Pillars in the Temple of God

One of the things that most people do, by the way, when they travel to Europe, they take the opportunity to see many of the cathedrals of Europe. And one of the experiences that we did have on this particular trip was to see the cathedrals of Prague, Vienna, and of Budapest. And, of course, these were very much the focal point of these cities, going back hundreds of years, these cathedrals. And I have no idea how much money in today's dollars they would have spent on some of these cathedrals.

But, you know, one cannot help but go through these cathedrals and be awestruck by the massiveness of these behemoth buildings that were constructed. Many of them with gigantic marble columns, some of them with flying buttresses. If you remember your old studies of the flying buttresses, particularly if you go to Paris and see Notre Dame. Outside, of course, I think that is one we probably remember the most in Paris. But I think it's also very revealing, and I've mentioned this before to you when I gave the sermon I gave a number of years ago about the Roman Empire.

And, of course, what was going on in Europe. It is my firm belief that the architects of these cathedrals, and that would be, of course, the papacy, the emperors, the kings on down. They were, in their mind, building the kingdom of God upon the earth. And, in fact, I think one of the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church is that that is what they're doing.

They're building the kingdom of God upon the earth. It's not that Christ is going to bring the kingdom to the earth. They're building the kingdom, and He's going to come, you might say, and take it over. That's the idea that they have. But when you see these cathedrals, brethren, and these gigantic marble columns that are incredibly huge, it's like going over and seeing the General Sherman tree over here, the big trees that are down in the forest down here below Fresno, up in that area where we have the camp.

We've got all these giant fir trees that are up there. But these things, again, are behemoth. That's the only word I can describe or use to describe what these cathedrals are like. And, of course, these projects of building these cathedrals went on for centuries.

Some of them are still being built. But one of the cathedrals we saw had begun building it in the 1300s. Now, think about it. That cathedral, and that was the one in Prague, by the way, has been around for over 600 years. It has been around almost three times as long as the United States has been around. And what is amazing is these huge columns have held up that structure for that long.

Of course, I'm sure there's been some revamping that's taken place. I know down at St. Peter's in Rome, they've done a lot of that as well. And, of course, like I mentioned, it's what was in their mind. It was what they were thinking. One of the thoughts I conveyed to my wife as we were walking through these, I said, you know, what are we going to do with this in the world tomorrow?

What can you use this room for? You've got all these idols in here, and you've got all around the different idols, even the leaded glass, with the pagan images that are in those as well. One of the things that struck me as we were walking around the perimeter of the Prague Cathedral, I looked below and it had the names of people. It's like a graveyard inside of the cathedral. And, of course, you have the saints that they have around the perimeter as well. The saints, interestingly, down in St.

Stephen's in Budapest, they had the hand of the king of Budapest in there. And he's called a saint, and the reason was because apparently somebody dug up his body and his hand had not decomposed. It still had the flesh on it. And they've got a display inside of the cathedral of this former king, who is a very bloody king, by the way, killed a lot of people to establish the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary.

And this is what these guys did, by the way. If you killed a lot of people in behalf of the Catholic Church, and you made the Catholic Church the state religion, which he did, then you become a saint. In his case, because his flesh did not decompose, or at least that's what they said did not happen. And they have a little display. A little light comes on. You can see his hand in there.

And if any of you saw the horror movie, The Hand, you feel like it's going to start moving along there. But anyway, again, these cathedrals were so mammoth in their size, and these people had the idea that they were building the kingdom of God, and they did it all in the name of Jesus Christ.

It's like Mr. Willis was talking about what Christ warned his disciples, be careful that nobody deceive you. Well, they did that a lot of those things in the name of Christ. Frankly, I don't know how these cathedrals are going to be used, revamped in the world tomorrow. I have no idea. Maybe they'll be torn down. Maybe they'll be graded down. Maybe we'll take some of the materials and build something worthwhile.

That would be beneficial. But those that built these mammoth cathedrals, brethren, really didn't know what the church was about. They didn't know what it meant to be a Christian. Certainly the kings who slaughtered so many people in the name of Christianity, didn't know what a Christian was. And a lot of people today, brethren, assume a Christian is a good person who accepts Christ.

Isn't it basic what people think a Christian is? Just a good and decent person. I would say even some people think that if you're a good person, you don't even have to believe in Christ. You're still going to be saved. And you probably heard the saying that people, it seems, say all the time, there are many roads to heaven. And of course we come along and we say, no there are not. When people die, they're not going to go to heaven. And of course they think we're really Grinch's that stole heaven from them, I guess. But, you know, we know that, of course, it takes more to be a Christian than simply to be a good person.

One must have God's Spirit, and that is a gift of God, as we know, that comes through baptism and the laying on of hands. And quite frankly, there are very few people today that are true Christians, very few. By comparison to the multiple millions that are part of so-called Christianity today. But, brethren, realize this. Even though we are few in number, we are indeed the Church of God, the Church of the Living God. And we are not a Church of God, brethren.

We are the Church of God. We are the Church of God. Now, by that I do not say that we are the only ones, brethren, but we are the Church of God. The Church of the Living God called out of this world of religious confusion. No, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ said, I will build my church, and the gates of the grave will not prevail against it. This is Hades, of course, in the King James Version. The gates of the grave will not prevail against it.

And it would never die, in other words. It would always exist. And so the Church of God, brethren, exists today. But, you know, most people have misunderstood the purpose of the Church. The purpose of the Church is not a place to bury saints, as, of course, you would find if you went to visit cathedrals.

The purpose of the Church is not a social club. You know, the Church does not exist as a place to sort of gather and chew the fat and feel good about one another. How wonderful we are! You know, it's not a place, brethren, you know, that people basically, you know, gather to sort of tenelink their spiritual part of themselves. You ask some people if they believe in God, they say, well, I am spiritual.

What does that mean, really? What does that mean? I guess if a person thinks they think they're spiritual, right? Because spiritual is sort of ethereal, isn't it? But most, again, have not understood the purpose of the Church. Well, what is the purpose of the Church, brethren? Well, brethren, in a nutshell, the Church is a testing ground for each of us. It is a training ground for each one that God calls out of the world today.

And the experience is, brethren, we go through, you know, the good and the bad, brethren, that we go through and we go through in our lives, you know, work to the good in our lives if we're called according to God's purpose, and we love God. You know, God has called us out of the world, brethren, to bring us into the Church, to train us, to test us, and to help us to conform to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. And, you know, there's so many Scriptures I could turn to about that, but we know that God wants us to be firstfruits from this world who are conformed to Jesus Christ.

Firstfruits are going to be first in the Kingdom of God. That's in Romans 8, by the way. Do you believe, brethren, what God's Word says about that? You can read again in Romans 8, verse 28 and 29 about that. If you're called according to God's purpose and you love God, all things work to the good. You know, God's Word is true. Do we believe that? In Romans 4, Paul says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Brethren, do we believe God? One of the problems of the Pharisees is they didn't believe God. They didn't have confidence in what God was saying.

And, you know, as much as they purported to be followers of Moses, they didn't believe Moses either. Jesus told them that. You didn't believe Moses, and you don't believe me either. Because if you believe Moses, you don't believe me. You know, you can read that in the book of John, by the way. But, you know, when we go through challenging times, brethren, in the church, we cannot cease to believe the promises of God. God said when he returns, will he find faith.

Christ, of course, is the one that is going to be the Son of Man, is going to come back. And he's going to find faith. Is he going to find belief in God's people? And the only way, brethren, to prove that we really believe, as God's people, will be not what we say, but what we do. And that is this. Are you going to endure to the end with what the truth is, so you can be saved, like Jesus Christ said?

One impressive thing, brethren, in the cathedrals of Europe are the massive columns. I mentioned those earlier. And they're marble. It's amazing you could find that much marble. And these things go straight up, you know. Just, I don't know how many feet. I tried to look in. I think some of them are several stories high. You know, 120 or so feet high. And these things are so huge.

So fantastic in size. I don't know. I didn't measure them. I wish I'd been able to do it. They might have looked at me funny if I had a tape measure, you know, trying to find out how far it was. But I would think it would take five or six people, joining hands with each other around some of these columns. But the columns, brethren, are what held the entire structure together.

The entire structure up. But, you know, these things were incredibly massive. And it's kept those cathedrals that are there together, some of them, for hundreds of years. And they've endured for that long. You know, when God called us, I'm not going to go to Ephesians 2 in verses 19-21, when God called us, He called us from every walk of life. And He brought us into the church, brethren.

You know, some of us, of course, may have been of Israelite's descent. It doesn't really matter. Some, maybe, even the Jews. It really wouldn't matter. But we have all been grafted in.

And it says there in Ephesians 2 that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, and that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. But, brethren, in order to raise up the church, and you can go on and look at that, it says it's fitly framed together, and it grows up to the temple of God. So that we see that the church is the temple of God that is being built.

But if Christ said the apostles and the prophets were the foundation, brethren, where does that leave us? What are we? Well, brethren, what we are is we are to be pillars that are set on the foundation. Massive pillars, by the way. Not spindly little 2x4s, but I'm talking about massive pillars, brethren. You can get the picture of this. That's what I thought about every time I looked inside of a cathedral. That's what we're supposed to be. Those pillars in these cathedrals that held them up for hundreds of years.

We have to be these massive pillars, brethren, within the temple or within the church of the living God. Let's go to Revelation 3. I do want to go over here to this. Revelation chapter 3. Here it's talking about the Philadelphia era of the church. But in verse 7 it says, In the angel of the church of Philadelphia, right. Philadelphia, of course, means brotherly love. As we know, the city of brotherly love. The church ought to be a church of love, based on love. These things says, He who is holy, He was true. He has the key of David. He who opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens.

I know your works, see I've set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength and have kept my word and have not denied my name. And so here we have an open door. This turnfrog used to say we have an open door to preach the gospel. I was watching on YouTube this morning, by the way, the Beyond Today telecast. I think our men do a splendid job on the Beyond Today.

If you want to see it, brethren, go on. Look. You can watch Beyond Today programs all day long, if you want to, on YouTube and other places. But they do a splendid job. And I said to you before, brethren, I think the church's message is going to go viral. And we are prompt and ready to do that, to fill that gap, to help in so many ways. The men are giving such marvelous messages on the Beyond Today program. We have an open door, brethren, and no one can shut it. Now, there have been those who have tried to do that, haven't they? But they have not shut it. We don't have a lot of strength right now, brethren, but we have kept the Word of God and we've not denied His name.

Indeed, I'll make those of the synagogue Satan who say they're Jews and are not, who say they're spiritual Jews and are not, but lie. Indeed, I'll make them come to worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you, because you've kept my command to persevere, to endure to the end. I will keep you from the hour of trial, which will come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.

This is, of course, the Great Tribulation time and the Day of the Lord that's coming down the line. And it's to behold, I come quickly, hold fast what you have, that no one takes your crown. No, like Mr. Willis was talking about, be careful that nobody deceives you. So you go off, you know, following Don Kehauti's windmills, fighting his windmills, as, of course, people want to do these days. Be careful that no one take your crown. No one person take your crown. And it says, he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God.

I'll make him a pillar, and he shall go no more out. I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God, and I will write on him my new name. And he who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So here we see, brethren, that Jesus Christ, who, of course, is the messenger here, that's conveying this message to us, we see it's in red letters here, that the desire of Jesus Christ, brethren, for each one of us here in the church, is that we be pillars in his temple.

And, brethren, that begins now. We need to be pillars now in the church. So that's what the church is about. That's what the church is all about, brethren, training each one of us to be pillars, to be like those resolute pillars, you know, those massive pillars that hold up the structure, and that nothing will shake it.

No earthquakes that come along, no troubles. And, of course, I'm using it as an allegory of the trials that oftentimes come through the church. Well, brethren, my question for you today, and we're going to be talking about this remainder of the sermon, is are you working to be a pillar, a real pillar in the temple of Jesus Christ, the temple of God, now? And do you have the vision of the calling that you have? What opportunity God is giving you right now?

Like I said, a pillar is a support and a building. The foundation's already been laid, brethren. And either, you know, we can be pillars that are going to help raise up the church, or we can be a base of support within that temple right now, today. Now, there are other parts to a building, obviously. You know, but obviously God is calling us to be bases and supports in His church, every one of us. Brethren, let's hope, brethren, that's what we are striving to do.

Let's realize, brethren, that the church, for a long, long time now, has been a transition, a period. But in order to raise the walls up of the temple, you still have to have pillars and supports. And I don't believe we've even begun to see, brethren, how much growth is going to come in the church, and how much, brethren, it's necessary for every one of us here to be a base and a support for the future. Let's go to Revelation 18. Revelation 18. Yes, there are troubles coming for the future, but there's always hope for us in every way. God is calling us out of the world and society so that we can have hope when there is no hope in this world.

In Revelation 18, verse 1, After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.

You know, this is one thing you really see how important this whole structure was to economies also. You know, economies built up around these cathedrals. Economies built up, in fact, around the palaces of the potentates, the kings, you know, that emerged from what became the Holy Roman Empire, as we have talked about before. And there is only one church, by the way, in the world who is crowned kings.

You can tell me another one, with the education to me. There's only been one church that is crowned kings, and there have been many kings that have been crowned, in fact, Stephen. Saint Stephen, the one with a hand in the cathedral in the Budapest, was crowned by the Pope. In fact, you can see motifs of the papacy coming up and crowning Stephen. All of us, of course, know the story of Napoleon, that he wouldn't allow the Pope to crown him.

He took the crown out of the hand of the Pope and put it on himself, because he didn't want to give any credit to the papacy back in those times. And again, this is not to just simply bash the Catholic Church, just to back to history. It's what has been in history. But this is what it says. And then in verse 4, and I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people! Come out of her, my people! Who's he talking about? Come out of her.

Well, read chapter 17. You get a picture of that. I'm not going to do it this time, but come out of her, my people! Lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues, for her sins of reach to heaven. And God has remembered her iniquities. And so this is what God says. And by the way, the Babylonish system he's talking about here will be the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. Remember the vision that Daniel had? You know, the image where the feet were partly clay and partly iron?

This is what it's going to be composed of in the end of the age with the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. But this Babylonish type system has, at its focal point, in the end of the age, which it does not have right now, religion. Now, whether it will be Catholicism or not, or some form of it, we simply do not know.

We'll have to see how history plays out. I'm sure it will be a factor. You know, in the future, however. But, you know, here we see, again, this system, God calls his people out of this, Godless system, so that they do not suffer the plagues that God is going to place upon mankind for the sins. And so the true people of God, the true Church of God, brethren, will be in existence in the end time, just as it has always been since the founding in 31 A.D. on Pentecost. You know, we need a sense of historical development, brethren, of the Church over time.

We need a sense of history to understand what has gone before. Slightness Armstrong used to give the analogy of watching a movie, and coming in in the midst of the movie and not knowing what happened before and what is going on. I hate that when people come in and they've not seen what's gone on before, and they spend the whole movie.

Why did he do that? And, you know, you feel like turning around and saying, would you shut up? You know, but we're too nice for that, to do that. But the true Church, brethren, has been in existence, you know, since 31 A.D. And, of course, we know that what became the Holy Enrollment Empire came about after that point, when there was a counterfeit religion, Christian religion, that had manifested itself and, you know, we know that God's people were banished, the true people of God, were banished to the edges of the Empire. Now, let's return, brethren, to the question of the purpose of the Church.

Over in Romans 8, Romans 8, we see over here that we're told that God is calling us for a very special relationship to God, to Jesus Christ, God the Father and Jesus Christ. Romans 8, I love chapter 8, by the way, of all the chapters in the Bible. It is an encouraging chapter, if you want to read Romans 8. But here in Romans 8 and verse 16, we see here that the Apostle Paul writes, the Spirit itself should be itself here, because, of course, as you know, the Greek spirit is a neuter gender, but the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

Or, I should say, in Greek, there is not a neuter gender, there is only he or she. But, of course, in the English language, we have a neuter gender, but it is a neuter gender. It's not a he or she. But it says, "...for you did not receive the spirit of bondage," verse 15 here, again, the fear, but we receive the spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba Father, or Daddy Father. So the Spirit of God gives us this close relationship to the Father, and the Spirit also bears witness that we are the children of God.

And if you have God's Spirit, and you know your life has been transformed, then that's how the Spirit has witnessed to you. It bears witness to you of how you have changed as a result of the Spirit, a non-physical component that is in your life. And if children, if we're children, then heirs. Oh, now we're getting into receiving an inheritance. Then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. As astounding as that might seem, brethren, we're going to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

If indeed we suffer with Him, then we may be glorified together. So we're going to be glorified as Christ, of course, is glorified. And we know, brethren, that the Bible tells us that, in fact, that it does not yet appear what we're going to be in 1 John 3 over there, 1 John 3, verses 1 through 3. It doesn't appear what we shall be, but we're going to be like Christ because we're going to see Him as He is. We're going to be like Jesus Christ.

We're going to be glorified, as it says here, together with Christ. In verse 18, for I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bonds of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So, brethren, the church exists so that we can become pillars in the temple right now, and we will be forever pillars in the temple.

There will no more go out, as it says in Revelation chapter 3. In fact, the church is going to be married to Christ. You know, we stay with your mate. We'll be married to Christ, and no more out.

We'll be glorified. We'll be like Jesus Christ in terms of how we are, because we're going to see Him as He is, as the Bible says. And God says that none of the sufferings that we go through right now can be compared to the glory that God is going to reveal in us. And so, brethren, we have been called to an awesome calling.

But the important thing, brethren, is that having endured all that we are living righteously in our lives, we haven't forsaken, brethren, the laws of God. We haven't forsaken the Sabbath. We haven't forsaken the Holy Days. We haven't forsaken the laws of God. We haven't forsaken one another.

You know, He who says He loves God and hates His brother does not have the love of God dwelling in Him, the Bible says.

You know, He says He knows God and keeps not His commandments. As a liar, the Bible says, and the truth is not in Him. And that's what the Bible tells us. And so, brethren, as God's people, we have to function as a family.

And our relationship isn't just with God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. The relationship that God has called you into, brethren, is with one of others, as well as God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. You can't have one without the other, by the way. You can't sit home in your living room and have a relationship with the Church and claim that you love God. You just can't.

And there's a lot of people that are sitting home right now doing nothing. The Church is a family, brethren. And unless we are having a relationship with one another, we can't have a relationship with the Father and the Son either, in Heaven.

Now, this world, brethren, is in an absolute corrupt condition, and it worsens every day. But out of this world, brethren, that is destined, in fact, to come right up to the brink of destruction. You know, you read over there in the book of Matthew 24, where Christ was talking about that, you know, at the end of the age, it's going to come up to the time where all life could be blotted off this planet. It is then that Jesus Christ is going to return to rescue man from destroying himself. God's going to let man go right up to the point where he's just about ready to destroy himself, and that's where our corruption is headed.

And God says to us, brethren, as He said to ancient Israel, why will you die? Why will you die?

And He encouraged them, brethren, to turn from this world that is a crooked and a twisted generation, and began to turn to God, and to live God's way of life, God's happy way of life, His abundant way of life. You know, every year, I go to the feast, you know, a lot of people consider the law of God bondage. All I've got to say is, give me more bondage, God. You know, I want more bondage through the feast. I want more bondage through your Sabbath. I want more bondage, God, because your bondage doesn't hurt. The bondage of man, now it hurts. The thing about the world is Satan promises all kinds of freedom. But what he does is he hands you a jail card when he, as soon as you step out there. You know what the jail card is? Suffering. Suffering is what people go through. The heartaches. The problems that people have. We're living, brethren, in a crooked world, and God wants us to remain straight. He wants us to remain those straight columns in the temple of God that don't move, that keep stable, that keep strong in our pillars in the temple and the church of God. If we can be pillars now, brethren, we will be pillars in the kingdom. And what that means is not that, brethren, we're going to be erected like columns in a cathedral. We're going to be mainstays of use by Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow. It talks about how the law of God is going to proceed out of Zion. Who do you think is going to take that law? Or oversee taking that law? It's going to be those who are pillars now. They're going to have that responsibility.

And, brethren, when these times come, and we ought to be anticipating these great days when they come, I know there's a lot of terrible things the Bible prophesies are going to happen. Between now and then, there'll be good and there'll be bad things, you know, that we'll go through. But all the while we should be anticipating what will happen afterwards.

And let me tell you, brethren, the anticipation will not exceed the tremendous feeling of accomplishment when it's all over. There's one hymn I've told you before that I, when I sing, I can't help but cry every time. And I've been reluctant to say which one it was, unless somebody starts leading them every time, just to see Tuck cry. But I don't think I've gone through that hymn the whole way, ever. Especially at the Feast of Tabernacles, I'll tell you. I sing that hymn, and I'm like a little girl, you know, boo-hooing. But, brethren, it's because, I don't know about you, but I long for God's kingdom. I anticipate it. I want it. I desire it with all my being. I want the kingdom of God to come, no matter what it takes, no matter what we have to go through, brethren. Because I know the accomplishment, when Christ sets His feet out on the Mount of Oz, and it begins, things begin, is going to be so great that we will not be able, you know, we probably will not be of any use to Jesus Christ. Because we'll be so late, and we'll be like kids in a candy store. It'll be a wonderful time. But God wants us to anticipate, because the accomplishment we're going to feel is going to be much, much greater. And that will begin at the first resurrection, rather than the war changed from this mortality to immortality, and we're no longer flesh. We know that's pictured by the Feast of Trumpets. But before that occurs, brethren, we have to be trained. We have to be pillars as God's people. Solid, resolute supports within the Church.

And brethren, if you're just wrestling with whether you should keep the Sabbath, you're not a support yet. If you're wondering if you should keep the Holy Days, or you should tithe, or what you should do diaterally, these things, of course, are just the basics.

We need to be not only examples of those things, but examples of how to be a Christian as God's people. You know, one thing that has to be done is, again, we have to be trained. God is about the business of reproducing Himself. He's reproducing Himself, and brethren, He's building His very own character in us, in each of us individually. And God will not budge one iota on His laws, brethren. And you know what? If we can get the character of God building this, and God has to do it, we can't do it, because He reveals through the Holy Spirit and our minds the truth. You know, then, brethren, we can be lights to one another, and we can be lights to the world if we can have that character built in us. You know, over in John 1.1, John 1, verse 1, you know, here we see a Scripture that is very, very clear, makes very clear that Jesus Christ preexisted as the Word. But it says in verse 1, it says, in the beginning, John 1, in verse 1, was the Word, or as we understand the Greek word for that, is Logos, or the Spooksman. And so, Jesus Christ, as we're told in verse 14 over here, became flesh and dwelled among us, but prior to coming in the flesh, Jesus Christ was the Logos, or the Spooksman, of God. And maybe another way to explain this is that, you know, the Father was the King, and Jesus Christ was the Prime Minister. He was the Spooksman. He was the Spooksman. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, verse 2. So Christ created all things. In fact, in another place it says He created all things seen or unseen. So God has worked through the One who became Jesus Christ, to do all creating. Though both of them certainly are creators. But in verse 4, in Him was life and life. The life was the light of men. So Christ came, and He was the light of men. The light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. So the darkness does not comprehend it. And so here, Christ was the Logos, He was the Spooksman, and the Father, by the way, and the Son are lights. And what that means, brethren, is they were lights of a way of life. A way of life. And that way, another way of describing that way of life is a way of love. A way of outgoing concern. It's not a get-way, which is the way the world operates, no matter where you are and what culture you go to. The world is get, very get-oriented. But they live a way that is not get-oriented, but is a way of cooperation. It is a way not of competition, but of working with each other. One thing the Father and the Son have never done, brethren, is competed with each other. Never.

I wish we could say that about everybody in the Church. But we know, brethren, that humanly we have our foibles and our problems. But God's way is not a way of get, but it's a way of cooperation. It's a way of working with each other, the further of go. And their way of life, brethren, became what we know as the law of God. The law of God.

And they also, brethren, about the Father and the Son, they were in perfect agreement with each other. So they were always working with each other.

And God and the Word had planned also to create other beings of light. Or, as we've explained it, to reproduce themselves. God wanted to reproduce Himself. And so they desired to create other beings of light. And, you know, that is very important for us to understand. Who can shine as lights in the dark world that we live in? So you don't have one light, but you have many lights. It's interesting, George Bush was talking about, you know, people doing good works, that they were points of light. Remember, years ago, some of you may remember when he was president. Talked about people doing service projects. But, you know, God wants us, brethren, to be lights of His way of life to the world.

And as I mentioned, Jesus Christ created all things. He created the angelic ram. And in Job 38, we're told that the angel shouted for joy when the universe was created. He shouted for joy, in other words, when the earth was brought into existence. However many years that may have been, billions of years, millions, we don't know. In fact, how long ago it would have been. Scientists say that the universe is about 14 billion years old, but I don't think they could even remotely find out how old the universe may be. But what happened is when the universe was created, and this little orb called Earth was out here spinning, this blue marble, as man calls it, we know that God sent a third of His angels to prepare the earth. And He placed over a third of His angels an archangel, a powerful, beautiful archangel by the name of Lucifer.

And interestingly, in the Hebrew, Lucifer's name is Hillel, which means light-bringer. And so Lucifer served as a light-bringer, and he would journey to the throne of God, and he would come to this earth to deliver whatever instructions that God was sending to the angels that were at work here upon this earth. We know they were here upon the earth at work, because we look over in the book of Peter, and we find that they left their first estate in Jude as well. They left their first estate, which was the earth. And also, we know it was the earth because Satan, as he became, of course, when he rebelled against God, he said he had in his mind, he was going to knock out of his throne. I will ascend above the clouds, it says. In fact, in Isaiah 14, in verses 12-14, I will ascend above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High. He had the desire to knock God off his throne.

And we know that God cast him down to the earth. Remember when the apostles went out preaching? They came back, and they were so amazed, and told Christ, even by the name of Jesus Christ, demons were cast out and all that. And they said, I behold him, fall as lightning from the sky. So he was cast down. He and his angels, who became demons, were cast down to the earth.

And so what, of course, caused his rebellion is vanity. And so vanity was there, he thought he was better than God. And vanity is self-glory. And this is how, of course, he comes then to Eve, Adam and Eve in the garden. And he's got this vanity about him. We know it's, of course, the one who was Satan, because of the other illusions we have in Revelation elsewhere. But we know that mankind, when Adam and Eve were created, mankind, when they were placed upon this earth, and perhaps one of the reasons why that Lucifer rebelled in the angels, as well as he knew that mankind was being prepared to replace them, that they would rise above the angelic world, that they would be above angels. Right now, God says we're a little below. Now, that seems incredible to us that we're a little below, because we have the shelf life of a housefly, compared to eternity, of course. But what happened is Satan rebelled, but man was different because he was created in the image of God, in his likeness. He was created after the animals, given the animals that were created after the animal kind, but man was created after the God kind.

I've not been able to prove it, but I heard someone one time say that the word human means God then. But if you find evidence of that, I'd sure appreciate about that, but maybe it does mean that. I'm not sure. I really am not sure. But you know the story about how God gave man dominion, put him in the Garden of Eden, and man rebelled. Of course, the whole story, Genesis 3, man rebels, Adam chooses for mankind, he was deceived, but Adam was not. And they were driven from the Garden of Eden, and the weight of the tree of life was kept from them, which would have given them access to the Holy Spirit and access to the knowledge of God. Now, I've just given you a five-hour sermon in about ten minutes, right there. But I think it's important for us to have that background as God's people. And so when Adam chose to go this way, from his time to the time of Jesus Christ, there had just been a handful of people that had been called. Because God allowed man to go do his own thing, so to speak, build his own governments, to build his own society, and he's well done that. Brethren, under the leadership of his true father, Satan, who has been there at every turn for him, but God only called a few. He called Abel, we know. He called Enoch. He called Noah. He called Abraham. He called Moses, probably others, Shem as well. Seems to have been a man of God. But you go through, and through history, it's just a handful of people that have been called.

And it was not until the church was established in 31 A.D. that God began to call more people that were brought into the church. First it was the twelve apostles, but now there have been hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people that have been called in our time. And more will be called in the future. And God is calling people out of the world. The Father is the one that has to draw you, and then Christ says, if the Father draws you, I'm going to raise you up in the last day. Christ is the one who is the head of the church, and He is the one that works with us, you might say, on a daily basis in the church. Through administering the church, and teaching us, of guiding us, of training us. You know, Christ came and He compared the spreading of the Gospel to the spreading of seeds. He talked about how some seed falls on stony ground, some falls on fertile ground. You know, some seed falls where it grows shallow roots, sun comes out, and it will shrivel and die. It just doesn't have very much. This some falls on good ground, and it grows abundantly. And by analogy, brethren, what we're talking about is how, brethren, those that grow abundantly are going to be the columns, the pillars, and the temple of God. And so that's the purpose of it, brethren.

And God's Spirit, by the way, is exhibited in the way of giving, of outgoing concern, of love, love for one another, and love for God. So, brethren, is the love of God in you? Is the love of God shed abroad, as it says in Romans 5, verse 5, is that Holy Spirit that is shed abroad in us, and that love of God shed abroad by the Holy Spirit in your heart, out of your heart, and the things that you do. And that can only come through God's Spirit.

Love, God's love can only come through God's Spirit. And so God is calling the church now today, brethren. And through the ages, the church has suffered great persecution. But be aware, brethren, that when the church faces persecution, is when you've got to be on the most guard. Remember, in Acts 8, it talks about how the church was going through persecution, and they were scattered, of course, after the time of the death of Christ. And so the church was scattered.

It grew more, brethren. But within 20 years, in Galatians chapter 1, Paul is writing in the Galatians that he's saying, I'm marvel that you've so soon turned to another gospel. So already the church began to turn to something else. And so, brethren, be aware of this fact about when we have trials, when we have tribulations that you don't give up, that you hold fast. And remember, again, God has called you to be a pillar. He's called you to be a support.

And we know, brethren, that the church through the ages has gone through many challenges. Many challenges. Let's make sure that we hold fast, brethren. Remember to hold fast that we can be pillars, brethren, that are never moved as God's people. And we as God's people, of all people, need to be rejoicing in the fact that God has opened our eyes so that we can see the purpose of the church. What the church ultimately is going to be doing not only now, but what it's going to be doing in the world tomorrow. That we're going to be pillars in the kingdom of God when the kingdom of God is set up upon this earth.

And again, I could take you through, and I'm not going to do this, but I could take you through the prophecies of Ephesus in Revelation 2, about how people turned away in that time. Would you go to Pergamos as well and see that they went through ten years of persecution during the great persecution of Diocletian in 300 AD or so. Don't have the exact time there for that. But God made promises to those that remained resolute. He also warned those of Smyrna. He warned them of those who prevented the sin of Balaam and Balaam's sin. Remember, he just got as close to violating God's Word and God's instructions to him as he could.

And people today, of course, skirt along the issues as well in terms of many, many things of their lives. They're not close to God the way they should be, and they have gotten far away from God. Like I said, if you're wondering where to be on the Sabbath, you know, a long way from being a pillar. A long way. Especially if one has been baptized for a while and doesn't have enough wisdom about something like that. And so, brethren, as God's people through the ages, through the Smyrna era, through the Thyatyran era, and through the Sardis era of the Church. In Revelation 3, we have a scenario over there with the Sardis era.

Where God has to say that they have a name that they're alive but they're dead. They have a name that they're alive, and He says, nevertheless, there's going to be a few of you that are going to walk with Me in white. And then we come to the Philadelphian era, and then after that you have the Laodicean era. The Philadelphian era is the only era where there is not criticism. There's levels against the Church. The Laodicean era, as we have called them, or the Laodicean Church, and of course all of these churches were merely churches on the male route in Asia Minor. And they literally existed. These churches did.

But the Laodicean problem is that they think they're too rich and increased with goods, but they're naked and miserable and blind, and they don't know it.

And you know, you don't know what you don't know. You just don't know what you don't know. And there are many people, again, that are lacking right now. Hopefully, brethren, we're not among those that are lacking. Now, we've understood that there were eras of the Church. The Ephesian era was the apostolic era. But we understood also that every era of the Church could have attitudes that went every other Church that was mentioned there in Revelation 2 and 3. And right now, brethren, we're living in a time where the Philadelphian and the Laodicea exist together. The question remains, brethren, is, are you going to have a Philadelphian attitude, or are you going to have a Laodicean attitude? It doesn't matter what group you're in, by the way, with regard to that, because if you're going to be a Laodicean, you can be a Laodicean anywhere. You know, if you're going to be a Philadelphian, you could be a Philadelphian in the Thyatira time, you know, clear back in the Middle Ages time and back in the Sardis time. You know, lay this in back then, or a Sardis, in terms of what characterizes it. So, brethren, let's make sure that we are a Philadelphian in our approach as God's people. Let's hold fast to the truth that God has given to us. Let's be resolute.

Let's, brethren, have an attitude of Philadelphia so that we can be temples, in the temple of God as a pillar, as I read to you earlier in the Book of Revelation. Chapter 3. Let's make sure we're building the character, the right kind of character. That we're not becoming characters, but we're building the character as God's people. And we're standing firm, you know, in God's church. You know, in Solomon's temple, by the way, there were huge columns as well, huge pillars. And so these pillars were also in God's temple, not just the pagan cathedrals.

And, brethren, perhaps they were symbolic of those who would remain resolute to the very end, who would be pillars in the church, in our time, in our day and age, and pillars in the kingdom of God when the world of moral begins. Brethren, we will rule with Christ, and we will resolve the corruption that is in the world out here that we see. We're going to help straighten the world out. You know, we don't need to go to heaven. There are no problems in heaven. In heaven there's perfection. The problems are down here. And that's what God is going to use the church to do, to straighten the world out. When Christ comes to reign upon the earth, He's going to find, I believe He's going to find, people who still believe that have faith in our day and our time. And, brethren, this is the reason, this is the reason, brethren, that God brought the church about. This is the reason why you're here, to be a pillar, not only in the church now, but in the kingdom of God forever. So let's make sure, brethren, we are doing that, that we are striving to be a pillar as God's people. Let's endure to the end so that we can be saved, and so we can help to transform this world under Jesus Christ's leadership when He returns.