The Church at the End of the Age

Wow, that was great! Good afternoon to all of you. I bring you greetings from beautiful state of Texas, Louisiana, where we pastor three churches, East Texas, which is in Big Sandy, and Texarkana, Texas, and also Ruston, Louisiana. So, greetings from all of them. I also brought with me my song leader because speaking at the GCE is sort of like a smidgen about what Christ said at Gethsemane, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. And so I think we'll also be one of our prayer warriors closing in prayer. But thanks very much to the choir and also to Mr. Shoemaker. I wanted to mention this.

I taught the first class that was taught at ABC. I think the year was 2000, and Mr. Shoemaker was in that class. And so he has volunteered and served so much in directing the choir through the years. I think this is one of the more stellar performances this year. So congratulations to all of you. Perhaps you've seen Duck Dynasty on television.

I don't understand how it's successful, but it is. Well, there were these two duck hunters from Louisiana. Sort of like the Duck Dynasty people, but they were close friends, but yet they argued consistently over who had the best dogs. And in duck hunting, you have you knock the duck down and your dog dutifully retrieves the duck. So this one fella wanted to get one up on his friend, so he taught his dog to walk on water. So they went to duck hunting and dutifully his dog every time a duck would hit the water, would go and retrieve it.

So they came back to the truck and he was so teed up and thought his friend would be so impressed. And he said, do you notice anything different about my dog today? He said, yeah, he can't swim. So it depends on what you're looking for. Well, we've titled the sermon today, The Church of God at the End of the Age. Of course, we can only partially cover such a subject. So according to the scriptures, what will the Church of God be doing at the end of this current evil age?

In the fall of 1987, I received a call from the pastor general of the Worldwide Church of God. He said that he wanted me to immediately move to Pasadena to serve as Vice Chancellor of Ambassador College Pasadena and Big Sandy. And I protested saying, you are the Chancellor.

You already have a Deputy Chancellor and you're going to make me the Vice Chancellor of both campuses. He said something like, it can all work out. So I knew that I had no choice with the matter. So within four or five days, I was occupying an office on the fourth floor of the northwest corner of the Hall of Administration in Pasadena. Later, I was demoted to the third floor when I became President of both campuses.

It seems the Church Administration wanted to use that office complex for a conference room. About two weeks later, after five o'clock, most employees had gone home, I walked down the hallway to the Pastor General's office, stepped into the office of his assistant.

Within a few minutes, we were in an intense but somewhat collegial conversation as to whether or not we were the true Church of God. I was a bit shocked but totally, not totally surprised, that he was taking the position that we were not.

Who do we think we are? was one of these statements. I went home and told Wanda, my wife, about the conversation and said, we are in for some tough times. At that time, there were only a couple of rather minor splinters that had split off from the worldwide Church of God. And the most recent one of that day was weighing heavily on the minds of many. And a few days after that conversation with the Pastor General's assistant, I gave a Bible study on Friday night in the auditorium titled, The Last Battleground.

I did not immediately identify what I believed to be the last battleground. After some introductory remarks, I stated the final battleground. My friends will always be the truth of God, the Word of God. And I was so encouraged by Mr. Kubik's message with regard to the Word of God and training our ministers with regard to the Word of God. One of my favorite scriptures and bedrock scriptures is found in 1 Timothy 3, verse 15.

1 Timothy 3, 15. Paul writes, But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The Church of God will rise and fall on the truth. The truth is our most precious commodity. It is the pearl of great price. That is what we have to offer that no one else has the understanding of the great purpose and plan of God.

The Apostle Paul writes in John 17, 17, Sanctify them through your word. Your word is truth. And in John 6, verse 63, and here's one of the most important scriptures that you can have in your memory bank. I quote this scripture almost every week in sermons that I give. Jesus Christ speaking said, The flesh profits nothing.

It is the spirit that quickens, that makes alive. The words I speak, they are spirit and they are life. So the Word of God is equated with the Spirit of God. At dinner last evening, he was talking with one of the ministers, Mr. Beame, and it says, When you read the Word of God, it's like it almost jumps out at you and grabs hold of you.

You don't see it, but there's something about it. See, it is spirit and it is life. The Church of God is the first and greatest fortress of truth. We might say in this current evil age, it is the first and last fortress of truth.

We have been called to preach that truth and live that truth according to the Word of God. We have the answers to the questions of the ages, the greatest questions of the ages. Back in the early 70s, I taught a course at the college called Introduction to Western Thought. In that course, I had students write a term paper on the ten great questions of life. Some of the students that I meet even today, some 40 years later or so, still talk about that paper, how it helped to anchor them in the Word of God and when the troubles and trials did come upon the Church, many of them pulled out that paper and read it.

So, the truth of God, the great questions of life. We have the answers to the great questions of life. In recent times, I have distilled those ten questions. At ABC, sometimes, I hand out a handout that has, I think, 15 great questions of life. But seven of the great questions of life, and number one, is, does God exist?

In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6, another bedrock scripture that everyone should have memorized is Hebrews 11 verse 6. We call Hebrews 11 the faith chapter. In Hebrews 11 verse 6, the Apostle Paul writing once again says that, "...he who would come to God must first of all believe that he is." So, the first article of faith is to believe that God exists.

Then it says, "...and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." In teaching a lot of the classes in the past, we'd ask students, what is the greatest proof in your mind? Not necessarily what you've read in a philosophy book or a science book, but what is the greatest proof in your mind of the existence of God? But even when you weigh all of the philosophical theories or the scientific evidence, so called, you come down to my greatest proof is nothing else makes sense. Nothing else makes sense. You cannot account for the wonders of creation and all of the things that go with it and be an atheist.

Of course, Psalm 14.1 says, "...the fool has said in his heart, there is no God." So, the first article of faith, God exists. Of course, we have written books and articles through the decades with regard to proofs of God's existence. The second question is, who is God? Who is God? Here I'm going to read from Fundamentals of Belief. It's Fundamentals of Belief 1, and it is like our cornerstone bedrock of our beliefs to a great degree. And as I said, I am reading, quote, "...we believe in one God, the Father, eternally existing who is Spirit, a personal being of supreme intelligence, knowledge, love, justice, power, and authority.

He through Jesus Christ is the creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He is the source of life and the one for whom human life exists." Continuing, we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the Word and who has eternally existed. We believe that He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Divine Son of the Living God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born in human flesh of the Virgin Mary.

We believe that it is by Him that God created all things and without Him was not anything made that was made. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God and of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the power of God, and the Spirit of life, eternal. And then the scriptural references are given, which I won't read. Let's read the first sentence of the Fundamentals of Belief again.

We believe in one God and Father, eternally existing, who is Spirit, a personal being of supreme intelligence. We pray our Father who art in heaven. This is in keeping with the Scripture. If you would, you can turn to Isaiah chapter 63 in verse 16. I'm going to read three scriptures from the Old Testament and then one scripture from the New Testament with regard to this. And then later there will be a fourth one. Well, actually a fifth one. In Isaiah 63 in verse 16, "...doubtless you art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. You, O eternal, art our Father, our Redeemer, your name is from everlasting." That's Isaiah 63 in verse 16. Then Isaiah 64 in verse 8, right across the page there. "...but now, O Lord, you art our Father, we are the clay, you our potter, and we're all the works of your hand, our great loving heavenly Father, a God of love, mercy, long-suffering, not willing that any should perish." Now I shall read from 1 Chronicles 29 in verse 10. In 1 Chronicles 29 in verse 10, this is one of the scriptures and one of the places where David was commenting upon giving the the word that he would not be able to build the temple, but he could collect the materials and his son Solomon could build the temple. "...wherefore David blessed the eternal before all the congregation, and David said, Blessed be you, Lord God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever." And then from the New Testament, it's like a universal scripture. Once again, I'm a big on memory and memorizing scriptures, and people say, well, I just I can't remember scriptures. Well, it's difficult to remember what you haven't read, but if you go over it and develop a few little mnemonic devices, you can learn to memorize them too. In Ephesians 3 verses 14 and 15, Ephesians 3 verses 14 and 15, the Apostle Paul once again writing, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. So, obviously, God exists. He is our Father. What is God? In John 4.24, we have the very clear answer. It says that God is spirit. It also says that those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The corollary to those questions, who is man? Who is man? Well, if you look at Genesis 1.26 and 27, we see that man was made in the image of God.

Male and female made He them in the very image of God. And we can look at that and realize that man was created with faculties akin to God. He can think, he can reason, he can think in the abstract, concrete, he can think about this present life, he can think about life to come. Then we get into another question about man because there is a great missing dimension within that though he was created in the image of God, not of the same essence as God. God is spirit. On the other hand, what is man? Genesis 2.7, and the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into its nostrils a breath of life and he became a living soul, a living nayfish, which all is said and done means life potential. Only it says in Matthew 10.28, fear not him who's able to destroy the body, but fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna fire. So a missing dimension in man, of course, is God is spirit. Man is physical. We call it a chemophysical existence subject to sin and death. And then what is man's purpose? See, the great purpose of man is to become begotten and born sons of God. Here I want to read from Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 to me is one of the most important chapters in the whole Bible. You can say, well, all of it's important, but this is very important to me. In Romans chapter 8 verse 14, where as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received the spirit of sonship. Huyo thesia is not adoption, it is sonship. See, we have within us the very essence of God. We have God's Holy Spirit abiding in us. We have received the spirit of sonship whereby we cry, Abba, Father! No closer relationship can you have than that of father, son, father, daughter. And a lot of the research says that if you can only have one parent, I know that this is debatable, that some say, well, it's more important to have a father, and others say, well, it's more important to have a mother. Both, of course, are very important, but this relationship of Abba, Father, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. We have the very essence of God and Christ abiding within us. And if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him that we shall be glorified together. So those questions, those seven great questions, does God exist? Who is God? What is God? What is His purpose? Who is man? What is man? What is His purpose? And to some degree, he sums up the very essence of the purpose and plan of God. In Malachi chapter 4 and verse 6, the last verse of the Old Testament, and that verse should be ringing in our ears loud and clear. And I'm reading now Malachi 4 and verse 6, and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children of the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. So the very motto of the United Church of God is to preach the gospel and prepare a people. The Church of God, to a large degree, is in the role of Elijah today, preaching the gospel and preparing a people. It is a tremendous responsibility, a responsibility that at times we do not fully grasp the total significance and gravity of that responsibility. You know, if Malachi 4-6 is taken literally, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction, then the future of humanity depends on whether or not the Church fulfills the Elijah Commission.

Remember Ephesians 2.20? I'm going to read Ephesians 2.20 because this talks about how the Church of God is founded upon the prophets and the Apostles and Jesus Christ. So I'm reading Ephesians 2.20. Now therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. So the words of the prophets are relevant to us today. Five messengers are identified in the book of Malachi. If you want to turn to Malachi, we can identify those five messengers quickly.

Malachi, of course, is one of the messengers. The name Malachi is taken from the Hebrew word malak, which can be translated as angel or messenger, and it can refer to a human messenger or to a divine messenger. In Malachi 1.1, the burden of the word of the Eternal to Israel by Malachi. So Malachi brought a message from the Eternal to the people of his day. Malachi probably written for circa 420 BC. Just think of the period of time from the closing of the age of the prophets, circa 420 BC, down to the time when John the Baptist and Jesus Christ came on the scene.

The second messenger identified in Malachi is in chapter 2 and verse 7, the priest's lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law of his mouth for he is the messenger, the malak of the eternal host. And then in Malachi 3.1, two messengers are identified. Behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in.

Behold, he shall come, says the eternal host. So that messenger that prepares the way was John the Baptist and the messenger of the covenant will suddenly come to the temple, once Jesus Christ. Then in chapter 4, the fifth messenger there is identified in verse 5, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

Now let's notice what Jesus Christ says about John the Baptist in Matthew 17 beginning in verse 10. So definitely, of course, in Malachi 3.1, I will send you a messenger. He will prepare the way before me. And in Mark's gospel and other gospels, it's clearly noted that the prophet's words were fulfilled by John the Baptist of preparing the way.

So here's Matthew 17 verse 10, and the disciples asked him why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come. Well, they had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration in which they got a glimpse of apparently a millennial kind of setting where they saw Elijah and Moses, and Jesus was transfigured before him and in his glorified form to some degree. And then they asked this question, why did the prophet say that Elijah must first come? And then Jesus answered, and Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come and restore all things.

But I say unto you that Elijah has come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they wanted to or wished. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spoke of them of John the Baptist. The fulfillment of our motto and mission can only be accomplished through the Spirit and Word of God. It is the Spirit of God and the Word of God that convicts a person.

And as Mr. Kubik emphasized, the Word of God and teaching the Word of God, that the ministry must be founded and grounded in the Word of God. Because, as I read from 1st Timothy 3.15, that the Church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth. And, brethren, if the Church of God loses the truth in its raison d'être, its reason for being, then where shall humanity be? See, we may be a small light in a dark, dense world, but we do have that light, and we do have those answers.

And we are committed to taking that gospel to the world. So how is a person convicted by the Word and Spirit of God? I shall now read from John chapter 16 verses 7 and 8. Jesus speaking, Never let us I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you.

Now, the comforter is identified in John 14.28 as the Holy Spirit. Well, I think it's 26. And when it has come, it will reprove the world. That word, reprove, in the King James is elancho in the Greek, e-l-e-n-c-h-o, and it means to convict. What does convict mean? It means to lay a weight, a something on your mind that just impresses you that you need to do something, that you need to take action.

So the Holy Spirit is one of the convicting agents. Let's read it again. When it has come, it will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

How does the Spirit convict a person of sin, righteousness and judgment? It convicts a person through the hearing of the Word, the preaching and teaching of the Word. Remember what Jesus spoke in John 6, 63? It is the Spirit that quickens, the words I speak. They are Spirit, and they are life. So that's why the Apostle Paul writes what he does in Romans chapter 10, verses 14 and 17. How shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall he preach unless he be sent?

And so God, through Christ, raised up the church. And what did the Great Commission the church?

Go ye therefore into all the world, disciple all nations, teaching them to observe all things, and lo, I'm with you, even to the end of the age.

So Paul writes, how shall they hear without a preacher, how shall they preach unless he be sent?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

I guess you could have very few people have been struck down on the road to Damascus, as Paul was, so the gospel has to be preached. Paul further drives this point home in writing to the young evangelist Timothy. This is in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 and 4, 1 through 4.

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick, the living and the dead, at his appearing in his kingdom, preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, and that word reprove is a l'incio, it means convict, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own life shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Once again, we must do what we do best, and that is preach and teach the Word of God. Our calling is to do the work of God that God has called us to, and that is to preach the truth of God to a lost and dying world and to prepare a people for the return of Jesus Christ. Now note the words of the Apostle John.

This is 1 John 2.15, love not the world. We have to come out of the world. We have to be separate from the world. And the zeitgeist of the times, the German word for the spirit of the times, is engulfing the whole world, a godless society. Satan is a god of this present evil age.

And John writes, love not the world. Neither the things are in the world.

If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So each one of us can ask himself or herself, what am I convicted of? Our worldview must not be that of the world. It must not be the same of those who do not know the truth. In recent research articles that I've read concerning people's worldview, very few people on the face of the earth now have a biblically based worldview.

We need to have that biblically based worldview.

The only hope this world has, the only hope we have, is the truth of God.

Before God called us into his marvelous light, I want to read a scripture that describes where we were. This is where the world is right now. This is Ephesians 2.12.

That at the last time you were without Christ, I mean read it again, I misread it. That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. So the hope of the world, and once again we have those answers to the great questions of life. And we have been called into God's marvelous light, and the scales have been removed from our eyes. But there is a great paradox.

It is paradoxical and ironic that as the prophetic signs looming onto the horizon become more and more ominous, that according to the parable of the ten virgins, half of the church is asleep and not prepared for the bridegroom's knock on their door. In contrast, even the adherence to the major religions of the world are anticipating a great messianic figure to come on the scene and bring peace to the peoples of the world. The Buddhists are looking for the fifth Buddha, the Hindus are looking for Krishna, the Muslims are looking for the twelfth Imam, the Jews are looking for a Messiah, the New Agers are looking for the appearing of Maitreya.

Some say he's holed up in a hotel room in London now, but yet the scriptures tell us what will be happening at the end of the age.

Now this, what many of what in the Bible I believe is written first and foremost to us, so the church at the end of the age, the contrast. First of all, I guess you would call it the negative side, those whose lamps are going out. Now one of the interesting things, of course, about the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is that they all arose and they took their lamps, but half of them, their lamps were going out. They were told to go and get the oil themselves. They wanted to buy it from others, but of course that oil representing the Holy Spirit and whatever else it's symbolic of cannot be purchased. You can't buy it from someone else. They can't loan it to you or give it to you. You must go out and do what is necessary yourself. And of course they went out and when they came back it was too late and the door was shut. The scriptures tell us what will be happening at the end of the age, and that's one example. In 2 Timothy 3 in verse 1, This know also that in the last days perilous time shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God. It's like you're reading the paper or you're listening to the news or watching it.

Having a form of godliness. If they're having a form of godliness, it might be like the ten virgins, but at least they're sitting in church. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Well, what is the power of God? The power of God, the Holy Spirit abiding in us, the word of God revealing us and bringing us the light of God Himself and the scriptures of how to live, how to relate in all of our doings.

The power of God can transform us. We can be converted. We can become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Once again in Timothy. There's so much in Timothy, it's unbelievable. In 1 Timothy 4 verses 1 through 3, now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. And of course where we live in East Texas, we see all kinds of people who were once associated with a college, once associated with a church, and no longer doing anything. And it doesn't seem to bother them. I've had some in times past, most to me, well, since I stopped attending, I've really been blessed.

What do you want? Physical blessings or spiritual blessings? I hope we choose the spiritual.

In Matthew 24 verses 9 through 12, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations. For my name's sake. Why? Because you are telling the truth.

You are unveiling what this world is all about. You're challenging the world. You're convicting them through the Word and Spirit of God. Then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another, and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. And because of iniquity, lawlessness shall abound the zeitgeist and spirit of the times. The love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the income. Now note the inspired words of Isaiah. This is Isaiah 30 verse 8. Now go write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of God, which say to the seers, see not to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy to seats, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before you. And of course we know that this world is becoming an increasingly secular society, and those who would stand the gap, they become a prey, as it talks about in Isaiah 58 and 59. We say we are looking for the imminent return of Christ and the end of this present evil age. So if we indeed believe that, then it seems that we would be filled with zeal as never before. And that zeal can only come from the living Word and the Spirit of God, daily renewing the inward man, having our lamps filled with oil, pouring over the Word of God, studying it, meditating on it. The words of Paul to Timothy should be ringing in our ears. Preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season, convict, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. So now is the time to fill our lamps with oil. Now is the time to put on the whole armor of God. Put on the whole armor of God.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against wicked spirits in high places.

Having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, that means ready to take the Word of God to the world. And above all, taking the shield of faith, whereby you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of Satan. Because you know and you know that you know that God will deliver you. Now is the time to put on that whole armor of God. My dear friends and brethren in Christ, we've been called to the kingdom. For such a time as this, will we gird up the loins of our minds and hearts and stand our ground in the final battle of the ages? That final battle ground.

See, we stand in a long litany of brave and bold men and women who have stood in the gap and proclaimed the truth of God. Looking back at some of those courageous men and women, we can think of Enoch who walked with God for 300 years. Noah who preached to an unrepentant world for 120 years.

To Joseph who remained faithful in the face of great trials and tribulations, including being betrayed by his blood brothers. Moses and Aaron who went before Pharaoh and said, let my people go. Joshua as he stood before Israel and challenged him saying, and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the eternal choosier this day, whom you will serve. Whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites and whose land you dwelled. But as for me and my house, we will serve the eternal. We can think of Deborah who was a prophetess and a judge of Israel, who led the fight to free God's people. We can think of Esther who went before the king of Persia at peril of losing her life to save the Jews. We can think of the young man David, who faced the Philistine giant Goliath and said, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield and I come to you in the name of the eternal host and the god of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. We note John the Baptist when the scribes and the Pharisees came to check him out. As he was preaching and baptizing in the River Jordan, he said, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance and think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And we highlight, most importantly, Jesus Christ, who time after time stood before the religious leaders of his day and said, woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!

And on the other hand, to those who received him, he also spoke great words of consolation and even saying just before he gave up the breath of life, Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. So let us heed the great admonition of the Apostle Paul. This is Hebrews 10 verses 35 through 39. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, he that shall come will come and will not wait, will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith.

But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. The truth of God will always prevail. The work of God will be done. The question is whether you and I will stand in that day when God makes up his jewels. I'm reading now from Malachi 3 verses 17 through verse 3 in chapter 4. And they shall be mine, says the eternal host, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him. That was preceded by, at that time, they who feared the eternal spoke often to one another, and a book of remembrance was made.

And they shall be mine, says the eternal host, when I make up my jewels.

For behold, the day comes that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble. And in that day all the proud, and they shall be burnt up, says the Lord of Hosts.

It shall leave them neither root nor branch, but unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healings in his wings, and you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked. For they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet, and that day that I shall do this, says the eternal of host.

We're all looking for that day, that wonderful day when it says in Luke 12, 32, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And when Jesus Christ says to us, well done, you good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things.

I will make you ruler over many things, enter you into the joy of your Lord. May God hasten that day.