Holy Days are Shadows of Things to Come

Brethren, now we are approaching the beginning of God's Holy Days. Or, in other words, the Holy Days of the seventh month in God's calendar. And you know when we look at the world that we live in? It is a sad world, it's a stressful world, and it's a world that needs to be saved. Now, think about it. It's not just you and I that need salvation. This world, this society, is a disaster. And whatever country you are, I mean, if you look at the news and you look at what's happening here in the States, you can say, well, it's a disaster, yeah. But brethren, it's all over the world. It's all over the world. When I talk to people in Brazil, they, for instance, I ask them about the cover of the next Beyond Today, to put in Portuguese, which has two prominent figures of this country. And I ask them, well, you maybe want, because I was given permission to change the pictures of something suitable to the Portuguese people. And they said, please, we don't want any Brazilian leader or whatever it is in the cover, because the country is so full of the corruption that it's happening with their leaders, they don't want that. So keep your leaders there. So we have not changed the cover much. What we did, we had the two, and at the bottom we put the other 10 or whatever leaders that appeared inside as well. So we kind of balanced it to give it a mode of an international flavor. But what it means is, whatever you are, the world is in a disaster. I mean, if you, for instance, if you are in Germany and you've been watching the elections there, there is a serious trend developing with a new political party coming out there, which potentially could cause big problems in Germany. And it's going to affect the whole world. So, brethren, we know there's only one hope. And that is for us to have, quote-unquote, in modern terms, a new world order. But it's not the new world order that mankind thinks. The new world order is the order of God. It's the kingdom of God.

It's God governing through Jesus Christ on earth. And so God has given us a wonderful plan, and particularly these four holy days and four festivals of the seventh month picture or point to, or a shadow of, or a foreshadow, or a prophecy looking forward to that happy, joyous time when God will step on earth and will save mankind from obliteration.

And so turn with me to Colossians 2. And Colossians 2, 16 says, Let no man judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival. And now we're approaching the festivals. Or a new moon. And specifically, the moon that is applicable to a festival is a day of trumpets, because that's the one, the only festival that falls on a new moon.

So basically regarding a festival or the day of trumpets or Sabbath's plural, which are the holy days. So the feast or the holy days. Now, a lot of people think, well, all feast days are holy days. No, not quite correct. The third day of the Feast of Tabernacles is not a holy day, for instance.

Or the fourth day of the Feast of Tabernacles is not a holy day. So not all feast days are holy days, for instance. Pastelver is a feast day, but it's not a holy day. So sometimes, the way we talk, maybe we say one or the other, meaning in our minds, meaning the same thing. But it is important when the standards, there is a distinction between feast days and holy days, because not all feast days are holy days. But now at the end of the seventh month, we have four festivals, or, and within those four festivals, we will have four holy days.

But the festivals and the holy days are a shadow of things to come, as we read there in verse 17. In other words, they project in advance what is to come. And indeed, they project in advance what is to come.

Now, regrettably, you and I know the world does not understand these holy days. The world does not. The world does not.

The world has its own, quote-unquote, holidays. Or, I said it with a different accent, not holy days, but holidays, or you spell it differently. Right? So, why? Turn with me, please, to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Verse 46 through 49. Luke chapter 6. Verse 46 through 49.

But why do you call me Lord, Lord? Why do people in the churches today call Jesus, Jesus, oh Jesus, and Jesus this and Jesus that, and not do the things which I say?

Why do you call things to be Christian when those things are not what Christ told us to do?

Verse 47. Whoever comes to me and hears my saying. Now, there's a thing about hearing. But there is a difference between hearing and listening. I mean, you can hear, but you might not pay attention and listen. And there is even a bigger, it's to practice it, to actually do it. And it says, whoever comes to me and hears my saying, and does them. So you've got to hear, listen to them carefully, and then apply them. I will show you whom he's like. He is like a man building a house who dug and laid the foundation on, let's just say, on a rock.

Now, read it in your Bible. It doesn't say, I mean, if you build a house, obviously you should build it on some solid ground, ideally on a rock.

But Yah is talking about a spiritual principle. And therefore it says, not on a rock, but it says on THE rock. Now, who is THE rock? It's crushed. So it's actually using a physical example, but it's inserting into that physical example the strong meaning of the spiritual rock right there. So it's important to understand, you see, what happens in the world today, people say, well, I'm a Christian, but I'll do what I want.

I am not going to obey what God tells me about His holy days. I'm going to have my own holidays.

Now, Christ says, listen, if you don't do what I tell you to do, you are like somebody that is building a house on sand.

You see, this wall and the beliefs of this wall are sand. They're not solid.

And when the flatter rose, the screen beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it, for it was founded on THE rock.

Now, it's interesting that some Bible versions, which are more modern Bible versions, translate that to say, because it was not built properly.

I saw that in one of the Portuguese versions of the Bible. It said, well, because it was not built properly.

When you try and translate something, not understanding the spiritual meaning and intent of YAH, you could say, well, it was not built properly.

That's true, but the spiritual intent is that it was found on the rock. It was built on Christ, the foundation.

But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on earth without a foundation against the stream, beat vehemently and immediately fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

You see, so you and I have seen disaster areas with storms and floods and houses after houses. They all destroy.

And sometimes you see one house that stands up and stays. And if you investigate a bit further, you find out that the bullet of that house quite often took a little extra care in making sure that the house was solid.

And so you can see there's an important principle here.

Times are going to come that things are going to be very tough at this end time. Things are going to get really tough. My son just went to India and on business, and then one of his colleagues got healed, so you have to fly back to accompany him back home.

And he was just saying, I've never seen something so terrible. I've been in Africa, I've lived in Africa, I've never seen something so terrible. So terrible. I don't think we living in a society even see it. I can't understand how people come back to the States feel like kissing the ground. You know what I mean? I mean, it's just how God has blessed us. But you know, things are going to get pretty bad. And I don't think we can even begin to contemplate what it will be.

And Christ prophesied that and said, those things will get so bad. Turn with me to Matthew 24 verse 21. Matthew 24 verse 21.

Christ said, things will get so bad because he's talking about this great tribulation, such as it has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be.

So it's never happened that it was so bad around the world as it will be in the great tribulation.

And you and I just have to listen to the news to see that the storm is brewing. The storm is brewing.

And it's incumbent upon us to be prepared.

The good news is that Christ is going to come and intervene and there's going to be peace on earth.

There's also some other good news that some of us in the Church will be protected through that time.

Not all, but some of us. And God will decide who is who because he knows the hardest.

It won't be my choice or your choice individually. I believe God will select those people that will protect them. He's his choice.

So what we want to make sure is that you and I are on that right side of the coin. Let's put it that way.

But God will protect us. And the point is when that happens, when that suddenly hits, no man knows when it happens.

It'll come by surprise. If you look at a few verses a bit further down in verse 36, it says, But of that day and hour no man knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Now it's interesting, the other day I was looking through some, I don't know how come my eyes got onto that, but it was some email that I received from somebody in the Church around about year 2002, 2003.

So I don't know how, for some reason I was looking through all stuff and deleting or whatever it is, and the email came to me, and there was email from this person in the Church saying, Yah is a proof that Christ is coming in the year 2003 because of this, that, and that.

And I said, oh boy, you know, have we made so many mistakes, haven't we?

Because it's so clear to say, of that day and hour no man knows.

So, no one knows.

Verse 37, But as in the days of nowhere, so also be the coming of the Son of Man.

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, giving and marriage, you know, everything was going piece, piece, then start the instruction. That's really what it means. I stand to be corrected, but I believe this is actually talking when suddenly the Great Tribulation will come.

That's because once the Great Tribulation comes, we pretty well know how much time is there to go.

So, it's a warning to the Church to be ready.

What it says is in the days of Noah, they were eating and drinking, and verse 39, And do not know until the flood came, which means this big war and all the troubles that will happen, and took them all away.

So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.

So, at the time of Christ's coming, right at the end, which will be all these events that will build up, and then that's what it will be.

And remember, Noah was warning mankind for many years.

If you read the story of Noah, you'll see he was warning for 120 years.

He was building this ark, and for 120 years, the people must have said, What are you doing? You're blowing the ark?

Like, you know, like they have one year in Kentucky, in the middle of Kentucky, miles away from the sea. Come on! You know? And there was he blowing it somewhere miles away from the sea. You're nuts!

Until the flood came.

In fact, it doesn't say until he went into the ark, it says until the flood came. So that means he went into the ark, the doors were closed, and if I remember correctly, it was about a week later or so, that then the floods came.

I mean, imagine.

Noah's family that was in the ark, during those seven days, it says, I don't see anything. Come on, Noah.

I think you've got the grog.

Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's the family that gives you some doubts, and I don't think the family was converted. I think only Noah, and because of Noah's mercy, his household was saved. Noah's belief, to put it another way, God's mercy, but Noah's belief is saved. So, there one family survived, because God had a plan.

But at that time, God replaced society, let's call it that, because that society was built on sand.

But ultimately, he's still going to do it again, at the time of the coming of Christ, and then he's going to establish a new society, built on the rock, built on the rock.

And so, let's look at those holy days, and we see them in Leviticus 23.

Because we're going to be in and out, you might just put a marker on Leviticus 23, so we can get to it in and out quicker.

But in verse 1 and 2 says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The priests of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are my priests. So, they were to proclaim God's holy days.

And then, as we read through this, we can see first what we call the spring holidays, which represented a tiny office, teaches basically us to prepare to be his first fruits, in order to overcome the flesh, overcome the world, overcome Satan, so that we can then rule as king and priests during the period that will follow the meaning of the fall holy days, because that's when they will be the big office.

And so, if we jump a little bit ahead to the fall of the days, that's in verse 23.

23, 23. The verse is 23. Verse 23. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a stab of rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

And that is this coming Monday or Sunday evening sunset to Monday sunset.

And that will be the first day of the seventh month.

And we ought to have a Sabbath rest, in other words, symbolic of a Sabbath. Symbolic of a rest. And because it represents the coming of Jesus Christ, represents the first resurrection, and that is going to be a rest, lead up to a rest for mankind.

And it says you'll have a holy convocation. In other words, you'll get gathered together. And that's what we do.

And the word for trumpets is actually a shofar, not a trumpet, a shofar, which is a ram's horn. And that's got a very fearsome sound.

And let's look at another place where it refers to this shofar or ram's horn, which is in Jeremiah chapter 4.

Jeremiah chapter 4. We start in verse 19 through 21. Jeremiah 4, 19 through 21.

O my soul, my soul, I am pained in my very heart, Jeremiah 4, 19. My heart makes a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace. Because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet of this ram's horn, the alarm of war.

Verse 20. Destruction upon destruction is cry, for the whole land is plundered, suddenly my tents are plundered, and my curtains in a moment. How long will I see the spandered and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Brethren, all we have here is a warning of war. Now, as you look at the Book of Revelation, now, by the way, I do have some booklets at the back there about the Holy Days and about the Book of Revelation, if any of you would like to do some Bible study using those booklets.

I do have some copies at the back there. But as we look at Revelation, there will be the first four seals, which is the four horsemen, then there will be the Great Revelation, which is marked, let's put it this way, or warned by the abomination of desolation before.

And that is the time when we believe that a portion of the Church will be protected.

Then after that, the tribulation starts for three and a half years.

But then that time is cut short because the Day of the Lord starts, which we believe to be for about a year, which represents the trumpets, the seven trumpets.

And so we have here a warning of the trumpets.

What happens before the trumpets are the heavenly signs. So it's God basically saying, I'm going to intervene and there's going to be this time of war, which is symbolized by the trumpets of God.

We will go into that in more detail on Monday, on the Day of Trumpets.

But let's go back to Matthew 24. Matthew 24.

In the context here, we can see that Jesus went up to the Mount of Olives.

And we can see that in Matthew 24 verse 3.

And then, as you may or may not know, the Mount of Olives is higher than the Temple Mount.

So from there they could look down at the Temple area.

And then they said to Christ, you know, because Christ said about the Temple, He said, Do you not see all these things? Surely I say to you, not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. And it was referring as they were looking to the Temple.

And in verse 3, as He said on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying, Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? In other words, what will be the sign of that these things will happen?

And so He goes through an explanation there. But I want to jump to verse 29 because it's bringing to the time of the trumpets. And He says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days.

So again, let's put it in context.

There's the Four Seals of Revelation, which is the Four Horsemen.

Then there's the Great Tribulation that runs for three and a half years.

There is cut short with heavenly signs, which we're going to read now in verse 29. And then after those heavenly signs, it is the Day of the Lord, which is the trumpets for a year.

So let's go on reading verse 29.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven. And the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Brethren, it's like an earthquake in heaven.

I don't know what that means.

We can't imagine what is... the heavens will be shaken. But it'll be something very frightful. Very frightful. But it means it's the sign that God is getting intervened from Yah onwards. And from there we have the trumpets. And so when you look at Revelation, you see there are seven trumpets, which run for a period of about a year.

And so verse 30, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they'll see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. So that whole period of the heavenly signs through the desolation that will happen and the people hiding and Christ coming, that whole period is encapsulated Yah in one verse.

But it's kind of opened up in more detail in the book of Revelation. So that's basically what it is. And then in verse 31 says, And then you'll send these angels with a great sign sound of a trumpet, they'll gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So the brethren, those that are dead or those that are alive, will then be resurrected. Obviously the ones that are dead will be resurrected, the ones that are alive will be changed.

And you can corroborate that or compare that with 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13, 18. Then it says it will be at the last trump. So we know there will be seven trumps during the period of trumpets. So there's seven trumpets. And at the last trump, it will be the resurrection that is described here. When that last trumpet happens, turn with me to Revelation 10, verse 7. It says, yeah, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh trump, of the seventh angel, that's the seventh trumpet, when he's about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as he declared to his servants the prophets.

So what does it mean? It means the mystery of God is the time when you and I, that are faithful to Christians, will become sons and daughters of God. And there is a mystery that will then be revealed. That all, as you read in Romans 8, the whole creation is awaiting for the revealing of the sons of God.

So that mystery will be finished. And during that period of the mystery being finished, there will be many events that will happen. There will be many events that will happen with his return. There will be many events. As you read the book of Revelation, you see, there will be the resurrection, and then there will be certain things like the seven lost plagues, and then there will be armies being gathered, and to a place which is called Armageddon, and all those things.

So that could take a few days. So there's a number of events that we don't know exactly which, what happens exactly on which day. But a number of things, and the conclusion of that is atonement when Satan is put away. So there's a number of events that will happen from trumpets, the day of trumpets, the coming of Christ, and during that period of ten days, there's a lot of things to happen, at least on earth, which are described in the seven lost plagues, that will happen in a short period.

And some of those things have to happen in a short period, not months, but because they are so drastic, their mankind would not survive if those events were lost months. If you read them, they're so drastic. So it will be a time when the mystery of God will be finished. Look at another interesting detail, which is in Revelation chapter 11, starting in verse 15 through 18, which again puts some of those events in a short little capsule that makes you think.

But it says, there the seventh angel sounded, so that's the seventh trumpet, the lost, you know, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. And so that means the government of the United States, the government of China, the government of Russia, the government of Germany, the government of all these nations of the world will now become the government of God, of the kingdom of God reigning on earth. So the kingdoms of our Lord, God, and of His Christ, Jesus Christ. And He, Jesus Christ, shall reign forever and ever under God, of course.

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their throne fell, so these are angelic beings that are there, and they worship God, saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and was and is to come, because you have taken your great power and reign. The nations were angry. So it will come at a time where the nations are so angry that they are ready to obliterate all human life from planet earth.

And your wrath has come, and at the time of the dead, that they should be judged. So look at it. The nations are angry. Christ is going to come. And one of the things is the judgment of the dead.

At Christ's coming. What do you mean? If people are dead, there's billions of people dead. Some are resurrected, and some are not. Isn't that a judgment decision about who's resurrected and who's not? So it's the judgment of the dead. The judgment of the dead, some will be resurrected in a first resurrection, a better resurrection, to eternal life. And the others were judged, not to be resurrected yet, until the thousand years were finished. That is the judgment of the dead. So it's talking about the first resurrection, and there'll be a judgment of the dead that some will be in the first resurrection, and some will not, and that judgment will be made at that time. So it's the time of the dead that they should be judged. Action number one. Think about it. Action number one. Number two. And that it should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear and end, small and great. Now we know we'll receive eternal life at a resurrection, first resurrection. But it says it will reward. As we heard before today, it'll be a great reward, and it'll be rewarded according to our words. So it'll be a time of reward.

A lot of things are not specifically specified, and you and I can speculate as much as you can. But it's only speculation.

But I would not be surprised that God does everything decently and in order. And I would not be surprised that God will then say, You'll rule over five cities, you'll rule over ten cities, you'll do this and that, and give you the rewards, so that then when Christ comes and rule, those people know exactly what they're going to do. And they've been assigned the job descriptions, you know, the rewards. Because it says that time of rewarding. And number three, you should destroy those who destroy the earth. So there's three big actions encapsulated here.

So we have the return of Christ.

There's a time of the dead being judged. In other words, those that are part of God's church will be resurrected. And those that are not will not be resurrected. That's putting it another way, until the second resurrection. And then we, after that, we've got some inset chapters, as we call them, and other events that will happen.

And then we get to chapter 19 and look at verse 11, and it says, I saw heaven open and a white horse, and on him there was called faithful and true and in righteous he judges and makes war. And then on verse 13 says, he is the word of God. In other words, it says clearly that he's Christ. And the armies in heaven will come with him. So he'll bring his own army, so we don't have to get involved. He'll have his own army, well trained, well equipped. Right? So that's Revelation 20 verse 4.

And I think it's part of 19 verse 14. And then it says, you'll strike the nations. So that ties into what we read in Revelation 11, that you'll destroy those that destroy the world. So that ties in that. And then we can see a little later that the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. So these are beings that are living right there at the time of the end, have not been revealed yet. And they'll be destroyed and put into the lake of fire.

So that all represents all those sort of things, represent that period of trumpets. Which we'll talk a little bit more, as I said, on Monday. And then after that, if you go back to Leviticus 23, keep your finger on Revelation 20, but we go back to Leviticus 23, verse 26 to 32.

Then it says, And then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, On the tenth day of the seventh month shall be a day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation, you will afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire. You shall do no work on that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. And then in verse 32 it says, It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls.

And if you've been in the church for a few years, you know what afflicting your soul means. Because when you don't eat and you don't drink, you're afflicting your soul. So you pretty well know what that means. And you'll afflict your souls from the sunset of the ninth day till the sunset of the tenth day. So let's go back to Revelation 20, and that symbolizes the end of Revelation 20, verse 1 to 3, where Satan is removed and put in jail for a thousand years.

So Satan is in prison for a thousand years. So that's a Sabbath of rest. Why? Because there will be rest on earth once the deceiver is put away. That's how we're going to have peace. One of the important cogs on the wheel, let's put it another way, removing the deceiver so that we can have peace on earth.

So Christ has come, destroyed the rebellion, the signs have been resurrected, they've been given the rewards, they know who's who, so there's no confusion, everybody's well organized, decent training order, and Satan is removed, the nations, the rebels, the fighting armies will be destroyed. Now there will be people out there that will still have funny ideas. There are a lot of people spread all over there that they call homegrown terrorists or whatever they call them. Those people will not be at that specific location, but they are spread all over the world, so it will take time to fix the wall as Christ comes back.

But Satan will be put away. And then immediately after that, on the 15th, we have the Feast of Tabernacles and the Lost Great Day. And that is described while we are in Revelation, on verse 4, and it's talking about thrones and judgmentals given to them, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So they already knew what their job descriptions are, they know what they're going to do, they know who's going to be in charge, so from day one there, they can actually start performing their duties.

And what a beautiful time to have the time of the Feast, so we can actually try and... We have the second Exodus, we can bring people together, and that's the information that you're probably here during the Feast, and then the instruction will be done, and they'll reign with Christ for that thousand years. Now obviously they'll reign forever, but that's phase one. They'll reign for a thousand years, then Satan is loosened a little while, as you can see there. Satan is loosened a little while, and then you'll deceive people that come from the four corners of the earth, and then those rebels will be destroyed, and then there'll be the second resurrection, which is the last great day, or the eighth day, and that will be the second resurrection. And then the second resurrection is described in Revelation 20, verse 11 through the next few verses, which talks about the Great White Throne, the Great White Throne, when mankind will be brought back to life. When the mankind will actually be restored. Now think about it. Think about it. The time of Christ's coming is the time of restoration of all things. But you know what? The billions and billions of people that have lived, they have not been restored throughout the millennium. Because during the millennium is the restoration of some government on the earth, is the restoration of the earth, is the creation of a paradise in the earth to be ready for the last great day of the Great White Throne. During the millennium there will be restoration of the earth and of that government, but not of the people on earth. The people that died. Those people that died will then be restored on the last great day, on the eighth day. They will then be brought to life. They will then, as you can read in Ezekiel 37, will know the truth, will get to understand the truth, will get to understand what happened. They will then have to repent. They will have to be baptized. They will have to receive the Holy Spirit. They will have to commit to the same path that you and I commit. They will have to live through a period of reconciliation. It's not going to be easy to reconcile with the guy that just killed your brother and your uncle and others. Reconcile with the guy that is being forgiven that committed a suicide bomb against your family or whatever. It's not going to be easy. It's going to take time. And reconciliation is not just saying, I forgive. Reconciliation is forgive plus be the best of friends, quote-unquote. And that's not going to be easy. So that's going to take time. And that will happen during that lost great day. And once that happens, then we can look towards eternity in peace, because it's not only just the restoration of that, but once they're restored, that lost great day can also look towards eternity of peace forevermore with the establishment of New Heavens and the Earth and all that follows.

So it's a wonderful plan that God has for you and I.

But you know, one of the things that he has for us is the need to reconcile. The need to reconcile. The first reconciliation is of God. Mankind has to reconcile with God by receiving his Spirit and be reconciled through Christ's sacrifice with God. Then we're going to be reconciled with fellow man. Not only learn to forgive, but learn to live in peace. We can't hide away from it.

I mean, how can you hide if you're going to have to live for eternity next to each other? You better sort that out before eternity, or else you might not be there.

How can you be there if you're not prepared to reconcile? And so we have to be reconciled.

And that was the message of Christ.

Look at Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew chapter 5 verse 23. Matthew chapter 5 verse 23.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, so if you're bringing your prayers and you're coming to God's throne, and you have access to God's throne, and you're standing in God's throne, Spiritually speaking, of course. You and I do that every time we pray. That's what we're doing. That's the new way that folks in Hebrew stand. That's the new way we have through the veil, which is through Christ's sacrifice. We can get there. We can do that.

Now, as we were reading in verse 23, he says, If you bring your gift to the altar, and then remember that your brother is something against you, you remember that you haven't quite reconciled.

Leave your gift there before the altar. Go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Agree with you adversely, quickly, while you're on the way within. Lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you to the officer, and you'll be thrown into prison.

Surely, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the lost penny. So, we have to reconcile. We have to learn reconciliation now.

So, we have a hope that Christ is going to bring peace to the whole world, but us to rule in the world tomorrow.

We are being trained now to be kings and priests, and we are trained now on the ministry of reconciliation by actually practicing reconciliation.

So, brethren, that's why you know about scriptures like Matthew 18. If your brother sinned against you, go and talk to him.

One-to-one. Sin is not saying that it's something you should overlook. It's a sin.

Sometimes they upset you a little bit, but, you know, come on, that it's a sin. It's actually talking about something very serious, not a slight problem.

And he says, go and sort it out. Go and talk to him, go and sort it out.

So, brethren, you and I are learning now to reconcile. We are learning now to show love to others.

Christ says, I give you a new command. Love others like I loved you. We are learning now a new way.

That's our job now, obviously, to preach the gospel and prepare a people. That's what preparing a people is, as getting changed now.

Then, when we are ready, in other words, we as the bride have readied ourselves, because that white linen is the righteousness of the saints.

And it's not our righteousness. It's Christ's righteousness that we put on. Not ours. It's not self-righteousness.

And once we put that in, then we are ready.

God knows my heart, your heart. And if you and I are ready, He promises that you will protect us.

If He believes that maybe we need a bit more refining, maybe He will allow us to go through a little bit more refining. That will be His choice.

But it's now our time, brethren, to learn reconciliation, to love God's way, to put it to practice, to be ready. Because we have a great hope. And the hope is that Christ will come and will not only save us, will not only save the Church, but He will save the world.