn't the case at all. But what we can see if we look at how God deals with humanity, he alone determines a few things. Three things in particular that I want us to recall. As God deals with mankind, he alone determines a few things. First of all, he determines who he will work with. He determines whom he will call. Now, how do we know that? Well, we read that in the New Testament.

We read that about how we are called or drawn by the Father to Jesus Christ. That's a privilege. That is a sacred privilege and responsibility. But when you look back into the Old Testament, you see Israel, and even though they were not offered eternal life, you see that they were at least set apart. They were designated to be the people of God. So God decided who it was that he would deal with. So the first thing that we can recognize is that God determines who he will work with.

And if we happen to fall into that category, if we have been privileged in such a way that the grace and mercy of God has been extended to us, well then we should be all very, very grateful. Secondly, He gives the knowledge of His truth. That's knowledge from the Bible. Again, when we look back over the history of what we see revealed in the Bible, you see a lot of things that have transpired in the last 6,000 years. I'm talking about even a bigger picture than that, and I hope that all of you not only see that, but know that God calls us, He grants us knowledge of the truth.

That's knowledge from the Bible. And then thirdly, the way that God is going to deal with all of humanity, thirdly, He's going to give everyone a choice. A choice to obey from our heart. A choice. We have to accept what He offers. And I want to go back here, if we back up to Chapter 20. Chapter 20 is a remarkable chapter here in Revelation, because in a sense, it's the focus of what we talk about when we talk about the world tomorrow and the millennium, and we're told to pray, for the kingdom to come.

A thousand years of the rule and reign of Christ on earth. We clearly look forward to that. We yearn for that. We pray for that. We're told to pray, thy kingdom come. But see, that's only a thousand years. There's a lot more time involved of God dealing with humanity and God even dealing with His family as He goes forward.

But these three things, determining who He'll work with, giving the knowledge of His truth from the Bible, and then showing us that we must choose to obey and honor God. Here in Revelation 20, you see a section starting in verse 11 that is describing a great white throne judgment.

And going down from verse 11 through verse 11 and through verse 12, you see what's going to happen in this white throne judgment. And then beyond that, in verse 13, it says, The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Again, this is pointing out how it is that God offers information, He offers a calling, He offers knowledge, and then He requires us to choose. He requires us to choose, but He goes on here in verse 14 to show that death and Hades, or hell, were thrown into the lake of fire.

And He says, this is the second death, the lake of fire, and anyone whose name is not found written in the book of life, anyone who has not chosen to accept what God offers and to be a part of God's book of life, God's book of eternal life. If we don't choose that, if we don't accept to follow God for all eternity, He says they'll be thrown into the lake of fire. He says they'll be a part of a second death. See, here it's describing men who have a knowledgeable choice. And see, that's where all of us come in.

You know, how much information is God made available to you? How much has He helped you to understand? How much has He helped you to grow? Well, each of us have to evaluate that ourselves. But we certainly have to know how it is. Now, God is... I read these verses, and I think it's important that we occasionally read these. And certainly God is not the author of fear religion.

He's not trying to scare us into His family or scare us into trying to obey God. But He does show that the fear of God is necessary. It's necessary for us to choose to accept His gift. We need to understand what He holds out, what He tells us. And of course, we look forward to the resurrection in a very positive light. We look forward to eternal life in a positive light. And yet, what He shows us is that we either choose that eternal life that He offers, or we cease to exist. And again, that's not to scare us. And yet it should cause us to think. It should cause us to respond. I think in a sense it should be a motivation.

The Bible reveals... See, we carry our Bibles back and forth to church, and we read them daily. We are people of the Book. We should be familiar with... We should be very familiar with the Word of God. But see, the Bible reveals the history. What is the Bible? It's a history book. It's a history of God and mankind.

God and men. You could say God and angels and men, because those are the beings that are described. But the Bible is a history book. It's the past and the current or present and the future of the history of God and man. I want to examine five different sections to see how important choice is for each one of these sections. If you were to break down what you see in the pages of the Bible, the time frames that are there... See, obviously it starts in the beginning, and it starts with Adam and Eve in chapter 1 and 2 and 3. And yet it ends, like we're reading here in Revelation, it ends with what John was inspired to write by Jesus about a time when God is fully completed. The project that he is dealing with humans, and every single human has been given a knowledge of the truth, and they've been allowed to choose to obey. Or not. And hence they've been allowed to choose to have eternal life. Or not. Again, that's the choice that I'm pointing out to you. But if you think about it, the five different segments that you could break down history from the Bible somewhat generally would be, first of all, the world, obviously God and the Word, have always existed, and so they're the very beginning. But the first segment would have to be the angelic realm. The angels, the archangels, the living creatures, the elders, 24 elders that surround the throne of God. Now you see a time frame. You don't see what the numbers are on a time frame. You just see that there existed before God brought into existence the physical universe. There existed an angelic realm.

The second segment that I'll point out to you is simply what we find from Adam to Noah. What you could say would be the pre-flood world. That covers about six chapters in the Bible. There's not a lot of information that's there, but it covers 1,500 years. And so you've got the angelic realm as far as a time frame before man. You've got the pre-flood world. You've got what we would call the present evil world. Now that's quite a long time because it's 4,500 years from the time after Noah. And through all we read about Abraham and Moses and David and Daniel up to the time of Jesus. And then as we know since the time of Jesus, 2,000 years have elapsed. But the way that the Bible describes that time frame is the present evil world. See, the present evil world. That's the third one. The fourth one is, of course, what we often yearn for, the world to come. The world that we describe as the world tomorrow or the millennium, or even as our program and magazine point out, beyond today. If we're looking beyond today, we're looking to the kingdom of God. And that is, again, a time frame. Now how big of a time frame is that? Well, that's a time frame of 1,000 years and maybe 100 years, whatever the identification is for the time frame beyond. Whenever he says the rest of the dead live not again until 1,000 years are finished, but then they are resurrected at that time. And they're allowed to learn. And they're dealt with by God as we celebrate whenever we observe the eighth day at the Feast of Tabernacles or following the Feast of Tabernacles. And so that's the world to come. That's the description that you have in the Bible about what's going to happen. The world to come is going to be a time that will be wonderful. It's a time to look forward to. It's a time when we could have and we desire to have responsibility. And yet beyond that, we read Revelation 21 and 22. It says, this is new heavens and new earth. Everything else is going to be dissolved. The earth and the heavens that we see today are all going to burn up. And then there will be new heavens and new earth. That's the description that you read about. And thankfully, it's going to be a time when there is no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more misery, no more heartache, no more tears. See, that's the present evil world. That's a description that we have of the present evil world. Physical life, where there is suffering and hardship, where there are tears and sorrow and pain and death. But again, when you see the world to come, the world beyond the world tomorrow, you see that that is going to be a time when the family of God will be in complete harmony. So those are five segments that I'd like for us to think about. And if we go back to the first one, what does God say about the angelic realm?

Well, you see it described in Isaiah 14. You see it described in Ezekiel 28. Here in Ezekiel 28, if we go back there, we're not going to be able to go to perhaps all of these. But I think we're familiar with these. We're aware that God reveals in His Word that there's an archangel named Michael, an archangel named Gabriel, and an archangel named Lucifer. And describing Lucifer here as a king of Tyre, in Ezekiel 28 verse 11, more over the word of the Lord came to me. And he says, you were the signet of perfection and full of wisdom and perfect and beauty, and you were in need in the garden of God, and every precious stone was your covering. You see here he's obviously talking about the involvement that Lucifer had already having chosen to defy God. See, that was what happened long before. But he's describing this. He's saying on the day that you were created in verse 13, you were prepared with an anointed carob as a guardian. I placed you, and you were on the holy mountain of God, and you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created. And so clearly, this angelic, powerful being was a created being. In this case, an archangel who was at the holy throne of God. But he says in verse 15, you were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created until iniquity was found in you. See, this corruption, God has dealt with in the past. We might think, well, God maybe is yet to figure out what he's going to do. No, he already knows what he's going to do. He already knows, and he's had an angelic realm, where there are many righteous angels. There are many angels who are responsive and worship God and praise God and sing praises to God, but there was a defective angel. And he describes it here, because there was a time when iniquity was found in you. In verse 16, in the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence and you sinned. We even had this mentioned the other night, and we ought to cover original sin. This is original sin. This is the first sin. This is the sin that occurred before Adam and Eve were ever put on earth. But here, you find he had turned from God, he had sinned, and he says, So I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God. And the guardian carob drove you out from among the stones of fire, because your heart was proud. Paul mentioned the value of humility. And clearly, whenever we see the perfect example of Jesus, humility is the way in which he projected himself, and the way that he lived, and of course set an example for us. But he said regarding Lucifer, your heart was proud, because you were just so gorgeous. You were so beautiful. And apparently he was. God had created him, a tremendously talented, a tremendously capable, hugely intelligent being, who was at the throne of God. And it says your heart was lifted up. It was proud because of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of all of your splendor. And I cast you to the ground.

Brethren, I know that we have to think about that. We have to contemplate what it was that God was dealing with when he was dealing with this angelic realm, and apparently allowed them to either obey or to choose to disobey. You see that here in 2 Peter 2, and I'm only going to quickly reference some of these. 2 Peter 2, in verse 4, we don't really know how long it may have taken Lucifer, who was going to become the adversary, and who was going to become the devil, and his heart would be lifted up, and he would choose to defy God. He would choose to rebel against God and try to overthrow the throne of God. You know, a faithful decision because that wasn't going to happen. You read more of that in Isaiah 14 that we won't take time to do. But see, that's what happened. He allowed that choice. And here in 2 Peter 2, verse 4, it says, If God did not spare the angels when they sinned, there was a time when angels chose to disobey God. They chose to defy God. They chose to follow Lucifer. Now, did they have any knowledge of God? Sure, they had whatever knowledge God made available to them. Had they been given certain responsibilities? We're going to assume that they probably did have and had. And so God had been working with them, but they chose. Even with the knowledge of the truth or the knowledge of God, they chose rebellion. They chose defiance of God. And of course, that would eventually affect everything after that. So if we think about, did God work with them? Yes. Did God give them knowledge? Yes. Did God allow them to choose? Apparently, He did. He allowed that. Let's focus on the second one here, the pre-flood world. It's called in the Bible the world that then was. Now, it lasted for about 1,500 years. It started in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve, and we won't again take time to go through the description of what Adam and Eve did. But of course, Adam and Eve were given blessings from God. They were offered life, physical life, and even they were offered a future. And they were given the knowledge from God, directly from God, of what to do, of how to obey. Or if you do this, then you will die. You choose to disobey. And of course, we know that Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. They had the knowledge of the truth of God that they chose to disrespect God. That's what they chose to do. Now, of course, we know that they clearly didn't comprehend the power that was against them. They didn't comprehend that the snake, the serpent in this case in Genesis 3, they didn't comprehend how cunning, how deceptive, how deceitful, how confusing he could possibly be. He told them a flat-out lie. He told them it doesn't make any difference what you do. You can do whatever you want. You can do whatever seems right to you.

Of course, that didn't turn out so well for them. And as we study the pre-flood world, you know that in the first six or eight chapters of Genesis, you read about the time when the heart of man became evil continually. Here in Genesis 6, verse 5 and through 8, how many bad choices were people making at that time? That was terrible. Satan was running rampant because he was influencing people to defy God, to lift themselves up, to encourage others to lift themselves up. Did they have any information? Well, yeah. Did they understand about how the prince of the power of air was corrupting them? I doubt it. I don't think that they fully understood that. And clearly, you see in the Old Testament that God worked with the children of Israel, but he didn't give them all the information that he was going to make available to the church today.

So regarding the pre-flood world, 1500 years or so from Adam until Noah, you find that God dealt with very few people. We see Abel and Enoch and Noah. That's about it. You don't see a whole lot of others that it appears that God revealed some information to and that they chose to obey God or honor God. And clearly, when we jump down to the present evil world, our third section here, I would guess we could say that we know this world the best. And yet this world, the present evil world, goes back to the time just after the flood. It goes back to the time that we read about in the Old Testament, about Abraham and Moses and David. Those are spanning quite a few thousand years until the time of Jesus 2,000 years ago and to the development of the church. The institution of the church of God.

Now, it's very clear that God dealt with a few individuals in the Old Testament, and He gave them a certain knowledge of God, but they still had to choose to obey. And certainly, whenever we look at where we find ourselves, maybe we could look at Galatians chapter 1 because He describes the world we live in today. Galatians chapter 1, in writing to, again, a church that He loved, one that He had instituted when He was in the area, or the different churches or cities that were around the area of Galatia. He says in chapter 1, in verse 3, in peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to set us free from this present evil world. To hear Paul describes the age that we live in as the present evil world. He says, according to the will of God our Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. And he says in verse 6, he was writing to the church, he was writing to people who had been drawn to embrace Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as the Lord, as the one they were to serve.

And he said in verse 6, I'm astonished at the choices you are making. He says, I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting, the one who called you in the grace of Christ, and you're turning to a different gospel. To hear he was telling them that, you know, I'm wanting to be protective of you, I'm wanting to help you, I'm going to tell you or show you what's wrong with what the dissidents are saying, and I'm going to show you how it is. You can have a close walk with God, but you need to realize that how you choose, the things that you choose are important. And clearly, you know, when you read all of Paul's writings, you see, he had a great deal to say. He had a great deal to encourage them in. And yet again, in this present evil world, you know, do some people have the knowledge? From God? Well, yes. Do those same people then have a responsibility to choose to obey God? Well, of course. All of us have that same responsibility. Here in Ephesians, we could turn over a page or two. In Ephesians chapter 1, you see, Ephesians chapter 1, he says in verse 15, I've heard of your faith in the Lord, and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason, I did not cease to give thanks for you, as I remember you in my prayers. He prayed for the people who were a part of the church at Ephesus, and of course the other congregations that he so dearly served. He says in verse 17, I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him. See, he was expecting them to grow. He was expecting them to come to know God more intimately. He was anticipating that they would grow in wisdom and that they would grow in overcoming. And so he says, I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him.

So that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, that this is a description of those that God has given a knowledge of the truth, that He has called that He has given a knowledge of the truth, that He wants to be a part of His divine family. He's going to tell them, you need to choose to obey God. So that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, and what are the riches of His glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power for us. In verse 21, because He talks about how that God had placed Christ above all, and in verse 21, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. Clearly, He was talking about Jesus and His rule in the church today. See, that's what He was saying back 2,000 years ago. The church that He was dealing with then, the church that He is dealing with today, in the same way, He is the one who is the head of the church, and He is the one who is going to be head of the Kingdom that is in the age to come. But see, in each one of these segments, the same things are happening. God chooses to deal with some. He chooses to grant a knowledge of the truth. And then He expects us to choose to enter into a relationship with God that allows us to be fully converted. Let's jump on to the fourth one I mentioned. This is mentioning it here, the age to come. See, what's going to happen in the world tomorrow? Well, things are going to be better. Much improved. Is everything going to all of a sudden immediately change? Well, it's not. It's going to take a while. It's going to take a while because the knowledge of God is going to begin to be shared, and it's going to take a while for that to be embraced. And what we see, whenever we think about the world to come, that involves what we might say would be at least a thousand years, probably even 1,100 years. But all of the people that God chooses to deal with during the millennium, when He tells us that we can be kings and priests and teachers and servants with Christ during that time, He says all of the people that I am going to embrace at that time, He says, in Isaiah 11, verse 9, He says the knowledge of God is going to cover the earth as the water covers the sea. That's going to be everywhere. So we would say, okay, that's great. That's going to help. Well, that truly will help. Whenever you read in Jeremiah, they're all are going to know the Lord. There will be no reason to go about saying, know the Lord, because everyone will know the Lord. Everyone will come to know and have the knowledge of God.

And yet if we look here in Zechariah 14, Zechariah 14 describes a beginning part of what we could say would be the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. And we see Jesus returning here in chapter 14, the nations gathering in verse 3 to battle against Him at that day. And in verse 4, on that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west.

See, verse 9, the Lord will become king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and His name one. See, now, we pray for that time. We yearn for that. We want to be a part of that. And yet we're being judged now. We're being judged today. Between now and Christ's return is a period of time when judgment is upon the house of God. And so, we have to recognize God's desire for us to choose, to love Him, choose to live His way, choose to overcome, choose to recognize our nature.

And not just think that, well, human nature applies to everybody else. It applies to us. It applies to me. And, of course, when we look into Revelation, I want to drop down here to verse 16, because it says, All who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem are going to go up, year after year, to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, to keep the feast of booths, the feast of tabernacles. And if any of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, the King of hosts, there will be no rain upon them.

And if the family of Egypt does not come up and present themselves, then on them shall come a plague that the Lord inflicts on the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of tabernacles. And such shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast. Now what that's describing is that God's going to install a system that can impart the knowledge of God.

It can impart how it is that God chooses to deal with humans, how it is that He calls, and how He gives knowledge, how He gives truth. But then they have to, in this case, it's obvious that He's doing some encouraging. He's doing some encouraging with whole brain for a while. Withhold or send even a plague. See if that gets attention. See if that causes people to choose to obey God and honor God.

And even when you look into, as we read a little earlier here in chapter 20 of Revelation, when you read about the white throne judgment, Revelation 20, verse 11, I saw a great white throne, and one who sat on it, the earth and heaven fled from his presence, no place was found. And I saw, in verse 15, the dead, small and great standing before the throne, the books are opened. It's talking about the books that all of us study, and that we read, and that we want to understand, and that we need to be directed by.

The books of the Bible are opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And it says, the dead were judged according to the works, recorded in the books. See, how is it that we respond to the message that we read about in the pages of the Bible? How is it that we choose to let God perform the miracle that he says I can perform, that miracle of conversion, that miracle of a transformed life and actually becoming a new creation? That's what he's in the process of doing. And of course, when you read this, you can see that it's clear during the millennium, if we back up a little bit, it says, in verse 5, the rest of the dead will not come to life until a thousand years are ended.

But he says, for those who are resurrected at the beginning of the millennium, it says this is the first resurrection, and blessed are holier days, who share in this first resurrection, because over them, the second death has no power. But they are priests of God and Christ, and will reign with him a thousand years. See, that's for those of us who choose to be converted, choose to honor and worship God. And so even in the world to come, there's going to be a process. And when we then look beyond that, into the new heavens and the new earth, you see God's family in complete harmony.

And here in chapter 22, again, he still makes the contrast between obedience and receiving life, disobedience or disrespect and dying. Here in chapter 22, verse 14, he says, blessed are those who wash their robes or who keep his commands, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and that they may enter the city by the gates. See, that's talking about the redeemed, it's talking about those who will be a part of God's divine family. He says in verse 15, going on, but outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, everyone who loves and practices a lie.

Everyone who lives a way of falsehood, you know, then God, he says that's going to disqualify people. We back up to chapter 21 in his description of this family of God that is described. He says in verse 22, I saw no temple in this city, describing a holy Jerusalem, a heavenly Jerusalem. For its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb, and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light and its lamp is the Lamb.

The nations will walk in its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Ultimately, if people have chosen to yield themselves to God, then God's going to provide the unbelievable future of this new heavens and new earth. But he goes on to say in describing this, in verse 27, nothing unclean, just as the angels could be spared and then given judgment, then, you know, mankind is going to fall into a category.

Nothing unclean is going to enter this relationship in the family of God, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Brethren, we want our name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We want to be a part of that divine family.

We simply have to come to understand what he's offering, and then we have to choose to have the relationship with God that is one of obedience, one of respect, one of appreciation, one of gratitude, one of gratefulness for the fact that he sent a Redeemer. He sent a Redeemer so that we could be redeemed from death, that we could be forgiven. It's incredible to see how it is that God points out throughout all of the ages of the past, and what we see today, and what we see is going to happen in the future, that choice is always involved.

It's always involved, and so what I want to do is simply to encourage all of us to understand that choice. Like you read back in Deuteronomy, he said, I said before you life and death, I want you to choose life. I appeal to you to choose life. And that, of course, is what I want to encourage all of us to do.

So we ask, do you choose, in a sense, do we choose daily to live the way that God has taught and given us to live? Do we choose to do that, or do we ignore that at times? Or are we coming to better understand it, because that's also what he said. He says you need to better come to know God, better come to know how it is that God works in our lives. And as I said, God, as it says in Romans 8, God is anxiously awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God.

He wants all of us to be a part of His divine family. And He gives us the power. He gives us, He enables and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to be transformed. But if we misuse it or don't use it or ignore it, then we're making a bad choice. And so I encourage all of us to make the choice of yielding to the Spirit of God, of drawing close to God, of being grateful for His mercy, and of seeking the humility that clearly Jesus describes and that He exemplified when He was here on earth, as He said, a perfect example of being in complete union and unity with the Father.

And that's what God wants for His people, His family, throughout entirety of the ages to come. We just don't know what it's going to be like to have life into the future. But, you know, God holds that out before us as He offers us that eternal life.