Preparing the Bride

Most of you haven't seen a copy of this. This brochure was sent out to all of the elders. One of the things that we ballot on every year, the General Conference of Elders, has to approve the Strategic Plan, Operation Plan, and Budget. I got to thinking afterwards if next week I'm going to look around and see if there are a couple extra copies, which we'll bring back and maybe put them up for display. There is a centerfold. Now, the centerfold in this is a little different than the centerfold in some magazines. It gives the vision, mission, overall guiding principles, the positioning statements, goals, objectives, critical factors, and finally, strategies. There's another section that's not in here.

That's Action Plans. That's where the administration is involved. We have a strategy. They come up with an action plan to carry it out. And then every quarter, the Council gets an update on where we stand with that.

The reason why I mention this is because one of the main factors in this is the vision statement. I like to read the vision statement for the United Church of God because I think it's the vision statement that God has. And I'll show you why I say that. The vision of the Church derives its inspiration and motivation from God's purpose for humanity, bringing many sons to glory. So God's purpose for putting us here is so that we can be brought to glory.

When it says sons, of course that's more of a generic term referring to men and women. God's desires that all be saved and live eternally in His kingdom and in His family. Assisting in the fulfillment of that vision is the mission of the Church. So we believe that we as a Church have the responsibility of assisting in that. Now when we say assisting, the mission of the Church has to do with preaching the Gospel, making disciples, and caring for those disciples. And so consequently, if we are involved in doing that, and again this was the theme this year in the general conference of preaching the Gospel, going to the world with the Gospel, that it's not just a local thing, it's not colloquial, but it's going out.

Our Church seal has the dual purpose of preaching the Gospel, preparing a people. And so we find that that's the vision that we believe should motivate us, drive us, guide everything that we do. Do we have a vision of what God is doing, where He's going, what He's up to? Let's turn back in our Bibles to Matthew 25, verse 34.

I want you to notice that from the very beginning God has had a plan, God has had a purpose. It says, Then the King shall say to those on his right hand, Come you, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.

So I want you to notice there is a kingdom, that kingdom is being prepared, but notice prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So from the very foundation, God has been working on a kingdom for His people.

The word prepared means to make ready, now we have a wedding coming up here in a week, and guess what the bride and her family, her you know her especially her mother and all of those who are associated with her will be doing. They will be getting ready. There's a lot of work, 101,001 details that have to be done, you're leading up to an event like this, and so you get ready, you prepare, and that's what this Greek word means.

It means to make necessary preparation, get everything ready. When Christ returns to the earth, everything will be ready for the bride. Actually, Thayer's lexicon says that this word comes from the Oriental custom of sending on before the king people to level the road and to get it ready for the king. The king would be maybe riding in a coach, drawn by some horses, and there might be potholes in the road, there might be limbs, there could be rocks, you know it's not very pleasant. So they go along and they level the road, so when the king comes through, he doesn't feel anything that would bring any displeasure.

So you find that God has been preparing the way. The word kingdom means royalty here, rule or realm, refers to kingship, dominion, power, royal power, and so God has been preparing and getting this kingdom ready for his sons and his daughters. In Hebrews chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, Hebrews 2.5, we find that God describes this, and that from the very beginning, God has planned all of this. You see, again, we all realize that we need to be reminded so that we never forget that God Almighty, in the very fact that he's created the physical universe, that that physical universe was created so that man could be created, so that God could begin this plan that he's working out.

In verse 5, it says, "...where he has not put the world to come, of which we speak in subjection to angels." So in the millennium, white throne judgment, and the new heavens and the new earth, angels will not be in charge. The family of God will be in charge.

We will have the responsibility. Right now, God has given to the angels vast authority, responsibility, and we know that their responsibility is to help us. Notice in chapter 1, verse 14, talking about angels. Well, back up to verse 13. It says, "...to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies, your footstool?

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" God has created the angels for a purpose, and their purpose is, they're unseen.

We don't see them, but they're there to minister, to serve, and to help all who have been called to salvation. And we have really no idea in the many different ways that they help. One way they help us is they protect us. How many times has your life been spared?

You don't know. I think I knowingly can count several times that I was almost involved in a severe wreck, but somehow it didn't occur. And you have God who intervenes, or he may send an angel there to help us. But in the world tomorrow, God is going to subject that world to his family. And so we go on to read here in verse 6.

We're physical. Angels are spirit beings. They dwell in the spirit realm. They're powerful beings. We're human. We dwell here on the earth, and we have trouble ruling over ourselves. We don't have very much power in all of that at this time.

So we were made a little lower than the angels. And you've crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands. In Genesis 1 and 2, you find God gave man dominion over all the earth and over all the animals of the earth. And you have put all things in subjection under his feet.

So there's nothing that God is not going to put onto the feet of man. For that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not see all things put under him. Right now that hasn't happened. Now he goes on to say, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels. For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone.

So Christ was made God in the flesh. He walked. He was a human being. So in that sense, he was a little lower than the angels who were still spirit beings. But in verse 10 it says, for it was fitting for him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory.

So God's purpose is to bring many sons to glory. So God created man, put him on this earth with that potential that all things would be subject to him. Christ came. He became physical. He died for the sins of mankind. Why is all of this? Why has it all taken place? So that God can bring many sons to glory. That's the vision statement that we have. And it's based upon the Scripture. You'll notice here to make the captain of their salvation perfect or mature through suffering. That helps to explain why you and I suffer, why we go through trials, why we have tests, why the road isn't always easy.

No one has flattened the road in front of us. As we travel down life's road, we hit speed bumps. We hit potholes. There are rocks, limbs. There are all kinds of things that we have to be confronted with. And God has promised that through these we will be perfected. So God's purpose for man and God's vision is he wants to bring the human race into his family, into his kingdom. Notice a foundational principle back here in Ephesians 1 and verse 22.

Ephesians 1 and verse 22. This is something we all know, but it's something we need to be reminded of. He has put all things under his feet, talking about Christ. Now remember back here in Hebrews chapter 2, it says that all things would be subject to man. Well, here you find all things are under his feet, and he gave him to be the head over all things to the church. So Jesus Christ is responsible for the church. You and I fall directly under his supervision. He is the head. If anybody asks you who's the head of the church, we should all in unison say Jesus Christ, not a human being, but Jesus the Christ.

Which is his body, talking about the church, where his body, he's the head, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Do you understand what verse 23 is talking about? The fullness of him who fills all in all. Jesus Christ is responsible for the perfecting of the church, the completion of character within us, the development of God's mind, heart, spirit, desire, passion, zeal, drive, all of that within us.

And he will accomplish it. He is preparing the church. He has the responsibility to look after the body of Christ. Now, has he gone to sleep? Has he wandered away? Has he stepped aside from his duties? Does he care for us? Is Jesus Christ, at this moment, intimately involved with his church? When I say church, you are a member of the church if you have God's spirit.

That's what makes us a member of his church. Let me read this out of a New Living Translation, beginning in verse 22. It says, God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him the head over all things for the benefit of the church, for our good. The church is his body. It is made full and complete by Christ. So you and I are completed, perfected. The Bible says that we are to go on to perfection.

We are to mature. We are to grow up. So it is made full by Christ who fills all things everywhere with himself. So Jesus Christ, through his spirit, fills the church. When you look at us, Galatians 2.20 says that Christ lives in us. He lives in us the gifts that we have as a church, the gifts we have individually, the blessings that God gives us, the character that we are developing. All of this comes through Christ.

Anything that is accomplished spiritually is accomplished through him. So Jesus Christ is the active head of the church. He leads the church. He guides the church. So what is he doing?

What has he been doing for the last 1900-plus years? Well, let's take a look at that because I think we can look historically. We can also look presently at what Christ is doing. In Matthew 16, 18, Matthew 16, verse 18, you'll notice Christ speaking to his disciples, but specifically to Peter.

I also say to you that you're Peter. In the Greek, the word is petro, which is a little rock, a little pebble. On this rock, Petra, this huge crag of rock, I will build my church.

The church is built on Jesus Christ. He's the rock. Notice, the gates of Hades are held the grave. The gates of the grave shall not prevail against it.

Christ has absolutely promised that the church will never die out. So one of the things that Jesus Christ has been doing all these many centuries is preserving his church. He has kept the church alive. There have been times that it's been very small. There have been times when it's been much bigger. But he has never allowed the church to die out.

He has preserved the church. We may be scattered. In 1995, we all know that it was like a bomb going off. The church was scattered. Any of you ever shot a shotgun? You know, where you're out hunting or just shoot a shell? You can take a high-powered rifle, .30-06-270, shoot, and you shoot at a target.

You're sighting your gun in and there's a little hole out there. It's just a little hole. You take a shotgun and shoot the same distance. The further the shot goes, the more it spreads. It becomes scattered. When you're trying to shoot birds, something flying, you want a big scattered shot. Well, that's exactly what's happened to the church. The church has been scattered, just like a shotgun shell. We've been scattered all over the place. And yet, Christ said that the church would never die out. Satan would not destroy it. The Roman Empire would not destroy it.

The beast would not destroy it. The false prophet would not destroy it. It will always be there. Matthew 28 and verse 18. We have the promise here, Matthew 28, 18, from Christ as to what He will do for us.

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Now, when you realize Christ has all authority, who has any authority greater than He? Well, of course, the Father does. But other than that, no one else in the universe has greater authority.

He's the head of the church. He's the one who is there, who has been given the job to perfect us. And He will do that. Now He says, Go therefore, make disciples, go to all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Okay, we are living in the end of the age right now. We're very close to the end time. We don't know how many years we have left, but we're certainly, I think, within striking distance. You start counting 6,000 years, and there's not much more room or tolerance for another 50 years or 100 years to go by.

He has promised that He would always be with us, and that He has all authority. So who is going to stop Him from being with us? Who's going to get in His way? Who will frustrate Him? Who will stop our head from guiding and leading us and being with us? Nobody, because He is absolutely promised.

In fact, in Hebrews 13.5, we read, "...let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you." So He has promised to never leave us, never forsake us. As another translation says, "...I will never, never let go of your hand." Remember as a little child, if you were outside in the dark, and you were scared, your dad came along and held your hand. You're not scared of anything. That's my dad.

He'll protect me. Well, this is the analogy that's being drawn here. I'll never let go of your hand, Christ said. It doesn't matter if we think we're drowning, you know, we're whatever the problem. He says, I won't let go. I've got you. And so He will not let go of your hand. I will never, never forsake you. Human beings may forsake us. They may turn their back on us.

They may disappoint us. But God never will. And so Jesus Christ has been involved in preserving His church. And He's told us in the Bible what He was going to do. And He has carried that out. Another thing that He has done is back here in 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2, beginning in verse 1.

Not only has He been busy preserving the church, but in order to preserve the church, He has also preserved the right teachings, the proper doctrines of the church. In verse 1, Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or trouble, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as from us as though the day of Christ had come.

The other Christ has already come back. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first. I say there's been a falling away in the end time from the truth, from the right way. And the man of sin is revealed, the Son of Perdition. Well, He hasn't been revealed yet. We may know the office, but we don't know which individual is going to sit in that office.

The man of sin. In verse 9, it says, The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, sighings, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth. Why are you sitting here today? Hopefully, it's because you love the truth. You love God's law. How love I lie law. We sing that. We appreciate God's law, His way of life, His calling. So many left, and they said that God's way was a burden.

It was a trial. They couldn't live that way. They looked on it as something that bogged them down. And so, therefore, they went off to something that they thought was better. Many who are scattered today, scattered all over the place even, who tried to remain faithful, have no one to evaluate their doctrines, their beliefs. And I believe that's one of the strong points, one of the strongest points we have in the United. We have a system.

We have a process on which doctrine is changed. Any new teaching is introduced, and it cannot be done by a person, a board, or a group. It has to be done by the majority. We must be willing to submit any new idea to the scrutiny of the Church where it has to be approved. And so, Christ has been responsible for making sure that the truth has been handed down and preserved from one generation to the next generation so that His people continue on.

Another thing that Christ has been doing is working with the Church so that we can have proper relationships with one another. I remember back in 1996, the Council of Elders came out with a statement that we have not always treated one another in a godly manner. That was sort of bander to brow. Everybody said, yeah, that's good. Great. We've solved our problems. Well, that hasn't solved our problems.

It may have articulated what we need to do, but to do it is a different thing. One of the hardest things for a Christian to do is to maintain the proper relationship with everyone within the family. Siblings growing up at times don't always get along. Maybe they'll argue with one another. You find sometimes even couples don't necessarily get along. In the Church, there are times when it's difficult. We're family. Here we are. You can say we're one big family. Yet there can be misunderstandings.

Things can be said. There can be hurt feelings. We tend to go off into cliques if we're not careful. We become clique-ish. We have our own little group. We don't always handle our relationship with one another in a right way. I think God is showing us that this is something that is of paramount importance within the Church to get us ready.

If He is responsible for getting us ready to be the bride, and all of us comprise the bride, we've got to get along. We have to be able to work with one another. How we treat one another is of paramount importance to God. We can identify the problem. We need to put it into practice.

We need the application. So I think that Jesus Christ has been very much involved in looking down. He wants to see a bride who agrees with Him. You don't want to marry a bride who is arguing with you, and at odds with you. The ultimate thing is that we have to come to be in agreement with Him. Another thing that has been emphasized in the Church of late is Christ-centered servant leadership.

We have had and taught servant leadership that the very basis of how we serve one another should be based upon humility, on the attitude of being a servant. That in order for a person to grow, that we have to develop and grow and mature in this. Notice what Matthew 12 and verse 15 says about Christ. Matthew 12, beginning here in verse 15. It says, When Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there, and great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

And yet He warned them not to make Him known that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the Proct, saying, Notice, You and I, even though we are friends of God, as I covered the last time I spoke, and we have this intimate relationship, the Bible also uses the analogy that we are to be servants. We're to serve. We're to have the proper motivation, proper motives for serving. You see, a lot of times we serve for the wrong reason. We can have Pharisee, or cult, serving.

You remember the Pharisees served because they wanted to be recognized. They would go along, and maybe they'd want to contribute to a poor person, and they'd go, Rudy, tut-tut, and they'd blow a horn, or toot their whistle, and their body would look around, and they'd drop their coin in. Their body would applaud, and, you know, boy, there goes a righteous man, there goes a wonderful individual.

And they knew they did their good deed. Sometimes we serve out of competition. I remember one of the first visits I ever... actually it wasn't a visit, it was a counseling. My senior year at Ambassador College, those of us who had gone out into the field during the summer of the junior year were able to assist ministers at the Feast of Tabernacles.

There were two men, both were deacons. Both had been ordained... well, back up. Both had been baptized about the same time. Both had been ordained as deacons about the same time. And one was about to be ordained as an elder, and the other was not.

And the one who was not felt slighted, he was hurt. How can you ordain him and not ordain me? You know, we've tracked right along together. This isn't fair. He eventually left the church over this, because it was... you know, he was competitive, both of them. Well, he's a deacon, I'm a deacon. He's going to be an elder, I should be an elder. And it didn't work that way. And he left. So sometimes people can do things because they're competing with someone else. Or you can just get on the bandwagon. Everybody's doing it. You should do it. Get on the bandwagon, and people serve for that. Sometimes people are shamed into serving. You know, you're not serving, you're shamed, and you feel, oh yeah, I should do it. So you do it.

People do it for show. Congratulations. There are many reasons why people do what they do. Why did Jesus Christ serve? Well, he served because he was a servant. Remember, I've given a sermon on what does it mean to be a servant? And you and I are servants. It's not just something that we put on. We are to be that way. It is a be-verb. We are that way. Or shouldn't be that way. It should be a part of our nature of what we are, that we love people, and that we want to serve. We want to jump in and help wherever we can. So Jesus Christ, in preparing his bride for the future, wants a bride who is going to be willing to serve. He wants a bride who will teach the right values, who will teach the truth, the right doctrine. He wants a bride who will be involved in the marriage, who will be involved with the family.

In Acts 13, verse 35, we read here about David. Acts 13, verse 35.

This is a section that talks about Christ and David. It says, therefore he also says in another psalm, You will not allow your holy ones to see corruption. So Jesus Christ did not decay. He was resurrected before that happened. For David, after he had served his own generation, or as it says in the margin, in his own generation, by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption. God's servants and every generation that God has called them have been given a job to do. They've been given a responsibility to do, and it's not always the same job.

Noah. What was Noah's job? Well, he built an ark. You and I have not been called to build an ark, but I'm aware of it. Figuratively, we might be doing that, but he was also a preacher of righteousness. When people come and ask Noah, Nuddy Noah, why are you building this ark out here in the middle of the field? He would tell them, and he would preach to them. God's going to destroy the earth. If you want to be saved, you better repent. This is the only thing that will save you. They didn't believe him. Abraham was called. Why was Abraham called? What did Abraham do during his day? He was being trained and prepared as the father of the faithful. Abraham was one who was given an opportunity to have one of the highest positions in the kingdom of God.

He had to prove to God that he would put him first above everything. He set that example. God used Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt. You and I are not being used to bring Israel out of Egypt, but he was. Joshua brought Israel into the Promised Land. That was the job he had. David was king over all Israel. He was trained and prepared for that job. The prophets came along, and each one of them had a specific duty. Some of them went to the nations, the Gentiles. Others went to Israel. Some went to Judah. But each one of them was commissioned by God and given a responsibility and told what to do by God. The apostles were trained by Christ. What was their job? Go to all the world. They went to the known, civilized world. From Egypt to Europe to India, we have records of where the apostles went. They covered that whole area. What we read is that Paul performed miracles and how God opened doors for him. The other apostles did likewise, and God backed them just as much.

So you find that they had been given that responsibility. What is our job? What have we been called to do? David served in his own generation. How are we serving in our generation? Well, we get one clue back here in Matthew 24, verse 14, at the end time. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as witness to all nations, and then the end will come. So you'll find that the church, especially at the end time, has been given a job of taking the gospel to the world. Partially as a witness, partially as a warning, partially as a message of hope about the future. This is what Jesus Christ is doing today in his church. And we have a responsibility to carry that load. How do we do that? Our prayers, our tithes, our offerings, our involvement. That never goes away. God has called us today to be involved in that way.

So this is what Christ is doing. He is preparing a bride, and he's been working with that bride. Now, what are we being prepared to do? What are we getting ready for? Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22. Ephesians 5, verse 22. Notice he gives the example of marriage here, and shows why God ordained the marriage state. If you ask yourself, why did God create us so that we get married? Wouldn't it have been just as good to let people run around and not get married?

And just do their own thing that way? Well, God didn't think so. And he created the institution of marriage. Because there is something profound that we are supposed to learn from marriage. Faithfulness is one. You learn to be faithful to one individual. To learn how to treat a person correctly. But let's notice in verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husband as to the Lord. So we find that God is given in marriage different responsibilities. The man is responsible to be the leader of the family. Now today is sad to say, in many cases, men are not the leaders.

They don't take that responsibility. They don't exercise that duty, that right or prerogative. Many times they abuse or misuse their office. But a wife is to submit to her husband. For as the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church. So Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. And therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husband in everything. So marriage is there to teach us what the relationship between Christ and the church, and the relationship between us and Christ, should be teaching us what marriage should be like.

We learn going both ways. And then, says husbands, love your wife, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Men, that is a depth of love that most of us struggle to meet. To love our wives like Christ loved the church, because he was willing to give his life completely for the church. That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the Word.

The church today is the bride. What is God doing with the church? Well, hold your place here and back in Genesis 2. This is where I was this morning and decided I better change gears. Genesis 2.18. When God created the man first, God said, It's not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper. King James version says, help me. This is a helper comparable to him. I'm going to make a helper that's comparable.

Comparable implies that one who looks like him, monkeys don't look like us. Some people may think so, but they don't. Dogs, cats, giraffes, beavers, lions, whatever it might be. They don't look like us. God was going to create one who would be comparable to him. What did God do? He took a rib, some flesh, and he made a woman. Adam said in verse 23, This is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh, She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.

She literally was part of him because God took that and he created and made a woman. A woman was created to be a helper to her husband, to help, to assist. The bride is being created as a helper to Jesus Christ. One of the functions, one of the things that God is doing, is showing us how we can assist our husband. Marriage teaches that lesson. I think women learn that lesson much more deeply many times than men because they have to be subject to their husbands.

Notice in verse 27, verse 28, Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church. You see, God nourishes us. He feeds us. He takes care of us. He cherishes us. When you cherish something, it's something that you honor. You give great respect to. When Adam looked around, he couldn't find anybody who was compatible with him. When Jesus Christ looks around, guess what? He looks at the human race. He doesn't find anybody compatible with him either.

So he is developing a bride that is compatible. He's looking for a wife who has same attitude, same approach, same way of thinking, same values, same standards. He's looking for one of his own kind. That's the God kind. He's looking for one who can be a member of his family because he's not going to marry someone of a lesser kind. Just as Adam was not compatible of someone of a lesser kind, but of the woman who was compatible, comparable to him. So it is with the creation that God is involved with. Verse 30, For we are members of his body and of his flesh and of his bones.

Now, what does that mean? Well, to create one of his own kind, God created the woman out of Adam. So Adam had one of his own kind. God is creating the church, hell, not out of flesh and blood, but out of his spirit. You and I have part of the Spirit of God placed within us. It's in our mind. It's in our thinking. It directs us. It guides us. It leads us. It teaches us. It gives us power. It gives us strength. It gives us motivation. And so God's Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, dwells in us.

And we become joined to God. Just like Adam and Eve were joined together, became one flesh. We become joined to God. The word join means glued to. We become glued to God. And God has said that his part in the marriage is that he will never leave us. I have to worry about him walking out of the door and leaving us.

He will always be there. He will always take care of us. He will always provide for us. He will always perform his duty. We have to be able and willing to perform our duty. So we become joined to him.

And we are to become perfect in one, as John 17 brings out. So we are being prepared to be a helper, one who can be compatible to our husband. Now in John 14, we find something else that we're being prepared for. What is Jesus Christ going to do when he comes to this earth? The Bible says he's going to come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's going to come back to rule the nations, rule over the earth, to administer the government of God on this earth. And he is preparing his bride to rule with him. He's preparing her for positions of rulership and responsibility.

Now Christ said, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house. The word house here means an inhabited edifice, a dwelling, the family, the property, the wealth, the goods. It can refer to everything that the person possesses.

But he says in my father's house, there are many mansions. The word mansions means abodes, positions, abiding places, in other words, responsibilities or places to dwell. And he says, I go to prepare a place for you. Now we've already read that the Father is preparing a kingdom for us. And here we find that Jesus Christ is going to prepare a place. The word place means any space marked off, an inhabited space as a city. Metaphorically, the condition or station held by one in the company or assembly, opportunity, power, occasion for acting. Christ is helping to prepare us to get us ready. The Father is preparing us for positions in his family. He has the master plan. He knows what is going on. God the Father knows exactly how many positions, responsibilities and duties are needed. He knows that he needs X number of rulers over cities, X number of rulers over nations, X number of rulers who might be responsible for the economy, some responsible for agriculture, others responsible for housing, whatever it might be. He absolutely knows what it's going to take to set the government of God up and to get everything kick-started in the world tomorrow. He is visibly preparing that bride. He's preparing a bride to give to his son, who will assist Jesus Christ when he comes back. In Matthew 20, Matthew 20, we find Mrs. Zebedee came to Jesus Christ.

I'm sure that she had discussed this with her sons, because she came to him with her sons kneeling down asking something. He said, okay, what do you want? She said, well, grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand, the other on your left in the kingdom.

The audacity of them. Do I ask for that? One on the right, one on the left. He said to them, verse 23, you will indeed drink my cup, be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father. The Father is preparing positions. He is preparing individuals to sit in those positions. Who will sit on Christ's right hand? Doesn't say. But the two sons' obsebity will not, probably. If I had to guess, I would guess Abraham, because Abraham is called the Father of the faithful.

That he might sit there, or Isaac, or Jacob. We won't know until we're in the kingdom.

Now notice in verse 24, when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.

Why? Because the two brothers beat them to the punch. That's why they would have liked to have sat on his right hand and left hand.

Notice what Jesus said. He used this for a teaching.

Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over the Lamb, yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.

So if you want to be great, if you want to be Uno number one, start serving.

Become a slave to God's people. Help whenever you can, because that's how God looks at greatness.

And so these positions are positions that God will give.

And God is in the process of developing a family. He is in the process of developing a bride. He's going to hand out positions in the world tomorrow. Maybe most of those positions will be, you're ruling over five cities. We're going to have X number of cities, and I'm going to put you over this number, you over that number, according to how much you grow and overcome in your works today.

In Hebrews chapter 11, beginning in verse 9, we find that this is what the Father has been doing. The Father is the busiest being in the universe. I think sometimes we think that because He's certain certain duties, responsibilities over to Christ, maybe He's not doing anything. But He's very busy, because He's responsible for everything.

We find here, about Abraham, by faith He dwelt in the land of promises in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob. He bears with him the same promise, for He waited for the city, which has foundation, whose builder and maker is God. God is preparing a city called the New Jerusalem. It is a wedding gift for the Son and His bride to dwell in. Let's notice as we go on over here, verse 13. It says, That country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return, but now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly. Now it says, country could be heavenly kingdom, heavenly realm, or whatever. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. God has prepared a city, and He's in the process of preparing that. Now, is God going to wake up one morning and say, Uh-oh, the city is too small? I call too many. I don't have enough rooms. I don't have enough suites. We're going to have to double up. I'm going to have to put two people in this suite over here. No, He knows exactly how many will be there. He's in the process of doing that.

So both the Father and Jesus Christ have a hand in preparing the church and getting us ready. You know, when the New Jerusalem comes down, Revelation 21, verses 1 and 2, it says, She comes down as a bride prepared. New Jerusalem is like a bride prepared.

In Revelation 19, Revelation 19, verse 7, we read this about the bride. This is talking about us. I will guarantee you that Jesus Christ will finish the work that God has given Him to do when He came to the earth. He said, I have finished the work that you gave Me to do. Now, the Father has given Him additional work to do to help prepare the bride. And the Father is working on that. Notice in verse 7, So the bride, the church, will be ready. And to her it was granted to be a raid in fine linen clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And He said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper. The Father and Jesus Christ are helping the church to get ready for the kingdom of God. They are being prepared. They have the overall big picture. They have the master plan. They have the vision. They are in the process of bringing many sons to glory. And so they're like a painter who has a painting or he sees the landscape out there. He knows what he's going to paint. You can look over his shoulder and there's a dab of paint here and a dab there. And you wonder, what in the world is he painting? Well, when he's through, here's this beautiful landscape that has been painted and all the details. And so it is with God. God has the master plan. He's going to bring He's going to give everyone a chance to be in His kingdom. He does it in a proper order and He's working with us. And so you find that God will accomplish what He has set out to do. God will do His part. He's promised that. You and I need to make sure that we do our part. We have a responsibility. You'll find that not all are ready for the wedding. The bride will be, but not all who could have been at that wedding will be ready. That's something we'll address at some future time.

You'll find, brethren, that we have, as a church, a vision statement. We have a mission statement. We have a seal. All of these clearly articulate what we are about, what we should be about. That we are to be about our Father's business today.

We should not fail to see how God is preparing the church, how He's working with each one of us individually. When we go through the trials, the tests, the problems, the heartaches, the difficulties that we go through, none of these things are in isolation. None of them just sort of happen. They're there for our perfection. They're there for our good.

Jesus Christ and the Father are doing their part in helping us to get ready.

God is giving us direction. God has the vision. He has the big picture. He sees what we lack yet. You and I don't always know what we lack. We see some things, but God sees in total.

God has been working out His plan from the very foundation of the world.

He will continue to work that plan out. He's about to pull the trigger.

He's about ready to say, I've caught the gun. I'm going to shoot the trigger. The resurrection is going to take place.

This family I've been developing, this bride I've been preparing, is going to be ready.

When that day comes, we want to be there. We want to be ready. We want to be prepared.

Let's not forget what God is doing, because truly He will bring it about.