The Theme Of The Bible

Hey, the cover of that book looks good, and pick it up and buy it. I want to know something about it. So, this book right here... I mean, you can bring it up on a smartphone, and those of you who use a smartphone, that's wonderful. It's good technology. But I'm still old-fashioned enough. I like to pick up the book. I still like to read the print and all. But what's the theme of this book right here? What's the theme? Don't verbally answer right now. But what's the theme of this book? If you could take this book and say, okay, from cover to cover, oh, yeah, there's an awful lot in here.

A tremendous amount of material in here. You can't exhaust it in a lifetime. You can come to understand sufficiently the Bible, but you can't exhaust it. But what's the theme? What is the theme of the Bible? And that's what the subject is about today, and that is a good title, the theme of the Bible. What is the theme of the Bible? So, just as a title, the theme of the Bible.

Now, think about it as we go through this for a little bit. How many words, how few words could you express that theme in? Could you narrow the theme of the Bible down to just a few words?

Jesse Stewart, of course, he's deceased now, has been for some time, but Jesse Stewart was a very famous Kentucky author. And, in fact, he was probably Kentucky's most famous son as an author. He wrote numerous books and poetry, and he wrote an autobiographical book titled, The Thread That Runs So True.

I read that when I was a young man, The Thread That Runs So True. And it was about his life and what had run so true throughout it. What is the thread? Because I want you to be thinking about this for a moment. What is the thread that has run so true throughout the Bible? And again, in how few words can you name or make a statement that names that?

I can put it into four words. Can you put the theme of the Bible into four words? These four words encapsulate the truths of the Bible. You say, okay, this Bible has so many truths in it. Absolutely. These four words I can put it in encapsulates the truths of the Bible. They express what the Bible is about. They have to do with...they're tied to why you exist, why I exist. They have to do with what our purpose is and also how that purpose is fulfilled.

These four words express in a very succinct statement. God's far-reaching plans and purposes, they actually serve as a theme in heading to what God is doing. These four words form an overarching umbrella that everything is tied into. It overshadows all the things of God. It doesn't leave any of the things of God out. What these four words signify and what they represent is found the answers to our questions and the solutions to our problems. What are these four words?

What is the thread that runs so true throughout the Bible? These four words, the kingdom of God. That is the theme of the Bible. That's the thread that runs so true throughout it, the kingdom of God. No other statement supersedes this one. You cannot come up with a statement that supersedes it. As a comprehensive statement of God's plans and purposes of what is going on and why it's going on, no other statement supersedes this one. It was the prime theme of Jesus Christ's teaching and preaching.

He started His ministry with it. Notice Mark 1.14. Mark 1 and verse 14. Now, after that John, John the Baptist, was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel or the good news of the kingdom of God. This is the beginning of His ministry. When John is put in prison, He knows it signifies it's time for Him to start preaching the kingdom of God.

He's starting His ministry, His official ministry, and He starts preaching the gospel of the kingdom. If you look at Matthew 9.35, Matthew 9 and verse 35, He continued His ministry with it. Matthew 9.35, Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom, the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. In Matthew 31, He established His church on the day of Pentecost. You have the book of Acts, and you can flow through the book of Acts and the events of Acts.

You can come to the last chapter that's recorded for us of Acts, Acts 28. You find that what He did, His church carried on with it. And the book of Acts closes in Acts 28 verses 30 and 31. It closes with the church carrying on the same theme. So in Acts 28 and verse 30, Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house. You know, house arrest or whatever, but his own rental house for two whole years, there he was, probably house arrest basically, and received all that came to him.

And what was he telling them? What was he teaching? What was he preaching? Notice verse 31 tells you, preaching the kingdom of God. That's the header. That's the overarching, comprehensive theme. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all covenants, no man forbidding Him. Two thousand years later, you know, so to speak, here we are. His church carries on with the same theme today. In today's terminologies, you will hear the term brand or branding that's used. Well, what's their brand? Corporate meetings will be held sometimes, and somebody will say, well, a product is not really selling like it should.

We need to change our brand, or we need to do a new branding or whatever. It has to do with identity. It has to do with recognition of a product or company or business. It has to do with reputation, connotation. It has to do with what is associated or connected with a product or name or company. We understand that. And obviously, by the very simple fact that it's called brand or branding, the term comes from the practice of bringing brands on livestock, on cattle or other livestock, for the purpose of identifying ownership.

The cattle or livestock are known and identified by their brand.

We had a discussion in the church some time ago about our brand or branding, etc., etc. I would ask, what brands the Church of God today? What should brand us and does brand us?

What should be a trademark of what we're known for? In my opinion, and I think my opinion is based on the reality of the Bible, preaching and teaching the same thing that Jesus Christ preached and taught, the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. Preaching and teaching the same thing that the early church and that the church down through the ages has taught, the kingdom of God.

You know, there was a voice that went forth, started back in the early part of the last century. The voice of power and authority, of might. Not a hesitant voice, a very confident voice, but the authority of the Bible went out through the hills, the hollows, the flats, the coasts, the mountains, into a wilderness where there were not other voices preaching it at the time. Not on a national basis at all. Booming forth, and that voice pushed and promoted and preached the kingdom of God and all the things that tie into that kingdom. And God raised up a work, and God revitalized the church.

He didn't begin the church. The church began in 31 A.D. But yes, it was in a very weakened state, and God revitalized the church. Preaching and teaching the same thing that the early church preached. And I'm talking about the fullness of the kingdom of God. The fullness. I'm talking about the true understanding of what it is. I'm not talking about the misconceptions of it. I'm talking about what the Bible says it is. You'll hear that term, the kingdom of God, with other people. But I'm not talking about it just as a statement.

I'm talking about the fullness of it. The thread, theme of the kingdom that runs so true throughout the Bible. That connects to all the truths of God. That connects to every truth you can find in the Bible. All God's truths connect to it. All God's truths relate to it. Have a relationship with it. I would challenge anyone, show me any truth of God that doesn't connect to the kingdom of God. I don't think you can. I don't think anybody can show me a truth that I cannot show you how it connects to the kingdom of God.

All God's truths relate to it, have a relationship with it. The more that we come to see this, the more we come to recognize concepts and doctrines that are false and don't fit. I thought about what should I give today? What should I give today here and in Gaston that I will follow up with and give in Chattanooga next week? I thought, I know the season we're in. Should I address it head on direct? I did last year at this time.

I thought, no. I think what I will do this time, I just finished two sermons, Godly Misfits and Functional Misfits. I touched upon enough in those. But I thought, during this season that is the highlight and high point of the paganism of this world that's been incorporated into Christianity, I think I will just go back to what carries me through this season. What carried me up to the Feast of Tabernacles. What carries me through this season. What carries me to the Spring Feast. What carries me throughout the year. The Kingdom of God.

The truth of it. The theme of the Bible. The truly most powerful high road that we can be on. Truly understanding what the Kingdom of God is and how God's truths and plans relate to it in time, preserves us from false teachings and deceptions. If I run into some custom out here that's based on lies, it doesn't fit the Kingdom of God.

It's not going to be allowed in the Kingdom of God. If I run into some deception, that's not of the Kingdom. It has no future in God's Kingdom because God's Kingdom is a Kingdom of Truth, not of lies. Again, the Bible states the theme of the Kingdom of God and then it ties in points of truth. For instance, let's look at three examples. Let's go back to Mark 1. The Bible states the theme of the Kingdom of God and then it ties in points of truth. So let's go back to Mark 1.

We read verse 14. Now, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Okay, verse 14 tells you the timing on it. John's put in prison. Christ knows it's time to start the official ministry. He starts it. And He's preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. Verse 15 tells you how He begins preaching it. And saying, the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand because Jesus, the prime representative of the Kingdom and the fullness of everything it stands for, is there. The Kingdom of God is at hand and what does He say?

What does He tie to the Kingdom? Repent you and believe the gospel. So, in our first of the three examples of how points of truth tie in with the Kingdom of God, here He connects repentance to the Kingdom.

Repentance is a necessary part. Repentance is an absolute must. If one wants to be in the Kingdom of God, that is. If one wants to become a part of that Kingdom, repentance is a necessary process on the road into that Kingdom. Because the road into the Kingdom is paved with repentance. It's very simple. No repentance, no Kingdom. It's not hard to grasp. The Kingdom has repentance tied to it. Okay, second example. Let's go to Matthew 6.33. Sermon on the Mount, which was given specifically not to the multitude, but given specifically to His disciples, who followed Him to a secluded place, a private place, and sat down, and He taught them.

Notice here in Matthew 6.33, He says, But seek you first, seek you first the Kingdom of God. Again, it leaves the way. It's the thing. But notice what's connected to it. But seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. God's righteousness is tied to the Kingdom because without His righteousness, there is no seeing of the Kingdom. There is no being a part of the Kingdom of God. There is no entrance into it. In Matthew 5.20, He makes it very plain. And He said this before He said, in chapter 6.33, that we just read.

In chapter 5.20, He says, For I say to you, that except your righteousness, you've got to do better than the Pharisees. You better supersede, quote, their righteousness. That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, you think about that. What He's saying is, their righteousness doesn't meet the grade. Their righteousness gets them nowhere. Their righteousness will not, in any sense, serve an entrance into the Kingdom. And you guys, you better, your righteousness had better exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

There's no entrance without it. So, Matthew 6.33, Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The righteousness is connected to it. And if you want to start determining what true righteousness is, again, from cover to cover, the right things, the right attitudes, the right perspectives, the right responses, the right perceptions, the right doctrines, on and on and on are listed throughout the Bible.

And they're all part of that righteousness that we seek that has to do with the Kingdom of God. So, with those first two examples, you simply have that, number one, the process of repentance and, number two, the instilling of the righteousness of God, only through those things can one be a part of that Kingdom. And that brings me to the third example.

And that third example is Acts 28, verse 31. Acts 28, verse 31. Now, I'll go back there and read it again. Yes, it says, verse 31, yes, preaching the Kingdom of God and what's connected here to the Kingdom and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. No man forbidding Him. Preaching the Kingdom of God, yes, and what's connected to it? Teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. False doctrine comes in various forms. When a person says that if you ever emphasize Christ, you're putting Him before the Father.

When a person says, if you focus too much on Jesus Christ, you're shunning the Father. When a person actually goes so far as to say, too much emphasis on Jesus Christ begins to make an idol of Him. I don't care who that is. They are getting and are involved in heresy. Very false doctrine. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the fullness of God, that the Godhead dwells in Him fully.

Christ said, when you honor Me, you honor the Father. See, teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, you can't separate the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ and the Kingdom are connected. Without Christ, there is no Kingdom. Without Christ, there is no Kingdom. Christ is the King of it. Christ is the Savior of it.

The Savior for it. Without Him, there is no door into the Kingdom. Without Him, there is no entrance. And the Father has appointed it so. I use these three examples to simply show or illustrate how the truths of God are tied to this thing.

You can tie all the truths of God. It's not necessary, and we couldn't do it if we took a whole day to start going through the Bible. No, and no need to. This illustrates it. How this thing encompasses the plans and purposes of God, and how this thing sets the pace and the direction for how we are to live and conduct our lives.

See, Matthew 6, 33, 1. The first thing is that the kingdom of God and His righteousness does two things. It sets the goal. It sets the goal. If my goal is to be a part of the kingdom of God, then obviously I'm going to look at what's going to cause me to miss out and try to avoid that. And I'm going to look at what will cause me to be a part and try to apply that. It sets the goal, yes, and the goal of the kingdom and the righteousness that must be connected with it. But also, number two, it sets the direction.

It sets the direction. How can I see that the path of righteousness is straight and narrow, and the way to destruction is broad, wide and broad? One is hard to walk, and the other one you can just fall naturally into it, like jumping off a cliff and gravity taking over. And how can I say, okay, I want to swing them around to where I've got the straight and narrow right here, and I've got the broad and wide here. I want to try to get them.

You can't make them point in the same direction. They're opposites. But some people try to swing them to where, well, I'll walk down this way, and when it's a little tough on the straight and narrow, I'll just drop over into the broad and wide and sashay along that way for a while. And then when the heat's off a little, then I'll swing back over the straight and narrow. No, it sets the direction, and you find yourself having to resist walking what comes easy sometimes, very easy, very easy sometimes, and walk what's more difficult.

But you're walking the more difficult because the kingdom is at the end of that road. Eventually, in the ultimate, the light of fire is at this other end of this other road.

So it sets the goal. It sets the direction.

The arrival point never occurs while we're flesh.

I'm 69. That means on the 6th, I completed 69 years. Completed 69. I'm actually into my 70th year of life now.

I hope to live to be 80.

If this age goes on, I'd like to live to be beyond that.

I have no intentions of being finished today.

I'll get up in the morning. I'll get up Monday.

I realize that all these days, weeks, months, years, whatever God gives me, to keep breathing, blood to keep flowing, mind to keep working, that there is no point at which I can say, a brethren I have a special announcement to make to you today, I want you to know that this last Wednesday, I arrived.

I'm in Coast City now. I'm just going to coast from here. I have arrived.

Well, the arrival point never occurs while we're flesh. And again, I love going to the authoritative words to back these things up, like the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14.

Because Paul, who was a great encourager, wrote to the Philippians.

And again, Philippians is a book of encouragement, a tremendous book of encouragement.

But he says in Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14, he says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I don't count that I've arrived.

But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press, I press toward the mark, the goal.

He's going in the right direction, and he's got the goal. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, which is the kingdom of God.

Let me add this to it. The arrival point never occurs while we are flesh, though we can come to the finish of our flesh in confidence and with confidence.

The same Paul who writes the Philippians, what we just read, is also the same Paul who writes Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, 7, when he knew that they were about to take him, that his living was about to be up, his flesh and blood existence was about to be terminated, he was about to be taken and beheaded. He tells Timothy in this letter, verse 6, I have fought a good fight, he could acknowledge that, accurately so, I have finished my course, he could say it with confidence, I have kept the faith.

A person can come to that. Again, I like to refer, again, back to some of our most faithful veteran members, who are no longer with us.

I remember what Mrs. Moses said. Here she was in her 90s, had lived a dedicated, loyal, faithful life.

Anybody that knew her knows that she never took the approach that I don't have to worry about growing anymore, I don't have to read my Bible, I don't have to study, I don't have to think, I don't have to pray, I've got it made, just write it out until my life's over. No, she never had that approach. She looked to God, to feed her and to lead her.

But she also knew at her age that there came a time when she didn't know how many or how few more months, weeks, or days, or even hours she might have.

And even as she grew and didn't consider she had arrived, she could also say with confidence, just like Paul, and it's an echo of what he said, Why are people so afraid to die? Why are they so afraid to die?

She says you go to sleep and you wake up with Jesus. Think about that.

You go to sleep. When the time comes, you go to sleep. You die, your consciousness stops, no registry of time, doesn't matter if it's a day or a thousand years or four thousand years, doesn't matter.

The person who, the two witnesses who will be dead three and a half days, are Abraham who's been dead a whole lot longer than that.

It's the same to him. There's no registry of time.

Go to sleep and death and bang that quick. They're rising to meet the returning Jesus.

Now, you can come to that point with confidence. And she did.

And that is something just like her, like Paul, we can all come to.

But the arrival point into the kingdom never occurs while we're flesh.

You know, we've read this Scripture many a time in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter.

1 Corinthians 15. And some people will read across it, and it doesn't sink in.

Paul said, Paul said, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot notice, inherit the kingdom of God. It's that simple. You cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

The arrival point of inheritance, the arrival point of actually being in the kingdom, cannot occur while you're flesh and blood.

The flesh and blood human beings of the millennium are not in the kingdom of God.

They are under the rule of the kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ and the resurrected saints are the kingdom of God ruling over flesh and blood.

And that flesh and blood can be made part of the kingdom in due time through resurrection or change, just like we look forward to.

But you cannot be flesh and blood and actually be in the kingdom. You can be under the rule of the kingdom as they will be.

But see, verse 52, the arrival point into the kingdom is the resurrection.

In a moment, verse 52, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

That is the arrival point into the kingdom.

And that occurs at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Again, I go back to Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4.8 and 2 Timothy 4 in verse 8.

And again, scriptures like this make it very clear what Paul is saying or not saying in regards to other scriptures recording his words, which may be vague or unclear.

Verse 8, 2 Timothy 4.8, he says, "'Henceforth, because I have fought a good fight, because I have finished my course, and because I have kept the faith, henceforth, or therefore, as a result, there is what laid up for me, not given to me yet, laid up for me.' What's laid up for him? A crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me." Shall give me when? What's the chronology? When? At that day. At that day. What day? The day of resurrection.

And not to me only, but unto all of them also that love his appearing. They love his appearing because they want to be part of the kingdom. They want his righteousness. They have yielded to his righteousness. They have set the goal. They set the direction based on the scripture.

And they love his appearing.

1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 17.

Verse 16. 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16. This is the resurrection. It's obvious. Not the rapture, it's the resurrection.

1 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. That's that seventh angel, that seventh trump. 2 And what the dead in Christ shall rise first, which is, as far as I'm concerned, those who have to die, natural deaths or martyrdom deaths, they should rise first. That's the way God's got it. 3 Then we, which are alive, whichever ones of us are still alive and on our feet, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Why in the air? Because that's how he's coming back, right through this atmosphere. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. It doesn't say here where the Lord's then going to be, but it says we shall ever be with the Lord in the kingdom of God, obviously.

And of course, this appearing occurs when God the Father sends him back, sends him back in what we commonly and accurately refer to as the second coming of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 24 and verse 30, you know, you've got 1 Corinthians 15, you've got 1 Thessalonians 4 there. They're all speaking of one and the same thing, which also Matthew 24.30 and 31 is speaking of.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power. It's the power of the kingdom of God and great glory, the great glory of the kingdom. And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, that's that seventh trumpet.

And they, the angels, shall gather together his elect from the four winds, in other words, all four directions, from one end of heaven to the other.

The angels leading assembly, assembly to Christ, because first fruits dead in the grave, alive on their feet, whichever, will all rise off the earth around this globe, no matter where they are. The angels will lead them right back around to where Christ is, coming through the atmosphere, time of the resurrection. And at that point, we do become eternally part of the kingdom of God, because they're no longer flesh and blood.

We're spirit of spirit composition with powers that you and I cannot truly fully imagine.

And that is when the kingdom of God takes charge of this planet, Revelation 11.15. Again, these are things I stay in tune with all year.

But to me, at this time of the year, when the physical season is darkening, and there is greater spiritual darkness upon the land as well, the light and the vision and the life of the theme of the Bible, the kingdom of God, it's an uplift. It's an encouragement.

It helps to generate extra strength and energy, zeal, and fire of zeal to carry forward. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. And again, this is when the King of that kingdom, Jesus Christ, sits in kingship over the whole earth. And we're very familiar with that. You know, Zechariah 14.9, He will be king over the entire earth, and how we look forward to that. You know, that Scripture in Revelation 5.10 about how His made us into our guide kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth, That's a wonderful Scripture. And our reign will be a reign of truth and splendor and glory and wonderful activities of music and art and sports. And central to all of it will be assisting Christ in the salvation of human beings. But in Daniel 7, verse 18, He went to a peaceful sleep. The saints of the Most High, John, James, Paul, Psalm, who went to a peaceful sleep in an unpeaceful way, martyred them. And those of us who are alive shall take the kingdom and possess, own the kingdom forever and ever and ever. Wasn't it Reagan who said that...I think it was Reagan, and he might not have been the only one to say it. But wasn't it President Reagan who said that America was the last, best hope for our dying planet?

Now we see in America this changed even so much since Reagan was president. We can't even deliver ourselves anymore. If you know where to look at the moral rot and how the same are coming apart in this nation, we can't really, we can't really, quote, save the planet anymore to whatever degree that at one time we could play a kind of a savior-type role. World War I, World War II, and other ways. The last, best hope for the world? No. We're even seeing this physical measure of help that is crumbling. The only hope for our dying planet is the setting up of the kingdom of God here over it. There's no other hope. No other hope. Ultimately ruling here on and over this planet is the answer to its problems. There's no other answer. There's no other solution. And the kingdom of God is the ultimate hope and goal of every single human being. There's none other. Whether you're talking about the first fruits from this age, the millennial fruits, the middle fruits of the millennium, or the last fruits, the latter fruits, the third fruits, the last fruits of the last great day, the eighth day. The kingdom of God has to do with first...the kingdom of God has to do first with the physical salvation of the planet. Stopping the nuclear wars that are about to bust wide, wide open. Stopping the plagues, the diseases, the death.

Stopping the destroyers who are destroying the planet. Preserving the air. Preserving air of life for flesh and blood lungs. Preserving enough systems, and even having to, again, renew certain systems so that human beings, remnants of nations, can continue to breathe and eat and drink, and the young among them can go ahead and finish growing up, get married, have children, repopulate this planet for a thousand years. The first thing that has to be handled is the physical salvation of the planet. And then, within that, the spiritual salvation of every human being upon it.

If you really understand, and I think we do, the physical salvation of the planet that depends upon the kingdom being set up, and obviously the ultimate of the spiritual salvation of the human beings upon it, then it's no surprise that the thing that runs all the way through the Bible is the kingdom of God, and that all the truths of God have a relationship with that. They're connected and intertwined, supported and defining. All of salvation's processes can be tied to it. All of God's prophecies can be tied to it. The flow of God's plans and purposes are interwoven with it.

And thus, is it any wonder that all of our messages, our preachings and our teachings, whether it's Gerald Jennings giving a sermon Ed or a split, or Marcus Lucas speaking, or Paul Burns, or Max Spiegelmeyer, or James Taylor here, and I could mention other names, other places, is it any wonder that all of our messages, our preachings and our teachings are in one way or another related to it, and they can all be tied to it? Is it any wonder that our messages, our preachings and our teachings are primarily concerned with two major issues?

Two major issues. The first one was mentioned in Mark 1.15, repentance. It's a major issue. It's a major issue. The second one, mentioned in Matthew 6.33, is righteousness. Those are two major league issues, repentance and righteousness, and that these two major issues, repentance and righteousness, are so tied to the kingdom because there is the continuously ongoing process of resisting and rejecting what we should not be. Anyone who kids himself or herself that they're not prone to the wrong pulls, or prone to misstepping, or prone to the gravity of human nature, as magnified by Satan's impact in it too, would be kidding themselves. There is the continuously ongoing process of resisting and rejecting what we should not be, while at the same time striving and seeking to be what we should. And again, I recall to our minds Philippians 2, which I covered in a sermon not long ago, verses 12 and 13. If it were all up to God, you'd have verse 13 there, but you wouldn't have verse 12 because there would be no need for verse 12.

But then if it was all up to us and not God, then you wouldn't need verse 13 there, you would only need verse 12. But you do have 12, which is us, and you have 13, which is God, and we have to work in conjunction with God. And God also has to work in conjunction with our yieldedness to Him. That's why we have to humble ourselves before God in truly seeking. But there's a constant ongoing need for this changeover of the resisting and the rejecting and the striving and struggling and the accepting. There's a constant ongoing need for that changeover, for understanding it, seeking it, and for being successful with it. It all points to, and it all has to do with, the Kingdom of God. It has to do with what will help us attain it and what we must guard against that would keep us out. And the messages can be categorized around these two main issues. So as we go through this year, and of course this calendar year, the way man counts it, is about finished. We're about to be in 2020. And of course, whatever number of years that are yet to come, let's bear this in mind. Train yourself to see the connecting relevance to the theme of the Bible, which is the Kingdom of God, and to the degree that we successfully do that, to the degree that we successfully do it, to that degree we're secured a part in that coming Kingdom. You know, when someone asks me, what is the main thrust of your church? I say, the Kingdom of God, and all that that entails. The Kingdom of God is the theme of the Bible. It's the theme of God's church, and it's the theme of my life. That is the thread that runs so true.