The Promise

The sermon title is The Promise. The Promise. What's the biggest promise you ever made in your life? You remember it? Or perhaps you remember the biggest promise someone made to you and they broke that promise.

Anybody remember those? I can remember. It seems that it's always easier to remember a broken promise than a kept one. Broken promises we've all lived with. A promise, as it was a hundred years ago in this country, a promise was a handshake.

And there were not really that many contracts. Everything, if you agreed to something, you agreed for your wage, you agreed for a service to be done, everything was done with a handshake. Not that way today, is it? A lot has changed over the hundred years. Marriage. You make a promise, right? You make a promise. We have a service, a marriage service in the Church of God that we have based on an agreement between God and His people, Jesus Christ in His bride, and that's what this service reflects.

I want to read from that my little black book that has the service in it. I want to read what we read every time someone is married. And it's actually been thought we go by this service that's brought to us by the Church, has been done for quite a few decades, these very same words, and someone asks, well, wait a minute, I want to write my own vows, which we in the Church of God do not do. If you want to add something or you have a prayer or something like that, we have we have allowed some of that, but we do we write these vows because we're asking God to ordain this marriage.

So I want to read in case you haven't been through a ceremony in quite a few years, but I want you to listen to what we ask. It says to you then, Adam, faithfully promise and covenant with God in the presence of these witnesses to take Eve to be your lawful, not awful, lawful wedded wife in sickness and in health, in good times and in difficult times, for as long as you both shall live to love her, to cherish her, to honor her, and provide for her.

That is what the groom is asked to do, because that the groom, as we view things from the Bible, the groom pictures Jesus Christ. And so he does provide for us. And he's made a promise for us as God has made that promise through his son. And then it says to you, Eve, faithfully promise, there's a promise, and a covenant. A covenant is a legal agreement. Any of you lives in a subdivision or even condos, there are covenants, legal descriptions saying what you can and cannot do.

You faithfully promise, Eve, and covenant with God in the presence of these witnesses to take, Adam, to be your lawful, wedded husband in sickness and in health, in good times and in difficult times. As for as long as you both shall live to love him, to cherish him, to honor him, and as God has ordained, submit yourself to him. Because we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ. That's the plan. That's why this is based on Scripture. But as you can see, with over 50% of the marriages today failing in the United States, some have forgotten the promise. Some have forgotten the covenant that we made with God and our mates. And too many people have forgotten the covenant, the promise that we made with God at our baptism, that we renew that covenant, that promise every year at Passover, that we are the bride of Christ.

Perhaps you remember a job that you worked at where a promise was made to you, but it was not kept. I bet, I don't bet, I'm going to say that almost everyone in here has had a job where something's promised, right? Yes. And either your boss, supervisor, or the owner of the company didn't keep up his end of the bargain or fulfill the promise. Kind of like what we heard in a sermonette. It was very good. Thank you. I remember 1987, two years after getting married, living in a little one-bedroom apartment as you were about to finish school, living on my salary alone.

And we always wanted to go somewhere really nice for the feast, if we could afford it, but we were living limited at that time, very limited. But the owner of my company in which I worked for, and he had always kept his promises to me, promised that that year, 1987, because we'd had a good year in my position in the company, I'd moved up. And so he said, I want to do something extra. So next year, instead of sending the other people who were at the company that he had sent the year before and the year before, he was going to send me a fee on a paid trip from one of the companies that we bought from.

And I was all excited. And so I asked him as we were progressing in the year where, and he said, well, this year, they're going to let you go to one or two or three places. They're just going to have the air flight paid for, and they will then rent a hotel for you. And so they gave the three places, and one of them was Hawaii. We'd always wanted to go to Hawaii.

That was so important to Mary and I. We always thought on TV, thought this would be great. And so we actually then, we could pick any time, so we said, let's go to the Feast of Tabernacles. What greater thing, we get the flight because we couldn't afford it on my salary. So we went ahead and booked. And what happens? He comes to me after we had already made reservations and said, we've postponed the trip this year. You are not going to take it. We decided that we got a better benefit by I could get a discount from the company instead of having the trips. So I'll see, maybe I'll be able to make a little sum up to you just before you go.

Never happened. But that sticks with you, doesn't it? Something like that because we didn't know how in the world we just scraped by. We got, I think, our little place we got in a farm. You couldn't even turn around. It was the size of this. It was a little hotel. But we enjoyed it. We made the most of it. Perhaps it was a parent who made a promise to you as a child.

Or perhaps as a young person, you made a promise to your parents that you didn't keep. We remember those. Well, I bring this up because God, in his book, made promises to Abram, made promises to Elijah, made promises to Moses, and he makes promises to us in this book. And you know, the great thing about it is I'd like you to turn to Hebrews 6. Hebrews 6, and I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. Hebrews 6 and verse 17.

Hebrews 6 and verse 17. Say, God also bound himself with an oath so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.

Isn't that incredible? It's impossible for God to lie. So this is a promise. Those promises that God has made to us, they will be kept. We can guarantee it because he cannot lie. You see, God has promised his followers eternal life if you follow him. It's just like I read in the vows. You promise to submit and be the kind of bride, and he promises to provide and to take care and love and cherish.

It's a wonderful picture. Sometimes we lose vision. Sometimes we forget that we made the vow, and he made the vow and the promise. Romans 6, 23, a memory verse, right? For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is what? Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

He has promised us eternal life. Like you turn, I'm going to read from the New King James, 1 John 5. You will turn to 1 John 5 with me today. 1 John 5, verse 11 through 13. 1 John 5, 11. And this is a testimony God has. This is a testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 3 promise eternal life will live forever.

And that's why he also brings up in Revelation 22, verse 5. And they, what? They, those who have promised shall live forever and ever and ever and ever. He's promised eternal life for his bride, for us. He's made us a promise that if we follow his way of life, if we're a good mate, if I can use that term, if we are a good mate to Jesus Christ, he will give us eternal life. But let's be honest. Let's be honest. When we say eternal life, can we truly understand it? Now, do you understand what eternal life means? That you will live forever and ever and ever and ever, and it goes on. Most of us cannot. Can you really grasp a hundred years? My grandmother may eclipse a hundred years of age in the next two years. Do you know many people? You know anybody alive today that's a hundred years old? Anybody? Yes. Okay. Can you really picture a hundred years? You living a hundred years? I'm 55 years. Yes. Can you grasp a thousand years? The millennium is going to last a thousand years. Can you really grasp it?

How about a million years? I mean, we just really can't get it. It's interesting that when it talks about a hundred years, which most of us have known somebody or we think of someone, and so they actually did a percentage and said if you were born in the 1930s, you have a 3.4% chance of living to a hundred. If you're born in the 1940s, you have a 7.5% chance of living to be a hundred years of age. If you're born in the 1950s, you have a 10.4% chance of living to be a hundred. As you can see, it's going up. So we get there. As they preserve us, it doesn't really say the quality of life we may live. In the 1960s, you have a 13% chance of living to a hundred. And in the 1970s, if you were born then, you have a 15.9% chance. Those born in the 1980s, a 19.1% chance. And those who are born today, year 2015, have a 25% chance of living to be a hundred. I bring this up just so our minds will think on time, because we're creatures of time. But we don't really grasp time as God grasped it, because our limited minds cannot grasp eternity, can we? We think eternity is waiting on a stoplight to change.

The finite has a hard time comprehending the infinite. And so I want to look at today, perhaps, a clearer vision instead of putting time. And I want to tie this to the promise. So let's look at God's Word and see what we shall be. What we shall be and be like for eternity, for a hundred years, for a thousand years, for a million years. Let's see what we shall be from the Scriptures, because a lot of times, if I see something visually or can picture it I can understand it a lot better than if somebody just tells me about it.

So the promise is, the portion we're going to look at today, because eternal life is part of the promise. But the part we're going to look at today, the promise is the glorification of the children of God. The glorification of the children of God. The promise is God's glory on us, with us, to be glorified forever. That's the promise. That's part of the promise. Read from the New Living Translation, 1 Peter, if you'll join me there. 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5.

And verse 10. It said, in his kindness, God called you to share, you get that word? That's a big word, to share in his eternal glory by the means of Christ Jesus. I doubt anyone in here doubts the glory of God.

And it says that in his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory. Are we grasping that picture?

Romans, back in Romans 5. Romans 5. And verse, well, let's start in 1. Verse 1, Therefore, since you have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. We understand that. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us to this place of undeserved privilege, where we now stand and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's, what? Glory. He's making it pretty crystal clear to us that we will share in his glory. 1 Thessalonians.

Just covering these because I want us to understand this picture that he's painting for us. 1 Thessalonians 2. And verse 12. As Paul is talking to the church of Thessalonica, he said, We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your life in a way that God would consider worthy, keeping up your part of the agreement, the promise, the marriage covenant we made with Christ. And then he says, For he called you to share in his kingdom and glory. Jump over to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 14. He said, He called you to salvation when we told you the good news or the gospel. Now you can share in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another promise. So I bring this up because glory is what we have here. Talking about the glory. But what is glory? Could you explain it? You have been promised God's glory, the glorification of the children of God. So I want to do that right now. There are multiple definitions of glory. I want to give you just a couple you can find in Webster's or you can find it online. Definition of glory. Public praise, honor, and fame. So that's what we will have. Okay? That's what we will have. When we have glory, public praise, honor, and fame. Is that not what God has? Jesus Christ? Well, He's cursed today in a lot of ways, but that's not how the kingdom is going to be. Public praise, honor, and fame. Praise of a God or goddess for great beauty and splendor. Hmm. And then another definition is height of achievement. The very apex of achievement.

The word glory in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew word kabod. K-A-B-O-D. K-A-B-I. And it means heavy in weight or importance. That's what it meant. Then you can see it all through the Old Testament. The glory of God. Well, it was something of importance. In the New Testament, we have the word dakadzo. D-O-X-A-Z-O. D-O-X-A-Z-O. Dakadzo. That's how it's pronounced. And it's a Greek word that conveys a sense of brilliance and radiance. Like being in a room totally dark and walking right out into the sunshine. It's almost just more than you can stand. It's like having to put your hands up. Walking out onto a white sand beach at noon with the sun. You need sunglasses.

It's kind of a description of this glory. And you are going to have it for keeping your promise. Well, like a scholar actually said, the glory is the manifest presence of God. Glory is the manifest presence of God. There's a Hebrew word that's not actually in the Bible, but it's used quite often. It's a Hebrew word called shekanah. Shekanah. And it actually is the word for glory. But it means God's visible presence. God's visible presence. Do you see where He is leading us? That we will have, we will share in God's glory, we will have the glory of God with us. So when people see us, they will realize they are in the presence of God. That's a big promise. That is a very, very big promise. God's presence. And we see it all through the Bible, right? We see where God showed up. In different ways, different times, in different forms, right? God's glory has been seen in the darkness.

Pillar of fire at night. I remember that one. The burning bush. In a windstorm. In an earthquake. A radiant light. A plethora of forms. Remember a wrestling being who needed to wrestle all night long? A priest, king, called Melchizedek.

A warrior standing before Joshua. As Joshua walks out and sees this being and says, friend or foe? He said, neither. I am the commander of the armies of the living God, who was actually God Himself, Jesus Christ, God of the Old Testament standing before him. So we have spirit glorified beings. That's what we're promised to be. Remember flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So when we are changed, and we'll go into that, when we're changed, we will actually be spirit glorified beings. That's not limited to any form. But can yet manifest themselves as physical, as you see many times in the Old Testament and even the New. When Jesus Christ came back, put your hand here. Feel this. Let me go through the wall. Whoops! I just appeared on the other side of the wall. Where did he come from? What is this? See, we will not have a physical body unless we want one.

We will be a spiritual body. We will be spirit as God is spirit, as Jesus Christ is spirit, who then we have the power to become anything, any form we want. Because of being glorified like God. I'd like you to turn now, as we take this journey to Exodus. I'll read from the new Living Translation. See, God had this plan, and he had to modify his plan a time or two, because his original bride didn't stay true to him. You can read about that in Exodus 19. He actually says there that he was... And I actually read, because you don't have to turn there, Exodus 19, verse 5, says, You will be my own special treasure among all people on earth, for all the earth belongs to me. All the earth belongs to him, but he chose them, especially just like I chose Mary. Not all the women in the world did I have, could I have? That's a fact. But this one I chose. Thankfully, she chose me. And so I said I would make her a special treasure. And then God said, and you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation. Exodus 19, verse 5. But I want to turn to Exodus 33, verse 18. Moses comes before God, is working with God, and trying to obey God, and he makes a request in chapter 33 of Exodus, in verse 18. Moses responds and says, then show me your glorious presence, because he just got done telling Moses, I like you, and you're special to me. We have a good and great relationship. He said, then let me see, show me your glorious presence. And verse 19, and the Lord replied, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name Yahweh before you, for I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. What's he saying? I have total control over everything. I'm God. I can do what I want to do, when I want to do it, how I want to do it. And no one can stop me. But you may not look directly at my face. Why? Because he cared about Moses. No one may see me and live. Why? Ask someone, if it was possible, ask a scientist if you can fly straight to the moon. Yes, but you can't fly straight to the sun. The moon is but a reflection of the sun at night. But the glory of God is so brilliant that it would blind you or burn you up. It's so bright. This is his glory, and that's why he cared about Moses, but he wanted Moses to see too, so maybe he could help paint that picture. And then, verse 21, the Lord continued, Look, stand near me on this rock, as my glorious presence passes by. I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I pass by. Why? So you didn't get burned up. You didn't get blinded. You didn't get blinded. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. Just a small vision as I'm moving away. But my face will not be seen.

That is what we will be. The glory of God that most people do not see. Like you turn to the book of Acts. The book of Acts. Chapter 6 is one of my favorite chapters when I see the deacon Stephen and everything he had done. I'll read that from the New King James.

Having to use other books now that my Bible is wearing out, my pages are so thin I can return them. Acts 6 and verse 15 as Stephen is before this council giving his testimony in verse 15. And all who sat in the council looked steadfastly at him saw his face as a face of an angel. As a face of an angel. So there was something different. It was like it was almost lit up. And what did he have a chance to do? Chapter 6, chapter 7, verse 55. As he is about to be stoned for what he had said. But in Acts 7 and verse 55, But he, who is this Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, aren't you looking forward to a time when you are full of the Holy Spirit? Gazed into the heavens and saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right hand, he was about to die. And God was going to let him see the glory. As he gave him his vision of what he will someday be. And he was just moments from his death.

Come to Hebrews 2, verse 10 says, One of the things that they must talk about that God may bring many sons to glory. Glory. See, it's his desire for to share, just like an inheritance. He says you're going to share all this. All that's mine will be yours too. It's your inheritance. He says that many times. He wants to also share that glory.

The glory that he has.

Like you turn to 1 John 3. 1 John 3. No matter how many times I read this verse, it still stands out. My mind is so powerful, I need to read it every day. 1 John 3 and verse 2, he said, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, when Jesus Christ returns to this earth, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We will be just like Jesus Christ. We will have the glory of Jesus Christ. We will have the glory of God. And we will see what we could not see now, his full glory, because it would blind us and kill us. But then we will not only be able to see it, we will be a part of it. We will be just like him. The promise from God is glorified spiritual bodies. Glorified spiritual body. An eternal glorified spiritual body. Because I've heard many people say, I remember my father saying the last year or two of his life, that, you know, he wasn't that crazy about living another 10 years, because his body was shutting down, and he's in bad shape, and older people have told me many times, I'm ready to leave, I can't even taste food anymore. All I'd feel is pain, I'd get up. But no one wants to live to be 150 years old.

Because these bodies shut down.

But when you are a spiritual body, no pain.

You don't feel anything but just power. You are so powerful. Anything you want to do. Godspeed. I'm going to Saturn to check out the rings. Oh yeah, that was nice, I'm back. Okay. Unlimited! In anything and everything that is beautiful and great. In the entire universe. Eternal glorified spiritual bodies. God is not the father of evolution. That's Darwin. There's no evolving, we just won't evolve someday into a spirit being. But the scripture tells us we will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. God will change us. It's known as the quickening. Theological terms. The quickening. It's that fast. So let's take a quick view as we go through a number of scriptures here, fairly fast. And I'll read most of these from the New Living Translation since it makes it clear. So I will be turning fairly fast. So if you just want to write these down and look them up later, that's okay. But these scriptures are so empowering to me. Like you turn to Philippians as we start.

Turn over to Philippians. Philippians 3.

And verse 20. Philippians 3.

And verse 20. He said, But we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eerily awaiting for Him to return as our Savior. Everybody can say amen to that one. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own. Definite proof of the promise. This incredible promise. Using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control. That's why He's given us just a little piece of that power today to use in our lives. See how we use it? Because that's what we will use for eternity and sharing. 1 Corinthians. We go to 1 Corinthians, most of the time, funerals. But I want to read something just a little bit different. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 40. As we talk about this glory, as I'm talking here about the promise, I'm just wanting us to write this down so that we grasp it and we can look whenever we get a little depressed, because we all have weeks where we're not really... Yeah? It's not been a good week. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 40. I read from the New Living Translation. He said, there are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and the stars each have another kind. And even the stars different from each other in their glory or their shining brightness, their radiance. It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. No more pain. No more aches. No more vision problems. They are buried in weakness. They will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. The Scripture tells us the first man, Adam, became a living person. But the last Adam, that is Christ, is a living, life-giving spirit. What comes first is the natural body. Then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like earthly man. And heavenly people are like heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. Ezekiel 1, chapter 1, chapter 1 of Ezekiel. Verse 26. He's given a vision, Ezekiel is of the heavenly realm.

And he's trying to describe it. And he says in verse 26 from the New Living Translation, above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazella, which is actually a stone. It's similar in description to a sapphire. Some Bibles actually have sapphire. So he actually sees it, the throne of God, he sees his beautiful throne, and it's this beautiful blue that's just spectacular to see. And on this throne, high above, was a figure who, appearance, resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like a gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. There's this red, there's this orange, yellow, gold, like you've seen in a fire. If you've ever, when I was a child, we'd have a fire, and sometimes you just want to sit and look at it. You would see all these different colors as it flickered. Mesmerizing. That's what this was. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. And when he saw this glory, he said, I fell on my face at the ground. It was such a spectacular sight. You think there's going to be any problem teaching somebody in the millennium in a glorified state?

When all you have to do is turn up the light, they're not listening to you, and all of a sudden they can't even see. Because you have turned up the glory, so they realize just who you are. And when you say, this is the way, walk you in it, and go, you know, I think I should. I think I should. Daniel 12. Has Daniel tried to move on forward? Daniel 12. Daniel 12, verse 2 said, as he was describing this thing at the end time, said, many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life, the first resurrection, some to shame, second resurrection, and some to everlasting disgrace. Resurrection with fire, we don't want to be a part of. Those who are wise will shine, what? As bright as the sky. And those who lead many to righteousness, why are you here? Being taught and trained to teach others is nice, not about yourself. You will shine like the stars, what? Forever. Forever. Mmm. Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verse 43. One verse. Christ gave here is this incredible verse. In Matthew 13, I read from the New King James, verse 43 said, then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. You will shine as the sun. So bright. That's how strong the radiance of your glory can be. That Christ isn't afraid to say that the righteous will shine forth. That bright. Revelation 21. So, we can wrap this up. Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Something takes place in the new heavens and the new earth. Now, I want you to understand why. In Revelation 21, verse 23. I'll start in verse 22. Verse 22. But I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it and the lamp is its light. No need. Why do you think he can send us all over the entire universe? As Romans 8 says, the whole universe is groaning, waiting for the revealing of the suns. When we would be glorified, we'd go anywhere in the universe and we are its light. And we can, we're like him, we can give life. It says we will be like him.

Finally, Matthew 17. Matthew 17, he needed to shine a little light on the subject, on the transfiguration. Matthew 17, verse 1, said, Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, brought them up on a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light, the glorified state that we will be in. This is what we will look like.

I hope I've perhaps given you scriptures and insight into the promise, the glorification of the sons of God, sons and daughters, as we will be glorified. There will be another, when we're changed in glorified state, there won't be male, there won't be female. We will be spirit, we will be like God, we will be gods, by God is God, except he will always be in authority, and we will always serve and be under him in Jesus Christ. Because we will live forever! The difference is they have always lived forever. We had a beginning, they never had a beginning. They have always existed, they always will, and we will, because we keep the promise, who will exist forever. I'll wrap this up, this visual sermon with two scriptures. 1 Corinthians 13. I'll read from the New Living Translation. 1 Corinthians 13. I hardly ever give this many scriptures, but I just want us to have them. There's so much in scripture, but here I just wanted people to see just what is in these scriptures. And how many there are, telling us what we will be.

1 Corinthians 13 and verse 9. It said, now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture. But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. Why? Because we're going to see, well, this is the future, well, we kind of see what this is going to be like. Why? Why is it useless? Because we will have the mind of God. We will be like God. We'll know everything. There won't be any questions. We have no questions. We know it all. God knows everything. We will be like Him. We will know everything. And then in verse 11, he said, when I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror. Right? We do. We're just kind of like, well, I think I see. I think I know. I think I know when Christ returns. I've read those. I kind of visualize it. No, we don't. We just see a small little portion of it. If we could see it, there wouldn't be a doubt in our minds we would get up every day, empowered, praying, thy kingdom come. Come on. Let's get this work done. But when we see anything, but then, as he talks about now, let me go back to verse 12. Now we see things imperfectly, like a puzzling reflection in a mirror. But then, when this change comes, we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete. But then I will know everything completely. Just as God knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 2, I usually quote this one, my favorite. You always use it at the Feast of Tabernacles. 1 Corinthians 2.9. I can say that off my head without a problem, but I want to go to New Living Translation and just read this verse. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. It says, That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. We have to be promise-keepers. We promised and we covenant. We made a covenant with God at our baptism. We renew that every year. He's made a promise to us, not only to live forever, but to be glorified like Him, to be like Him. The biggest promise of your life you made to God. And God made a promise to us. A promise from a Father who cannot lie. And not just a promise, brethren, but the promise of not only a lifetime, but for eternity. Next week, I go into the sermon, start a two-part series on the sovereignty of God, because I think we need to see and understand what we will sometimes, someday, be and understand what God is really like.