The Meaning of the Day

God has provided us a wonderful feast. The feast is God's gift to us. He's given it to us freely. It's His banquet where we come and we're fed by the Almighty God. I think He's fed us marvelously during this season. I believe the emphasis has been on our preparing for our responsibilities in the future and what we need to be doing. One gentleman told me before services, I've got to go back and start working. And that's exactly the way I feel that I need to go back. There's a lot of things that I need to be doing. I'd like to thank all of you for your service, your dedication, your faithfulness to God. Many of you are here at great sacrifice, and you've had to put forward a great deal to be here. And God appreciates it, and we certainly do too. I'd like to compliment all of our young people, young adults, and thank you for your interest, your faithfulness to God. It's not easy to serve God in this age as a young person. I remember when our last son finally finished high school, Norman and I breathed a sigh of relief and said, boy, I'm glad we're not going through that anymore. Well, many of you are going through that, and it's very much appreciated. Well, today we've come to the final sermon of what has traditionally been called the last great day, the eighth day of the feast. This is a separate festival. Why does God have a 7,000-year plan? Why is He allowed war, suffering, violence, rebellion, misery to go on for such a long time? Why didn't God just have a 5,000-year plan? Four, three, or two? And you wouldn't have had as many wars and suffering and misery? Well, one thing is, you and I wouldn't be here, would we, if God hadn't ended it two or three thousand years ago. Now, God is the one who determines the times, and He has determined all of that and laid it out ahead of time. He has a plan that He's working from. And God wants to bring many sons and daughters the glory. God wants to enlarge His family. And we're going to see today that this day is going to be the most significant day of all of the Holy Days in one sense. Now, I'm not discounting what Christ did in His sacrifice. We know that that's the ultimate price that was paid. But when you begin to look at what God is doing and what God is accomplishing, and you realize that this day is going to affect somewhere between 50 billion people and maybe 100 billion, who have lived and died and who are going to come up in a resurrection. Why is there a need for this day? Well, simply because billions have died never knowing the truth. Never knowing the truth about salvation, about who the true God is. As we heard this morning, whole civilizations have come and gone. And they never did know the God of the Bible. In Acts 4, verse 10, I want you to notice in context, it's talking about Jesus Christ here. Acts 4, 10. And we read, Let it be known unto you and to all of the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. Now notice verse 12.

Acts 4, 12.

Now that scripture is very clear. You cannot have eternal life by believing in any other God, but the true God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ. There are many religions on the earth today, and they have their own concept of God or who God is. When you see who supposedly their God is and what He teaches, then you know that they're not the God of the Bible. They're not the God of the Scriptures. What this means is that ultimately the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Shintoists, the Taoists, any other religion you might want to think of, they're all going to have to come to acknowledge that the God of the Bible is the true God and that salvation is through His Son, Jesus Christ, and not through any other method. This day pictures the great white throne judgment, the time we call the second resurrection, when God extends the first chance at salvation for most of humanity. The first chance that they will ever have. So this day is not our day, this last great day or eighth day. It is their day. It pictures a time when they will have their opportunity for salvation. We find for 6,000 years, man cut off from God has been trying to solve his own problems, and eventually the human race is going to have to come to the point where mankind finally admits we don't know how to solve our problems. We don't have the answers, the solutions. What you find is this second resurrection, even though it's the first opportunity most of these people will have for salvation, it will be their second chance to live. Second opportunity to live. They will have an opportunity to get things right. How many of us have said in the past, if I could only live my life over again, knowing what I know today? How many of us have said, well, if I could just go back and rear my children again, knowing what I know now, or if I could go back and work at my marriage, knowing what I know now? Well, these individuals are going to be able to come up and live a whole lifetime in a different world, and they will have a chance at marriage, relationships, child rearing, jobs, and they're going to have the opportunity this time to do it right and to get it right. Most people have died, and many nations and people have died, without any hope for the future. They don't understand what you and I understand. They don't understand the hope, the plan of God. In Ezekiel 37, verse 11, notice here a picture of a great army that has died. And what they say in verse 11, Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. Most people have died without any knowledge of the future. No hope! When you and I attend a funeral, understanding God's plan and purpose, we know that there's going to be a resurrection. And even though we have sorrow over the death of a loved one, a family member, or a friend, we know that one day they'll be resurrected. What if you didn't believe in the resurrection? What if you didn't believe in any afterlife? What if you just believe that when you die, that ends at all? So many people live that way. Well, many people have died without any hope. How many people in the third world, the fourth world, have a hope of a productive life today? And all of that implies proper education, healthy children, wonderful marriage, that their mental, emotional, physical, spiritual needs will all be met. My wife's mother died of cancer when she, I think, was 44 years old.

She's buried in Ollie Branch, Mississippi. In the graveyard in Ollie Branch is a monument. It is a testimony to the life of one family. Billions of others have lived and died, and what is written about this family could be written about them. On this monument is a record of all of the family members and many little children, and the death of a number of them. One child died of cholera. Another child was born dead. A third child died of pneumonia. Several others are listed there, and they all died very young. Finally is the record of a mother and wife who died early in life.

She had experienced much anguish, much sorrow, much pain in seeing most of her children die prematurely. The husband and father pays tribute to his beloved wife at the bottom of the monument. There is an inscription at the bottom of this monument. It says, Here lies all my hopes and dreams and reason for living. All his hopes, all his dreams were buried in that ground. How futile that statement is. How full of anguish are those statements? No probability he died without the hope of seeing his family again.

The hope of his children growing up and living a productive life or having a proper marriage with his wife after she died. He undoubtedly did not understand the second resurrection. And so you find that so many billions have died with these same thoughts in their mind. That here lie all my hopes, my dreams, and my reason for living. Without realizing that God has something else in store for them. Something better. A better world coming. Most people die leaving loose ends behind. Incomplete lives, incomplete relationships. In most cases, family relationships have not turned out to be as beneficial, productive, loving, uplifting as most people would like them to be. We've all had loved ones who've died, leaving so much unsaid as we've heard so much unforgiven, undone, unfinished that we would like to be able to go back and finish. Who would you like to see come up in this resurrection? Who would you like to talk to? Who would you like to help to get to know better? Perhaps you had a miscarriage in the past. Your mate died early. Your children died prematurely. Child was killed in an accident. You never got to know a partner, a brother, a sister, a grandparent. We've all missed relationships that we deeply yearned to connect with them. Many times we might wish that we still had our mother, our father, to be able to sit down with and talk to. My wife and I have talked about this. She yearns to be able to sit down with her mother, to have a female, someone who's in her family, and they've all died now, that she could just relate to, talk to, express herself to. And yet, millions have died without having those opportunities, and millions will have that chance. What has happened to all the millions of abortions and miscarriages in this country, since abortions were legalized, have been over 30 million abortions that have taken place? Well, brethren, today we're going to see that this is a day of hope. That this truly is a day when God is going to keep his promises, that God will fulfill what he has said he will do, and God will show his faithfulness, his patience. This day reflects the wisdom of God, the depth of his love, the depth of his commitment to the human race. Without realizing it fully, and one of the things that I want us to grasp before we leave here, brethren, is that you and I are being prepared to help this world.

I think we know that. But we're being prepared to bring assistance through the God family to all mankind. And there's going to come a time in this second resurrection where God Almighty will use you and me, and all of us, in a powerful way to give people hope, to help them with their loose ends and their relationships that are unfulfilled, to be able to serve mankind. I want you to notice that God from the very beginning had this in mind. Let's go back to Genesis 2 and verse 7. That from the very beginning God revealed that he was going to bring salvation to mankind.

And he did it here in chapters 2 and 3 in a way that many times we overlook and we don't even begin to think about. In verse 7 you find that God formed man on the dust of the ground. Now going on in verse 18, the Lord God said, it's not good that the man should be alone. God recognized that, that Adam was alone. He said, I will make him a helper, comparable to him. Someone who can help him, who will be comparable to him. Then in verse 19, God had formed all of the beasts out of the ground. God brought all of the animals to Adam to name. Adam named them. But out of all of those, he could not find anyone that was comparable to him. The horses were not, the chickens were not, the dogs were not, they might be friendly. But they were not comparable. They were not on his level with him. There was no helper for Adam, as we find. In verse 20, notice the last part, it says, but for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. So in verse 21, God calls the deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. God took one of his ribs, closed up the flesh, and the Lord God in verse 22 had taken, the rib that God had taken from the man, he made into a woman. And he brought her to the man, and Adam said, This is now bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Or as one of the commentaries mentions in this section when Adam looked at Eve, one of the translations is, This is it! Or this hits the mark! In other words, this was somebody who was compatible to him, and she came from him. Verse 24, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. So you find that God created the man and the woman. God made a helper, one who was totally compatible with him. In verse 20 of chapter 3, just a side point, you find that Eve was the mother of all living. Now, let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 13 quickly. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 13. You find that God made us, as it says here, the body is not for sexual immorality, verse 13, 1 Corinthians 6, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Verse 15, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Do I then take the members of Christ and make them the member of a harlot? He says, certainly not. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? With her for the two, he said, shall become one flesh.

Verse 17, But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Now, notice what this is saying. God created man and woman, and they were made one flesh in their relationship.

Now God is creating another bride. This bride is being created right out of God himself. And what you find, we become not just one flesh, we become one spirit with him. The Holy Spirit is given to us. That Holy Spirit comes from the Father through Christ to us. And the Holy Spirit makes us a part of the body.

A part of Christ's body. We become a part, in a sense, of his bone, his flesh. A part of the church. Ephesians 5 clarifies this and shows us that it's a mystery. Ephesians 5, 28. Ephesians 5, 28 we find, so husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. And he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. We are all members of his body, of his flesh, of his bones. We become a part of the spiritual body now. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother, shall be joined to his wife, and they too shall become one flesh. The other day it was mentioned by my son David, I believe, that we are to become one flesh to the point that nothing can separate us. Nothing can get in between. Actually, in the Greek here, the word is almost like an epoxy glue, where you have two different parts. Once they come together, they mesh into one and they cannot be pulled apart. That's the way a husband and wife is to become. And you and I, once we receive God's Spirit and we become a part of the body of Christ, we are to become one with him, and there is nothing that can pull us apart from God in his way, in his calling. But it goes on to say, this is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the Church. So everything he said here is a mystery that describes the Church. When Adam looked around, he did not find anyone comparable to him. When God looked around, there was no one comparable to his Son, no one who was a helper to his Son. When you and I receive the Holy Spirit and we become a part of his body, we then become one flesh spiritually, or we become one Spirit with God. We develop a comparable attitude, a comparable approach, comparable character. That's why we're here. We're developing the character of God, the trials, the tests that we go through. Help us to become one with God. There is one Spirit.

And what God is doing is developing and creating a helper for his Son. That is the Bride of Christ. We are that helper, the first fruits. And we will be a helper to Jesus Christ in the Millennium and in the White Throne Judgment. Brethren, every one of us goes through trials and tests, and we have members in God's Church who've experienced about every gamut of human pain, problems, suffering that you can imagine.

There's going to come a time in the future, in the Great White Throne Judgment, in the Millennium, when we will be there to assist Jesus Christ. And if there's been a rape victim, if there's been somebody who's been murdered, if somebody's died in an accident, somebody's been killed in a war, there's going to be somebody in the family of God who can say, I know what you're going through.

I experience that. And we can empathize, we can be touched by them, we can help them, and they can know that we understand them. And we will be like Christ. Remember back in Luke 4, 18, when it talked about Christ and his mission, that Christ came to the earth to help the masses to free the brokenhearted, to heal the brokenhearted, to free those from prison?

You and I are going to do that, and we will be inclined to do that, because we will have the same pity, compassion, love that God has, that Christ has. And we will be a comparable bride to him. Ultimately, those who come up in the Second Resurrection, once God begins to work with them and their minds are open and they understand, will say the same thing that the man in Macedonia did. You might remember in Acts 16, Acts 16, 9. Paul was in Troas, had a vision, and in verse 9, a vision appeared to Paul in the night, and a man in Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia.

Help us! Rather than billions are going to come up in the future, and they're going to look around. They're not going to know what to do, where to go, where to live, where to start. And they're going to say, Help us! And you and I will be there to help them.

We will be learning, and we are learning in this life, what it is. What it's required to be able to help mankind. So you and I, brethren, have been called by God to become a helper. You find that God Almighty has a business that He's in.

God is going to use us in His business, in His firm. God is in the saving business. He's not used to losing. He's not in the losing business. Salvation is rescuing people today from sin and Satan, saving them from death, and ultimately giving them eternal life on the God plane. That's what salvation is all about. In John 3.16, you might remember very powerful principles articulated there. That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. This shows how much love God has had for these billions of people who are in their graves right now. That God so loved the world that He gave His Son, He gave them for us and for them.

And so God has developed a whole plan whereby mankind can be saved, and He is going to use us. In 1 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4, we read here one of God's great desires, one of God's great purpose that He has. 1 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4, This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, if God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, then He has to extend that to them.

The word desire here in the great means to will, to have a mind, to intend, to resolve, to determine, or to purpose. So God has determined He has purpose, that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. But has all mankind had an opportunity to come to the knowledge of the truth? What is truth was God's word. Billions, whole civilizations, the Roman, the Greek, the Assyrians, the Egyptian, you name it, Chinese, Japanese, African. Billions of people lived and died and never known the truth. And they're going to want to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Is God a respecter of persons? If God allows us to understand the truth, is He going to reveal the truth to all mankind? And the answer is simply yes. As 2 Peter 3, 9 says, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

So God is going to give all mankind an opportunity to come to repentance. That implies they have to hear the truth. Their minds have to be open. They have an opportunity to choose to go right and wrong. And so you find that God wants to give all mankind that opportunity. Have all had a chance to repent yet? The answer is no. What about babies who die? Have they had a chance to repent? What about abortions?

What about all of those civilizations that have lived and died and never heard of Jesus Christ? They've not had a chance yet. Now, the popular religious answer to this dilemma is a lot of times we just don't know. Some people are willing to admit they don't know. Others teach, well, this is the only day of salvation.

You have your chance now. When you die, you're either going to go to heaven, hell, or purgatory. You're somewhere in between. Others teach that everyone who is good, it doesn't matter what kind of religion you belong to, as long as you're good, you'll go to heaven.

Then there are those who believe in universal salvation. That God will not lose anyone. That God is going to throw some people in the lake of fire and burn them up, and then bring them back, burn them again. If they don't repent, bring them back, burn them again. And finally they'll say, I give up! I mean, that's what they believe. But, brethren, what is the truth of the Bible on this topic? What does God have to say? In Ezekiel 16, in verses 53-55, we find a real head-scratcher. A head-scratcher is something you scratch your head over. And let's notice what it says here.

Verse 53, Ezekiel 16, When I bring back the captivity, the captives of Sodom and her daughter, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them. Verse 55, When your sister Sodom and her daughters return to their former estate. Now notice, Sodom and Gomorrah are going to return to their former estates. They're going to be resurrected and go back to where they used to live. And Samaria and her daughters return to their former state. Then you and your daughters will return to your former state.

Sodom had disappeared a long time ago. The ten tribes had disappeared. Judah was in captivity. And God says all of them, three different ages, were going to come up and return to their former estates. Well, there is going to be a resurrection of people to their former estates, and it is going to be a resurrection to physical life, as we will see.

When will this happen? Well, that's a mystery that is revealed by understanding this day. In Isaiah 49, verses 14 and 15, I want you to notice a principle that God gives. And this is a principle you can hang your head on. Notice Isaiah 49. This is talking about the beginning of the millennium. At the beginning of the millennium, Israel is in tribulation, and they think that God has forgotten that they are going to all die in the tribulation.

But let's notice the principle from this. Verse 14, Zion says, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Now, notice what God replies. Can a woman forget her nursing child? Any woman with normal motherly instincts, is she going to forget her nursing child? We have five boys. They range anywhere from 6'8 to 6'4".

Now, looking at them right now, you wouldn't know. This might embarrass them all, but they all nursed at one time. They were small enough at that time that my wife could hold them and nurse them. Now, did she forget when they were small? You know, did she go for weeks and months and think, Oh, I think there's a baby around here somewhere. I should be nursing. No, she never did do that, and I don't think most of you women would do that. God says, Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget, but I will never forget. So can a woman forget a nursing child? God says, possible. But God will never forget. God will not forget any human who has ever lived. All will be resurrected and be given the opportunity for salvation. Why? Because God never forgets. That's why God has perfect memory. Now, God forgives us of our sins, and He'll forget those. But God will never forget any human being who has ever lived.

God will not forget to resurrect any human being who has lived. What if the second resurrection takes place and you go looking for your mom or your dad, and you can't find them anywhere on the earth, and you go talk to Christ or to God and say, Where are they? And God says, Well, you can't expect me to remember everything, can you?

I've got most of them. Here they are. Well, God isn't going to do that. He doesn't forget. To show you how brilliant God is, Isaiah 40, verses 25-26, states that God calls all the stars by name. See that little video clip I showed the other day? There are billions of galaxies, each one composed of billions of stars.

That's a vocabulary and mind power that you and I don't possess. To be able to call them all by name. I have trouble remembering my name sometimes. And when we got married, I had trouble remembering my wife's name. She'll tell you the story. I've got a twin sister and I would call her my twin sister's name. And it's a good thing she knew my twin sister. Or she may have wondered. But you see, God Almighty has the ability, if He can call every star by name, and has the ability to have a vocabulary of that mind power, certainly He's not going to forget any human being.

How do we know that God won't forget anyone? Two reasons. He's promised and He does not lie. And He will fulfill what He says He will do. In John 5 and verse 28, John 5, 28, says, Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice. And they will come forth, they that have done good to the resurrection of life, they that have done evil to the resurrection and condemnation are judgment.

But I want you to notice, all who are in their graves will come forth. What does all mean? It means everyone. Everyone will come forward. God will not forget anyone in the second resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15, 22, chapter 15, 1 Corinthians, verse 22, As an Adam, all die. Anybody find any contradiction of that? Every human being who has ever lived has died. Even so in Christ, all, everyone, shall be made alive. But each in His own order. So we find that everyone will live, but there is a specific order to the resurrections.

Not everybody is resurrected at the same time. Now, how is God able to keep a record of all who have lived and died? How does He keep a record of our thoughts, memory, character, form, shape, all of those types of things? How do you go about keeping a record of billions who have lived and who have died? Well, it has to do with how God has designed us, and you could give a whole, total sermon on this.

But just briefly, Job 32.8 says that there is a spirit in man, Job 32, verse 8. It is a non-physical component in the brain, a spirit essence, or what we call the human spirit. The spirit in man of itself combines with our brain to give us a mind. It does not see by itself, it cannot hear by itself, it cannot think by itself. The brain sees through the eyes, hears through the ears, thinks as it's empowered by the spirit. The spirit is the depository of memory and character. That as we have experiences, those are logged, those are written, you might say, on that spirit.

It probably contains our DNA pattern, our genetic patterns, genetic code, so that the form and shape that we are in, when a person dies, that he can be resurrected. Look as he did before he died. Everything is stored in that. The spirit in man is like a videotape that records all of our knowledge and life experiences.

The recorder or the body can be destroyed, but the tape can be put back into another body. So we find that when man dies, the Bible says, we return to the dust and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

So that spirit in man returns to God, and you find that God Almighty retains those. When the resurrection takes place, God can take that spirit in man, take the physical body, recreate them just like they were, and then there you are with your memory, your experiences, your character, everything that there is about you. The Bible clearly explains that it's appointed unto all men once to die, Hebrews 9.27, but it doesn't say it's appointed to die twice.

The second death involves a choice on our part. After death comes judgment, and judgment does not refer to a final condemnation, but to a period of time when God is... when people are given the tools to come to know God, a period of evaluation. Notice in 1 Peter 4.17, 1 Peter 4.17, the time has come for judgment to begin the house of God. And if it begins with us, or was with the church today, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? If you truly have been called by God, had your mind open, God's working with you, then this is our time of judgment.

We're being judged by how we live, how we respond, the choices that we make. The white throne judgment pictures a massive future judgment. It is an opportunity for the conversion of the masses in the future. In Revelation 20, beginning in verse 4-7, we have a synopsis of the second resurrection here. Let's notice it.

Revelation 20, verse 4, I saw thrones, and they said on them, and judgment was committed to them, and I saw all the souls. For those who have been beheaded, for the witness of Jesus and the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, had not received his mark in their fords or on their hands, and they lived and they reigned with Christ a thousand years. Okay, that's the first resurrection of the first roots at the beginning of the millennium. But let's notice verse 5, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. So the rest of the dead remain in the grave until that thousand years is over. This is the first resurrection, referring back to verse 4. Blessed and holy, who has part in the first resurrection, on such the second death, has no power, but there will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Now, when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. We found out about that and heard about it this morning. The Feast of Tabernacles see pictures of the millennium, but the last great day follows the Feast of Tabernacles and pictures the great white throne judgment, the time of the resurrection of all of those who've not had a chance. As verses 11 and 12 say, I saw a great white throne. Satan is released. He's captured again. And you'll notice in verse 11, I saw a great white throne. Satan will not be free at this time to deceive these people. They've already had his influence in their former life. And him who sat on it, whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead. So notice we're dealing with the dead, the rest of the dead, small and great, the Alexanders of this world, the Emperors of this world, and the small, the poor, the insignificant, standing before God. So if you're dead and you're standing before God, guess what? You're alive. So they're standing before God. And the books were open. And another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written in the books. So I want you to notice this is a time where they will be judged. And it says, now the books are open.

The word here, biblos, books, refers, and you know, in context here, when it's talking about the books being open, it's referring to the books of the Bible. The Scriptures are now open to their minds, to where they can understand them before they were closed. And their eyes are open. Notice, they're standing before God, the books are open, their eyes are open to God, to His truth, to His way of life. The book of life is open. And why would the book of life be open? Except they're going to have an opportunity to have their names written in the book. They're going to be judged from the books. This is the books of the Bible. James 2, 12, tells us very clearly, James 2, verse 12, So speak, and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. So you and I are going to be judged by God's law. John 12, 47, and 48 says that we will be judged by the Word of God. So when the books are open, they're going to be judged by what they're learning, by what they're being taught, and who's going to be there to teach them? You and I are. And so rather than they're going to have that opportunity. Remember this. Judgment comes to a person when God calls you, opens your mind, extends to you an opportunity for salvation, and then you're judged by how you respond to that calling. Now Romans 11, verses 25-26, reveals something that I think a lot of times we've read right over and we don't fully comprehend it. The mystery of God is explained here, and it explains why God has done things in the manner, the pattern that He has. Verse 25, I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel shall be saved. So there is going to come a time when God will extend salvation to all of Israel. But presently, most are blinded. And verse 26, oh all Israel will be saved. But I want you to drop down to verse 32 and notice the profound statement made here. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Now sometimes we wonder, why didn't God just tell everybody from the get-go about salvation? And from the time of Adam on, everybody had a chance. Why did God do it the way that He's done it? Well, God says the answer is simple. They've all been committed to disobedience, cut off from God, going the way of Satan and disobedience, that He might have mercy on them all. That tells me that this is the best way for the majority of people to have an opportunity for salvation, that God might have mercy on them and extend to them this salvation. Humanity has experienced going the wrong way for 6,000 years. They're going, these people are going to come up, and they're going to come up into a world. Stop and think about it. It's had God's government for 1,000 years. That is going to be a virtual paradise. And they're going to come up, and they're going to be told, look, remember the way it used to be when you were alive, and they may have died in a war, starvation, famine, whatever experiences they had in this life. And they look around them, and they see a virtual paradise around them. And God says, guess what? There's been a thousand years of my rule. And notice what it has produced. And God will be able to show them the physical blessings. And those people will be told, you choose. And most of them are going to choose. The vast majority of them will choose life.

The Jews in Jesus Christ's day are going to be resurrected at the same time as the people from Sodom, people from Samaria. Different generations are going to be resurrected. They're going to be settled according to their old estate. I live in a house right now in Cleveland, Tennessee. A hundred years ago, somebody else lived there. Five hundred years ago, probably somebody else lived there. Maybe a thousand years ago, somebody else lived there.

What happens when we all come up, or all of them come up? I hope I'm already there. But when they all come up, and they all say, this is my piece of property. This is where I used to live. Well, we're going to have to settle people from different civilizations, different time periods, different religions, different cultures, different concepts, different hatreds, different animosities.

What will the last few generations of the millennium be up to? They will be preparing for the Great White Throne Judgment. You don't resurrect 50 billion people and say, uh-oh, how do we clothe these people? Where are they going to live? What are we going to feed them? How are we going to educate them? Now, those things are going to be prepared ahead of time. And the last few generations are going to realize that they will have the opportunity of taking care of the physical needs of people who will be resurrected at that time.

And yet all these people will come up with different ideas, different religions, different concepts, different languages, and we're going to have to be able to relate to all of them. This is one reason why God has called people from different ages, different time periods, so that there will be somebody who can understand. And if you've got somebody in your area who lived in Noah's time, you zip over to Noah and you say, Noah, fill me in, and Noah will help you to understand. These are individuals who are going to come up, and they're going to learn God's way, and they're going to be given the Spirit of God.

And they're going to have an opportunity, brethren, to be converted. Let's notice back in Ezekiel 37. I won't read all of this, but it's about the Valley of Dry Bones. This is a section I read to you earlier where they say, our hope is lost. They think that this is it.

They don't have any more hope. In verse 3, he said to me, Son of Man, can these bones live? And Ezekiel said, well, you know, Lord, I don't know, but you know. And verse 5, thus says the Lord God to these bones, surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I'll put flesh on you, cover you with skin and breath, and you shall know that I am the Lord. They had not previously known God. This is not talking about a resurrection to spiritual life, physical life.

This is talking about that great second resurrection. You'll notice in verse 9, there was a resurrection that took place. Bone came to bone, flesh, sinew, skin. Then when, blue, and the breath of life came into them, and they stood on their feet. So this is a physical life. Verse 10, so I prophesied as He commanded, breath came into them, and they lived, and they stood up, an exceeding great army. And He said to me, Son of Man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. So here's a picture of the resurrection of all of Israel.

Verse 12, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves. Verse 14, I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. So here they're resurrected, they're converted, they're given God's Spirit. So, brethren, these individuals are going to come up, and they're going to have an opportunity. And you and I are going to be used.

We're going to spearhead this time. God's going to use us throughout the whole millennium. But we're the firstfruits. We're the ones who've had a thousand years' experience. We're the ones who've worked with Jesus Christ and seen Him personally and how He administers government. And we're going to work with these individuals. And it almost may take a one-on-one situation where we will be working with them.

And they will come up, and they will know God. And they will have the opportunity of being converted at that time. So, brethren, there's going to come a time of unfinished business for billions of these people. And they will come up, and they'll have an opportunity. Is God going to have everybody live as eunuch for a hundred years or for a lifetime, however long that period's going to be? They won't have children being born at that time, because God has to stop the procreation process somewhere.

But it doesn't mean that they can't have family units, that they can't rear the small children. Somebody's going to have to take care of children who have died and are resurrected. If Mr. Armstrong was right when he said that the spirit in man enters at conception, then all of those abortions will be resurrected, miscarriages.

And they will come up, and people will have to take care of them. People will live productive lives. They will work. They will learn God's truth. And they will learn to be a part of the family of God. And there's going to come a time, brethren, when all of us are going to be meshed together. There's going to come a time when the three different groups will finally be merged into the family of God.

And what do I mean by the three groups? The first roots, those who partake in the first resurrection. All of those who were born into the family of God during the millennium. Because apparently they will, after they live their lives out, be changed, come in with us, and continue to assist during that period of time. And then they will be there for the great white throne judgment.

And then finally those who come up in the second resurrection, the great white throne judgment. They will come up and have their opportunity for salvation. And the vast majority will accept God's way of life. And they'll be changed and made immortal and become a part of the family of God. Those who have rejected God's way will be thrown in a lake of fire and cease to exist. We will all share eternal life forever with the Father and with Christ.

He will take direct charge of the family of God. What will you and I do for all eternity there? All human beings have had a chance of salvation. They're either a member of the family of God, or they've ceased to exist. What will we do forever?

Well, Hebrews the second chapter says that God is going to put all things under our feet. And we don't know exactly what God is going to have us to do. But we will step into eternity, and we will be there with the Father and with Jesus Christ. And we will use the earth as our headquarters, the New Jerusalem, as the headquarters city.

And God is going to have us do something with this creation that He has made, or that it... Who knows what God has in design in the future? We will inherit all things, as the Bible says. We will be co-heirs with Jesus Christ. We will have all eternity to get to know the God family and every member of that family.

There will by this time be billions in that family of God. And God will have fulfilled His purpose and His plan, which is to bring many sons to glory. So, brethren, let's realize why we're here. And as we leave this feast, all of the words that we've heard, the sermons that we've heard, the fellowship that we've had, the experiences that we've gone through, God has provided all of this to help us so that we would be stronger, we would be armed for the coming year, so that we can grow, we can progress, because God is going to use us as that bride to ultimately help to bring salvation. Remember the Bible says Eve was the mother of all living? Through the bride and through Jesus Christ, the rest of the family of God are going to be helped into the kingdom. And just as through Eve, the human race has sprung, so through the second Adam and his wife, God will extend salvation to all mankind. So let's take these words that we heard away from this feast, put them into practice, realize we don't have it made yet, we all have a lot to do and areas to grow. But remember this, the whole creation, all of mankind, and all of the past generations who have ever lived, are waiting for us.

Thank you.