The Great Untold Story (Shadows of the Past and of Things to Come)

Brethren, have you ever come across to people when, for instance, you've got to go to your place of employment and say, I need to take some time off to keep the feast? Or whatever it may be, people might say, look, our Christian festivals, like Easter, like Christmas, they are around Christ. They're Christ-centered. So what is the value of these Old Testament holidays? They've done away. I mean, maybe not exactly that way, but you may have come across people that say that. When people ask you questions like that, can you defend the faith? Or let's look at it even deeper. Can you at least understand the purpose of God's holy days? So brethren, today I want to talk to you about the great untold story of God's plan of salvation. In other words, I want to talk to you a bit about the past and the future. In other words, shadows of the past and shadows of the future.

Now, what people in the world turn around and say is, you know, these peace that you keep, they distract you from the gospel of Christ. People get to things like that. You know, all you need is to believe in Christ. It's the gospel of Christ. You don't have to do these Old Testament things. Well, let me ask you in a different way. Can Christ be against God? You know, it appears when they say, well, these God commandments, these God's laws, harsh things of an Old Testament are against Christ. So can God be against Christ? Of course not. Now turn with me to John chapter 10 verse 30. John chapter 10 verse 30. Yeah, Christ is talking and yeah, in verse 30 it says, I and my Father are one.

Jesus Christ and God the Father are one.

Now, does it mean they are one person? Of course not. Of course not. God is one. Just like husband and wife are to be one flesh. Husband and wife are supposed to be one flesh. Is that one person? No, it's two people, but it's one flesh. There was one in unity of thought, one in purpose, one in the way of life and the way of love. They working together in harmoniously in unity, being one. God the Father in heaven and Jesus Christ on his right hand side are not one person, are not one being, they are two beings. But they are one. They are one. They are both God and they both work harmoniously as one. As one.

In other words, there's absolutely no competition between the two. Now, this is difficult for us as human beings to understand.

Turn with me to John 17. John 17. This is Christ's prayer after the post- verse 20 said, I do not pray for these alums, for these apostles that are Yah, these disciples that are Yah, alum, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. In other words, this is actually praying for you and I, because we believe in him through the word of the apostles, which has been written in the Bible and Christ's word and God's word. And it says, verse 21, that they, that is those disciples, and us, you and I, each one of us together, the disciples and you, each one of you individually, that they may be one. As you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may be one in us. You and I, all of you, ought to be one. Now, does it mean that you cease to be an individual person? No, you're still individuals, but we ought to be one. We ought to be united. We ought to have one purpose and one goal as one. In, as Christ said, in us, that means in God, that we, that the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me, I've given them, that they may be one, just as we are one.

So that all of us may be one, just as God is one. So it's not talking about one being, one person, talking about many people to be one. It's like, for instance, as in this country, we should be united as one nation, one country, one purpose. That's what he's talking about. As members of the family of God, we all should be one. And then he explains it here in verse 23. I in them and you in me, that they may be perfect in one. And some versions translate that in unity, may be perfect in unity. That's what it is. It's unity. There's actually no competition between the father and the son. You know, I've got children. Many of you have children. When somebody compliments your son or your daughter, and they say, how well your son or daughter is doing, do you feel good or do you feel bad? Or do you feel bad? You feel good because the honor that is given to your son and daughter, in a sense, it's an honor to you as a dad or as a mom. Isn't it? Therefore, when we honor Christ, we are honoring the father because he's the son of God. So there's no competition. It's something beyond the carnal human understanding. So God's priests cannot distract you from the gospel of Christ, because they're not opposite poles. They together, they both, God's priests and the gospel of Christ, they both point to the same end goal, which is God's plan of salvation, to make many sons of God in glory.

And God's plan of salvation is a plan that started and has an end. And it started in the past and has the end in the future. So it runs through a period of time, a long period of time.

The problem is, brethren, is that there is a sighting. There is an adversary, there's an enemy that does not want you to see this. And so that he acts as an angel of light. In other words, you can read that in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13 and 14. He acts as an angel of light. He deceives, making it appear very nice. But underneath it, there is a vine of deception. That's the problem. And he has therefore perverted, twisted, modified the gospel of Christ. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 1, starting from verse 6 through 8. Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1, verse 6 through 8. He says, "'I marvel,' says Paul, the utter Galatians, "'that you are turning away so soon.'" So this happened already at the time of the Apostles' Preference, nothing new. And it was happening then, it happens today. Nothing new. You're turning away, so as to think, from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another. You see, he's turning people, he's turning people in the world to a different gospel of Christ, which is not another. It's still the gospel of Christ, but it's been twisted. But then all some will trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ!

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preaches another gospel to you, then what we have preached to you, let him be a curse. You see, Satan is very clever, and he has created this thing, which is very sweet, very loving, all we're very kind, we're very collaborative, we're working as a team, or whatever it is. But underneath that, there's a vein of deception, changing the gospel of Christ to something that it's not.

What is the gospel, therefore, that Jesus Christ preached? Look, chapter 4, verse 43 and 44. Look, chapter 4, 43 and 44. And this is now Christ talking here, and he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, because for this purpose, I was saved. What was the message that Christ had to proclaim? The message of the good news of the kingdom of God. And when did he do it? He did it on the Sabbath, as you read a little earlier in verse 16. He says, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogues on the Sabbath, and stood there to read and preach the gospel.

Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the coming government of God to govern planet earth, and to govern ultimately the whole universe.

Therefore, that was the accusation that the Jews used in front of the Romans, so that they would crucify him. You see, when the Jews wanted to kill Christ, they said, well, he's blaspheming, because he's saying he's God, he's the son of God. But they could not use that to the Romans, because the Romans would have said, ah, well, that's your problem. Don't worry me, that's your beliefs, your ideologies, whatever it is. So to the Romans, they had to bring an accusation that Jesus Christ was trying to overthrow Caesar's government. And therefore, they had to get the Romans to believe that Christ was bringing a different government to overthrow Caesar. And that's why Pilate put on top of the stories, as it says, whether it was a cross or a pole, but put on top there a message that says, versus Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Because that was the accusation that he, as a king, was trying to overthrow Caesar. You can read that at the end of every one of the gospels, that it says what was written on top of the cross. And therefore, they accused him with that. You see, our Satan changed the story as it's convenient. Today, the gospel of Christ has been twisted to be a gospel about the messenger, which was Christ, the one that preached the gospel. Instead of about the government that that messenger will establish.

Now, is it wrong to talk about the messenger? In other words, Christ and who you will be? No! But that's not the end of the story, because the purpose of Christ to be king of kings, and yes, he is to be respected and adored and worshiped as they did in the New Testament. And there are many scriptures. But it's all to the glory of the Father. He's not putting the Father in a corner and an insult to the Father. No, it's to the glory of the Father. Like if somebody gives respect to my children, it's to me, as parents, it's our glory. How we raise them up and brought them up well. The problem is, traditional Christianity preaches about Christ, but they do not preach about what he told us to do. They teach about Christ, but they do not teach about what Christ told us to do. And you can read that in Matthew 7, verse 21 through 23, when he says, they say, Lord, Lord! And they say, haven't we preached in your name? Haven't we made miracles in your name? Haven't we cast out demons in your name? And Christ says to them, cheers, goodbye, because you are not doing what I told you to do, because you practiced lawlessness.

You see, modern Christianity, basically by studying that, has got two major flaws in there. Two major flaws. Yes, there's others, but two that I want to underline. First, they put the emphasis on the messenger instead of on the message. Two, they say that God's law is done away, is annulled. In reality, if you look at it carefully, what they say is that the Sabbath is done away. In fact, not just the Sabbath, but the Sabbath's plural. In other words, the weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbath. Why the hatred of the Sabbath? Why?

Because the Sabbath are shadows of the past and shadows of things to come. Now, in other words, the Sabbath point to God's plan of salvation to make sons of God, and that's what Satan hates.

God's plan of salvation is clearly highlighted by God's Holy Day plan, and we've got a booklet that describes that. This is a Bible study guide. It's not the booklet, it's the Bible. But use that as a study guide to study and put your nose in the Bible to prove from the Bible about God's plan of salvation. Which is how God will intervene to save this world and mankind from disaster. If you and I, brethren, are watching the news, you can see we are on an edge of potentially what could be an atomic wall, which could potentially be obliteration of mankind. But thanks to Christ, to God, he's going to intervene and he's given us the hope that there will not be end of the world. That is the good news. And God's plan of salvation, which is outlined by God's festivals, shows us the major stepping stones or milestones for that plan.

At the end time, there will be a lot of people coming out with different miracles, different deceptions. You just have to read 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 9 and 10. A lot of deceptions people come saying, I is this, I is that, miracles, and some of them will happen. Do not be deceived because you and I need to love the truth. And the truth will make us free.

Satan's deceptions, Satan's different signs that he tries to tell people, is what distracts us from the true gospel. But God's holy days do not distract us from the true gospel. They are a shadow of things of the past and they are a shadow of things to come. And that's why I've entitled this sermon, The Greatest Untold Story.

Brethren, it's like going to a movie, to a cinema, and you arrive late. And by the time you get in, half of the movie has already gone by. And I used to sit down and watch the rest of the movie. And you are kind of all confused, because you've only seen half of the movie. You haven't seen the beginning. And that's what happens. We were born in the middle of this movie, which is God's plan of salvation. Part of it has already happened and part of it is still to come. And if we don't understand the whole picture, the whole story, we're confused. And boy, the sight can never feel that, making sure that we are confused.

So, today, let's briefly look at that untold story.

Because, let's start here in Revelation 13, verse 8. Revelation 13, verse 8. And it says there is something at the end of this verse. In Revelation 13, verse 8. And yes, in context, it's talking about something else, but then at the end, it says, talking about the book of life, the book of life of the land, which says what you are slain from the foundation of the world. Now, think about it. The land, which is Christ, was slain from the foundation of the world. Do you know what that means? That Christ had already been slain in plan, and already been decided that he was going to die for us before the foundation of the world. Turn with me to 1st Peter, chapter 1, verse 19 and 20.

1st Peter, chapter 1, verse 19 and 20. And again, let's just read the section. By the way, the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world. 1st Peter, chapter 20, verse 20. Christ, the lamb, was foreordained before the foundation of the world, which means before the world was created, Christ already knew he had to die. Well, at that time, he wasn't Christ, he was the word, as we'll see a little later, but he already knew he had to die.

So when people say, oh well, God created Adam and Eve, and then Satan came in and upset God's plan. No, he did not upset God's plan. God knew that sooner or later Adam and Eve would sin, and therefore, sooner or later, they would commit a sin, ammune. The wages of sin is death, and the only way to redeem from death would be somebody to pay for their lives. You see, that's where Satan deceives people, says, oh well, it was the fall of Adam. Well, it's like your children. You can raise up children really well, but you do know that there will be some little thing that one day, sooner or later, they will do wrong. If you don't think so, if you think that your children is the blue-eyed boy, then you mean for a surprise.

So God knew that man would sin, sooner or later. Why? Well, let's then, therefore, look at this story that has been untold.

Let's look at the story that has been untold, and the beginning is in John chapter 1 verse 1. John chapter 1 verse 1.

John chapter 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The Word, which later became Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was with God, which now we know as the Father. So now we have two beings, two beings of the kind of the form of the type of God. God. And it says, and the Word was God. And the Word was God. There were two beings, two God beings. One is who we now refer as God, and the other one was the Word. Or today we call Christ the Son and the Father. So today we call Christ the Son, the Word, and the other one is the highest, the Father. There were two beings. There were two beings. Verse 2. And he, that is the Word, was in the beginning with God. So the two were there at the beginning. And it says, verse 3, all things, all things. And when it says all things, this doesn't say just some things. It says all things. And we'll see a little later, which all things includes even the angels. All things. We may through him and without him, without Christ, who now is Christ at that time of the Word, without him nothing was made that was made. Nothing. Nothing means nothing. So there were these two. And we call Christ the Son. And we can only speculate what they could have taught. How nice it would be to have more beings like us sharing our glory because they love and they want to share what they got with us to participate in eternal happiness and joy. With the time, love and care for one another as you and I have for each other, because we too are like one.

To be like us. To have the capability of their own free will. To do the right and to choose the right and have the character to do the right, as we only disseminate to have the power of choice and choose the right. With the same holy, righteous, godly character. And to do that, they realized they had to create beings that could make mistakes and learn from their mistakes. Because what is the best teacher? The best teacher. But, regrettably, our own mistakes. Sometimes we're to burn ourselves to learn that we must not put the hand in the oven. You know, or whatever. Sometimes we are still naked and we've got it. Hurt ourselves to say, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I better not do that again. But the problem is that these mistakes would be sin. And the wages of sin is there. And so they would have to die. And so if they did, that's the end of the plan. They did.

See, God was not going to change his law.

So how could they work around? Work around is to have one of them to die for those beings. So the plan required one of them to die to pay for ourselves. And therefore to buy us back to redeem us. And it required to be the life of the one which was the agent, or through whom creation was made, so that his life would be more valuable than everyone's life, because he was the one that created everything and the authority of the other one.

So the life of the one being, of the God-kind, that created everything under the direction of the highest, is greater than all the other lives that were created. And that's why that life can pay for all the other lives. Otherwise it would be just life for life, one for one. So they planned... Think about this. They planned, they architected, they designed all the requirements to have a physical earth. That would have the right temperature, they would have the right distance from the sun and all that, so that they would have the correct temperatures, would have the correct seasons, that would be firm in its orbit, they would not be in orbit, and suddenly poof!

Slipper in orbit, like sometimes you go like this, and the stream breaks and the thing goes. Though it would be fixed in its orbit, and even if there were big things happening, it would stay there, well fixed in its orbit. The right temperature, ideal for human life. The exact position of the moon and the distance, and so that we have the correct tides, so that suddenly you don't have tides this way, and that tide's that low, and everything was just in perfect harmony. They designed perfect biological equilibrium. The plants, the trees, the animals, everything just to work perfectly. They designed different animals.

Some of them just to give glory to God. I mean, why is it you're off, got such a long neck? And, I mean, you know, if suddenly, when you're young, maybe it doesn't really bother you, but when you get to my age, if suddenly you bend down to pick something else, you've got to be careful, because all the blood rushes to your head, so you've got to be careful. Now, imagine a giraffe with that long head, long neck, and that head's suddenly getting down, the blood pressure will go down to the head, don't blow and burst the veins, but God creates valves in the neck of the giraffe to cope with that, and so on.

You look at the creation, the physical creation, and the more you study, you see the beauty and the amazing of God's design. For instance, you see a flock of birds, starlings flying as a flock, and you know, they fly like thousands of them, and it's beautiful when you take those pictures of them, fly and suddenly they move in changed directions. Suddenly, you, if you're a pilot, and if you put thousands of pilots like that flying in aircraft, and suddenly moving like that, I am sure that you'll have accidents in the air.

But I've never seen two starlings smashing one against the other in the air. Amazing design that God put into birds, for instance. And then the human body. Wonderfully made everything just ticking perfectly until we mess it up. After many years sometimes, or, you know, there's things that other people do and affect us, and then we affect it. But it was all physical. Why?

Because it's like writing in pencil. So if you make a mistake, you can erase it and start again. Beautiful. So well planned. Beautiful. And so, this was so huge! Because the father and the son at that time, they were not yet father and son, they were just God and the Word. They wanted billions of sons and daughters of them with glory. billions! And they needed servants. Servants. And so they created servants, which you and I call angels. Servants to serve us. And so, this plan required the creation of servants, the creation of the physical world, the creation of mankind with the power of choice, and therefore the possibility of making things wrong.

Which one of us hasn't done anything wrong? We all have. And therefore, the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb. What a wonderful plan! What a wonderful plan! And as we're reading Philippians 2, verses 6 through 8, this meaning, the Word, had all the power. Because through Him and by Him, everything was created. He had God power. Then He emptied Himself. Think about, like, by analogy, that the power is in my jacket. Then, voluntarily, He took that power off. It became a human being without the power. And He died. He had to rely on the other God-being to resurrect Him.

After three days and three nights. And when He was resurrected, He put on the same glory. And sat at the right hand of the Father with the same glory and power He had before. And that's what you read in John 17 for instance. Give me the glory I had with you before!

And this, brethren, is a mystery.

You know what? It's the greatest story that is untold! It's the mystery of God making children of God! Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9.

2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9.

He's talking here, and He says, Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling? Not according to our works. Yes, it's not all our self-righteous works of being a better person. Yes, we got all by God. But you know what? It's not our works. It's a special calling. Do you know how big this calling is? To be amongst the first fruits of that government? To be at the top echelons of that government? That's the calling that you and I have. But according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

God had planned this before time began! Oh, now people get all confused with that. Oh, it says, therefore there was no time before. Now, in the beginning, there was a beginning, and then they decided to do this. And when they created the earth and the sun and the moon, we now have a mechanism to measure time, and we make our watches according to the rotation of the sun around its own, I mean of the earth around its own axis, 24 hours, and we make exact a clock. I mean, you have what they call Swiss watches. Perfect! Exact! Perfect! Where do we get time? From the rotation of the earth around its axis and the sun and all that. That's where we get time today, isn't it? So if they did not exist, if the earth and the sun and all that did not exist yet, it was before time.

It's before time. As we understand it today.

So continue to read.

Which was given to us in Christ's years before time began. God had this plan for us to be children of God before time began. In other words, before He created the physical walls so we could have physical time as we measure today. But it has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. Now this plan started to be revealed by that messenger, which is Christ, which was the word, the same being, and He is now showing it to us. So this was a mystery of God. Which parts of it that angels didn't even understand.

So they all planned this billions of years ago. These two beings, who now call the Father and the Son, worked together in perfect harmony towards this plan. And God has the power to determine what He's going to do, has the power to make it happen, because He's Almighty. Put another way. He's a genius. It's like for instance, you're a master chess player. You're a master chess player. And you work out the game in advance. And you know how to beat your opponent. And you will beat him, because you're a master chess player. That's what God is. He worked it out, was in result, and Satan or whatever adversaries they made you in a way, he will outmaneuver them, and he will finish, and will checkmate, and will succeed. Because it's just that bright. It was Almighty, Almighty. It was Almighty, all powerful, all intelligent, all knowledgeable. But the beauty about it is that the Father and the Son, they have no competition between them. They have one mission to fulfill that plan, and they will fulfill it.

Look with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. We'll start in verse 3. Ephesians chapter 3, we'll start in verse 3.

How that by revelation, he may know to me the mystery, as I have briefly written already. By which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not known to the sons of man, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. You see, it was not understood, and this mystery has got many facets. Now, Paul, he is describing one facet about the Gentiles being part of that plan. That's just one facet, but this mystery of salvation is for all mankind, of which includes, obviously, the Gentiles. Look at verse 9. And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages, the beginning of the ages, has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ. He created all things through Jesus Christ. Obviously, under the authority and the permission and the agreement, and all working together as one. But you see, which was from the beginning of the ages, this was planned right from the beginning. Look at Colossians chapter 1. Look at Colossians chapter 1. Verse 16 through 18. Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 through 18.

And he's talking about Christ, which is saying, you know, is an image of the invisible God, of the Father. But he's talking about Christ, verse 16, for by Him, by whom? By Christ! By Christ!

All things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth. In other words, angels and human beings, all things were created by Christ. That's what it says here in your Bible. Visible and invisible, there are things you can see and things you cannot see, like spirit beings. Or other things you can't see, like small things that you can't even see. Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. In other words, things that you can't see, authorities of power in the heavenly angelic domain that you don't understand. He created that. Christ created that. It says, by Him! All things were created through Him and for Him. So it's by Him, through Him, and for Him. Obviously, all under the authority of the Father.

And He's before all things. And in Him, all things consist. And He's the head of the body, the Church. All things were created by Him, even the angels. All, obviously, under the direction of the Father. They're all working together as one. So how did He start to execute this plan? How did they start to execute this plan? So first was an idea. Then they designed and planned it all out. And then they started executing it.

First thing, remember that it was necessary. For the Word, which became Christ, which was the agent through whom God created everything. It was necessary for Him to die. So He had to be the Creator for His life, to pay for every other life. And look at Hebrews 1, verse 14. Hebrews 1, verse 14. I did mention earlier on that the angels are servants.

To us, we created those servants. First, look at the Yai in Hebrews 1, verse 14. Amazing chapter Yai in Hebrews 1. That even says, God, for instance in verse 8, says God speaks to the Son, and He says, You're throne, O God! So the Father is talking to the Son, and He says, You're throne, O God! And then in verse 9, God the Father says, Therefore God, you're God! It's amazing! But look in verse 14. It says, the Creator, who all things were created by Him, and through Him, and for Him, He says, when He created the angels, He says, Are they the angels? Not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation. The angels were created as spiritual servants to serve the future begotten and born sons and daughters of God. The angels were therefore created by God, by the Word, who became Christ, and they obviously can be called the sons of God because we're created by Him. But they are not the sons of God by begetal and by birth. They are sons of God in the way of being created by Him. And once they created those angels, the billions of sons and daughters of God still to come. Once He created these servants, He then created the universe. And look at Job 38, verse 4 through 7. Job 38, verse 4 through 7.

Job 38, verse 4 through 7. There is a discussion about God talking to Job, and now in Job 38, verse 4 through 7, God says to Job, Job, where were you when I lay the foundations of the earth? Yeah, tell me, when I created the earth and all the walls around, and I made it make sure the earth is well fixed in its orbit, doesn't move around, doesn't leave the orbit, stays in the orbit, everything works perfectly. Where were you? Tell me, if you have such great knowledge and wisdom and understanding, who determined its measurements? Who determined its size of planet earth? You see, because the size of the earth is important versus the distance from the moon and the sun, and all these things affect the temperatures and the stability, etc. Surely, you know, God's kind of being cynical. Yeah, to Job, come on, Job, seeing that you're so smart, tell me, sure, you know. Or, who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? How is the earth fastened? Because in the end, you know, it's floating in the air. How? Come on, Job, explain to me.

Verse 6, or what, or who laid its cornerstone? When the morning stars, that is the angels, sang together, and all the sons of God, again, the angels shouted for joy. The angels were already in existence, and when God created this universe, the heavens and the earth, they all said, wow! Wow! How beautiful! And they sang for joy. The angels saw God created the heavens and the earth, because understand, the earth is part of this whole universe, and all these gravitational forces and inertias and whatever between the earth and all these other planets, it's what keeps the earth fastened in its position. So the earth was just part of this whole heavens and earth creation, and that's why now we can go to Genesis 1 verse 1. Genesis 1 verse 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the angels shouted for joy, because it was so beautiful! It was so beautiful. And brethren, that could have been billions or years ago.

Geological studies show that there is different layers. There's even evidence in some geological studies of two floods. There's light coming from different galaxies. Some of them take thousands of light years to reach planet earth. That means they were there already, thousands of light years for the light to reach here today.

So this was a long time ago. And so the angels were there, and they would start getting trained for the big job, and some of them were put on planet earth because of part of their training. And one of them, one of the Bible says is the chief carer, started, hmm, God is keeping certain things away from us.

Hmm, I could do this better. Hmm, I'm not happy with God's plan. Because who are these human beings that are going to be greater than us? I'm so beautiful. I'm so smart. I'm so clever.

Come on, God. And so this thing starts kind of breeding his brain. I don't know if they have a brain or what, but it's breeding in his thinking process. And so slowly, he goes and talks to another one. You know, God isn't fair. You know this thing, yeah. And then he convinces. He sells this one idea. Now he's going to sell it to two. Now he's going to sell it to three. Now he's going to sell it to three. And this takes time. This takes time. Could take years. You've seen the vision in the church.

It starts somebody with a little gossip, with a little discontent, with a little thing, and sometimes takes years breathing. And so, exactly the same thing. And so, again, being an angel of light, he says, you know, I mean, God is a God of love. And so we all have to collaborate. We all have to talk about this. There's a teamwork. Now there's nothing wrong with teamwork. But when there is a hidden agenda, be careful. And so, this discussion starts breathing some discontent.

And he gets to a point where he says, I've got enough on my side. I don't know how many years that was, but it reaches a point and says, I've got enough. Now I can speak out. And the others that are not convinced, they will flip. And you've seen that's how it's happened. You've seen that's how it's happened. So this plandering, like the selling of the idea, this trading of the idea, that he says, oh well, now you owe me one. You know, it's kind of, you know, you have this negotiating.

I do this for you. You know, oh you won. So all this trading of idea was not buying and selling physical things, but trading ideas, this trading grew. And that's what you're reading in Ezekiel 28, verses 14 through 16. There was this trading. And then you're reading in Isaiah 14, that he thought that he was so good that he was staying up until again. It's God's throne. And therefore then there was war. And you know what? He lost.

He lost. And he was thrown back to earth. Read with me in Luke chapter 10, verse 18. Luke chapter 10, verse 18. And Christ the other side said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Brethren, this shows that it's part of history. It happened. And when it happened, it was like a big atomic wall. And the whole earth became like a nuclear winter. Absolutely devastated. Not in a state of beauty, but in a state of destruction. And that's what we read then in Genesis chapter 1, verse 2.

In Genesis chapter 1, verse 2. So that between chapter 1, verse 1, and chapter 1, verse 2, could have taken many years. Because in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

But then, understand, created the heavens and the earth. The two together as an entity. And then, verse 2, the earth was without form and void. Was not was without form and void, that creation, because creation was beautiful. So he could have translated that, became in a confused, messed up, dirty state. And it was darkness. And so, it says God's Spirit then hovered over the earth, over the waters. In other words, there was a flood over the whole earth. There was a universal flood and absolute disaster.

And then what he did, he started cleaning up the atmosphere. And as he started cleaning up the atmosphere, he basically started renewing the earth. You can read in Psalm 104, verse 30, that God renewed the face of the earth. And then he said, let there be light.

You know, as he cleaned it up so that the light start shining. It didn't say create light. It says, let it shine through, let it be, let the light shine through. And then he says, and there was light, and the light that shine through.

And then it became, evening and morning, that was the first day. Why evening and morning? Because there was a day and night. And how can it be day and night unless the earth is rotating in its own axis and over 24 hours and therefore the sun shines and there's day and the sun on the other side is night.

So the earth is round. Of course, the earth is round. There are people today, even into God's church, saying the earth is flat. Hog wash forever. Hog wash. How can it be time zones if the earth is flat? If you go to Europe, it's a different time zone. You just have to go from east coast to the west coast. It's a tie different time zone. Why? If the earth is flat, then the sun raises up. Yeah, then all areas of the earth is the same time.

If you are flying and the higher you fly, the bigger the area of the horizon you see, but you don't see the other side. There's horizon and it's round. Where I've lived by the coast, there was a lot of ships coming in from the sea. And Tama Tama Gain out in Maya, they're coming in or leaving, particularly when they're leaving. You see the ship nearby, see the whole ship, and then it gets smaller, but then you only see the top part of the ship, and then you only see the chimney, and you take a binoculars, you only see the chimney. Why is it falling down the way? It's because the earth is round!

If you travel from the east to the west, say you leave Cincinnati, and you want to come back to Cincinnati, but you go to Europe, then you go to Asia, you can back through the Pacific area, and through the west coast, you get back to Cincinnati. It's round. Oh, but if you want to travel north to south, and you can go from Cincinnati all the way to the north pole, and all the way around the other side, all the way to the south pole, and all the way back, you get back to Cincinnati. It's round!

Oh, and then they use scriptures like, oh God fixed the earth. That does not prove that the earth is flat. If I fix the direction of my car using a GPS or whatever it is, or speed cruise, to travel at a certain speed, I do not suddenly make my car being flat. All I do is that I fixed its position, or its direction, or its trajectory, and God fixed the earth. Doesn't mean he made it flat. Don't twist scriptures. If you have an eclipse of the moon, if you have a lunar eclipse, sometimes you have a partial eclipse. If you look carefully, why do you have an eclipse of the moon? It's because the shadow of the earth is covering the moon, and you can see the curvature of the earth on the moon. So don't come to me and tell me that I don't want to look at real science, because that is not science to say that earth is flat. And so, God created, and then he keeps going, so he created the first Adam. And the first Adam, he knew that he could sin. And then later on, he created the second Adam. And you know what? Because he knew mankind could sin. And Christ came. And he had to die for us to pay for our sins. We then must obey, and then we must overcome till the end. And that is the strat in the first three holy days of God's plan of salvation. And that's the story of what has happened. Shadow of things that have occurred. But the shadow of things to come are the remaining four holy days. That point to a great, happy future to occur through trumpets, which symbolize Christ's return, bringing peace on earth, Satan being put away, and the wall tomorrow starting on earth, and the great resurrection to happen, the second resurrection to happen afterwards, and the day of judgment, so that billions of people can be sons and daughters of God. You see, God's early days help us to understand the story that has not been told. It's an amazing story, brethren. It's an amazing story. And when we read in Colossians 2, verse 16-17. Colossians 2, verse 16-17. Let no man judge you in food or in drink. In other words, and how you celebrate different activities does not say, yeah, that you can eat unclean foods. No, it's not talking about that. But people mustn't judge you on some other things that the church has made a decision and the church only made a decision based on God's laws. And it says, all regarding a festival. God has given us seven festivals. Or the new moon, or a new moon. There's only one festival that falls on the new moon. That's the day of trumpets. Or the stabbards, which are the seven annual stabbards and the weekly stabbard. Let no man judge you because those things are shadows of things to come. Some are shadows of things that have happened already. The first three and the last four shadows of things in the future. Things to come. There are Sabbath rests, as you read in Leviticus 23. And Sabbath means a rest. And a rest means when Christ will come, this earth will finally be rested in peace. Because we will have peace on earth. Because today people don't have rest. Brethren, through God's early days, God's plan of salvation is revealed to us. It's a plan to make billions of children of God with the glory of God. To be part of the government of God in the whole universe. Which initially will only be for a thousand years. But then it will spread beyond that. You and I have been called to be the first fruits. The very top echelon of that government under the apostles and under the Christ and the Father. What a great calling! What a great calling! Don't throw it away! Don't throw it away! Look at Romans chapter 8. Look at Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8, starting in verse 16. Romans 8 verse 16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. That means God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit of man in man. Then we are the children of God. We are the begotten children of God. Not yet born again yet, but we are now the begotten. Like the babies in a mother's womb, is your or your children. But they're not yet born. They begotten. And if children then heirs, heirs when we are born again into that family. Ears of God and joint heirs of Christ. Ears of God. Ears of being God. Wow! You grab it, you grasp it. If indeed we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together with Him. With that glory that Christ has. Wow! Wow! Sure, inferior. A lot inferior. But with the same kind of glory. And this is what I consider verse 18. That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. Brethren, we just cannot imagine. For the earnest expectation of the whole creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sense of of God. You know, that mystery is going to be revealed. Yes, we understand that a little bit through a glass darkly, but it will be revealed to all mankind when we suddenly then are indeed sons of God. Man, then mankind will see it. For the creation, the whole creation was subject to futility, not willingly. It was subject to corruption, was subject to being degraded and corrupt and getting old, not willingly, but because of him was subject in the hope of what of us being sons of God. What beautiful! And brethren, think about it. Think about it. The son of God gave his eternal life, not just his physical life, gave his eternal life. Put it on the line for you and I. He succeeded. And look therefore, in verse 31 of Romans 8, what then shall we say to these things, brethren? If God is for us, he died for us. He put his own eternal life at rest for you and I, and he succeeded in the other kind. Who can be against us?

Because it says in verse 38 and 39, I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor precipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creative thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, what can separate us? It's our power of choice, as we heard in the sermon, if we choose the wrong. That's the only thing that can separate us if we make the wrong choices. Brethren, the ball is in your court.