Our Calling

I want to use something that I've used in times past to illustrate and make a point throughout this message. A nice big old sucker. No one has any problem seeing that, do they? And it's pretty and it's colorful. I think Cracker Barrel still sells them, I don't know. Probably. I've had this one for a while. In fact, I've had it actually stored away, probably, well, I'd not know for years. Anyhow, a sucker.

And something else here that also... $100 bill. I hope the gas doesn't get to the point it takes one of these per gallon. Well, I stay home, but I have to, everybody would. But I hope it doesn't get to where it takes one of these to put 10 gallons of gas in the car. Okay. Sucker on the one hand, $100 bill on the other.

If you were given a choice, which one would you take? Why are you smiling at me like that? Because it's like, well, don't you know the answer? Yeah, I know what you would take. Sure. So let me change the question or ask an additional question. Which one would a baby take? Which one would the toddler take? You're grinning again, because you know which one the baby would take or the toddler would take. Oh, that, and of course, I like to put everything in their mouth anyway.

You know how that is. So they're going to take all the color and the tasty looking item. Why? Why? I mean, I know you know why. What's the difference? What does he get down to? Read with me a scripture in 1 Corinthians 14, 20. 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 20.

Brethren, Paul writes to the Corinthians, Be not children in understanding, how be it in malice be your children, don't be well versed in malice. In other words, little children aren't malicious. Don't be malicious, but in understanding be men. And in the margin, it could be rendered, but in understanding be perfect or of a right age. In other words, in understanding be mature. Don't be children in your understanding. In malice, things like that, be like little children. But the little toddler is not mature in understanding.

And so if you put in front of him a sucker and a hundred dollar bill, he's obviously going to go for the sucker. In understanding be mature. You know, one of the marks of maturity is the ability to recognize what's important. That's always one of the marks of maturity, to recognize what's important, to recognize what's of true value. Now, this hundred dollar bill represents opportunity. You can't do with a hundred dollar bill what you once could. We all know that. But you can still do quite a bit with a hundred dollar bill, can't you? This piece of paper with ink on it and the number 100 recognized as legal tender represents opportunity of what you choose to do with it tomorrow or the next day or next week or next month or next year.

But the sucker represents the immediate. Just peel the plastic off and get to licking it. It's the immediate. It's the now. It's the moment. And guess what? The immediate, the now, the moment has always been a temptation with human beings. It has always appealed to the human makeup. The focus is on what's in sight. And it wouldn't matter, of course, with the little child, the little child, the little toddler, it wouldn't matter if this one had two zeros after it or it had three or it had five or however many. It's going to be that sucker. And another thing, when the baby chooses the sucker, when the toddler chooses the sucker, it doesn't surprise you.

You know, it's what you expected. You know, I guarantee you, if I held up the hundred dollar bill and the sucker in front of my little grandson, Brunson, he would take the sucker. Now, Josiah is four and a half. He is old enough to probably, and he's got a very critical, analytical little brain, he does a lot of thinking. He would hesitate and he would probably think, huh, if I take that money, I cannot just buy a sucker.

I can buy a bunch of them. That's what he would do. And by the way, I may as well just mention it since I brought them up. I've got a little grand girl on the way. So, anyhow, they're expecting, around October, a little girl. So, anyhow, we're going down that road again, which is great and wonderful. Anyhow, so, now the little toddler, he's too young and immature to recognize the opportunity that the hundred dollar bill represents.

And again, he'd get a bucket full of suckers for the hundred dollar bill if he wanted to spend it on suckers. But when the adult chooses the sucker, wow, it's a shocker! You can't believe it! I mean, what's wrong here? Because, again, obviously, automatically, you expect him to have the knowledge, the understanding, and the maturity to know the difference. And when he doesn't, then you know something needful, something extremely important, and needful with him is not there. And it's a shocker. See, I don't know of any—I don't know, and I dare say, you don't either—any normal, natural man or woman that wouldn't choose the hundred dollar bill, do we?

And I know of no natural, normal baby or toddler that wouldn't choose the sucker. Because each choice with each is normal and natural, and it's what you'd expect. There's obviously a difference in maturity, there's a difference in understanding, there's a difference in perspective, there's a difference in knowledge and understanding. And Paul is telling the Corinthians—and he didn't say anything about a sucker—but he's telling the Corinthians, be mature, be perfect, or that is complete, be of ripe age, which again, he's simply talking about maturity. Now, this particular physical illustration bears out what happens when opportunity isn't properly recognized. The baby, the toddler, doesn't recognize opportunity. It bears out the value of recognizing opportunity. And again, obviously the child, in due time, will reach enough, quote, basic maturity that they would not take the sucker, they would take the hundred dollar bill. But in the meantime, we might say a high price is paid for taking the sucker. Through lost opportunity, they're not taking proper hold of what's at hand. He just doesn't grasp the magnitude. Again, it's natural. Doesn't grasp what's involved, what he's turning down, what he's failing to take hold of. But then this brings it down, and I said I was going to use this to illustrate and make a point. Basically, throughout the sermon, what about us?

I mean, really. What about us? As first words, God has laid a tremendous opportunity before you and before me, and before a few others like us.

And you can call it opportunity, you can call it privilege, you can call it honor, you can call it blessing, you can call it responsibility, whatever you choose to call it. But most importantly, grasp the magnitude of it. It's the special opportunity of the first fruits, of being a first fruit in all that that entails.

And that special opportunity only comes once in this age. It does not come in the millennium, it does not come in the last great day, the special opportunity of first fruit. There are no first fruits generated in the millennium. There are no first fruits generated in the last great day. They're called first fruits because they're first.

There's three time periods of salvation. This age, the millennium, and the last great day.

In the millennium, everybody is going to be raised with opportunity. I like to refer to them as middle fruits.

And in the last great day, the billions who come up in the general resurrection, who have come from this age, who were not given their opportunity in this age, but will be given their opportunity in that age, they're the last fruits.

But the first fruits are the few that God calls in this age. And it's an interesting notation that it talks about that calling. It says, many are called relative to those who are chosen.

Of those whom God calls, the majority just simply don't respond at this time. It doesn't mean that their whole opportunity is lost. Their opportunity to be a first fruit is lost.

But before they ever get to a point of full accountability, they're out of it. You can read the Sower of the Seeds in Matthew 13. But they will come up in the last great day. But they don't partake of the opportunity of the first fruits. It is the few.

And the special opportunity of being a first fruit comes only to a few in this age.

I'm not going to turn to Hebrews 11.35, but I want to notate it. Hebrews 11 and verse 35 in the faith chapter.

In the King James, it uses the phrase, a better resurrection.

The first resurrection that occurs when Jesus Christ returns is the best of all the resurrections.

They're all resurrections to eternal life. I mean, what I'm saying is, the first resurrection, and any time through the millennium, or then David Havergoot chooses to do it, that he adds to his family, or in the last great day those that are added to his family, any time resurrected to eternal life, that's just it. It's all to eternal life when they're resurrected to eternal life.

But the resurrection of the first fruits when Christ returns is a better resurrection. It is the best.

But again, going back to the magnitude of the opportunity, the magnitude of our calling, the opportunity of our calling. And if you'd like a title, not the sucker in the hundred dollar bill, but if that's the way you want to remember this, that's okay.

But our calling, our calling, our calling is what I'm talking about, our calling.

And to grasp the opportunity and magnitude of our calling, we have to consider three things, three areas, three things that make it up.

If you want to talk about the calling of the first fruits, and if you want to talk about what comprises our calling, what comprises our tremendous opportunity, you have to consider what makes that up, and there's three things that make it up.

So here are the three things, and I'll just give them to you. I'll start with one. I'm not going to go to the second or third until I've processed each one in order.

But the three things that make up the opportunity before us, let's start with number one, and I really do emphasize personal.

Our personal salvation.

As I was saying, anyone's entrance into eternal life, it's eternal life. If our calling is to be valued by us personally, if we're to take hold of the hundred dollar bill versus the sucker, if we are to value it and process it and deal with it, then we need to deal with each of these three things because that opportunity is made up of these three things.

And you can't neglect any one of these three things. Number one, our personal salvation.

I would ask the question, is God concerned with your personal salvation? Is He concerned with my personal salvation? Does my personal salvation matter to Him?

Or is He just like a days ago, like, well, you know, I call so-and-so and they've been responding and I've chosen them and they're a first fruit, but you know, no big deal. If they wind up having salvation or they don't, you know, so what? We've got a lot of numbers to play with, so big deal. So what?

Does He have that kind of approach? Well, I think we know He doesn't. God is very concerned with our salvation because He knows this is it for us.

So to follow up on that, since God is very concerned with our salvation, doesn't it make sense that He wants you and me to also be concerned with my personal salvation?

If He sees that, you know, if God is really, it's really important to God for me to have salvation and He looks at me and sees, oh, He doesn't really care whether He has it or not.

If I have it, great. If I don't, that's fine. How would that please God?

See, here's the thing. It costs God dearly to make it possible for you to have salvation, for me to have it.

We went through Passover, Unleavened Bread. We really emphasized, to the best of our ability as human beings, the cost.

It costs God dearly to make our salvation possible.

Doesn't it follow suit that giveth the attention it deserves? Giveth the attention it deserves?

You know, think about Hebrews. And I think about how that the Hebrew church, or that is, and it was written to Jerusalem and the sister churches in Judea, the book of Hebrews, it applies across the board, but it serves as a prime example to churches of God down through time.

Hebrews 12. You're 30-something years down the road from the beginning of the church. A decade went by, another decade went by, another decade went by, more years are rolling along, getting to be a little bit old hat. And so Paul is addressing numerous issues in the book. And one of them is spoken of, I said 12, I actually want Hebrews 2.

He actually, right up front, speaks of one of the issues that is so concerning to him and concerning to God.

Therefore, verse 1, Hebrews 2, therefore we ought to give even the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

And some of us have been hearing these things for 30-something years, like the Hebrew church, the Jerusalem church, sister churches in Judea.

And some of us longer, and some of us less.

But which we've heard for the reason that less at any time we should let them slip, let them slip away.

For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, what was fitting to that, he says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

It's mentioned in Luke 9.25, Luke 9, verse 25.

Luke 9.25, you know, Paul refers to it as so great a salvation.

And again, it's the best resurrection. It's called a better resurrection.

He says, for what is a man advantage? What advantage is it to him if he gained the whole world? He sets out in some particular endeavor to be the number one in that field or that area known as the number one in the entire world.

If he gained the whole world and lose himself or be cast away.

Lose himself or be cast away. And obviously, this is not pointed towards the world that's doing its own thing and will till Christ returns.

It's for the people that God is calling out of the world and emphasizing to them what's important.

It's a one's call, converted. It was brought into the truth, given God's Spirit. One's in Christ.

And what advantage is it if he gained the whole world, but in what he does and the way he does it, he actually forfeits his personal salvation.

He'd lose himself or be cast away. And what is lost is spoken of in 1 John 2.25.

1 John 2.25. This is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life. That is what is lost.

So it's like, okay, give it the attention it deserves. Don't feel guilty ever for being concerned about your personal salvation.

That's not of God. For somebody to feel guilty about, well, I'm very concerned. I want to make sure I have eternal life.

I want to make sure I have personal salvation. I want to make sure I attend to it. I want to make sure that, you know, it's very important to me to have eternal life.

Never, ever feel like that there's something selfish or self-centered about that. That there's something wrong or carnal.

Because look how desperately God wanted to have a family. Look how desperately he was willing to pay a supreme price to have salvation for us. So he could have us as a family, and he wants to see us count it so worthy and so important and so precious.

1 John 3, verses 1 through 3. 1 John here, chapter 3, verses 1 through 3.

Behold, or look, take note, what manner of love the Father has showered upon us, or showed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is, and every man or every person that has this hope in himself or herself does what?

Purifies himself even as he is pure.

And what did Paul say along that same order in Romans 2 and verse 7?

Romans 2.

And verse 7, To them who by patient continuance, never giving up, but patiently continuing on in well-doing, are doing what? Are seeking for, who seek for. When you seek for something, you actively pursue it. Seek for glory, seek for honor, seek for immortality, seek for eternal life.

God wants and expects each of us to pursue our salvation.

That fits within his will. That's part of the opportunity. It's part of our calling. And frankly, if we don't actively pursue it, we're not going to attain it. We're not going to have it.

God fully expects us to attend to our personal salvation and not neglect it.

This is why God inspired Paul to write in Philippians 2 and verse 12, that which we've read many a time.

Philippians 2, wherefore my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not as my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation. It's talking about taking personal responsibility for it. Work out your own salvation with fear, with respect, fear and trembling, with humility, with trembling, with respect, with fear, with humility. All that's encapsulated in it. But work out your own salvation. In other words, if you're not working at your salvation, who do you expect to work it for you?

I'm talking about another human. If I'm not willing to work for my personal salvation, who do I call and say, Hey, I'm not really willing to work for my personal salvation, but could you work it for me? Now, there's already one who's worked an opportunity, there's already one who's worked a way, and there's already one who will fully support every single solid, proper, positive, spiritual effort I make.

That's God and Christ. That's the Father and the Son. And that's why he puts in verse 13, For it is God which works in you. Because when you are responsibly taking your personal salvation to heart and appreciating it and treasuring it and working for it, it not only pleases God, it solicits his help automatically. He's going to support that. That is something that's good and godly that he can fully support. For it is God which works in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. To see us doing what's admonished in verse 12 pleases him immensely and incurs his full support. So our personal salvation is very, very important, isn't it?

Because if we were to fail on that, it doesn't matter to us what's going to happen after it's over. It's finished. We've lost. So I really wanted to emphasize how important it is to God that that is important to us and that we properly tend to it. But if you've been in the church any length of time at all, and all of you have, then you know that our personal salvation is very important, but it doesn't stop there, does it?

It doesn't stop there because there's much more involved. We are well aware that if our approach is, well, my personal salvation is very important and the world and everybody else can go hang, then we're pretty unspiritual. I remember, I don't know how many times, Mr. Armstrong, stressed and restressed in letters and in articles and in sermons through the years that he was alive, God didn't call you just and emphasize just to get your salvation. You think about that. And I realized years ago what an accurate statement that was, and I've had it confirmed for me even more so as the years have gone by.

God did not call us just or only for getting my salvation, getting our salvation. Because, see, if it stops there, well, I really want personal salvation, I really do want it, and I don't give a hoot if anybody else has it or not, or whatnot. As long as I get it, that's good enough. That's the way the world thinks. Then you do fall into carnal thinking, and it is selfish. And as Mr. Armstrong said, he had, I could say, the uncanny ability, but it was the inspired ability to take, in one sense, big, broad, comprehensive things and pull them down into a nutshell statement, the way of give versus the way of get.

So you can desire your personal salvation in a framework that is part of the way of give, or you can just want it in a framework that is just another way of being involved in the way of get. I desperately want my personal salvation. That's why I have fought through certain obstacles, trials, and tests in my life and will continue to do so. But I realize long ago, even as that's okay to be that way and want it, I've also got to expand and realize there's more to it than just me having my salvation now.

It has to go beyond a selfish approach to eternal life, yes. We have to be concerned with more than just getting our salvation, because, again, if that's where it stopped, it would be a selfish motivation and not godly.

And I think about the years through the church. Back in the 60s, the 70s, for instance, just to use those two decades, we had times of growth.

We had times of growth that the ministry could not keep up with visiting all the new people that were requesting visits and that wanted to be a part. And in one eight-year period, the congregations at the time that I pastored, the people of God I pastored, in an eight-year period went from 200 to 330 in eight years. But it was growth like that all over. And back at that time, so many, there were too many, I'll put it that way, there were too many who were motivated by, I've got to save my own skin. I've got to save my skin. Great tribulation is about to begin. Great tribulation is about to begin. I want to go to a place of safety. I've got to be one of those who go to a place of safety. I've got to save my skin. And that was a strong motivation for many people, too many people. Well, guess what? They came that since their motivation was along those lines, they flew the coop. No reason to hang around anymore. Great tribulation isn't here. It's not going to happen in my lifetime, probably, blah, blah, blah, whatever. But if you take on, quote, the truth, you take on the opportunity because you're just trying to save yourself, and that's your motivation. That's selfish, and it doesn't last. No involvement has to go beyond that. Now, if the great tribulation comes in my lifetime yet, do I want to escape the great tribulation? Do I want to be in a place of safety? Absolutely. I'd be crazy not to want to be. But I realize that it's going to be based on the qualifications of living worthily before God, living faithfully before God. It's only the faithful, the loyally faithful, who will be spared the great tribulation, who will be spared in a place of safety. But again, the point of desiring to have your own personal salvation is fine, yes, but what about the salvation of the world? How concerned are we for that? Well, you go back to God. God is the most often quoted scripture in the Bible. John 3, 16 and John 3, 17. It's God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that the world not be condemned, but that the world be saved. We know the section, we know the scripture, and it's only by giving His Son as a sacrifice, and that Son being willing to die as a sacrifice, that there can be a plan of God, which incorporates this age, the millennial age, and the last great day.

It doesn't mean that everybody will be saved, or that He will even try to save everybody right now, but He can have a plan because of that sacrifice that allows for the whole world to be saved, to have an opportunity for salvation.

And again, we know scriptures like 1 Timothy 2, 4, that it would have all men to be saved, that it's His will to see all mankind have that opportunity, and it doesn't provide itself, it's not provided in this age, to everybody.

And Peter spoke of not willing to perish, it's not God's desire to say anybody perish, for that matter. And that's in 2 Peter 3, 9.

Okay, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. It's God's desire to see all men saved. And we're talking about universal opportunity, which has to incorporate these three different times when God will work with humanity for that.

And He's not desirous that anybody perish.

And I'm told in Philippians 2.5 that, let this mind be in me that was in Christ.

And here's God who has this kind of love for mankind, that He would die for mankind, and He would orchestrate a plan by which all mankind would have opportunity. And I'm supposed to be like-minded with that? Then obviously, if I am, it goes beyond just my own personal salvation.

It reaches into wanting others to have it too.

And I'd like to interject something here for us to consider. Consider this for a moment.

If God is only concerned, if God is concerned only with your and my and the few others like us on this globe, with our salvation, if that's the sum total, He's only concerned for you and me, and our salvation, then why not wait?

I mean, right now, in this age, in this age, right now, the few that have responded, the few that He's chosen, the few that are called and given opportunity right now, if that's the sum total of it, then why not just wait and call us in the time to come when He calls the rest of the world?

Why not? Because if you, in one sense, were given a choice to fight for salvation, to attain to salvation, with the God of this world running around with His little henchmen, or to be in the midst of millions and billions with Christ as the God of the age, not the devil, the devil not around, then, it seems to be a no-brainer that, hey, it'd be a lot nicer to attain into salvation in a beautiful world of peace and prosperity, of plenty, of no famines, no shootings, no wars, no being on the outs with family, nobody working on the Sabbath, a whole world built around God's ways, it seems like, doesn't it, that it would be a lot nicer time to attain to salvation than this age where we've got to put up with society, Satan, and magnified self?

That just seems to make sense, doesn't it? So why not just wait and call us later? Why call us now at all?

Why make us the type of His firstfruits? And that phrase or that word, firstfruits, is mentioned in James 1.18, that we're a type of firstfruits of His creation.

Why not just deal with all of us together at the same time later? Why do we have to go before? Because, and this gets in the second part of our calling, and the opportunity there is, there is a job to do.

We've got people, we have people, some in the greater Church of God, who are sitting on their butts and not doing any work, not doing a job.

They're keeping the Sabbath, they're keeping the Holy Days, they're following the commandments, and they're sitting on the curb waiting till Christ returns, and that's wrong.

They're neglecting the responsibility of what's been laid on them as firstfruits. There is a job to do. There is a work to do. I've heard that all my life, and I've heard it because it's true.

And I've continued to preach it myself because it is true. We were raised up to do a job, to do a work. It has to go beyond. It must include our personal salvation, but it must go beyond our personal salvation.

See, in Matthew 24.14, this is a dogmatic prophecy. It's not an iffy, or maybe it's dogmatic.

Matthew 24.14 says this, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness not to convert the whole world. The conversion will come later. For a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. By Christ's return, this prophecy will have been totally fulfilled.

And the ones who will finish it are the two witnesses.

They're not on the scene. They're not preaching to the world right now.

I don't know when they will start. They will start at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, or just right before it. But basically, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Great Tribulation is not here. Two witnesses are not here. They're probably around somewhere. Maybe they don't even know who they are, among God's people, because He has not singled them out. But they're probably alive among God's people somewhere right now.

And if God has chosen who they'll be, God knows. And in due time, they will know. But they come on the scene, as far as known for who they are, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, preaching to the world. But we're not to that point yet. We may not be to that point next year, or the next year, or the next decade. We don't know, but things are moving along very rapidly. But the point is, by Christ's return, yes. That will have been totally completed. But in the meantime, from 31 A.D., when the church began in Acts 2, right up through that first century and the centuries that have followed right up to our time, Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20 has applied to them and to us, to everybody in between. Matthew 28, 19 and 20, go you therefore. See, this is not...he does not say, wait for 2,000 years to the two witnesses. Of course, y'all will all be dead by that time, and they'll do it later. No. Peter, John, James, y'all, the church, go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing me in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. I'm going to be there with you, with the church, all the way through. Amen. So be it. And in the very last chapter of Acts, the events, the Acts of the church, in the very last chapter, chapter 28, and the very last two verses, verses 30 and 31, Acts 28, verses 30 and 31, and Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house in a rental, two whole years, and received all that came to him preaching, what? Well, just like he was told, though he wasn't there with Peter and John and them in Matthew 28, 19 and 20 that we just read, but he was called and became part of the church and took on the same mental, the same responsibility, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all covenants, no man forbidding him. And that's the theme of the book of Acts. And it's what we are to proclaim through the opportunity, the open door. So intrinsic, so intrinsic to our day and time is Revelation 3, verses 7 through 10. It is so relevant to our time. It is so applicable to you and me and the others like us. Revelation 3, verses 7 through 10. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, right. Here's to the church. Of course, the two witnesses will be part of the church, obviously.

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia, right. These things says, He that is holy, He that is true, He that has the key of David, He that opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens. I know your works. Now notice what Christ is saying here. Behold, or again, look, take note. I have set before you an open door and no man can shut it.

For you have a little strength and you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I have set before you an open door. There will come a time when we can't do the work. There will come a time when the family of the Word and whoever God's people are, they still have the Word, they'll be living it and they'll be keeping it.

But to be able to do a job, a work of going forth and witnessing through print, TV, whatever, that's going to be shut down. That day will come. And hopefully it won't be for very long from that point to the time of place of safety and all. But the point is, that door has not been closed yet.

It is open. And there is expectation on God's part. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews but are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet and to know that I've loved you. Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of tribulation, which shall come on all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.

And while we are pursuing, and rightly and properly and responsibly so, our salvation, so that we don't allow it to be taken from us, we don't allow some man to take our crown. That was part of why I had to resign from worldwide years ago. We don't let anyone take our crown. We continue to pursue our salvation while we are doing our work.

We don't sit on the curb somewhere and say, okay, there's no work to be done. It's been finished. No, it hasn't been finished. Peter did the amount of work he could in the work of God while he was alive. So did Paul. So did Herbert Armstrong. So did any number of others we could name. But he and I are still alive. And it's still incumbent on us to be part of doing the work. And so we continue to do so. While we are pursuing our salvation, while we are doing our work, and by the way, I might just relate, many years ago, there was a minister that took the tack, the approach, that if he didn't pray and study, he would have more time to do the work.

He bombed out. He failed. He faded away. I mean, you know, again, it all works together. You can't even be part of the work. You can't truly be truly and fully. You could support the work as a co-worker. You could support the work as a donor. Yes. But you cannot be fully into the work in the way God wants you to be unless you first really understand spiritually what that work is all about.

And you really understand what salvation is all about. Those who are called, who yield, who are converted, they're the ones who can be the most fully in the work, aren't they? But while we're pursuing our salvation and while we're doing the work, we're also number three. Number three, being trained as a team to sit and function with Christ in His coming Kingdom. Being trained as a team to sit and function with Christ in His coming Kingdom. Jesus Christ is and has been down through time putting together His personal team to rule with Him at His return.

And when I say putting it together, I'm talking about He and the Father working in full harmony. The Father does the calling and they work together. And the Father has made Christ the Head of the Church. We know that. But as putting together a team to rule with Him at His return, that team is being put together now during this age. That team isn't put together during the millennium because that team has got to be ready. When that seventh trumpet sounds, there have got to be saints in the grave as there are.

There have got to be saints alive on their feet as there are and will be, who will be resurrected, who will be changed to meet the returning Christ. And they will be the team that sets up under His guidance and leadership, the government on this earth, to rule and help process salvation for everybody through Christ. It's being put together now.

Remember what He told them in John 14? He says, I go to prepare a place. Remember the mother of James and John when she came and said, Lord, just this little favor, I want You, please, when You come into Your kingdom, put one Son of Mine on Your right hand and Your right side and put my other Son on Your left hand, Your left side.

And Christ didn't say, you find that back in Matthew 20, but He didn't, 20 through 23, He didn't say there's no such positioning. No. He said, that is not mine to give. But that'll be for whom the Father has chosen to sit there. So there obviously is placement. You could go through the Scriptures. You could see where in the Scriptures, like in Ezekiel 37, I'm not going to turn to these, Ezekiel 37 verses 22 through 24. You could see where it plainly says that the resurrected David will be king over all Israel. The resurrected David, his prime responsibility, positioning placement in that kingdom during the Millennium and the last great day, he's going to be over the nation of Israel.

And you can go to Scriptures like Matthew 19.28, where Christ told them that they, the Twelve, the apostles, would be over the Twelve tribes. You go to Scripture and you begin to put it together and you say, oh yeah, there's the right hand of Christ, there's the left hand, there's kingship over the nation of Israel, which will be under Christ who is over the whole world. You know, Zechariah talks about him being over the whole world, but yeah, there's placement, there's positioning.

And, of course, one apostle is a replacement for Judas, and those Twelve, the over the Twelve tribes, were told in Revelation 2, verses 26 and 27, again, not turning to those, but how those who overcome will be given power over the nations to rule them. Christ talks about in Revelation 3.21, Revelation 3.21, about Grant to sit with me in my throne. So, again, a team is being put together. And I will turn to Revelation 5 and verse 10. I'm still here in the book of Revelation anyway. Again, this just kind of captures it all.

When it says in Revelation 5 and verse 10, and has made us, and to our God, kings, those are simply administrators. They govern. It doesn't matter what the levels of governing is, it doesn't matter the levels of administration. It's talking about rulership, governing, administering.

And it says in priests, it's simply talking about educators, those who will teach, and who will guide, and who will lead, educators. And that's what we will be doing. We will be doing both. We will be administering. We will be governing. We will be ruling.

And we will also be educating. And we shall reign or rule on the earth. That is the third part and point and component of our calling. It is specifically included in God's thinking and God's planning. And that can't be left out. And our calling be complete as to even the most basic comprehensive understanding of our calling and what it's all about.

Obviously, if we don't attain to take care of our personal salvation, we won't be there. And obviously, and frankly, if we just go sit down and say, That's it. I'm not doing anything. I'll keep the Sabbath. I'll keep the Holy Days. I'll follow the commandments. But I'm just going to sit here and wait till Christ comes. You're not within God's will. And you're not going to be there.

I'm sorry. That's just the way it is. And I didn't set the rules. We've got to be about. Because again, it's not just our salvation. All that's totally important. Yes. But also, we've got to be actively doing and being in our responsibilities personally and in outreach because we're being trained.

Christ wants those of like-minded with proper spiritual capacities to sit with Him who are like-minded. We're being trained as a team for and with Jesus Christ. And that is a permanent, eternal team.

God is forming and fashioning a permanent, eternal team. And folks, that kind of squeezes my adrenals. That's pretty exciting. Pretty valuable.

I don't know how many folks spiritually have chosen the sucker over spiritually choosing the hundred dollar bill. But sadly, there have been those who have, and sadly probably will be those who do.

Again, why does the baby choose the toddler choose the sucker? It's normal. It's natural. But it's because of one basic thing. It lacks the maturity to recognize the value of the hundred dollar bill.

You know what you're calling is? Your calling isn't just a hundred dollar bill. Our calling is a one with as many zeros after it as you want to put after it. Whether that's a thousand zeros or a million or a zillion.

Our calling is a one with an unending number of zeros after it. It's up to us and what we do to promote, because God will certainly support it, our recognition and realization and maturity. And it's our level of maturity that will keep us truly choosing the spiritual hundred dollar bill or one with any number rather than ever falling prey for the sucker and being made a sucker of.