Prepare NOW to Meet Jesus Christ

Happy Feast of Trumpets, brethren! And to those of you online, this is a day that is very close to all of our hearts, one that we celebrate in so many ways. Today we've celebrated through music, and so many talented individuals have refreshed our conviction and our great welcoming of the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible, the message, the gospel message that we preach, that which we are all hopeful for in our prayers, is the day that this day celebrates in advance. We see around us world conditions increasingly beginning to synchronize with some of the prophecies in the scripture that are to happen at the time of the end. We sense a sooner-than-later end-time scenario, and that is accompanied by a return of Jesus Christ as the ruler of this world. And God is preparing for Jesus's rule. God is preparing all of the events and all the prophetic fulfillments. He's preparing for all of that transition that He has been waiting for since before the foundation of the world. This is quite an exciting time for God, the God family. In Revelation chapter 19 and verse 6, we see that soon this will be fulfilled. Revelation 19 6, and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude. There's a lot of support, a lot of excitement for this. The sound of many waters, the sound of mighty thunderings. This is the crescendo leading up to an event that has been anticipated again since before the foundation of the world. And they were saying, hallelujah, hallelujah! Finally, celebrating, hallelujah! Let's pay attention to some of the things that are said after that word. Hallelujah for the Lord. This is the Greek word that translates with a meaning of supreme in authority. Supreme in authority. Hallelujah for the supreme in authority God. The Greek word for God means the supreme divinity. Omnipotent. The Greek word means all ruling, and it continues with reigns. So when we look at this, the supreme authority, the all-ruling supreme divinity reigns. Finally, the rulership of this world will come under our great God and his son Jesus Christ as the supreme authority, the supreme divinity, the all-ruling one reigns. That is something so much higher than anything physical, anything human. That is the day that we look for what a wonderful time that will be. In conjunction with that very event and all of that power and all that majesty and all that authority comes the next verse. Verse 7. The father here is going to present Jesus Christ with a co-ruling helper, an assistant, a bride for Christ. And with the same excitement in the next breath, let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come. And his wife has made herself ready. She has been preparing herself. God is preparing for this event. The bride has been preparing for this event.

Today, let's look at the fact that God and Christ are preparing for your arrival, your arrival into the divine kingdom of heaven, as it's called throughout the book of Matthew. God is preparing for this event. And let's ask ourselves the question. What preparation am I making for that event? How excited, how focused, how much preparation am I putting in to this event that has been anticipated, and we have been part of it since the foundation of the world?

The title of the sermon is, Prepare Now to Meet Jesus Christ. Prepare now to meet Jesus Christ.

How do we prepare for the seventh trumpet and all the events that take place at that time? How do we prepare for the first resurrection? How do we prepare for the wedding and the wedding supper? How do we prepare to reign, co-reigning with Christ as He would give us various responsibilities over cities or whatever it might be for a thousand years? Is that something that we just say, well, I'll just think about that later? I just won't be involved in that. I just hope I'll be there. Is that what we might do? Well, how do we prepare for that? A short answer is given in the very next verse. Let's keep reading. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So that encapsulates what we, as the potential bride of Christ, need to be doing now in preparation for being raised at this time.

It's pretty exciting, really, when we think that we would be part of something that was figured out, planned, and the saints involved in the bride were chosen from before the foundation of the world. In Christ, the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. This is something God has been planning for a long time. I find in my life, and you might find in yours, that we have busy lives, lots of distractions, kind of hit the high points, as it were. We might be involved to a certain degree in our relationship with God, or obeying God, or whatever it is, but we might kind of be flailing around a little bit. The purpose of the sermon today is to focus in tightly on what the bride does to prepare herself on a daily basis, so that we can be fully ready, and we can have absolute confidence that we'll be part of that group. And when you look at that passage we've just read, it actually encapsulates all the previous 6,000 years of mankind's time on earth. Just think about that, because Satan has been the god of this world. He's been the ruler of this world, and the bride actually begins with the first humans that were following and obeying God, who will be in the first resurrection. You can begin to name some of them, coming down through the righteous individuals before the flood, to Noah, to those individuals, including David, and some of the prophets in the New Testament church. Thousands and thousands of years of saints, including David and others, waiting to be resurrected. And here we are at the end of that time period, towards the end of that time period, of those who will be harvested as firstfruits. But this has been a long time that the bride has been making herself ready. Concurrently, the world has been rejecting God and rejecting His way of life all the way along. And so what's about to happen is, at the seventh trumpet, there's a declaration of a change of world rulership. Finally. World rulership will change. From Satan, who's been the god of this world? Let's look in John chapter 12 and verse 31, and just notice a simple statement that Jesus makes. John 12, 31. I'll break into the middle of the verse. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Jesus qualified—you might use that term—or He was given prophetic rulership in the future of the entire world at the seventh trumpet. He did it faithfully. And here in John 12, He says, now, not at that time, but now because of the events and His faithfulness and His great sacrifice, now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And that causes a real traumatic situation for a brief time in world history that lies just ahead.

The end-time rejection of Jesus Christ as the new ruler by Satan and by the world who He's deceived will create absolute havoc on earth. Absolute havoc because they reject and they rebel against that authority and they try to kill Him again. Let's take a glimpse of this in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 29. Matthew 24 and verse 29. Jesus speaking about the end time.

It says, immediately after the tribulation of those days, after the three and a half years tribulation, we're going to see the approaching now of the seventh trumpet. The sun will be dark and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Verse 30. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, in the sky. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn. At this new ruler, they're going to mourn. They don't want him. They reject him. His laws, his ways, everything. When they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. So you know the story how it progresses. Eventually armies will form at Armageddon to fight and try to kill him. But wait! Who's this coming? Verse 31. Notice. And he will send his angels with the sound of a seventh, if I can insert that, trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds. Yes, he's coming to reign, but at the same time, that is the time when all of these, from the beginning of earthly life, will be gathered.

Wow. Now, these are his elect. The question we might ask is, how does God determine who are those who are his elect that are to be gathered? And Jesus talks about some being taken and some left, some being wise, some foolish, some sheep, some goats, etc., etc. How does he determine this?

There are two distinct groups we see. We see humanity rejecting Jesus's rule, his rulership, his authority, and his laws, absolutely rejection of it, and they will fight him and eventually will be killed. Then we have a reverent bride who's making herself ready to assist with his government. Two polar opposites. Of course, we want to be in the second one, but what makes that distinction in God's mind? They are very different to God. You describe them like that, but sometimes humans tend to see them a little more blurry. Let's get God's distinction. It's a vital matter for us to ponder, think about. It's really one of the repeating, deep things of the Bible. If you go through the Bible and read through the Bible, if you do it more than once and again do it maybe on an annual basis, you'll see these themes just keep coming up and coming up and coming up. And the theme is essentially, there are those who follow God, and there's those who slip and stop following God. There's those who follow God and those who slip and don't follow God, and those who follow God and don't follow God and follow God and don't follow God. And you can go all the way to the end of the book of Revelation, and you'll find that God always has this invitation. For instance, we go to Revelation 22, and it says here verse 17, and the Spirit and the bride, those who are of Christ at this time is talking about, say, come, and let him who hears say, come, and let him who thirsts come, and whoever desires let him take of the water of life freely. That's what God has wanted from the beginning, from Adam and Eve to the people before the floods, to the Israelites, to the nation of Israel, to the New Testament Jews, to the churches. Even in the end time, with the prophetic correction that God brings, he wants people to repent. But humanity doesn't seem to want God's rule.

So what criterion does God always use? It's pretty obvious by what I just mentioned, but what criterion does he use to determine who lives and who will die? Who will live and who will die? Well, actually, God clearly answers this for us in the book of Ezekiel. Let's go to Ezekiel chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 4. And here we're going to look at a passage that will clearly define for us how God judges, you might say, selects, determines who lives and who dies. Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 4. God says, behold, all souls, or human lives, all human lives are mine. The life of the Father as well as the life of the Son is mine.

The soul who sins shall die. That's pretty clear right there, isn't it? The soul who sins shall die. But it might be a little murky. Still might be a little murky. You know, what exactly is sin, etc., etc. Am I really sinning? Or am I under grace? Or am I forgiven? Or, you know, does it really matter? You know, that's where it kind of gets murky. So let's clear out some of the murkiness by just keeping reading. Because God is going to more clearly define this for us. So in verse 5, the next verse, he says, let's clarify this. But if a man is just, now the Hebrew definition of this word, the Hebrew word, is lawful and righteous. Righteous just means doing right according to God's word. If a man is lawful and does right, notice going on, and does what is lawful, Hebrew word means a verdict. This is actually a phrase. Does what is lawful is actually one Hebrew word. And it's a verdict that God makes about that person. In other words, this person, if he is just and lawful, and I say he is doing what is right, God is saying, and does what is right. This is my verdict. Does what is right.

And rightly or righteously observing the law, the commandments, the statutes, the precepts, the judgments, which include what's in the next verses. See, God has more than just keeping the Sabbath and not eating pork. And sometimes we reduce things down. Well, I'm a Sabbath keeper and I don't eat pork, so I think I'm good. So I think I'm just and right and everything. But this is a judgment God places, and there's more to it than that. So doing rightly or righteously, verse 6, involves some of these details. And here's where we get down into the detail that we can use ourselves, that we can use to say, hey, I need to be preparing in all of what God says, such as if he has not eaten on the mountains, that means he's not sacrificed to idols. Well, we're beginning to get into the Ten Commandments here. God first, no, no idols. Don't worship anything before God. Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. This isn't actually worshiping. It's just sort of lifting up your eyes. Kind of like that. You know, if we're looking at things in society and saying, I kind of like that, but I'm not actually participating. But I'm looking at my eyes to those things going on.

That's the first three commandments you could encapsulate right in what we've seen so far. Nor defiled his neighbor's wife, literally, mentally.

That's commandment number seven. Nor approached a woman during her impurity. There are various laws that govern a godly marriage that God has instituted, and we need to know what those are and follow them.

Verse seven. If he is not oppressed anyone, oppressed, the Hebrew word means to maltreat violently. To maltreat someone with anger and violence. But has restored to the dead or his pledge. In your financial arrangements that you enter sometimes into somebody who borrows from you, you hold a pledge or you hold something of value, and when that person is paid, you return it to them. You don't hang on to it. You don't sort of keep it or steal it or whatever. You're honest in all of your dealings, in other words.

Has robbed no one by violence. That's commandment number eight. But has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing. That's partial criteria that Jesus uses in his parable in Matthew 25 for the sheep and the goats. The ones who give bread, clothing to others, visit them when they're sick or in prison, etc., etc.

We find here he has verse eight, not exacted usury nor taken any increase. Usury means you give something, but I want something back in return for it, or increase. That would be maybe interest. Okay, now you have to be careful of this because you have to understand God's law and what the rules of this are. For instance, taking interest and usury is disallowed for the poor. Let me read to you.

If any one of your brethren becomes poor and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him. See, you're not going to take and increase his burden, take from him. You're going to help him. Jesus says, help the poor, help the fatherless, help the widow. So here it says you're going to help him. Verse 36, take no usury or interest from him, but fear your God that your brother may live with you. Verse 37, you shall not lend him your money for usury nor lend him your food at a profit. Wow, a poor person can't eat so you lend him food, but you want profit from that. Now, usury and interest is just fine from foreigners. We see in the law in Deuteronomy 23 in verse 20, to the foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest that the Lord your God may bless you. I'm just pointing this out because we don't want to get an old buggy and suddenly come up with something that God didn't say. Remember that Jesus Christ actually there in Matthew 25 in his parables says to the person with the, I believe it was the Mina, you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers that at my coming, the seventh trumpet, I would have received back my own with interest. So my point here is to say that we need to understand God's law, God's way, and apply it that way carefully. Now let's continue back here in Ezekiel, and we'll go on to continue in verse 8. But this person who's going to live has withdrawn his hand from iniquity. Iniquity comes from the Hebrew word meaning evil or unrighteousness.

Drawn his hand from any type of breaking of God's law. And he's executed true judgment, true judgment, honest judgment. We have to judge certain things, but true judgment between man and man. It says in Zechariah chapter 7 verse 9, for instance, thus says the Lord of hosts execute true justice, show mercy and compassion, everyone to his brother. So we now see what the bride is busy doing. She's keeping all God's law, she's developing a mind of agape love, she is exercising proper judgment, she knows the precepts, the judgments in the scripture, and how to apply them.

Now notice verse 9. If he has walked in my statutes and kept my judgments faithfully, done all that's required in God's law, he is just.

Hebrew definition, lawful and righteous. He is lawful. He is righteous. He shall surely live, says the Lord God. So right there in Ezekiel, we have a wonderful passage that breaks down what this bride is doing to make herself ready. And she is just, she is righteous, and God says that individual will surely live. So here we have a clear definition of what right and wrong, righteousness, lawlessness, is about. One is living daily with God and Jesus Christ, directing our lives, being our ruler, our king, our God, our Lord, our master. And the other is rejecting all of that. And being like a goat, kind of self-led, crashing into everything, thinking about nothing else except what I feel like doing. And most of that is getting me on top to the highest place of whatever I can climb on. That's just not what God wants in his kingdom. Jesus makes this clear in the parable of the mean as found in Luke chapter 19 and verse 13. Let's go there. Luke chapter 19 and verse 13. You want to sink your teeth into some things to be inspired to be prepared for the day of trumpets when that seventh trumpet blasts and the the dead in Christ will rise with him. And all those exciting events will take place in the heavenly realm with her. Jesus gives this so that we can understand the authority role that we need to grow under now. That we need to be under Christ's rule now. Not waiting for the seventh trumpet to come under his rule. That's too late. But rather being led and guided and obedient and under the rule of the kingdom of God now. Luke 19 13. So he called, notice the role here over us. He's talking about us here. The the ten servants are us. He called ten of his servants. Think of this as the ten virgins. And they are his servants. They're not independent, you know, autonomous people. They're his servants. They look to him as their master. And he delivered to them ten meanest. Them being you. He called you and delivered to you his Holy Spirit. And he says, do business until I come. Now here we are looking forward to the coming of Jesus Christ. And what is he just saying? Do business until I come. Prepare yourself. Work. Prepare yourself. Until I come. He's talking to his bride. Verse 14. But notice the other group. But his citizens, or physical Israelites, hated him. And they sent a delegation after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. See the two groups right there? One are his servants doing business till he comes. And the other is saying, we will not have you reign over us. We reject your authority, your laws, your rule. Which of those two groups am I in? It's a good question to ask ourselves at any given time. Do we drift back and forth across the line? Are we clearly on one side or the other? Are we a preparing servant or disinterested now? But we really like the idea of a wonderful world tomorrow. That we're all looking forward to. Not really doing much now, but you know, bring on the kingdom and we'll have a wonderful world tomorrow. Because I'm really interested in tame animals. And sometimes I've seen that attitude prevalent in those who are attending. And sometimes in myself, depending on how distracted we can be. And we think sometimes, well, as long as I say, your kingdom comes someday, you know, and your will be done someday. And bring on tame animals, somehow that means something to God. As we've just seen, it doesn't mean anything to God. What means something to God is our being, His family, His subjective, appreciative, humble, obedient, supportive citizens of His kingdom now.

You know, and we think of the kingdom of God. We want that to come, right? Everybody, yeah, bring on the kingdom. What if I told you the kingdom had been here since Adam? You think, well, I'll add something. Well, hang on, hang on a second. What if it's been here for at least since Jesus Christ had been on earth?

We're excited about the kingdom, but oftentimes we take one part of that phrase, one element of it, and we highlight it to think that's all there is. The kingdom means the world tomorrow. The kingdom is something beyond today.

The kingdom will happen in tomorrow's world. You see, we don't always associate the kingdom of God with God in His kingdom, ruling over those who will be subject to Him today. Abel was under God's rule. Noah was. So many people down through time were, as was Jesus Christ.

I think sometimes the part two of the kingdom of God, which is the future element in the future, gets in people's minds ahead of the present element of the kingdom of God. Remember when I grew up, we even had a seal in the church that had a picture, a drawing of the future lion and lamb, and it was all about the world tomorrow. And everybody thought about the world tomorrow. Not too many people were thinking about the world today, and they kind of, most of them, drifted off. Well, there's a part one to this. Let's go to the gospel that Jesus preached in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 17. Let's examine this a little closer so that from a bride standpoint and a Jesus standpoint, we can be preparing. Matthew chapter 4 and verse 17, from that time, at the beginning of Jesus's ministry, from that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Kind of doesn't match up well with our view of the future, does it? Two thousand years ago, he said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Was he kidding? Did he not know it'd be a couple thousand years later? What was he saying there? Let's look at this. He says, repent means to stop breaking God's loss. That's what repent means. Change. Change from breaking God's loss. For, or because, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's interesting. Let's look at is at hand. That's a single Greek word. Is at hand means this. To join one thing to another. Like, grab hands. To approach it. To draw near to it. To join it. The kingdom of heaven is here. Join it. Okay? How can you do that? The kingdom of heaven? How do you join it right then when he's talking about that?

Available for you to approach. To draw near. To join. But what? What can you join? It lies in the word kingdom. Strongs 2935. If you look up Strongs 2935 kingdom, you'll find it has two meanings. One is that future one that we tend to associate with, but one's a very present one, and it's like this. The main meaning of Strongs 2935 translated kingdom is royalty that is rule. The royalty and the rule was standing right there. Jesus Christ. Repent. Obey God's law. For the rule, the authority of heaven, is right here. You can attach yourself to it. Thayer, part one of this word kingdom, 2935, it means royal power. For the royal power is at hand. The kingship, the dominion, the rule, not to be confused with an actual kingdom, but rather the authority to rule over a kingdom. Jesus Christ said he was a king. He told Pilate that. He told people to repent.

What did the Jews do? They killed him. They turned him in. They said he's declaring himself a king. Pilate said, are you a king? And he said, yes, I am. To this I've been born. They crucified him.

So Jesus Christ preached repent. Change rulers. Stop breaking God's law. Draw near. Join. He said, come. And the bride says, come. God draws. He calls people. Join the royal ruler of God, the Messiah. It's been a timeless gospel. That's what God taught Adam and Eve, but they wouldn't. He tried to teach Cain, but he wouldn't. The world drifted away before the flood. Only Noah and his family would. Israel did for a while, but then they wouldn't. They would. Join the family of God. Join the rule of God. Come under his rulership. Come under his authority. Attach yourself to it. We might put it in these terms. Be children of God. How attached can you get?

Come into oneness with God and Christ is what Jesus wants of us. John 17. I would that they would be one with us. I and them, you and me, and us and them, they and us. That is, that is at hand. That is the authority, the rule of God at hand. How much do we want that gospel in our daily life? When we pray, your kingdom come, do we say, oh, your, your rulership come. Let's join together today. Your will be done, my life, today, every day. For yours is the rulership, and yours is the power, and yours is the glory forever. And I'm with you. Jesus Christ has always been the kingdom of heaven's royalty, the authority. He's been available. He's been the ruler of God's people, all the way down through time, whether it's Noah, the Israelites, the New Testament Church, over the apostles, you and me now, over his church, of which he's the head. He's the Lord, the supreme authority, the master, our king, our husband. He is our authority. And that's what God needs the bride to be preparing herself to be, subject to his authority. Right. Doing all those things we read in Ephesians. We don't have to wait until Jesus comes back. No, we should be ready when Jesus comes back. We're to be preparing now to meet Jesus Christ, bride who's made herself ready. All her wedding garments are pure and bright for the righteous acts of the saints. Now this has been available, again, since the Garden of Eden, but humans keep rejecting his rule. One of the great examples of this is found in 1 Samuel chapter 8 and verse 7. 1 Samuel chapter 8 and verse 7. It's not like God hasn't been available, but humanity just continually rejects him as their authority, their supreme authority, the supreme divinity, the ruler. 1 Samuel 8 verse 7, And the Lord said to Samuel, heed the voice of my people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Does Jesus Christ reign over you? It might be a foreign concept until you read Matthew 28 about verse 19. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all things that I have commanded you. See how that works? Jesus Christ is our authority. Do we submit to that authority? Do we see him as the one who reigns over us? When you look at the term Lord in the scriptures, right in the New Testament itself, the word Lord appears almost 700 times. So many times, in fact, you don't even see it after a while. Lord Jesus and Lord that and Lord Lord Lord. It's kind of like a title. But Lord in Greek simply means supreme in authority. If you start looking at what that word is associated with, you'll tend to find it's the Lord our God or our Lord Jesus Christ, our supreme authority. There is a group of individuals who does see Jesus and God as their supreme authority, and they call him that over and over and over throughout the scriptures. But it's usually along with the personal statement there of our or my. You see David, my Lord, my God. See, it's not the rest of the world right now. They reject that. In Matthew 7, verse 21, Jesus makes a distinction here about those who use that term, but it's not actually part of their mindset. Matthew chapter 7, verse 21. I want to be careful about using this word in a light way. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, notice, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. That's part two.

The kingdom of heaven, kingdom, the second definition of kingdom, is actually the territory. And here Jesus is talking about the second meaning of kingdom, entering the territory of the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven. You can't enter that unless you're a spirit being, like the wind blowing, invisible, etc. But he says, not everyone now who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, seeing the Father and Christ as our supreme authority and doing their will, subjecting our will to their will. And we know what their will is. Love God, your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor, yourself. Be loyal and very supportive of the Godhead, of the kingdom of God. Be part of that. Be joined to that. Be one with that. We see in the model prayer outline, he encouraged us to pray, our Father, our Father in heaven, your rulership come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. See, this begins to come into the mindset of the bride who now is joining with, casting off any other thoughts, any other affinities other than God and Christ.

Verse 22, Jesus says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we've done a whole bunch of stuff. We prophesied in your name about maybe the future kingdom, and we cast out demons in your name, and we did many wonders in your name. But notice here is a clear distinction between those and the first resurrection who have a desire for God to rule over them and a society who rejects the rulership of God and his laws.

Notice, verse 23, and then I will declare, he will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Lawlessness. Lawlessness is interesting in the Greek as well, means contempt for and violation of law. That's what lawlessness means. So in this case, we're talking about God's law, so it's a contempt for God's law and a violation for God's law. So individuals can call him Lord, Lord, but have a contempt for his laws and break his laws.

The Feast of Trumpets celebrates Jesus Christ coming to rule all nations and to change that hostility into submissiveness for blessings. God wants to bless everyone. The entire world who resisted him will be taught to have him as their king and their Lord and their master. But now you and I have the opportunity to have him as our king and our Lord and our master and our husband and be developing that relationship.

And our feast that we celebrate celebrates that ultimate rule that will expand to others at that time. Now is our time. Now is the time for the firstfruits represented through the Days of Unleavened Bread and the Harvest of Firstfruits Pentecost Festival to be raised in the first resurrection with Christ and bring in another crop.

Let's look at a couple of New Testament passages that speak to his ruling in our lives today. John 13, 13. Just briefly, I'll read it. You call me teacher and Lord, again, supreme authority. You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. So we have that relationship with him. If we want it, it's an invitation. We can have that relationship with him because he is. He is our teacher. He is our Lord. We are submissive to him. Remember, Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. Peace. He is the, you know, the King of Salem. Let's go to Colossians chapter three and verse 15, and let's interpret this scripture as seeing Jesus Christ as ruling in our life.

Colossians three, verse 15. It says, and let the peace of God. You have Jesus Christ, he's the Son of God. He's the Word of God, Revelation 19. He is peace. If you capitalize peace and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to who is the Greek pronoun here? It's a relative pronoun that I believe should be translated who. It looks that way in the Greek. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to who also you were called in one body, the body of Christ.

So this peace of God, Jesus Christ, can rule in our hearts. He, through God's Spirit in us, can actually rule in our hearts, to whom we are called in this one body. It's a great way of looking at that verse. In 1 Peter 4 and verse 17, we find that this is our time to be judged.

God shows us judgment there in Ezekiel in that passage, how he determines who is going to live and who's going to die. Well, this is your and my time now to be preparing. 1 Peter 4.17, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. So you and I are being assessed now. We're preparing. God is preparing. He is doing an analysis. He's selecting. Okay?

Time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? See how the gospel now, this message of the kingdom or the rule of God, the authority of God, and the invitation to join that? If you don't obey that gospel, if you don't repent, that's what he's saying, those who don't obey the gospel, what's going to happen to them?

We don't want to be part of that. We want to obey the gospel. Bathe in the statement. Repent. Keep God's laws. Be joined. Have that one relationship with God. When we do that, with Christ as our supreme authority, as our husband, then the default expectation God has for you is to be resurrected and welcomed into the wedding supper and then reign with Christ for a thousand years. Jesus is actively preparing something for you.

Let's go to John 14 and verse 2. John chapter 14 and verse 2. He says he's preparing. In my father's house are many mansions. That's an interesting word. Mansions. Kind of means what it says. Yes, it's rooms. In the father's house are many rooms. When you look up that word in the Greek, it's really nice rooms. I mean, we're talking posh, if you want to use that sailing term. Really high class. I mean, God makes things really great. And so the translation into mansions is kind of very fitting in a way. They're not independent, but in my father's house are many really, really nice stuff.

If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus Christ right now is preparing a place for you. And that place maybe gets upgraded from time to time. Oh look, this person is growing a bit. I think they need to be on floor 14 with a bigger window. I'm just, you know, using some human terminology here.

But he's going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you from many rooms, I will come again. And here's where it really gets interesting. I will come again and receive you to myself. What he's talking about here is as a husband, he's going to come and collect his bride and receive her to himself that where I am, there you may be also. This is quite a reception. This is quite an event.

Your wedding reception, your wedding supper.

God and Christ are preparing for your arrival into the kingdom of heaven. As the first created humans to come into their kind. In James chapter 1 and verse 18, James chapter 1 and verse 18, we find that God has a kind, just like Adam walked around and named all the animals, but there is nothing of his kind.

Up until now, there's been nothing on earth of the God kind, and none except God and Christ. But in James chapter 1 and verse 18, it says, of his own will, he brought us forth. That's a birthing term, as it were. He brought us forth by the word of truth. Capitalize the W, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the word, the word of God. He is truth. He said, I am the way, I am the truth. And we were brought forth by him, by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Divine God beings. That's an event that's just going to shake the kingdom of heaven. I mean, I say shake. We already read about how they're cheering and the loud voices and all, but wow, what an event for the first time ever in all of time for there to be multiple beings of the God kind. Now is your opportunity in mind to prepare for this millennial reign of Christ as the bride.

They're going to convert together. Christ and the bride will convert humanity into people and nations that are welcoming God, welcoming his laws, and welcoming his rule, and that are highly then blessed miraculously. What a wonderful time that will be.

But before it can happen, sadly, the ruler of this earth is going to attempt to remain in power. And when he fails at that, he's going to try to annihilate all life on earth.

But Jesus wants you to strive to be deemed just and righteous among this generation. Let's go to Zephaniah chapter 2 and verse 3 and find a little bit of encouraging words here. Zephaniah chapter 2 and verse 3.

Seek. Seek the supreme authority. Seek the Lord, all unique of the earth, who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. And notice what happens in this terrible, deadly time ahead. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.

A little encouragement there for this group who is going to be living at the end time, through the Great Tribulation period, that if you are really, truly of the God-kind mentally and ready to be changed, it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.

So not only will the wise virgins be ready for the seventh trumpet, but they also may be sheltered during the Great Tribulation, and that's a message for another time. In conclusion, I'd like to just give you excerpts from three scriptures. Revelation chapter 11 and verse 15.

Then the seventh angel sounded. He sounded his trumpet, seventh trumpet, and they were loud voices in heaven saying, the rulership of this world has become our Lord's, Christ's, and he shall reign forever and ever. Now that's a dramatic moment, and I've looked at that scripture through several commentaries and some Greek translations, and that seems to be what it's saying. The rulership of this world has become our Lord's, Christ's, and he shall reign forever and ever. And simultaneously, something else occurs in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. 1 Corinthians 15, 52. It says, at the last or the seventh trumpet, the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. God is preparing you to enter the kingdom of heaven, and you are also preparing to give God your constant support, your loyalty, your reverence, your obedience, and obeying all of his commandments while loving him with all your heart. And that really cements in him your place in his kingdom. When we do that, brethren, then we can expect Jesus Christ to say to you, as it says, as he says in Matthew 24 and verse 34, these words, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.