[Rick Beam]: In 1945, two young evangelists met for the very first time. One was already nationally known. In fact, at the time, he was regarded as the world’s greatest Christian evangelist. His name was Charles Templeton, and he was the hottest preacher at the time. The other one was the yet unknown young Billy Graham. He would not break out upon the national scene until 1949. They became very close friends, and Charles actually served as a role model to Billy. In 1946, they teamed up to do a Youth for Christ evangelistic tour in Western Europe. This, of course, was post-WWII Europe with all of its devastation, all its pain, all of its suffering. Charles Templeton was shaken to his core by what he saw, and doubts were planted in his mind. And in 1948, his worldview was changing. And then in 1957, he publicly declared himself an agnostic. Though this is how he preferred to be known, he was often referred to as an atheist. And, maybe, he was more agnostic than he was atheistic simply because it seemed that he had more of a problem with God than he did with the existence of God. And then, in 1996, he wrote his memoir, “Farewell to God.” He titled his book, his memoir, “Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith.”

People at the time asked themselves, “What went wrong?” We could ask ourselves, “What went wrong? What was the issue?” In the book titled “Billy” by William Paul McKay and Ken Abraham, he is credited with this quote. “Any intelligent man, any person with half a brain at all looking around at the world today would have to come to the conclusion that there could not possibly be a loving God.” Charles could not reconcile the world he saw around him with a loving, all-powerful God who was fair. Things didn’t add up. They did not compute. The reality of the world and a loving, all-powerful, fair God, well, it didn’t match, and the contradiction busted his faith. But was it a contradiction? The reality is, of course, as we know, there is no contradiction. But why, then, did he see it as a contradiction? Charles saw it as a contradiction because of two basic reasons. Number one, he did not understand that the world is cut off from the tree of life and is operating under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he simply did not understand Genesis 3:24. Now, he knew it was there. He had read it, probably preached it. But it didn’t deeply register as to the full meaning of what that was saying.

In Genesis 3:24, to refresh our minds, speaking of God it says, “So, He drove out the man. And He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.” This is the condition of the world today. He simply did not understand that. He did not understand, and I’ll turn to Isaiah 25, he did not understand that the world today is living behind a veil, not in front of it, but behind it. You know, we’ve read this already, and I’ll pick it up in verse six, Isaiah 25:6, “And in this mountain,” this kingdom of God, that’s going to be set up, “Shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the leaves, a feast of fat things full of marrow.” You know, very prosperous times, but a feast of wines on the leaves well-refined. And then, verse 7, he did not understand that the world today is living behind a veil. “And in that kingdom,” see, “He will destroy” or, as it can be rendered in the Hebrew “swallowed up, He will destroy or swallow up in this mountain, in the kingdom of God, the face of the covering cast” or, again, as the Hebrew can have it, covered, “cast or covered, over,” notice, “all people,” all people, all people, not just gentiles, Israelites too, all people, “cast over all people. And the veil that is spread over all nations.”

He did not comprehend truly that this is not God’s world. You know, we’ve heard wonderful messages. We’ve heard things that most of us in here have known for years. They’ve become a fundamental framework for our thinking and secondary doctrines that attach to them. We understand these things. He did not. What he did not, people also do not understand but I might be getting ahead of myself. So, I will go on with this here. He did not fully comprehend truly that it’s not God’s world but that it is a world given over to Satan for a time. Again, such familiar scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 4:4. And, again, he read these, but he did not fully comprehend these. 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In whom the god” small ‘g’ “the god of this world, of this age, of this time, and whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is in the image of God should shine unto them.” The god of this world has blinded their minds. People live behind a veil. He did not truly comprehend that Satan is the god of this world who works his blindness and his deception on the whole world.

You know, when you read Revelation 12:9, when you read Revelation 12:9, you’re reading something that is current tense. It’s not historic. I mean, it’s history as in the sense that it’s been happening for a good long while, and it will yet happen for a time. But when we read it, Revelation 12:9, and, again, sometimes it amazes us, I think, when we can see these things so clearly. And we take them for granted because we see them so clearly. God’s opened our minds to really see the depth of them. And yet, there are others who can read these same scriptures, and it just doesn’t register the same way. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world,” current tense, “Which deceives the whole world.” He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. This truth of a world cut off from God for a time was not part of his understanding.

Now, the problem is compounded. Compounding the problem and going along in support of point one is point number two. Point two is this. This is the only day of salvation. There is none other, buddy. You get saved now, or you are lost. That’s the teaching. That is the traditional teaching of Christianity, and we all know it, its mainstream doctrine, major mainstream doctrine. This is what Charles believed. This is what he taught until he became atheistically agnostic or agnostically an atheist, however you want to word it. In the face of reality, this is what got him into trouble. Because of these two major points, Charles could not prove and defend God’s pure, complete love. He could not prove and defend His almighty power. He could not prove and defend God’s unfailing fairness. He simply had no conclusive proof of such for himself or for others simply because if you believe that, number one, the world is not cut off and that, number two, this is the only day of salvation, you cannot defend God as to His pure, complete love. You cannot defend God as to His almighty power. And you cannot defend God as a totally fair being, a totally fair God.

You cannot, because in the light of the reality of the world today around us, you have no conclusive proof of such. You can get partial proof but not full and conclusive proof. Let’s illustrate this. On the planet today, the last figure released, unless you have one more recent, and there could be, there are 7.6 billion people on earth, probably more like 7.7 billion at this time. Now, if you take all the Catholics and the Protestants and add them together, just say the Christian community, all Catholics, all Protestants, add them together, you get about 2.2 billion people who aren’t going to hell if they were all living exactly like they ought to. But let’s just, for the sake of it, say, okay, you got 2.2 billion, which is a fact. What about all the others? That leaves 5.4 billion or 5.5 billion. What about them? What do you do with them? You’re talking about a God of love. You’re talking about a God of power. You’re talking about a God of fairness. What do you do with them? In 2014, in 2014, a study was done, and it was estimated at that time that, at that time in 2014, that for every person living at that time, there had been 15 who had lived and died. Now, I don’t know what the criteria was for coming up with that. I mean, I don’t know how they calculated it, but they did the best study they could.

And for every person living at that time, they figured that 15 people had lived and died. That would be 105 billion people who have lived and died not counting the ones who are currently living! How can Christ have died for the whole world when almost all the world has been left out? That doesn’t make sense? You know, I did pretty well in math when I was in school. I knew how to add one plus one and come up with two. You know, I understood logical thinking. I understood connecting the dots. It doesn’t add up. How can Christ have died for the whole world when almost all the world has been left out? The reality is that the vast majority of mankind, the masses of mankind have lived and died without ever knowing Jesus Christ, never knew of Him, let alone what He stands for, who He is, what He believes in, what He lives, what He teaches. They simply have not had an opportunity for eternal life. They’ve had no true opportunity for salvation. And in the face of the reality, believing that this is the only day of salvation, it presents, again, a problem with God’s love, with His Power, and with His fairness.

Let’s read that very popular and famous and wonderful scripture, John, and you know where I’m going, Chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. John 3:16-17. This is the prime scripture used by Catholics and Protestants of God’s love for the world. So, let’s read it. We probably could just simply quote it by heart, couldn’t we? “For God so loved,” what? “The world, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” A pretty plain statement and a pretty wonderful statement, isn’t it? And, again, that’s the prime scripture used by Catholics and Protestants to show and speak of God’s love for the world. But does He really love the world, or only a very small, select part of it? And how is that fair? And maybe you don’t ever get asked that question but maybe you do. There are those who will voice those, kinds of, questions over the years as I have visited with hundreds and hundreds of people, new people and all. That’s one of the issues that comes up. And so, I take them through God’s plan and show God’s love, His power, and His fairness.

But see, out there, where there’s still a darkness that prevails where the light of God doesn’t shine, they’re logical. They can think. They can add things up. They can connect dots, and it doesn’t add up. But what about 1 Timothy 2:4, Again, one of those very plain scriptures speaking to a motivation of God, to a motive of God, a desire of God, a scripture that gives insight into His motivation. He’s God, and here’s a scripture that lets us have an insight into His motivation regarding us, regarding humanity. 1 Timothy 2:4 where it says, “Who will have all men.” You know, I’m just simple-minded enough because I grew up close to the earth, I’m just simple-minded enough to be down-to-earth and sometimes just simply accept what is said for what it says, “Who will have all men.” It doesn’t say 10% of them, 20% of them, half of them, well, 90% almost, “Who will have all men to be saved.” That is it’s His desire to see all humanity be saved. It His desire and, “To come unto the knowledge of the truth.” He does? But without the power or the plan to carry that out? Hmm.

See, in the face of traditional teaching and reality, this rings hollow. It rings hollow. And what about 2 Peter 3:9? You know, Paul was inspired writing, what he did to Timothy there and then Peter says this in 2 Peter 3:9, he says, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering towards us, not willing.” I mean, you can apply this at the individual level because God is very, very patient with us, and He bears with us. But, also, you can apply it collectively to mankind. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” And yet, doesn’t, and can’t grant an opportunity for such. And then, we have the clincher. To me, the clincher is Acts 4:12. That’s the clincher. Acts 4:12. Again, very famous. “Neither is there salvation in any other.” You can’t get around it. “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” There is no salvation aside from Jesus Christ, and there is no getting around that.

So, the traditional doctrines of Christianity become a trap. They trap God. They trap God into a position of partial love, limited power, and unfairness regarding the masses of mankind. And for the truly thinking person who can connect the dots, they do present a very disconcerting picture, a real contradiction. And some people can’t handle this. Charles couldn’t. It gives rise to agnosticism and atheism. It gives rise to such atheists as Christopher Hitchens. Now, Christopher Hitchens was a famous atheist, maybe more of an agnostic, but claimed to be atheist. He died a few years ago in his 60s. But anyway, he wrote a book and it’s titled “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” Now, he had a brother. His brother’s name is Peter. Christopher Hitchens and his brother Peter grew up as Christians. And they both left Christianity and went into agnosticism and atheism. Peter, whatever the reasons were, he came back to Christianity in time. And he wrote an expose on atheism, and it’s titled “The Rage Against God.” And what he did in his book, “The Rage Against God,” the expose, he nailed it, that most atheists are not true atheists. They are mad at God. And I always have had the question, ‘How do you get mad at someone that you believe doesn’t exist?” And when you start talking God with them, they get mad.

Anyway, it was a candid expose of what drives atheism because most atheists are not true atheists. They simply are mad at God. They can’t reconcile a loving, fair, and all-powerful God with Christian doctrine and the reality of the world around them. So, again, they’re actually more agnostic than they are aesthetic. People have a hard time handling this. A few years ago, very few years ago, a religious survey was done. And this religious survey was done involving the Catholic Church and every Protestant denomination. They surveyed every Protestant denomination and the Catholics. And the ones... Well, let’s say this. One of the questions on the survey had to do with this. Could there be another way or ways to salvation outside of Christianity? Obviously, that means could there be another way or ways of salvation, to salvation outside of Christ? What would you expect to come from the Christian community? You would expect that practically everybody would say, “Absolutely not. There’s Acts 4:12.” It was not just surprising, it’s, kind of, shocking. Of those who responded, 66%, two-thirds, said maybe, maybe aside from Christ. These were Christians, maybe. And in a sense, it’s shocking but maybe not so much so, considering what lack of understanding and a false doctrine presents. Even Billy Graham knew there was a problem.

I heard an interview with Billy Graham in which the interviewer asked Dr. Graham, he said, “Dr. Graham, what about all the billions that have lived and died not ever knowing about Jesus Christ? What about them? Where are they? Are they burning in hell?” Now, obviously, the unspoken question was, “How can that be fair?” The interviewer knew traditional doctrine, and he knew Billy Graham knew it and taught it. And according to traditional doctrine, both the interviewer and Billy Graham knew those billions were burning in hell. That is according to the traditional doctrine. But Billy Graham was not about to admit that because he knew how unfair that was and how it presented God. So, he was not about to admit it. He just simply said, and I remember his words, “I don’t know. I just know God’s fair.” That’s all the interviewer could get out of him, “I don’t know. I just know God is fair.” But see, that’s just it. It’s not fair, and Billy Graham knew that that’s not fair. And this is why Charles Templeton who mentored Billy early on, this is why Charles accused Billy of, “Intellectual suicide,” because Billy wouldn’t acknowledge the contradictions that were so obvious and evident. He simply ignored them and would not address them.

And then, added to all this, is the traditional doctrine of hell, of an ever-burning hellfire, never-ending hellfire that’s also tied to God’s love and God’s fairness. Believing that this is the only day of salvation, there’s only one of two possible outcomes, isn’t there? It’s either heaven or hell. There’s no third option. There’s no third slot to slot people into. They either go to heaven when they die, or they go to ever-burning hellfire. Now, when I lived in Paducah and I would go to Huntsville, of course, I’d go through Nashville. And on I-65 south of Nashville, Tennessee, on the right, oh, so far down on Interstate 65, there was a big billboard, religious billboard on the right. And it would get your attention, and it may still be there. I don’t know. I have not traveled that way in a good while. But I traveled that way for years, and every time I drove down that way, I couldn’t help but notice it. And this billboard, this big billboard, had the question posted on it. It says, “Where will you spend eternity? Heaven or hell?”

You know, there’s something very germane to that question, where will you spend eternity? Do you ever notice that you can’t spend what you don’t have? You can’t spend what you don’t have. You don’t have eternity. No mortal has eternity. No mortal yet has been given eternity. The only one who’s been given eternity again is the one who was eternal with no beginning who came from the right hand of God. The Word, the Logos, became flesh, became our Savior. We know Him as Jesus Christ, and He has been restored back into eternity. But He did not originate in the human race. No mortal has yet been given eternity. You can be given eternity. I can be given eternity. That’s called eternal life. Well, what if you’re not given eternity? You’re given extinction. Extinction is not eternity. It’s no thing. It’s nothing. It’s amazing what people sometimes just don’t compute.

In Lee Strobel’s book, Lee Strobel’s book, “The Case for Faith,” Lee records this quote of Charles Templeton regarding hell. Charles said, “I couldn’t hold someone’s hand to a fire for a moment, not an instant. How could a loving God, just because you don’t obey Him and do what He wants, torture you forever, which makes Him a worse torturer than Hitler, Idi Amin, Stalin, any of them because it’s a torture that never ends? At least for those others, death came, and they were out of their suffering. How could a loving God, just because you don’t obey Him and do what He wants torture you forever, not allowing you to die but continue in that pain for eternity?”

I saw a bumper sticker not too long ago, and it said this. Do you want your kids to spend eternity in hell because you didn’t tell them about Jesus? What about all the kids of the world who never had an opportunity to be told about Jesus? And even Dr. James Dobson, a very respected writer, teacher, minister in the preface of his book, “Your Legacy,” wrote, “Unless we are successful in introducing our children to Him,” you know, Jesus, “We will never see them again in the afterlife.” But I guess we can hear them screaming in pain and agony for eternity.

So, here’s what you come down to, the culmination of not understanding this age and thinking this is the only day of salvation, coupled with an ever-burning hellfire does an absolute number on God’s love, on His power, and on His fairness. But the truth, this wonderful Eighth Day, also known as the Last Great Day, the truth is a confirmation of His complete pure love, His almighty power, and His total fairness. That’s what this Holy Day is about. The Eighth Day, the Last Great Day is. And if you’d like a title, please title the sermon this way, “The Conclusive Proof of God’s Love, Power and Fairness.” The conclusive proof of God’s love, power, and fairness because that’s what it is. Acts 4:12 is true. There is no salvation aside from Jesus Christ. And the Last Great Day is what allows that salvation to be carried out with the untold billions from this age. 1 Timothy 2:4, yes, it’s true. God desires all men to have the opportunity. We do not believe in universal salvation, that doctrine. We do believe in universal opportunity, universal full and fair opportunity.

God desires all men to have the opportunity for the truth and salvation, and the Last Great Day provides that opportunity. 2 Peter 3:9, it’s true. God doesn’t want to see anyone perish but wants to see them all come to repentance. And, again, the Last Great Day provides the time for that. That’s what this Holy Day is about, all about. For God, yes, for God so loved the world. He really did. He really does, the world, not just the ones living now, but all the dead of the age that lie in the graves, the world. He loves the world, the world which includes, has to include,e the untold billions from this age, the most, again, of which currently lay dead in the graves and others will join them in the graves, in time. See, the Eighth Day, and it’s interesting that the Eighth Day is the most obscure, it’s the least understood of all the Holy Days. And yet, without it, the plan of salvation cannot be completed. The Jews don’t know what it’s about. They don’t understand. Well, you know, as a theology, they don’t accept Jesus Christ as the Savior, maybe a nice guy, prophet, whatever, a nice man. But they don’t accept Him as the Messiah. They don’t see the need, and study into it for yourself some time, they don’t see the need for a spiritual Savior. They have no need for a spiritual Savior in the form of the Messiah. He represented something other than a spiritual Savior for the Messiah that they still look forward to coming someday.

But anyway, they don’t understand this, this day. And yet, without it, there are questions that cannot be answered. There are issues that you can’t reconcile. Without it, you cannot prove and defend, fully prove and fully defend, God’s love, power, and fairness but with it, you can. Anyone who doesn’t know who has an open mind would sit down and let me just talk with them about it. They might say, “Well, I don’t agree that that’s accurate as far as there’s going to be a Holy Day of such, but I see what you’re saying. And if it is true, if that’s real, then, yes, yeah, that would show God’s love. It would show His fairness. It would show His power.” See, with it, you can to yourself, for your own benefit, and for the benefit of others where there is receptivity and where God is working, you can prove it. God’s plan of salvation for mankind is laid out in a series of Holy Days. You know, we’ve run through 2019. We’ve had the Holy Days. We’ve come through them and what they picture. And now, we’re at the final one. And these Holy Days spell out a chronology in steps and stages. And, of course, the whole plan of salvation to be truly a plan of salvation has to be comprehensive and all-encompassing, and it will include all mankind.

Nobody’s going to be left out. Nobody’s going to be left out. Nobody’s going to be left without opportunity. Yet, most of mankind, the overwhelming majority, have lived and died without ever knowing about Jesus Christ, let alone what He taught. If they are to have an opportunity, they have to stand on their feet again. If they are to have an opportunity, there has to be a time and a place for them, and there is. Let’s turn back to Leviticus 23, Leviticus 23, the chapter dealing with the Holy Days. In verse 36, Leviticus 23:36, “Seven days you shall offer an offering made of fire to the Lord.” And then it says, “On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you. It’s a Sabbath, and you shall offer an offering made of fire to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly, and you shall do no servile work therein.” Seven days, and then it mentions the Eighth Day. Verse 39, verse 39 says, “Also, in the 15th day of the seventh month when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days.” It’s specific. It gives you the numbers. The feast we just concluded, and we did conclude it at sunset last night, is seven days long. “On the first day shall be a Sabbath.” And last Monday we kept the first Holy Day of those seven, of course. On the first day shall be a Sabbath.

And it’s seven days long. It’s concluded. And then, at sunset last night, as this day began, it says, “On the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.” This is a totally separate Holy Day. See, verse 34, “speak unto the children of Israel saying, ‘the fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days.’” And, again, it’s spelled out. Seven days completes the Feast of Tabernacles. So, this Eighth Day has to be a totally separate Feast with a separate meaning. And since all of the Holy Days have to do with salvation, this one has to be dealing with salvation also. It comes after the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the grand finale. This is the caboose. This is the completion. This one completes the plan of salvation for mankind. You know, millennium means it’s just the Latin word that means a thousand years. And the Feast of Tabernacles, as been so adequately and wonderfully portrayed, pictures the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. But when that period is over, what remains? What remains to be done? What is still unfinished salvation-wise? Well, obviously, the untold billions from this age that haven’t had a true opportunity.

Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 6:2, this is a very significant scripture, very significant for the Christian community. 2 Corinthians 6:2, this is traditional Christianity’s basis for this being the only day of salvation. But let’s notice... Well, first of all, let’s read it, and we’ll go from there. Paul writes, “For He says,” 2 Corinthians 6:2, “I have heard you at a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succoured [or nurtured] you. Behold now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation.” See? This is the day of salvation and brother and sister, if you don’t get saved now, well, it’s just going to be too late. That’s all she wrote.

But keep your finger here and let’s look at what Paul is quoting. He’s quoting Isaiah 49:8.

So, I will read what’s written in Isaiah that he quotes, “Thus says the Lord,” Isaiah 49:8. “Thus says the Lord in an acceptable time,” which allows for there to be more than just one specific time. “In an acceptable time have I heard you and in a day of salvation,” not the one and only, “In a day of salvation have I helped you.” What Paul was doing when he wrote to the Corinthians and he quotes that, he’s taking where it talks about a day of salvation and he is saying to the Corinthians, the Ecclesia, the body of Christ, he is saying and accurately so, “This is your day of salvation.” I mean, look who is he writing to? He’s writing to the church, the Ecclesia. And he’s telling them, “This is your day of salvation.” It’s not the day of the salvation for the world. But it is the firstfruits time of salvation. It’s my day of salvation. It’s my time of salvation. And, again, that computes.

Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 15:22. We’ve read this I think maybe a couple of times. Let’s read it again. It’s very important to this day. 1 Corinthians 15:22 it says, “For as in Adam all die.” Now, notice this statement here, “Even so in Christ shall all.” It doesn’t say some. It says, “All be made alive.” It doesn’t say they’ll all be given eternal life by being made alive, but they’ll all be made alive. And, of course, hopefully, when it’s all said and done, the vast overwhelming majority will have eternal life. Yes, we certainly hope for that, pray for that, and we’ll work towards that but, “So in Christ shall all be made alive.” Well, let’s read on in verse 23. “But every man in his own order.” There’s an order. Let’s see now. There’s a progression. There’s a chronology. There’s an order. God does do things decently and in order. Christ, the first group, He’s the very first one to have experienced, He came and experienced human life and died for us, and He’s the only one at this time, of course, who has, who came from eternity who has been restored to eternity at the right hand of God.

Notice, and again, read it very specifically, it says, “Afterward, they that are Christ’s at His coming,” those who belong to Christ, you who belong to Christ. And whether some of you go to the grave before Christ returns, you die faithful to God, and you go to the grave, and you’re brought out of the grave, or you’re standing on your feet when He returns, some of us here, either way, we’re Christ’s. And when He returns, we’re resurrected, we’re changed. “Afterward, they that are Christ’s at the seventh trump, at His coming.” Now, with that thought in mind, let’s go to Revelation 20:5. Now, we’ve read in verse 4 about John saying, “I saw thrones,” Revelation 20:4, “I saw thrones. They sat upon them, and judgment [rulership] was given to them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, the martyrs, and for the Word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” the Millennium, the ones who are in Christ who are resurrected or changed when He returns.

And what does it say in verse 5? “But the rest of the dead lived not again.” They will live again, “But they lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” And then, that final sentence refers back to verse 4. This is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead live not again till the thousand years were finished. And, of course, that’s the second or general resurrection. And so, simply and plainly stated, the rest of the dead will live again, but not until the thousand years under Jesus Christ have passed. When He returns to set up His kingdom, the only graves in any cemetery known or any cemetery that’s been hidden away in the weeds and the woods and just been lost sight of, it doesn’t matter, the only graves that will open will be those where there’s a firstfruit buried. Those are the only graves that will open. And for a thousand years, the rest of those graves will remain closed. They will remain closed until the time of the second or general resurrection. And that’s the time pictured by this wonderful Eighth Day, which probably more than any of the other Holy Days of God, grabs our heartstrings because every one of us is attached to people who have already left the scene of the living that without this day, we wouldn’t have any more relationship with them, and we look forward to that time when we can assist Jesus Christ with their salvation.

You know, I think when we refer to this commonly as the Last Great Day, in many aspects, it is truly the greatest of the Holy Days in a number of aspects. This is the time referenced... I won’t turn to Hebrews 9:27 but it is the time referenced in Hebrews 9:27 where it says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die.” That’s this age. “Once to die, but after this, the judgment.” The time of judgment. And, of course, that’s referencing this age, this age that’s cut off, and it’s referencing the judgment that is to come. This is the time of the Great White Throne Judgment. Let’s go to... Well, we’re right here in Revelation 20. We haven’t left it. In verse 11, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no more place for them.” And, of course, sometimes what you have in Scripture is you have a very far-reaching chronology that is just, kind of, sandwiched or condensed in there. And it may cover a long stretch because there are certain things that will happen after the Eighth Day but we’re dealing with the Eighth Day. This is the time of the rest of the dead from the age of 6,000 years.

Now, but again, to go back to a traditional Christianity and their teaching, yeah, they will speak of the time of the great white throne judgment. But in traditional Christianity, this is simply the time to bring them up, read them the riot act regarding their sins, and throw them in the hellfire to burn forever. That’s the purpose of it. That would not be a wonderful time, would it? Again, we’re back to a lack of love. We’re back to a lack of fairness. What a blessing it is to know the truth. Do we ever take it for granted? You know, Mr. Burnes spoke on accepting and loving the truth. Does our love for God’s truth grow and deepen year after year as we cycle through these Holy Days? And we realize more and more just how wonderful they truly are and what they mean not just to us but to humanity. What a blessing to know the truth and how it does truly free us.

So, let’s read here in the light of the truth in Revelation 20:12, and we’ll break it down. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened.” He’s talking about the Bible. you know, the Bible, Biblia, books, and the Bible is a compilation of books. It’s referencing the Bible. “And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.”

Do you think for a moment that right now in heaven with the Book of Life that God doesn’t know whose name is written in it? And the blood of Jesus Christ, the bright, red blood of Jesus Christ, and yours is too if you’re baptized into Christ. He already knows who’s in there right now. He doesn’t have to open the book to see, “Oh, I forget who I’ve written in there already. So, I’ll open it and look at it.” No, He knows. No, what this is picturing, it’s opened for them, representing the opportunity to have their names written in it. “And the dead who are now alive were judged out of those things which were written in the books [the Bible] according to their works,” the same standard that you and I have to live by today. I’m not going to turn back to John 12:48, where Christ talks about the words that He speaks; they will judge people in the last day. The same standard.

And when it says, “According to their works,” their works will not stand up in the light of the Bible just like we came to realize that our works would not stand up in the light of the Bible and that if we didn’t repent of our sins and be baptized into Jesus Christ and be cleansed in God’s sight, forgiven and cleansed, and given God’s Holy Spirit, there was no hope for us. We acknowledged that our works didn’t match the standard of God’s Word. And so, it’s going to be obvious to them that they’re under the death penalty. it’s going to be obvious that they need some Savior. It’s going to be obvious that they need to repent. And that opportunity for all of that is going to be extended to them to see what they will do with it.

Verse 13, “And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it, and death and the grave delivered up the dead, which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works.”

Without turning there, you’ll recognize, won’t you, 1 Peter 4:17 that judgment is begun on the house of God. I have been very specifically, formally, officially, bonafidely, however you want to put it, under judgment since March 26, 1969 when I officially and formally through repentance and baptism entered into the body of Christ. And I have been being judged for all that time since. And I guess, what is that now, half a century? How long will they be judged? Keep your finger here. I will come back. But Isaiah 65:20, let’s just read that. Isaiah 65:20, “There shall be no more thence an infant of days.” And yet, the cemeteries are full of little graves, sometimes of mothers who died trying to give birth and couldn’t, and the baby and the mother died. “There will be no more thence an infant of days nor an old man that has not filled his days for the child shall die a hundred years old but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.” We have always believed that that tells us, that that tells us how long that period of time will be.

And I’m back in Revelation 20 now. And just as it says in Isaiah 65:20 about the sinner at the end of that time, the incorrigible, at the end of that period, will be accursed because we are free moral agents. God does not force us to accept eternal life. He does not force us to obey Him. He wants to do an inside job with us. He wants it to become something that’s inside where we love Him through His Spirit, and we don’t reject it. We receive it. We grow and we develop, we overcome, and we want life. And sadly, if there are some who in the final analysis do reject Him at the end of that period, as it says in Isaiah 65:20, they will be accursed. And that accursed is spoken of here in Revelation 20:14-15 when it says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire,” that’s Gahanna fire. “This is the second death,” from which there is no future resurrection because it’s extinction, strictly into smoke and ashes. “And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life, at the end of that period, was cast into the lake of fire.”

See, the apostle Paul understood all of this. And so, he could say, as he did, and I want to turn back to Romans 11:25-26, the apostle Paul understood all of this and so, he could say, “And so, all Israel shall,” a future tense, “All Israel shall,” future tense, “be saved.” And yet, at that very time, it says, and I’ll read it here, Romans 11:25-26, “For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel,” they too are behind the veil, remember, “until the fullness of the Gentiles” who are also behind the veil “be come in. And so, all Israel shall be saved as it is written.” All Israel, and at that very time that he was writing this, millions were dead in the grave without Christ. And millions more would go to the grave without ever acknowledging, believing, knowing, truly knowing that Jesus was, is the promised Messiah who came first as a spiritual Savior.

You know, Paul was a brilliant student of the Scriptures. He knew, he had read and he knew Isaiah 25:7 where we read about the veil. And he was very familiar with Ezekiel 37. So, let’s go to Ezekiel 37. We’re trodding the same spiritual paths of Scripture that Paul did, that Peter did, John did, James did. Ezekiel 37, and, of course, when we understand the things that we have been covering in this message, then it’s so clear to us what Ezekiel 37 is talking about. So, I’ll pick it up in verse one. “The hand of the Lord,” Ezekiel 37:1, “The hand of the Lord was upon me. And He carried me out in the spirit of the Lord. And He set me down in the midst of a valley, which was full of bones. And He caused me to pass by them roundabout, circled me around them. And behold, there were very many in the open valley, and they were very dry.” You know, they were very dead, a long time dead. “And He caused me to pass by them roundabout. And behold, there were very many in the open valley. They were very dry. And He said to me, ‘Son of man...’” Think about God’s power. Think about Ezekiel. “Can these bones live?”

“And I answered, ‘Oh Lord, God, you know.’” You’re God. You know. Yes, if you want them to live. “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Oh, you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. “Thus says the Lord God unto these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath.’”’”

I need breath. If I’m without breath for just a few minutes, I die. I have to have breath because I’m a living flesh and blood human being. “Cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live.” You know, real-life return, real-life return to real-life flesh and blood, air-breathing, blood-flowing, eating and drinking human life. “So, I prophesied as I was commanded.” And this was a vision he’s given of what’s going to be. “I prophesied. There was a noise, behold, a shaking, and the bones came together bone to his bone. And when I behold, lo, the sinews, the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, ‘Prophecy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, “Thus says the Lord God that,”’” you know, the Almighty, the all-powerful, for whom nothing is too hard. “Come from the four winds, oh breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So, I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into, and they lived, and they stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army.”

Notice verse 11, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” And for what purpose? For the opportunity for salvation. Notice verse 14. “And shall put My spirit in you, and you shall live. And I shall place you in your own land. Then, shall you know.” Notice how it’s worded. “Then, shall you know.” You’ll have a relationship. You’ll have My Holy Spirit. You’ll have a relationship with Me. “You shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it, and performed it says the Lord.”

And as Paul so acknowledged, in Romans 2:11, when he said of God in Romans 2:11, “For there is no respect of persons with God. What God will do for Israel He will do for all nations.” This is why Jesus Christ could include others besides just Israel when He spoke of that which is coming. So, let’s go to Matthew 10.

“God is no respecter of persons. What He will do for Israel, He will do for all other nations.”

And so, we have these statements, and I will just read through them. They speak for themselves, especially in light of what we’ve covered. Matthew 10:15. “Truly I say to you it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” The cities of His time, which was a far later period than when Sodom and Gomorrah, that situation occurred. And then, we couple that with Matthew 11:20-24, “Then He began to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done because they repented not.” He says, “Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than it shall be for you. And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven shall be brought down to hell or grave for if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

And then, finally, Matthew 12:41-42 of these statements that Jesus makes. Matthew 12:41-42, “The men of Nineveh,” the Assyrians, the sons of Ashur, of Shem, “The men of Nineveh shall arise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because” y’all didn’t listen. You know, it was like, I could add to it. Are you going to listen now? “Because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation,” with this generation, they’re all coming up at the same time. “And shall condemn it for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

Before closing, I want to go to Isaiah 65 again, verse 20, and I want to address something. In Isaiah 65:20, “There shall be no more thence an infant of days.” Every infant of days or of hours or of minutes or of seconds very clearly will, obviously, have an opportunity to live for a hundred years. “There shall be no more thence an infant of days nor an old man that has not fulfilled his days. But the child shall die a hundred years old.” People wonder, and people ask, “What about all the millions and millions of aborted babies?” I will tell you what I do know. And then I will tell you what I think. And this can be verified by technology, science. At the instant of conception, when the male life cell impregnates the female life cell, when they come together at the instant of conception, a brand new specific and unique blueprint of a brand new being is created.

The sex is determined whether it’s going to be male or female. The eye color, whether it’s going to be brown, blue, gray, green, the hair texture, all of that is determined at that instant at that moment. You can’t read that blueprint. I can’t read that blueprint. God can. God can read that blueprint right then at that instant. And He can know exactly what that baby is going to be at birth after nine months in the womb. Is anything too hard for God? I don’t think so. God has the power to resurrect any aborted baby as a full-term, healthy baby boy or girl. He has that power. I saw an anti-abortion sign that said, “Abortion is forever. Life is a gift.” Abortion is forever. Really? I don’t think so.

I don’t think so. I believe, and, again, technology bears it out, life starts at conception, and so did Mr. Armstrong in 1985 when he wrote “Mystery of the Ages,” and he wrote in there about life beginning at conception. This I know, if God so chooses to resurrect every aborted baby as a healthy, full-term baby boy or girl, He certainly can do so. And, again, I personally think He will. Charles Templeton died in an atheistic, agnostic state June 7, 2001 at the age of 85. Billy Graham died February 21, 2018 at the age of 99 never openly acknowledging the contradictions that existed. They now both belong to the rest of the dead. I look forward to their resurrection at the Eighth Day, along with all the untold billions. I look forward to Charles finding out just how loving, just how powerful, and just how fair God is. And I look forward to Billy not having to ignore the questions he had no answers for. What a wonderful, tremendous Last Great Day of salvation.