Suffer the Children

My beloved wife told me a couple of days ago, she said, Darling, when you hear our song on the eighth day, pay particular attention to the last note. And she was exactly right. What an awesome job and inspiring chorale piece. Thank you so much, everyone, for your service. Thank you, Kelly Hand, and all of those who are members of the chorale this year, for your great service. Well, welcome to the eighth day festival, the morning service. Or, for those of us who are older than dirt, also referred to by us as the last great day.

Today, I would like to specifically discuss the largest group of individuals who I believe will be resurrected on the eighth day as this feast day pictures and represents. Now, we also know that the second resurrection, we also know it as the great white throne judgment, but before I discuss this special group a little bit later, we need to have some context and background regarding this day. And we've covered this before in the feast, but it is so important and essential, I think, we need to cover it again. We're going to go to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 22, if you will kindly turn there with me.

Genesis chapter 3 and verse 22. There's more to this scripture than first meets the eye. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us to no good and evil. And now lest he put out his hand and also take you the tree of life and eat and live forever and therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

And he drove out the man and he placed caribum in the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every which way to guard the way to the tree of life. Adam and Eve lived a charmed life in the Garden of Eden. They were protected by God from disease, from thorns and thistles and all the things that we experience in this physical world because they rejected the paradise of God. God would not allow Adam and Eve to partake of the tree of life because eternal life without a genuine purpose or without living in harmony with God's law would have only resulted in perpetual misery and sorrow for their descendants.

So they sinned and this sin resulted in them cutting themselves off from their creator and from achieving abundant personal fulfillment. God would allow Adam, Eve and their descendants many generations of self-rule. Humanity would create their own governments, our own political systems.

We would choose our own leaders because we think we're smarter than God. We would create our own cultures, our own languages, our own religions, our own human philosophies to try to explain the purpose of life. Humanity would create its own way of life because they were driven from their intended home which was the Garden of Eden. Mankind's home from the beginning was intended to be in the paradise or the kingdom of God. Humanity has been trying to find its way home ever since, but like spoiled children, we've been trying to find perfection our own way without God's loving hand and guidance.

We have, through the process of trial and error, been trying to find our own way home. And this eighth day pictures the final phrase of God's homecoming plan for all of humankind because his goal is that everyone return home, and that is the paradise of God and the kingdom of God. So what's our culture been like? Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 17. What has our ways brought us as a people, as nations?

Isaiah was inspired to write in chapter 26 and verse 17, as a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs when she draws near to the time of her delivery so have we been in your sight, O Lord. We create so much self-misery and problems for our cultures and the peoples of this earth. It's as if we are giving labor. But here's what it says the kind of labor we have. Verse 18, we have been with child, we have been in pain, we have, as it were, brought forth wind, flashulence.

We haven't brought out anything in this world as positive or good. We basically have brought forth wind. And I understand that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is good and evil mixed, and within that are some good things that humanity has done. But it's usually one step forward and two steps backward in the ways that we achieve things because we're trying to do it our way. Continuing, we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Your dead shall live together with my dead body. They shall arise, says the prophet Isaiah, awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust. For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. We won't turn to Romans chapter 8 and verse 22, but Paul uses a very similar analogy here. He says, the creation labors and groans with birth pangs. We create so much misery, so much strife in our world, and we just don't seem to get it because we have rejected our Father and our God. The aspirations and personal desires of billions of people cry out from the dust, and most died thinking their hopes and dreams were forever lost.

Ezekiel chapter 37 verse 11, it says, our hope is lost. We ourselves are cut off. But God never forgot his children. God knows everyone by their names. God remembers every individual hope, every goal, every desire that everyone has ever had.

Revelation chapter 20 in verse 12 reminds us, and I saw the dead, small and great standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works. And in that great white throne, and in that great white throne judgment, God is going to say, you're all guilty.

Looking into the book, you've sinned. You're all guilty. But because of my great love and mercy, I'm going to allow you to have an opportunity to know me. I'm not going to condemn you. I'm going to allow you to have that opportunity to develop a relationship with me. Again, it says, in the dead, we're judged according to their works. Revelation chapter 20 verse 12. So the major emphasis of this holy day is not on you or me. A thousand years earlier, when Jesus Christ returns, we will have already been transformed from corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal at the return of Jesus, and be serving in the family of God for quite a long time by the time this resurrection occurs. This emphasis is on the multiple billions who have never known God and were never called, and they'll be given the first opportunity for salvation. And after the thousand-year millennium has ended, this enormous resurrection will occur. And all those throughout human history who never experienced a relationship with God will be raised from the dead to live again. At this great white throne judgment, everyone will be judged guilty of sin. But again, God in His great mercy will offer them their first chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. They will then live out their physical lives for a time to develop a relationship with God and to cultivate righteous character.

As Ezekiel also said in Ezekiel chapter 37, and I'll just read this because we've turned there earlier in the feast, Thus says the Lord, God, behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves. Throughout human history, the overwhelming majority of people created in the image of God, like Adam and Eve, have lived and died unfulfilled and lacking knowledge of the Creator God. Most were in human cultures that didn't know or understand the concept of a single, all-powerful God. Many Asiatic cultures don't even grasp the concept of a single all-powerful God. Most people who have ever lived never heard of the Old Testament or New Testament, never even heard a single word of the Gospel. Throughout history, they were born, they lived, they loved, they did physical things, and then they died. They had unfulfilled skills and talents, personal goals, hopes, dreams. For those who lived in civilizations with a written language, we may find a brief acknowledgment that they once existed. But here's the truth. For 99% of those who ever lived, there is no record of their existence. There is no tombstone, there is no proof, except maybe through the DNA their descendants have carried to this day.

No memory of them. It's said that in three generations, everyone who knew us will die, and we will totally be forgotten. Who and what they were is known only to God, billions and billions of individuals. Today, I would like to focus on a group of individuals to be resurrected, who I believe will be the single largest group in this second resurrection. They will have one important thing in common. No matter where on earth they die, they are humanity's children.

Many of us have children and grandchildren here at the feast, and within our own families, my wife and I, we have a couple of our youngest grandchildren with us, all eight of our grandchildren here, but a couple of the younger ones are here. So we know how precious children are. The title of this sermon is Suffer the Children, and we're going to see kind of a play on words that ever since Adam and Eve left the garden. If there's one group of people who have truly suffered, it's been the children of humanity. Psalm, chapter 127, verse 3. Psalm, chapter 127, verse 3. It says, Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. God intended each generation to have children born into that generation, new and fresh beings, to be the seeds of the very next generation. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. Now some of us have smaller quivers than other people. They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Anciently, fathers of large families had a lot of prestige in community affairs, and they would go to the city gate, and their opinion was valued because they had a lot of children. Again, that was part of the ancient Hebrew culture. From the very beginning, children were intended to be an essential part of every generation. They were born as the harvest of each succeeding human era in history.

Within each human generation, they are always the future. They come into this world as a blank slate, ready to absorb whatever they are provided by their parents and their culture, good or bad. As I said, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is good and evil mixed. As small children, they have the traits of trust, teachability, humility, and innocence that the scriptures praise. God has always had a special favor towards children. Let's go to Matthew chapter 18, beginning in verse 1. If you'll turn there with me.

Matthew chapter 18, verse 1.

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? They're thinking about themselves, of course, which is sadly a carnal human trait. Then Jesus called a little child to them and set him in the midst of them and said, assuredly I say unto you, unless you are converted and become as little children, unless you develop the traits of a little child, that trait of trust, of teachability, instead of thinking you know it all, of humility instead of arrogance, innocence instead of having evil thoughts in your heart and mind, until you do those things and are converted, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as his little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. To how much Jesus loves children, he uses them as a model to teach us jaded adults the qualities that are needed to be converted and to be able to serve in the kingdom of God. In context, Jesus is talking about a very young child where children put their complete trust in their parents. They simply and faithfully believe what they are told.

They have a humility that is fostered by a deep thirst for knowledge. They're always asking questions, desiring to learn everything they can about the world around them.

Jesus demonstrates his special love and favor for small children. We'll get back to this a little bit later. Sadly, after Adam and Eve rebelled and left the Garden of Eden, a large degree of protection was removed from them and their descendants. Outside of the tranquility of that garden, outside of that garden, we lost the protection of God. We experienced diseases as humanity. We experienced weather crisis. We experienced all the things that nature, if I can use that phrase, provides this world because we lost that protection from God. This is what is sometimes called the age of man. This has been a period of many thousands of years when we have created our own governments and cultures and languages, our own leaders, religions, human philosophies, and mostly they have failed miserably and left a legacy of hunger and suffering and greed. And now, in the 21st century, we are on the cusp of destroying ourselves. The war in Ukraine could go badly. Russia could use nuclear weapons.

Most analysts believe that Iran may have some crude nuclear weapons already, and it's been known for a long time that Israel, though they won't admit it or say anything, has nuclear weapons. So that also could turn into a very tragic situation.

In this age of man, children have been the most vulnerable to the harsh conditions of this physical world. From before their birth through their adolescence, children have immature and weakened immune systems. That's why they always seem to get ear infections. If you've had small children, they're always struggling with some type of cold respiratory infection. Ear infection is because their immune system has not grown strong enough to be able to resist the diseases that exist in this world today. I'd like to give you some examples, some quick examples, and I know some of these are statistics, and I hope they're not dry, but I want to cement home a point before we get to the prophecies, before we get to what Jesus taught us about how we should love little children, and before we get to some of the prophets. Historically, the death of children during birth and infancy has been astronomical. According to ourworldindata.org, an article, Child Mortality in the Past, this is a British research foundation, from the period of 1750 to 1780, they analyzed all the births in these communities. In Sweden, records indicate that 40% of children died before the age of 15. 45% in France, in Bavaria, Germany, 50% of all children died. The best available evidence suggests that in ancient Rome, 50% of all children died. Rome in Egypt, 57%. And not just in Europe, in medieval Japan, medieval Japan, 48% died. And in the Wari civilization in ancient Peru, 53% died as children. So what's the point of their study? It's that all over the earth, everywhere, until about the 20th century, 50% of all children died virtually everywhere on the planet before they finished their teens. Let's go back to the 20th century, when some of us were coming of age. Most children in the world died at extremely high rates well into the 20th century. Even as recently as 1950, a time that some of our older brethren have lived through, and they might well remember, one in four children died globally in 1950. More recently, during our lifetimes, the world achieved an entirely unprecedented improvement in child expectancy in our older baby boom generation, those of us who are alive from about 1950 until today. A brief slice of human history. The global death rate of children declined from about 25% or one out of four to 4%. Now, we might think, wow, that's a significant improvement. Wait till we take a look at some of the statistics of the 4%.

And, adultily, by the way, if you walk through an older cemetery, and you can see how many children's grave markers are there, you don't need statistics to know that if you walk through a cemetery in the 1800s, early 1900s, the large number of children that died, sometimes a small little headstone, sometimes something the size of a brick, but it's amazing how many children died during that time.

We in the western world live in a protective bubble. We are blessed, incredibly, with medical care and with many blessings, so I'd like to give some quick statistics of what the rest of the world's children experience every day and why we need Jesus Christ to return to this earth and establish the kingdom of God, and why that kingdom, after it's lasted a thousand years, has prepared to allow for the resurrection of billions upon billions of children who lived throughout history. According to Wikipedia, there are 66 different childhood diseases that can be contracted or become symptomatic before the age of 18. According to UNICEF, which is a part of the United Nations data, UNICEF.org, here's what it says, I'm going to give you some of their statistics. These are the 4%. Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death among children under 5, killing approximately 700,000 every year. Now, many of us get pneumonia. I've had pneumonia like four times the last year. We go and we get some antibiotics, right? And we do just fine.

But 700,000 children die every year in many parts of the world. A child dies from pneumonia every minute, even though the disease is entirely preventable and can be easily managed with antibiotics. What else does this 4% experience? In 2019, diarrhea killed approximately 480,000 young children across the globe, accounting for 9% of all deaths among children under age 5. These children could have been saved, according to UNICEF, by simple effective interventions such as oral rehydration, salt, and zinc. But many of them live in nations that have been created by men, and the nations are either poor and can't provide these needed medical services for these children, or they can't provide the hospitals, the doctors, many things that are necessary to stop these 480,000 children from dying every year. Malaria is the world's third most deadly disease for young children between the ages of one month and five years following pneumonia and diarrhea. In 2001, get this figure, this includes adults, children, and adults. In 2021, there were 247 million malaria cases globally that led to 619,000 deaths in total. Of these deaths, 77% of the 619,000 were children under the age of five. Do you see how difficult it is for humanity's children to live, to fulfill abundant lives, to not live in fear of death, premature death, poverty, malnutrition, the effects of war, terrible diseases and scourges upon them? Tuberculosis is a disease that the world knows how to prevent and treat, according to UNICEF. Yet over 600 children under the age of 15 die from it every day. 600 children a day die from tuberculosis. Nearly a quarter million each year. Most of these deaths occur among children under the age of five. And these are just some of the challenges children have faced during this age of man. If they're fortunate enough to survive these things, like early childhood disease or sometimes birth itself, which can be very risky, they must survive dysfunctional human cultures, like wars and personal abuse.

Here's the United Nations World Food Program. This is wfpusa.org, articles, 10 facts, child hunger. A child dies every 10 seconds from malnutrition. They starve to death.

It's a tragic truth that more than 3 million children die from hunger every year.

Nearly half of all deaths among children under age 5 are caused by hunger.

And if all of that isn't bad enough, traditionally, anciently, and today, children are the victims of cultural abuse. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 2 and see anciently a cultural abuse that took place. And then we'll talk about a cultural abuse that takes place today. Leviticus chapter 20 verse 2.

Say to the Israelites any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech, that he was a Canaanite deity. Some scholars think the very name Molech means child sacrifice. It wasn't necessarily a title. It meant what you do with this deity, which was sacrifice your children, put them through the fire. Any of his children to Molech may be put to death.

The people of the community are to stone him. I will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from his people by giving his children to Molech. He has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. And if the people of the community close their eyes when a man gives one of his children to Molech, and they shall fail to put him to death, I will set my face against that man and his family, and I will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech. Very prevalent in ancient times, did you know that Molech was one of the gods Solomon, began to worship later in life due to the influence of his foreign wives?

Later, the evil king Manasseh offered his own son as a sacrifice. That's in 2 Kings chapter 21 and verse 6, as did King Ahaz, 2nd Corinthians, chapter 28 verses 1 through 4. As it was mentioned earlier in the face, the people of Judah participated in this crime against their own children, and this sin was so detestable that God said in Jeremiah chapter 32 and 25, 32-35, God said it didn't even come to my mind that you would be that degenerate.

I hadn't even thought that you were that bad. Child sacrifice was one of the reasons for the Babylonian captivity, and again that's Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 35, and also wasn't just in Israel. The ancient Aztecs and Incas and other peoples in South and Central America practiced child sacrifice, the same for the Druids of Europe. Now, do we think that we're so advanced today that we no longer practice these ancient barbaric models of child sacrifice? Are you kidding me? We commit sacrifice, child sacrifice, on steroids in the 20 and 21st centuries.

We call it abortion, and instead of a sacrifice to a pagan god made of wood or stone, we sacrifice our children on the altar of materialism and convenience. The world's children have been sacrificed at the hands of medical practitioners who commit abortion for the gods of immorality and human destruction, and even genocide, because a large percentage of the children aborted are from our more minorities in this country. We are committing genocide against some of the minorities in the United States, because in some cases the number of abortions for them far exceeds their part of the population.

Recently, one political party, this election, said this. It said guns are the number one killer of children. Anybody hear that? Did anybody hear that? It said recently guns are the number one killer of children. It didn't last very long, because as soon as some facts came out, they stopped talking about it. Unfortunately, like most things that come out of a politician's mouth, it's untrue. I've learned in my lifetime you can only trust a politician when they sleep, and that's unless they talk in their sleep. Then you can't trust them then either. My personal philosophy is, deer ticks, dog ticks, politics, they're all parasites. According to the CDC Centers for Disease Control, this is cdc.org, it said the number of firearm-related deaths for children aged zero through 17 was 2,281, while for motor vehicle deaths for children the same ages was 2,500 and three, a few hundred more. That's from wonder.cdc.org.

Yet, vehicle deaths in 2020 were not the number one killer of our children.

According to the CDC Centers for Disease Control and published on their statistics, cdc.org, in the United States, a total of 620,327 abortions occurred in 2020 alone, and were reported to the CDC from 49 reporting areas. Now, that's a low number because not every reporting area reported their statistics to the CDC. And this number here, this staggering number in the United States of 620,327, is small compared to the world total. According to the World Health Organization, who.int.com, quote, around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide every year globally. Six out of ten, 61 percent of all unintended pregnancies, and three out of ten of all pregnancies end in induced abortion. Shame on us. Shame on us as a people for condemning our children to these kinds of practices. Even in my native state of Ohio recently, the Ohio Department of Health released the 2023 Ohio-induced abortion report, and it's located on odh.ohio.gov, revealing an increase in the number of abortions since the 2022 report. It's going up. And if you thought overturning Roe versus Wade was going to reduce the number of abortions in the United States, I've got some terrible news for you. It's actually going up. A total of 22,000 abortions were reported in 2023, up from 18,488 in 2022. Abortions increased approximately 40 percent among minors.

The truth is that in the 21st century, most modern human cultures are at war with our children.

Humanity is at war with its children. If they're fortunate enough to survive birth without being aborted, then they're confronted with many different childhood diseases. If they survive these numerous diseases, many face starvation. In some areas of the world, they're often exploited in the child labor, sex trafficking. They are usually the first victims of war and civil unrest.

In the Western world, our children are now being indoctrinated into believing they may not be the gender that they were born with. And their minds are filled with secular perversions and distortions. In these cases, the same profession medical practitioners, same profession that promotes abortion, is ready to mutilate any confused children with the disfigurement of their young bodies that will last a lifetime. Many more are injected with the use of puberty blockers to treat the growing number of so-called transgender children. It's also considered, these puberty blockers, by the way, off-label and off-label use of the medication that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for that use. But it doesn't stop the medical practitioners for continuing to do it. According to a database released by Do No Harm, that's DoNoHarmMedicine.org, an advocacy group of medical professionals, U.S. hospitals performed at least 5,747 gender disfiguring surgeries on minors between 2019 and 2023, just four years. The data also shows that 13,994 American children received other transgender treatments, such as puberty blocking and opposite sex hormones. In those four years, that's what's happened. And most of the children receiving such procedures were girls between the ages of 12 and 17. The database indicates—and here's the real reason it happens—medical practitioners made more than $119 million from the procedure. There's money to be had there.

Drugs for the drug company—there's money to be had there. These surgeries are expensive. There's money to be made in these surgeries. The reality is that it's very dangerous and often debilitating to even be born a young child during this age of man. And for the majority of that time, 50 percent of young children would die as small children and never even reach their teenage years.

The good news is that Jesus Christ has a different plan and approach on how His children—humanity's children—will be treated in the world tomorrow and immediately following the resurrection on the eighth day. Let's go to John 4 and verse 46. If you'll turn there with me. John 4 and verse 46.

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine, and there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. And when he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea to Galilee, he went to him and implored him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. His son was in bed. He was back in bed. And the father says, Please, please come with me and heal my son who's on his deathbed. And Jesus said to him, Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. The nobleman said to him, Sir, come down before my child dies. And Jesus is going to test him here. He's going to test his faith. And Jesus said to him, Go your way. Your son lives. I don't need to go and visit your son.

I have spoken it, and it's done. Your son lives. So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, Saying, Your son lives. Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. So the father knew that it was the same hour in which Jesus said to him, Your son lives. And he himself believed in his whole household.

The Bible records that many parents, knowing Jesus' love for children and his ability to perform miracles, brought their ailing children to him to be healed, or sometimes pleaded with Christ for their sick child who was still at home. These healings included curing diseases, as mentioned in John 4, verse 46, and casting out demons. Mark 7, verse 24.

Let's now go to Luke 8 and see again how much Jesus loves children, how much he wants to heal them, he wants them to live, he wants them to reach their fullest potential, he wants them to enjoy the innocence of childhood, of growing up in a world free from fear and disease and abuse and manipulation. Luke chapter 8 and verse 40. So it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. So he was a deeply religious man and very influential. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house. For he had an only daughter about 12 years of age, and she was dying. But he went and the multitudes thronged him. So Jesus Christ was approached by the man naturally concerned about his daughter who's dying and desperate for Christ to come as quickly as possible to his home. But Jesus is delayed by the crowd and the personal request of a humble suffering woman who touched him and spoke with him. And these delayed him from getting to that home. So we're going to pick it up here in verse 49. While he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher. There's no reason for him to come now. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, do not be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well. And when he had come into the house, he permitted no one to go in except three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. And they all wept and mourned for her. But he said, Jesus said, do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him. Talk about a faith buster.

You're trying to have faith and demonstrate faith, and the inference here is his own disciples ridiculed him, because in verse 54, he tells everyone to get out of the room. Mom, dad, disciples, all of you out of here, knowing that she was dead. They ridiculed him, knowing that she was dead. But he put them all outside, took her by the hand, and called, saying, little girl, arise. Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And he commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. A time will come, brethren, when billions of little children, all forgotten, totally forgotten. Some of them maybe didn't have a name. Maybe they didn't live more than a couple of days after their birth and don't even have a name. But God knows who they are. They're sleeping in the dust, and they will be resurrected, and their spirit too will return, just like this girl.

They too shall live again and be given the opportunity to live a full life and have a personal relationship with God and ultimately salvation. Let's go to Mark chapter 10 verse 13. Jesus' approach towards children is far different than what we see in our world today.

Ever hear, the expression, children should be seen and not heard. Ever hear, little children referred to as rugrats?

We kind of have a dismissive attitude towards children, but Jesus didn't.

Mark chapter 10 and verse 13. And they brought little children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. This rebuking by the disciples is a metaphor of humanity's disregard for little children. They were like everyone else. Carnal, selfish, thinking these children were a bother, they should be seen and not heard.

But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God, and assuredly I say unto you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, trusting, innocent, humble, just simply doing what dad tells him to do, what mom tells him to do.

This is the example that Jesus Christ gives for all of us. Assuredly, I say unto you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. And he took them up in his arms and put his hands on them, touched them.

Not at arm's length, but he touched them, and he blessed them. Jesus Christ loves children. When he walked on earth, he touched them.

He reviewed others who tried to stop them from communicating with the Christ.

The Lord blessed them and used them as an example of conversion.

This word, blessed, in English, is from the Greek root word eulogio, and it means to praise and celebrate and consecrate the thing or person being blessed. How much does Jesus Christ love little children? He wanted to celebrate their presence. He wanted to praise their existence and desire to come to him to be touched. He wanted them to be consecrated to set apart with special protection, since they were little children and so vulnerable.

This is the same king who will be ruling over the earth in the kingdom of God.

Let's read some prophecies together, and perhaps these prophecies will have a bit greater meaning for us today. We read them all the time, but after we've seen what the four percent still experience today, and after we understand it throughout history into the 20th century, in an average of 50 percent of all children died young, never even matured into adulthood, perhaps these prophecies can have a little richer meaning for us today. Mark, I'm sorry, Isaiah 54 and verse 11. Isaiah 54 and verse 11. O, you afflicted one. Ancient Israel rebelled against God, and God scattered them. He punished them into captivity, and they went around the world and lived in various different cultures. God drove them out of his sight, tossed with tempest, and not comforted. Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems. Sounds like something you would find in the New Jerusalem, doesn't it? And lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.

There will come a time when all children shall be taught the values of God. They will enjoy their youth and their innocence and play in peace. There will be no more children living in fear of war, or of death and childbirth, or of dying of childhood diseases. No more evil individuals who want to use them for profit or to destroy their childhood. This is the kingdom that we long for. Let's take a look now at Zechariah chapter 10 and verse 7. Zechariah chapter 10 and verse 7.

Another prophecy.

Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as if with wine.

Yes, their children shall see it and be glad. Their heart shall rejoice as the Lord, in the Lord. I will whistle for them and gather them. I will redeem them, and they shall increase as they once increased. I will sow them among the peoples, and they will remember me in far countries. God is going to bring them back, and they shall live together with their children, and they shall return.

Children will rejoice in God's presence, and their young lives will be filled with gladness, unlike what so many experience in our world today. No longer will children be the victims of abuse. No longer will children starve for the lack of food, or have their growth permanently stunted due to malnutrition, as occurs each and every day in this world.

I'm going to read some scriptures. There's no reason for you to turn there. I think we've been at Isaiah chapter 11 a couple of times, so I'll just read it. 11 verse 6. The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. No more fear, just a childhood of innocence.

Verse 8. The nursing child will play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. Then they shall not hurt, nor destroy it all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Looking forward to a time when no longer shall children live in this dangerous world in the age of man. Dangerous animals and reptiles will have their predatory nature changed. Children will be able to explore the world in joyful innocence without fear, or without evil consequences of just being a child, just trying to have fun and play, and being a child like God intended them to be. Isaiah 65 and verse 19.

We have said for many years that this could possibly indicate the lifespan of those who will live during the millennium and those who are resurrected on the eighth day. I can't necessarily prove that, but there certainly is an indication that that may be so.

Isaiah 65 and verse 19. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people.

The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

No more shall an infant from there live but a few days.

No more 50 percent of children dying young and having their young lives snuffed out prematurely.

Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days, for the child shall live 100 years old, but the sinner being 100 years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vigor and eat their fruit. And one reason that this could be talking about the lifespan of those who are resurrected as physical beings is that they're living in a perfect world. How much time do you need? Let me tell you, if you live in the kingdom of God for 100 years and you don't get it, and you don't repent of your sins, and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're toast. 100 years is a long time, especially when you're living in a perfect world or near perfect world. Verse 22, my people says we'll be as the days of a tree from shauncy.com. There's an article, shuncy.com, an article, how long can a date palm last? It says, quote, on an average, a date palm can live for around 100 years.

So there may be something to that. In the kingdom of God, everyone will live to a ripe old age as a physical being.

Everyone will have the opportunity to reach their full God-given potential. No longer shall any child be aborted before birth. No longer shall a child die due to pneumonia or diarrhea or leukemia. No longer will any child be starved to death or suffer from malnutrition. No longer will any child die from the effects of war. No longer will any child permanently be scarred from transgender surgeries or be pumped up with opposite-sex hormones. No longer will any child be denied the opportunity to enjoy the simplicity of childhood and all of the joys and discovery that come with being a child.

These are some of the things that this eighth day pictures for us today. And who will be there to ensure that every child resurrected has the full opportunity to reach their greatest potential? Who's going to be there to love them, to nurture them, to follow the example of Jesus Christ, to care for them, to protect them? You are, as a king or priest or mentor, as a coach or teacher in the world tomorrow. You will have the opportunity to be a refuge for these children, a protector, a provider for these forgotten billions of children who died before their lives barely got started. God has called you out of this world to prepare you to be this kind of a leader. Billions of people are counting on us to be prepared to serve them and love them and touch them and bless them just like Jesus Christ did. Allow everything that you have learned at this feast to be an opportunity to teach you how to serve these billions of children and others and others who are not children. Allow every opportunity we've had during this feast. Allow us to prepare for those who will come up to life on this eighth day. And finally, let's keep our hands on the plow and looking forward. Too many people look backward.

Constantly looking backward is failure reinforcement therapy. Don't live in the past. You can't change it. Unfortunately, it's done, and we can't do anything about it. But how we act today and how we keep our hands on the plow will certainly affect tomorrow and our role in the kingdom of God. Success lies in doing the right things day by day. Good work done little by little becomes great work. Like the kingdom of God, your success is being built brick by brick. Let the Master Potter finish his work in you. And let's all of us look forward to a time when we can be there for those little children, the greatest number of people who will be resurrected on the eighth day.

I wish all of you a wonderful holy day and come back for the second service.