His Bride Has Made Herself Ready

Wonderful feast here, brother, just hours old and doing well. We thank all of you for serving, ushers, the choir. So many of you, and certainly Mr. and Mrs. Richards, we appreciate just getting over here for the feast. A lot of work. We were packing the other day with all of you, and I thought, how many hours, thousands of hours, of packing and driving, and God is pleased with us getting to His feast once again. You know, if we can possibly be here, God says to be here at this feast. Wonderful, good. You know, this feast site, those of you on the webcast, if you've not ever been to Bed-Rendman, this is a great feast site, isn't it? It's just gorgeous here. And also, the attitude, the spirit of God's people is fantastic. So, we were coming over from the high desert yesterday from Boise area, and we saw the three sisters, and it looked like clouds on one of them.

I told my wife, I said, I don't think that's snow. I think it's clouds. We got closer, and it's snow. So, it's that time of the year, isn't it? Wonderful to be here. And you know, a lot of you have gone through some stress and trials this past 12 months since the last fall feast, rather, and so this is the feast for you. We hope it's spiritually enriching, positive. God will answer your prayers. Meet the people of God that you're supposed to meet, and really get the encouragement and the spiritual feasting that you really deserve and you really need. I've got a couple of things I want to share with you. Have you heard about the new seminars at the feast, Tabernacles? Now, these are future seminars soon after Jesus Christ's return. Noah will be holding a workshop entitled, Hanging in There, Even When It Takes Over 100 Years. I think he's more than qualified. Ruth will be presenting a workshop on, Wherever You Go, I Will Follow, and she will be assisted by Naomi. Joseph's workshop is entitled, How to Overcome, Being a Favorite Son, Plus Becoming a Favorite Brother. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will together present a workshop on, Well, It Takes Faith, Not Water, to Quench a Hot Burning Fire.

And Sarah will be holding a workshop entitled, Who Me? You've Got to Be Kidding! And the final workshop will be by Sampson. Don't Let Anyone Come Near You With Shears in His Hands. Oh my. And this one is from some quips from kids, Great Truths About Life, Little Children, You Know How They Share Things.

One of the great truths of life for kids, no matter how hard you try, don't try to baptize cats. When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair. And if sister hits you, don't hit her back because he always catches the second one. How many of you are guilty of that growing up, right? Never ask a three-year-old brother to hold a tomato. You can't trust dogs to watch your food. Don't sneeze when someone else is cutting your hair.

And I had to add the word vacuum here for those of you who are a little bit younger. Don't hold a dust buster vacuum and a cat at the same time. You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. And don't wear polka dot underwear under white shorts. And the best place to be when you're sad is grandpa's lap. Boy, so true. Truths of kids. Good ones, huh? Well, brethren, one of the biggest joys I think any minister has is actually performing a wedding.

And brides and grooms are just really so delightful to work with. They're so instructive at the rehearsal and then sometimes a little chaotic because people come in late. But they want to know where to stand exactly during the ceremony. And of course the brides are the ones to really do most of the work. Let's face it, guys, right? The ladies are the ones going out and getting the cake. You know, just no cake will do, right? Any old cake will not do. You've got to have the nicest cake, just the right frosting, the right everything.

You don't go to Dale Bakery and say, just any old cupcake you got back there in the corner, get a couple of them and bring them on, you know. No, no, you're going to get the best cake, the best haul you can afford, and you're going to rent a tuxedo, you're going to have that beautiful white gown. You know, everything is going to be first class at someone's wedding. They're just lovely. They're a great thrill for everyone to be at. You know, you think about it when I...

well, I'm going to... You think about it because I've already thought about it. I married our daughter some years ago and it was just fine. She got down the stairs, I greeted her, and then we got down the aisle, good shape, and then the ceremony began, and then she started to cry, our daughter, our son-in-law started to cry, I started to cry, and the whole audience started to cry.

It was the most weeping, tearful wedding of joy you've ever been to. But that's just how weddings are. They're a lot of fun. You never know what kind of emotions you're going to have. Like the special music we just heard, you're going to be dancing, you're going to be hugging the family, and it's just a joyful thing. What about the longest term wedding plans ever on record? What would that be? Well, that's the one still being planned for.

It's been planned for for 6,000 years, actually far longer than that. And what wedding would that be? Well, the Bible talks about a future wedding for God's elect. And that's what I'd really like to talk about today, and really focus in on that wonderful series of verses in Revelation 19. Let's turn over there to chapter 19 and verse 5. And this is, of course, brethren, the wonderful truth about the future for God's elect, the firstfruits. Now, first of all, brethren, in Revelation 19 and verse 5, we read about a voice, as John records that, coming from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all of you as servants, and those who fear Him, both small and great.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude is the sound of many waters and the sound of many thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God, omnipotent reigns. Now, brethren, one thing about the participants in this first resurrection, we read that in Hebrews 11. What is special about the first resurrection? Well, one thing is, of course, it says it's a better resurrection.

It's the only resurrection, actually, in this sense, that is to eternal life. Now, we'll hear more about those coming up in the second resurrection, but that resurrection is to physical life. Third resurrection is to what? Eternal death. Now, those that are ready in the kingdom of God during the thousand-year reign, plus after that, yes, they will be turned into spirit beings at some point. I guess you could call those resurrections, but they're more turning from the flesh into the spirit, aren't they? So the first resurrection is special because it is definitely one that goes from the flesh or death to eternal life. It's also special in another way. It's the only resurrection where God says the invitees are all counted among the bride of Christ.

Those in the second resurrection are not counted in terms of that category if we're going to be really exact. There's no scripture that states that. So the first resurrection is indeed, God says, very special. Going on to verse 7, let us be glad. And that's true of any wedding. Rejoice as family and friends, and rejoice and give him honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.

And verse 8, and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is a righteous axe of the saints. Then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. I mean, they're going to happen. They're truth. They're reality. I'd like to focus, though, on verses 7 and 8 in my sermon today, brethren. How are we making ourselves ready?

Now it says in verse 7, thankfully, and that's very encouraging, that the bride has made herself ready. I doubt if you've been to a wedding where the bride has not made herself ready. It'd be kind of embarrassing, wouldn't it? We've had months to plan, maybe, well, I don't think, maybe years, but certainly months. And it's like, you're going to get ready for that wedding no matter what. And so here spiritually, Christ says, My bride-to-be has made herself ready. She's thought about it. She's prepared for this spiritually. She has done the work. She has done the preparation. And yes, brethren, we know basically the location, and that's the amount of olives, the time we don't know, but we're going to be there according to God's mercy and God's promise and our earnestness. So how do we, brethren, make ourselves ready? That's what I'd like to talk about in the sermon today. And, thankfully, God says we are ready. That's the bulk of God's people. I don't think we can assume that's everybody at all, but certainly down to the ages, since whenever there was the first person being called and chosen by the Father for the kingdom of God in the first resurrection, all the way to the very last one person before Christ's return, it says, She has made, my wife has made herself ready. And also in verse 8 again at the very end, He says, The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So how are we going to make ourselves ready? There's the key in verse 8, the righteous acts of the saints. So I'd like to talk about that today. How are we preparing to be a part of that future wonderful marriage to Jesus Christ? Well, her priorities are in order, we see in the Scriptures.

She takes God's way of life seriously. She's applying God's truth in her life individually. Let's read some millennial passages. Let's go to Isaiah 61 as they tie into my thing today in the sermon. Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 1. You know, there's probably more Scriptures about the kingdom of God, the millennium, in Isaiah than just about any book you want to read. First of all, it's a very long book. And then God inspired Isaiah to write a really lot of Scriptures, a lot of passages about that wonderful time. Isaiah 61 and verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. This, of course, refers to Jesus Christ. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prisons to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord in the day of vengeance to our God, to comfort all who mourn.

Well, I thought earlier we could use that as a point because one of the things Jesus Christ, brethren, is going to do is to comfort those who are on this earth. Now, we've already covered some of that in the Feast of Trumpets in recent days, but if you really look at Scriptures clearly, there's such a huge grouping of people, brethren, who do not make it into the time of Jesus' return because of death, famine, war, hardships. And when he does return in the nick of time to stop cosmocide on this earth, he's going to see a world, brethren, devastated by all of those plagues, by all the war, by the horrendous kind of things that Satan and his minions produce right prior to the time of Jesus Christ, particularly the last three and a half years or 42 months. He is going to console, he's going to bind up the wounded, he's going to heal, he's going to proclaim liberty, verse 1 says, to the captives. He's going to set them free. So God's love reaches the unreachable. His mercy humbles the haughty. Repentance is going to be very real for these folks. As they are now survivors coming to the kingdom of God, and Christ is there to heal them. Going on in verse 3, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Well, what a turnabout! That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. And they will rebuild the old ruins. They shall rise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine dressers. Well, that's not the case today. You just don't turn your household over to a stranger, generally. In our little call to sacri-lib, we kind of do that. We give each other our garage codes and tell them to bring in the trash and come into the garage and do what needs to be done, because there are a lot of retirees there. We kind of trust each other. But in most neighborhoods, you just don't do that. I remember a story years ago, a lady from Australia, in a township where she had lived for a long time. She told people, I never locked my door coming to the face of the Tabernacles. And I found that, at the time, pretty unbelievable in terms of where neighborhoods we have lived, usually pretty good neighborhoods, but you never know, do you? I've had things stolen from my front yard. They're not worth too much, but drive-bys, you know. It happens. We've had, evidently, a man. I don't know who it is to this day, but some might break into our house in San Jose, California, years ago. We were, thankfully, not there and took what we wanted. Wedding gifts, a shotgun, and all kinds of stuff. But it was okay because it paid for the delivery of our firstborn child, the insurance back, right? So there's always this over-lining. But today, you just don't usually open up the house and say, y'all come. So in the kingdom of God, there is going to be that conversion factor, that trust, that healing. We're so looking forward to that.

Let's drop down to verse 6.

Oh, brethren, that is an amazing thing. That's actually applicable to all those in the kingdom, actually in the context of Isaiah there. They will all be priests. They will all be servants. All of them. However, when you match that with what we read in Revelation 19, it really does apply also to the first roots. How are we preparing to be priests, teaching priests, servants in the kingdom of God? You know, the old adage says, you can't teach what you don't know. And that's so true, isn't it? God is teaching us today. School is in session. There's an old English expression, probably with a little bit of sarcasm, but it says, teaching is the purpose of learning. Teaching is the purpose of learning. And isn't that true with God? He teaches us so we can, I mean, teaches us in terms of learning so we can teach others. That's our learning process today. We're in the training process of being teaching, teaching priests in the coming kingdom. And that's fantastically inspiring. Notice in verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. The analogy is clear here. In verse 11, for as the earth brings forth its bud, as a garden causes the things that are sown in the spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. And He gives the analogy of just like a bride and groom, adorning themselves and getting themselves ready for that wonderful wedding day. You know, the invitations are sent out, time, location, and then of course at the end, bring gifts. Bring a lot of gifts. But it's just a wonderful thing to have people marry, and again, one of the real blessings, I think, of seeing family expand, right? So what is the righteousness of God, by the way? Let's turn over to Matthew 6 and verse 33. It talks about the robe of righteousness there. Let's turn over to Matthew 6 and verse 33. There's more about the righteousness of God here. Well, Jesus Christ said, but seek first the kingdom of God. And notice the linkage and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added to you. What is His righteousness?

What is God's righteousness? Well, I'm not going to get real technical here. It's not like a tricky question, but fundamentally, brethren, it's God in us. It's God in us, His righteousness, His law, His Holy Spirit in us. It's thinking like Him. Do we think like God? That's pretty challenging.

Just this morning, I had a... there's a lot of four-way stops here in Redmond, as you know. So we all kind of gather at the four-way stops, right? And who's first, who's second, who's third? So I'm moving out into the intersection, and somebody's going to T-bone me, because they think they're first. I think I'm first. And you've got to yield, right, in life. You've got to yield in traffic, otherwise there's going to be accidents. God is teaching us to yield, to yield to Him, to apply His Spirit. That's a hard question, brethren. Do we have more of the mind of God than we have the mind of ourselves, as we go from year to year? That's what righteousness is, is turning our lives over to God, letting Him rule, letting Him drive us, work with us, direct us, again, His Holy Spirit in us. Seeking that kingdom first. You know, bride and groom never appear before their guests ill-dressed. I've never seen that happen. Have you? I mean, they're dressed their best. I don't care if they rent something, or buy something, or borrow something. They're going to be really decked out. They have dignity and honor as they come to their wedding. And brethren, as we appear before God, even on the Holy Days, the Sabbath days, we should appear the best we have in the closet. Not kind of, well, any old thing we'll do today, that's not what a bride and groom's attitude would be. I'm going to get the best that I can afford. Maybe I have to buy something, I'll rent something, but they're going to appear before God, just really decked out. And that's beautiful. It's an awesome thing to see.

You know, brethren, our standards should be God's standards, not the world's standards. Time is slipping by very quickly in our lives. I saw from the back somebody up here was 62 years, it looked like, or 67 years attending the feast. Somewhere up here, right? 67 years. That's a lifetime virtually. Faithfulness. Very long time.

Join with me in Micah chapter 4. Micah chapter 4. Very fascinating here, starting in verse 1. Micah 4 and verse 1. Again, a millennial reaching sermon into the thousand-year rule and beyond of Jesus Christ on this earth of King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Micah 4 and verse 1. How shall it come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains? In other words, no other kingdom other than God's. It's going to be a theocracy, God-ruling. And shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. Verse 2. Many nations shall come and say, Come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth in the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. You know, in Israel they will say Jerusalem or Israel. They have a beautiful tonation to their pronunciation of things. Our tour guide said, we were saying, Dan, he says, No, it's Don. No, it's Dan. No, it's Don. One of those twelve tribes. Anyway, a lovely place to visit if you get to go. And I would love to see us have a feast site in Israel soon. In fact, there is one coming in February if you didn't know, but it's not during the feast tabernacle. So anyway, we'll all get there eventually, won't we? We'll all be there eventually. Let's talk about walking in His paths. Verse 3. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off, And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Well, are we peacemakers at home? Who's going to yield? Oh, I'm going to barrel through that intersection, because I know I was first.

The gentleman on my right thought he was first. I thought I was first. Well, I guess I nudged ahead because he had to stop. Good guy, right? But are we peacemakers at home for the kids? They're an example. Very important. So verse 4. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. All the people walk in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame, and I will gather the outcast, And those whom I have afflicted, and I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation. So he's going to churn that around and bless people, bless nations. So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.

We're so thankful for that future peace. You know, last night they showed this short video, and they had a short statement by a person who was brand new to the church, attending their first feast this fall. And I remember the gentleman saying, he said, peace. He said, what are you looking forward to the most? And he said, peace. I thought that was a good answer. They're all good answers. That's what certainly we look forward to, is peace. And having that, even now in our lives, in our family life. Very important to God, Brian, that we have peace in our lives and in our families, as much as we can hope for and have with God in us and through us.

You know, our time is now. Our time is now to be faithful and dedicated to God's way of life, moving forward and asking God for help, mercy, His Holy Spirit, His blessing, His forgiveness.

One of the things, brethren, that we're in training for, certainly, and is a future part of the bride of Jesus Christ, and that is the Scripture in Luke 16, verse 10. So please turn with me to Luke 16, verse 10.

And there's a sermon in this whole couple of verses here, but we're going to take a little bit of time and go through this important point that Jesus Christ pointed out here in Luke 16, verse 10.

So he's in verse 10. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

You know, that's not just a statement. It's a truism of the kingdom. Those ready, preparing to be married to Jesus Christ, think about that. We have to be faithful in everything we do, the small things, the daily things. Who's going to yield? Who's going to show God's Spirit? How would you define faithful there in verse 10? Well, I'm going to define it my own way without looking at the Greek even, okay? I call it spiritually reliable. Spiritually reliable.

Can God look on us and say, that's a reliable person? Or, I don't know, it just depends on circumstances. Some days they're reliable, other days they're not so. You know, faithful in least will be faithful in much. That's how God judges us. It's not, brethren, that we're CEOs of corporations or have just a lot of responsibility. It's what we do with what we have, who we are.

That's how God judges us. And he says, if you're faithful in just the little things of life, just the day in and day out, and applying my way of life, I'm going to trust you with a whole lot more.

You're going to have a whole lot more in the kingdom of God. So you never want to downgrade what God gives us today. He's judging us. He wants a positive judgment. He says, that's my evaluation of you. And if it's a little thing or a big thing, it's an important thing. Day-to-day things, that's what it gets down to. Let's move on here in verse 11. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous man, and who will commit to your trust the true riches, and if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?

And no servant can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. So the principle here in Jesus Christ, again, is saying, is, can I depend on you as being spiritually reliable? No one's watching, you know, no one's watching, but are you reliable to God? You know, he's watching.

He wants a positive report. That's what it is, to be faithful in the least. Again, think more like God, less like a human being. This world of ours, brethren, what we know is the culture of the United States, unless, well, we have a guest from Honduras, I believe, but most of us from the States here, Canada, you know, we look at our culture, and perhaps it's just as bad overseas, right? Those of you who travel, the pull of modern-day Babylon is strong. We're going from the traditional Judeo-Christian culture to the post-Christian culture, starting, was it the 1960s? I think that's as good a decade to start this transition as any. But this post-Christian culture does not have the Bible that once shaped the culture as their narrative any longer.

It's a post-Christian narrative, what they want, what they make up. It's like the frog in the water story. We've all heard that. You put a frog in lukewarm, tepid water, and you keep heating it up and heating it up, and it's so gradual, that frog just doesn't understand what's going on until it's too late and it's boiling and doesn't jump out. That's our culture today. I looked on the line. This is under Barna. A lot of you are familiar with that company, that.org, that goes into interview thousands of people across our country, Christians, non-Christians alike. This is the top ten most post-Christian cities in America, the top ten post-Christian cities in America.

Number one, and these all go from 57% down to 50%. There's a whole lot of data, and I'm not familiar with all of that. You can go online and research that to your heart's content. But I do trust Barna. I've looked at many of their studies and their surveys for quite a few years, and we've used a number of camps and that kind of thing.

But number one post-Christian city in America is Portland, Maine. Sorry about that. That's Portland, Auburn, Maine. Number two is Boston area. Number three is Providence, Rhode Island, New Bedford, MA. Number four, Burlington, Vermont. And these are associated with their metro or small metro area. Number six is Hartford, New Haven, Connecticut. Number seven is New York City.

Now, what do all those cities have in common? Not only are they most post-Christian cities, but they're all Eastern Coast cities, at least so far. Not to be left out. Number eight is San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose. And tied at 50% with them is Seattle, Tacoma. Number ten is Buffalo, New York. I don't know where Portland, Oregon is, so... But, you know, it's probably not a surprise to most of us if you kind of identify with news today and what's going on in our culture.

Yeah, Satan is very much heating up the water. You know, today's law, if there's any law of our culture today, is you shall not be intolerant. Shame on you. Shame on you if you're intolerant. And blessings to you, my friend, if you are tolerant. You know, most of the Ten Commandments start with what? You shall not. You shall not. The Sabbath is quite different. It says to remember the Sabbath. The others, you shall not. Today our culture is, no, no, those are gone.

We're post-Christian, thank you. But we've gone from a sort of a Bible-believing culture, and I say sort of because rather than the founding fathers were not, for the most part, Sabbatarians or those who believe in God's festivals. A few Sabbatarians here and there. Some were Deists. Some were not God believers. Some were Christians, Trinitarians, Sunday keepers, quite a group. But they certainly had far more Bible in them to bless America centuries later than we do today.

So we're turning from that kind of culture into a very aggressively hostile, anti-God culture. The LGBT movement, from time to time, adds other letters to its acronym. The acronym, the longest that I've read online, is LGBTQQIPSA. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit, that's the 2S, androgynous, and asexual. Occasionally you'll see an A for ally, and sometimes it's preceded by an S for straight ally. Sometimes there's a plus after all of that at the end, so it leaves the door open so that newly minted perversions can be added. Now, we're not making this up. That's our culture. We were talking about this the other day, one of the local congregations, because I gave this, I guess, on the Day of Atonement.

We thought 50, 60 years ago, our culture would never go down that path. But a few decades go by, and a new crop of parents, a new crop of young people. But I come from the Baby Boomers, and that culture was anything but pure. They were the revolutionaries of the 1960s. It's kind of they started it all, right?

My generation is so different than my parents' generation. Oh, today anything just about goes. Really sad for our country. You know, again, we should love the person. We shouldn't castigate them, but God will teach them in the kingdom. We're not going to have these acronyms. We're all going to stand for the truth. That's what we're learning today. Notice with me, brethren, in Revelation 3 and verse 4, let's go back to the book of Revelation and chapter 3 and verse 4.

Revelation chapter 3 and verse 4, you have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Again, talking about the theme of the wedding to Jesus Christ, being betrothed to Him as God's people. He who overcomes, notice that key word. It's a major part, brethren, of getting ready to marry Jesus Christ.

We have to be overcomers. We have to be those who look in the mirror spiritually and say, you know what, I can't deal with this. I'm going to have to turn over to God. This is a real issue. I have to have God's help. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. So there is a change. There is repentance. There is encouragement there. We're all sinners. But Jesus Christ, who inspired these words to be written by John, the apostle, He says, the overcomers shall be clothed in white garments.

And I will not blot out His name from the book of life. There is this wonderful book of life, brethren, and your name is in it if you have God's Spirit. If you have God's Holy Spirit, your name is in that book. And only you and I can take our name out of that book. God doesn't have the eraser. We do. In that sense of being in charge. Now, if we choose to do that, God will remove our name, but He doesn't have the eraser.

So He says, that book of life is vital for us to be in that wedding supper. He who overcomes will be clothed in white garments. And I will not blot out His name from the book of life. And I will confess His name before my Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I'd like us, brethren, to link that with Ezekiel 22 as well. Back to one of the prophets of the Old Testament, the book of Ezekiel 22, verse 26, please. Ezekiel 22, verse 26. So, brethren, how are we getting ready to marry Jesus Christ, be a part of that future wedding supper and that wonderful kingdom of God?

That's what we are talking about today. Ezekiel 22, verse 26. Her priests have violated my law and profaned my holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy, which we just talked about with LGBT. And again, there's no difference to a lot of people between anything holy and unholy.

It's the same thing. It doesn't matter. Well, it sure does to God. And they have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean. And they have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Now, verse 30. And I sought for a man among them who should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me in the land, that I should not destroy it, and I found none.

Well, brethren, we are those who stand in the gap. The hedge, in other words. You ever had a hedge around your backyard to kind of buffer your neighbors, and, you know, keep the dogs at bay, or whatever it is?

We bought a house some years ago in the Upper Midwest, and it had Arbovitis that were probably 30 years old. Arbovitis, you know, are not the Italian Cyprus, but they get quite long, wide, and very high, 30 foot, eventually. And they're nevergreen, so they're green all year. But what a hedge. What a hedge that thing was. It was a neighbor's hedge, not ours, but we enjoyed that.

You couldn't see his house virtually. You couldn't see us. And one day, though, I was sitting out on the back porch, and I heard a little zip on this side of my head. And then I heard the ding on the house behind my house.

And I realized he had shot a baby gun. He was aiming some birds in the Arbovitis, but he missed me. So our provides are good, but they sure don't stop babies. But Christ talking about here through Ezekiel is having a spiritual hedge.

We're the ones, brethren, to stand up and be that hedge between the world out there and our family. We have to kind of knock down the influence, the direction, the attitudes, the views. That culture coming in is very real. And it's going to increasingly be a very important part of our battle as we get closer to the time of the end.

It's not going to get any easier. It's going to get harder. That battle against Satan's culture is going to truly get harder. But God in us will be that hedge, and we will stand in that gap. Turn with me now to Malachi 2 and verse 7, please. Malachi 2 and verse 7.

You know, brethren, a good portion of our future jobs of assisting the King of Kings and Lord of Lords on this earth is to be teachers. As I said earlier, this is what Malachi 2 and verse 7 focus is in. And again, you can't teach what you don't know. We're in training today, aren't we? It says, For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth. For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Now, if a priest doesn't know the law of God, that priest is pretty well worthless, don't you think? And so if we're going to be teaching priests in the kingdom, we're going to have to know the law. And yes, we're the hedge today. We know that law. We live it. We're assembling on this high day, this holy day. We're here. So the lips of a priest keep knowledge. Now, what does that word in Hebrew mean? Keep. Nothing complicated means to observe it. You observe the law. It means to heed it. It means to guard it and preserve it. All positive. God's servants, God's people, the future bride, we observe, we protect in that sense, preserve, guard, and we heed that law of God. Again, increasingly harder, brethren, as we get further toward the end of this age.

As one of the blessings parents have is you have a chance to teach the truth to your children, the law of God, the way of God, to bond with them from heart to heart. Turn with me over to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 9, please. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 9. This section is really inspiring about teaching. And for parents, grandparents, yes, the church.

Our youth camp program, we actually base it on Deuteronomy 14 about teaching these things and letting it be a part of their life daily at camp. Deuteronomy 4 verse 9, only take heed to yourselves and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Speaking originally to ancient Israel what they had seen, and yes, they forgot it and departed from it. But he said, teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood up before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, gather the people to me and I will hear my words, let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, that they may also teach their children.

That's a very important thing to God. Very important thing. I want all of you moms and dads, those of you who saw this firsthand, went through the plagues and came out of Egypt and now here, he says, I want you to understand this is important to pass on to your children. So parents, that's one of the privileges, prerogatives, blessings, in fact, that God ordained responsibility, and that is to teach.

Have your Bible studies. Have your assemblies, if you will, at home. Make that a real part and a real wonderful opportunity of joy and teaching and sharing with your kids. We have a lot of things online from United Church of God that we have for parents. We have the Sabbath lessons. We also have, brethren, things for parents. Lesson plans, outlines, the whole thing. So there's a chock full information out there for anybody who's interested.

You know, our pre-teen and teen camp program, brethren, has just been delightful. In the Northwest pre-teen camp, you had 95 campers this summer. What a big group! And Northwest camp, you had a record number of campers. Altogether, we had 700 and about 25 staff and campers nationwide this summer at either pre-teen or teen camp. It's going very well. And at camp, again, we call it the zone, that way of God in action.

And I'd like to have us turn over to one of the things we had a few years ago. It's found in Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 1. This is the first four or five words is actually the Christian living theme we used probably five to six years ago.

It's been a while. But it was a fantastic theme. Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 1. Here's Saul in writing this. He's reflecting on his life. And he says, remember, kind of like the Sabbath, right? Remember the Sabbath. He says, remember, now you're a creator in the days of your youth. This is written for teens and pre-teens. So I want all you teens and pre-teens to zero in on this because these words are for you, written for you.

He says, again, remember now. The emphasis is while you're young. Learn God's way now. Do it. Follow God now in the days of your youth. Notice the cautionary tone here before the difficult days come. And the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them. What happens? If we turn our back on God, we just kind of go our own way, and that opportunity is gone for a very long time.

How long? It just depends on the person. But you know, the difficult days coming, I have no pleasure in them. The meaning of life and the joy of living God's way is gone. You ever known somebody who just...what holy days? You mean this was the day of atonement? We should have fasted? Or this is during the Feast of Tabernacles? Or this is Sunday Pentecost? It's gone.

So Solomon is saying, look, don't deny God in your life as a young person. It's blessed to do it now. Before you choose a different path and have the hurt and the impact of what the Word will give you. Notice in verse 2, while the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are not darkened and the clouds do not return after the rain. So he continues to paint a dim view of going out of the church and not following God. Notice in verse 6, remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the will broken at the well.

And then he says, the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit will return to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity. In other words, fleeting, temporary. He says, you know, you'll have life, but it won't be the life you could have had. It's going to go sour on you. It's going to be nearly as satisfying and blessed and wholesome. This came from a person who attended their 50th high school anniversary.

The person was telling me it was very interesting. I'd never attended a high school anniversary before, and I went and saw some old friends. And the person was telling me, one thing that was loud and clear is all of the trials these people had gone through, or their children or grandchildren, and the person told me, who's been in the church for quite a long time, it's a result of breaking the laws of God. And the person went through this, that, and the other thing, we agreed.

As God's people, we don't choose that. We know that doesn't work.

Well, the world hasn't learned that yet. So, again, Solomon is saying, learn while you're young. That's the best way. Avoid the destruction, the hurt, the devastation. It just isn't worth it. And then verse 13, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Again, a note of encouragement to all our youth to hang in there, be tough, it works, God will bless, and you'll have a good life, the right kind of life.

But do it God's way. That is the way to work it. It's the only way to go.

Well, a couple of Psalms, brethren. Psalm 40, I'd like us to turn over to verse 1. Psalm 40 and verse 1. This is Psalm of David. And you know, brethren, we go through this. Some days are not the best days, are they? And here's David. He's just opening up his heart here in Psalm 40, verse 1. Psalm 40, verse 1. I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me and heard my cry, and also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. And He's put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God, many will see it in fear, and they will trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man that makes the Lord His trust, and does not respect the proud or turn aside to lies.

Many, verse 5, oh Lord, my God, are Your wonderful works, which You have done. And notice this, He says, Your thoughts toward me cannot be recounted to You in order. For I will declare and speak of them, they are more than could be numbered. You know, some days are not going to be good days. David said, I'm down here in the miry clay. God set my feet on a rock, and God did. And He says, I can't begin to categorize God. All the positive thoughts You have toward me. You know, brother, Christianity gets down to a relationship one-on-one, doesn't it? It's not between the church and you, or God and you, the church that is between you and God, it's between God and you.

Now God's church serves. That's our haven. That's our assembly point. That's our encouraging point. That's the point where we can serve each other, and we can develop camps and the feecights and all the things that God wants us to do. But really, our relationship, you get down to it, it's one-on-one. That's what it's about. Are we learning to think more like God and less like ourselves, our human way? And David said, God, I know Your thoughts toward me are extremely positive. I can't begin to categorize all the positive things You have for me. Brother, we can understand all there is about prophecy. We can understand about the future beast, and we can understand the days coming. But if we don't have the love of God in us, it doesn't matter.

Prophecy is good in this sense. It helps us to draw closer to God. That's really the fundamental purpose. And there's other purposes of prophecy. I enjoy prophecy, but the purpose of prophecy fundamentally is for us, brethren, to get closer to God. But He is in charge that His will is clear and abundant and pure, and He wants everyone to be in His way of life.

Eventually, they will if they choose to be. Turn with me to John 17, verse 1 as well. John 17, verse 1.

Christ in this one verse, and there are several, of course, that we could use to back this up, but let's just notice the one verse here. John 17, verse 1. Verse 3. John 17, verse 3. And this is eternal life. What a summation. That they may know you. Christ, of course, is praying to His Father here just prior to His crucifixion, His capture. He says, that they may know you, and the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. What a question to ask ourselves. Do we know God the Father? Do we know Jesus Christ? Do we know them, and do they know us? What a couple of good questions to ask ourselves. Getting ready for that future bonding with God through the kingdom of God and the future marriage to Jesus Christ. You know, I heard this expression. I've actually given a couple of feasts, tabernacles. There's a humorous side to this, and then there's a very serious side to this. Listen to this. Sitting in church does not make us a Christian any more than sitting at McDonald's makes us a hamburger. I think we've kind of seen that through the years. Sitting in church does it a Christian does not make. It's what we do with the truth, right? Well, let's go to Revelation chapter 3. This will be our conclusion, Revelation 3 and verse 11. Revelation 3, starting in verse 11, please. So Jesus Christ, again, the author here, behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have. Now, what does he say here? No one may take your crown. No one. I think of the Greek, it implies no human. Well, that's who's going to do it, but Satan would like to do that as well. But don't let anybody take our crown, God says. Don't let any human, don't let any offense do that. What will take us out of the church? I've yet to develop a sermon, as I keep telling the brethren back home, I want to give a sermon on becoming offense-proof. Not offense, but offense-proof. Becoming offense-proof, because offenses will come in the church. But we don't want any offense to take us out. So let no one take your crown. Verse 12. Again, we read the word, the concept of being an overcomer.

Only God knows that. And then verse 13, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So rather than we come here to be encouraged, and we will be, we come here to have good fellowship, and we'll have good fellowship. We'll come here to eat some good food. That's a given. But we're here, brethren, to really kind of get down to the nitty-gritty of that future marriage to Jesus Christ. So let's keep on keeping on, and it'll happen.