The Unique Role of God's Elect in His Holy Day Plan, Part 2

Thanks. Please have a seat, and now the sermon for our pastor, Mr. Thomas.

Well, thank you again, Mr. Z. Happy Sabbath, brethren, to all of you once again.

Well, Mr. Dillingham mentioned it. We're all getting excited about the fall holy days. We're all looking forward to the Feast of Trumplets. It's just a few weeks away on Monday.

October 3rd. The last time I spoke with you, we looked at a very special role that those elect who have been called by the Father throughout the ages and the fact that they're being prepared for something very meaningful and unique. As part of God's elect in this age, in the 21st century, that's you and I, the process of conversion and the journey that we are on, the journey of discipleship, is demonstrated during the spring holy days and Pentecost. We've lived it. It's been part of who and what we are, that part of God's plan. And for those of us who are here today, we came to the point of recognizing that we need a Savior. We came to acknowledge our sins and our need for baptism. And we decided that we wanted to be a new creation and to begin to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord. All of that pictured by the Passover and the days of unleavened bread. Then, God desires to give us a helper in our journey of growth. We don't have to do it alone. God doesn't want us to be alone. As Jesus said, I'm not going to leave you orphans. I'm going to give you a helper and a comforter. And sure enough, God has done that. We know it's a free gift from God called the Holy Spirit. And that's represented and pictured on the day of Pentecost. So to sum it up, in summation, the elective God are being prepared now to personally serve during the remainder of God's plan for humanity. Only a very few who have ever lived will literally be able to be at the side of Jesus Christ for the fulfillment of the fall holy day season. Right there at his side, as kings and priests reigning with him as children in the family of God. But yet, that is the calling that you have been given. Let's go to Revelation chapter 19 and verse 14. See, a very beautiful event in prophecy. Chapter 19 and verse 14 in the book of Revelation.

We saw, you're familiar with Revelation chapter 19, earlier in verse 7, that it describes the bride of Christ. And this is another description, same description of the bride of Christ. It says here beginning in verse 14, and the armies in heaven clothed and fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Now we, of course, need and should understand that this is not the normal demeanor that Jesus Christ has. Jesus Christ is gracious, he's forgiving, he's compassionate, but he is correctly reacting to a crisis situation. If it weren't for the intervention of Jesus Christ, humanity would destroy itself from the face of the earth. This is a climax in human history in which there would be complete destruction. So Jesus Christ intervenes mercifully and a very strong and in a powerful way to stop that devastation from occurring. So the elect are called to return to earth with Jesus Christ to help him achieve victory over nations that are in rebellion. So what I'd like to do for this sermon today is briefly review these fall holy days and their significance, these prophetic events that you and I have the privilege to be right there with Jesus Christ. We have the joy, the excitement to be involved in these very events that we're going to talk about. Only a select few in all of human history has been invited to participate in these events with Jesus Christ. And you are one of those people.

As James said in chapter 1 and verse 18, he says of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Well, brethren, if we are first fruits, God has a plan for others because it implies by the fact that if there's first fruits, there's later fruits. There are other fruits that will come and are part of God's plan. And that's actually what we're going to be looking at. That's actually what the fall holy days celebrate are the later fruits of God's calling. Let's begin with the Feast of Trumpets. We'll go to Leviticus chapter 23, where we were at last time. And again, if you have a bookmark or a piece of paper that you can keep in Leviticus 23, keep it there because we'll be going back and forth to it. Leviticus chapter 23, and we'll pick it up in verse 24.

We're going to talk about the first of the fall holy days after a number of months gap from the day of Pentecost, known as the Feast of Trumpets. Leviticus 23, 24, speak to the children of Israel in the seventh month. On the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation, you shall do no customary work on it, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. So we don't work in that day. We take that day as a time of worship, as reflection. We cease from our regular labors. We don't go to work on that day. We honor God's command and we respect what he tells us about his holy days. Anciently, the blowing of trumpets sounded various messages for ancient Israel. Trumpets were sometimes used to call everyone together for war. It was a message of alarm. Gather the armies together. We're going to go out to battle. Other times, they were blown to make a bold announcement. They gathered everyone together. All right, I have a major, bold announcement to make, and that's why trumpets were used. They were also used to bring the various tribes into order, into various assemblies within the camp. In New Testament theology, it's universally recognized that Jesus Christ will return to earth at the sound of a powerful, heavenly trumpet blast. Jesus Christ literally is returning to earth to make war. Remember one of the reasons of the trumpet blast in ancient Israel? He's coming to earth to make war against the anti-Christ and the nations that are there against him, and he's coming to announce, remember, one of the reasons that trumpets were blown in ancient Israel, he's coming to announce the establishment of the kingdom of God. Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30. Let's see some scriptures that tie in with what you and I will be doing at this time and how intimately we will be involved with Jesus Christ at his return. Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30 says, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. They're mourning. They know that their time is near and end. The time of human rule, the time of humankind trying to solve their own problems and do things our way that results in pain and misery. That time is coming to an end.

That's what the scripture says in verse 31, and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. And this describes what we refer to as the first resurrection, and it will be an exciting time. Think of the screaming and the joyful shouting of the multiple millions of people who leave this earth, some who were resurrected from their graves and others who were alive and were changed in the twinkling of an eye and the realization as your feet leave this earth that yes, it's happening. Yes, Christ is returning. Yes, I'm part of his team. And the rejoicing and the shouting that will occur as our feet leave this earth as we're transformed into spirit and meet Jesus Christ in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16. Turn there with me if you would. Add to the scripture we just read in Matthew. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16.

Paul wrote, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. All of those who lived their lives and expired and are buried, who were faithful and part of God's elect, they have the privilege of being the very first ones to begin the rise to meet the returning Jesus Christ.

Then we who are alive, Paul in error, thought that he would still be alive at the time of Jesus Christ. He didn't realize that 2,000 years will lapse between the first time that Christ ascended to heaven and when he will return to earth.

Paul said, we who are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. So if we're always going to be with the Lord, where is that at? Are we going to be like that lucky old son who's got nothing to do but roll around heaven all day? No, that's not it at all. As it says in Zechariah 14, in verse 4, and on that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two.

It says in verse 9 there in the 14th chapter, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day it shall be the Lord is one and his name is one. So we're not rising to meet the Lord in the air so that we can all play harps and sing kumbaya together for all eternity. There's work to be done. There are things in this planet that need to be changed. There's a purpose. There's meaning to our calling and what God's plan has for all of us.

At the return of Jesus Christ, power and great glory will be given to us by Christ. We celebrate the Feast of Trumpets knowing it looks forward to the actual return of Jesus Christ to this earth. He's coming to earth to bring peace and justice and God's law and an everlasting kingdom. But he's not coming to do those things alone. He has prepared educators and counselors and healers and leaders and priests and an elect group of people with hundreds of different talents all to contribute to the great cause of bringing peace and reconstruction to this world.

And that's the calling that you and I have. That is why we are being trained and tested now in this lifetime. A very beautiful time that we could look forward to, again, the Feast of Trumpets. And that's followed by the Day of Atonement, which is the next in this series of God's Holy Days. Let's go back to Leviticus chapter 23 and pick it up in verse 26. Leviticus 23, 26. It says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Also in the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you.

You shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. You shall do no work in that same day, for it is the day of atonement to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. So on this day, as a reflection of our new covenant observance of the Day of Atonement, we will not eat. We will not drink anything. We certainly will not go to work that day.

We will come and worship God on the day that Feast that he has set aside to honor him and give him glory. It says here, For any person who is not afflicted in his soul on that same day shall be cut off from among his people, and any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. So God says it is important to honor his festivals and to come and worship him. God loves all his children, but most he has not yet called. So why do we fast on the Day of Atonement?

Well, what this picture is, by the time this occurs, we'll already be spirit beings. We'll already be in the family of God, the children of God. So we're not fasting for ourselves, per se, in this lifetime. We're acknowledging our own weaknesses. We're acknowledging our shortcomings when we fast. We acknowledge the fact that we're nothing without God. But symbolically, here in context, the fasting, as you look forward to the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, is our fasting for the suffering of the world. Their suffering should be considered our suffering. We have already been atoned for through the death of Christ, but most who live in this world and who have ever lived have not been atoned for.

We already live by the values of the New Covenant. Most people do not. Fasting reminds us that the world still needs God's spiritual healing. It needs His Spirit. By fasting, we humbly beseech God to help us in our own weaknesses, and we mourn for a world that is still deceived by suffering.

We mourn for our brothers and sisters, also created in the image of God, who are still suffering in slavery to sin. We mourn with the same attitude that Jesus had in Matthew 23, verse 37. He said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you are not willing. We mourn saying, O our brothers and sisters, also who have been created in God's image, how much I wish and pray and mourn for you being in slavery to sin. Repent! Come to your senses! Come back to your God and Father! Heed the message of the Gospel, the Good News. Let's go to Revelation 20, verse 1. Revelation 20, verse 1.

Revelation 20.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, the very one from the original Garden of Eden, who is the devil in Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up and set a seal on him that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. Verse 4.

Those saints who have the privilege of serving with Christ will have authority symbolized by these thrones, and the ability to judge evil, the ability to be administrators, to be leaders in this soon-coming kingdom. Yes, brethren, Jesus will literally return to earth and restore a spiritual relationship between mankind and its creator. Satan still reigns as the God of this world, and that should be enough to make us mourn and fast, knowing of all the suffering that continues to go on from one corner of this world to the other. Every year the church fasts to represent mankind's need for Satan to be removed, because only with the removal of Satan will all the suffering end. And we mourn for that, and we fast for that, and we grieve for people as we see them hurting themselves, destroying their own families, not reaching the potential God has for them in their existence or in their lives. And we move on from the Day of Atonement to the Feast of Tabernacles that Frank talked about this morning. Let's go to Leviticus, chapter 23, and verse 33. Leviticus, chapter 23, and verse 33. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And on the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work on it. So on the first day and on the eighth day, are days in which we do not work. Anciently, the Israelites left their homes and built tabernacles during the feast. These temporary dwellings reminded them that God had something better planned for them in the future. They were temporary dwellings, whether it's a booth or a hotel, it's just temporary. Earthly homes eventually decay, and they fall into disrepair. The eternal home of the kingdom of God is what the Feast of Tabernacles literally represents. Let's go to Revelation chapter 21 and verse 3. This is a summation of what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 3.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. That is a summation of what the Feast of Tabernacles is all about. Reconciliation, and God concluding his plan to create a beautiful world, to restore that garden that was lost at Eden over all of the world. The Feast of Tabernacles, along with the weekly Sabbath, represents the one thousand year rule of Christ on the earth, beginning within Jerusalem and going to all nations. Healing and blessings will be given by God. It will be a culture of godly love that is going to replace the one that we live in today, which is primarily a carnal culture of greed and selfishness, of haves and have-nots. It will be a beautiful world, and it will replace the world we live in today. All hunger and disease and war and hatred and abuse and family dysfunctions and suicides, and all social ills will be replaced by a law that values love and respect for one another. You know, these beautiful qualities don't just occur because someone waves a magic wand. God believes in doing things. Only in Disney movies do things happen by magic wands. God is a worker. The Father is a creator. Jesus Christ was a carpenter. They do things with their hands, not with magic wands. And it is God's intent for you and I to share with him the ability to do a lot of patient work. The new children of God are going to help bring about a new world. Let's take a look at Scripture in Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 18.

Scripture then transitions from the time of the Great Tribulation and the day of the Lord into the kingdom of God. Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 18. Therefore the Lord will wait that he may be gracious to you, and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. That's why there must be a Great Tribulation and the day of the Lord, that time. Blessed are all those who wait for him. For the people who dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, you shall weep no more.

He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When he hears it, he will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, and that's a time of pain and suffering that this world will go through, yet what does this prophecy say about the role that you and I will have in the kingdom of God? Your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. Do you realize in the world that we live in today that we have been moved into a corner? Oh, you believe in God? You have no credibility. The Ten, what? The Ten Commandments, weren't they replaced by the nine suggestions and then replaced by the seven opinions?

So, even though people of faith today are marginalized in our world, and what we have to say is put into a corner is mocked and laughed at, what the prophecy says is there's coming a time when your teachers will no longer be moved into a corner. But your eyes shall see your teachers. Why? Because they're going to be there. We're not going to be sitting on some mythical throne somewhere.

We're not going to be living like Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey. We're going to be there, on the ground, meeting the flesh, talking, sharing, teaching, loving, giving.

Then your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right hand, or whenever you turn to the left. The teachers spoken of here are God's elect, who overcame sin in their physical lifetimes. They endured physical trials. They struggled against discouragement. They fought the good fight, and with God's help overcame the world through the gift they'd received of God's Holy Spirit. And God has rewarded them with eternal life, and with membership in his family. He has taken those who were considered last in this world and marginalized, and he has made them first in his kingdom. Let's take a quick look at Isaiah chapter 65. Get a foretaste of what that world is like. Isaiah chapter 65 verse 17.

For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in what I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. No more shall an infirm from there live but a few days, nor an old man who is not fulfilled his days, for the child shall die 100 years old, but the sinner, being 100 years old, shall be accursed. It'll be a world in which there is no premature death. Children don't die in infancy from a childhood disease. Everyone who is born in this world will be given a full 100-year physical lifetime, and after that, at 100 years old, their physical bodies will wear out. They will expire, and they will die. And those who, during that period of time, said, yes, I get it. I understand the Father is calling me. I understand that I'm a sinner. I understand and repent and need a Savior, and I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior.

For those individuals who say that, they will be welcomed also into the family of God.

And it says here, however, but the sinner, being 100 years old, shall be accursed. If someone through that 100-year lifetime never came to the point of acknowledging God's calling, respecting their Creator, accepting His law, and accepting the need for a Savior for the forgiveness of their own sins, it's their choice. But for those who choose to reject God's way of life at 100 years old, their life will cease, and they will be cursed, and their existence will end. Verse 21, and they shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build in another inhabit. They shall not plant in another eat. It's not going to be like the kingdoms of this world today, where you build something and an invading army comes in, and it takes all your daughters as sex slaves and all your sons and sells them off or forces them to go into their military, steals all of your food, burns down your home and your crops, literally raids the area of the world that you live in and devastates everything in every part of your civilization. He says that's not going to happen anymore. Continuing, they shall not build in another inhabit. They shall not plant in another eat, for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people and my elect, shall long enjoy the work of their hands. And they shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble, for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord for their offspring with them. It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are still speaking I will hear. God says, while they're still in the middle of their prayer, I'll intervene and answer their prayer before they even finish it. That's how deep and how close the relationship will be between God and the people in the world within his kingdom. This is a world so beautiful and harmonious that our diseased culture thinks it's impossible and unbelievable. They say it's a Shangri-La, this biblical kingdom, Jesus Christ returning to restore and build a new world. They say it's impossible, can't happen, you can't overcome human nature. People will immediately want their rights. People will squabble. People will fight.

That's wired into the human mind, they say. But with the spiritual influence of Satan removed and great leadership in an entirely new earth, it will be literally rebuilt from the ground up.

What will the spiritual children be doing? What will you and I be doing at that time, sitting in our manner like Downton Abbey? No, we're going to be working with our hands like Jesus Christ did. He is our role model. What did he do when he was on earth? He personally preached.

He personally touched people and healed them. He personally held little children in his arms.

He cooked and made breakfast when it was necessary. He was hands-on involved with the people whom he loved. He is our role model. We will be imitating Jesus Christ. Now let's talk about the seventh annual Holy Day, the final one, called the Last Great Day, going back to Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 39. Leviticus 23, 39. And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days, and the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. Now, the major emphasis of this Holy Day, the eighth day, is not on you and me. We will already have been sons and daughters in God's family for a millennium. So it's not about us. It's about what we can do and how we'll participate, but this day is not about us. The emphasis is on the multiple billions who have never known God and will be given their first opportunity for salvation. This enclose those who were not called or drawn to the Father in their lifetimes. Some in various parts of the world never even heard about Christ. Others, as we read last time in the sermon, were in a spiritual stupor. Some were purposely blinded. Some were deceived. Some have a veil on their heart.

And after the thousand years have ended, an enormous resurrection will occur, and all those throughout human history who were never called will be raised from the dead to live again.

What an exciting time that will be! Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11. Revelation chapter 20, verse 11. John was inspired to write, Then I saw a great white throne, And him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away.

And there was found no place for them, there's no place for anyone to hide when this judgment time comes. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the books that were opened are the scriptures of the word of God. And the other book, of course, is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. And death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged. Each one according to his works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And verse 15, And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So everyone who has ever lived will be resurrected from the earth, either from the grave or if they were cremated, or even if their particles of their body are in the sea, God will reconstruct their DNA and they will be restored to human physical life once again.

Everyone will be judged. And you know what? Everyone who is judged here is found guilty of sin.

That's the judgment. Here's the book. These were my word, the scriptures. Here's the book of life.

Guilty! Your name's not yet written in the book of life.

Each one, however, will be given a period of time to accept the Father's calling and be forgiven. And upon repentance and acceptance of Christ as Savior, their names will be written in the book of life.

Sadly, some will choose to reject God even at this time in this great resurrection, and they will be cast into the lake of fire and be consumed.

Let's literally go to Ezekiel 37. I was going to just read it, but let's turn there and take a look at this beautiful time reflected in a metaphor here from the prophet Ezekiel. Now, this prophecy first occurs in Israel because of God's ancient covenant with them and the fact that he loves Israel in a very deep and profound way. But it's a metaphor for what God will do in the whole world represented by the eighth day. Ezekiel 37, verse 1, He said to me, people dead for thousands and thousands and thousands of years, millions and millions and millions of bones scattered in this valley that he sees. Verse 3, and he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, Oh, Lord God, you know could answer. Again, he said to me, prophecy to these bones and say to them, Oh, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones. Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you, and bring flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And you shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked the sinews, and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over, but there was no breath in them. They're not alive yet. Verse 9, also he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, Son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied, and he commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and they stood on their feet as an exceedingly great army. And he said to me, Son of man, these bones are cut off. He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, the whole. They represent all the tribes of Israel. They indeed say, our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. So what's their initial reaction when they're resurrected? We're going to be damned. We're going to be judged. We're going to be condemned. We didn't live according to the covenant that we had with God. We don't have any hope.

We're going to face damnation, cursing, condemnation. But here's what God says in verse 12, therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus says the Lord God, behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. When I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you out of your graves, I will put my spirit in you and you shall live and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord. So God says you're getting a chance. You're getting your first chance.

You're getting a chance to follow me, to learn my way of life. You're getting a new opportunity.

Take advantage of it. Accept your calling. Welcome into this land, in this world, that this beautiful world that I've created for you.

So this prophecy first occurs for Israel because of God's ancient covenant with them, but it's a metaphor for what God will do all across the earth, everywhere.

So what role will you and I have in serving those who are part of this massive resurrection, this second resurrection that occurs after the thousand years have finished? Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. If you'll turn there with me, Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. What will we look like?

What will we be doing? It says, at that time, Michael shall stand up. This is Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered, each one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life. And again, during that great resurrection, everyone is judged guilty. Everyone is in need of a savior. They're all condemned, but there will be given an opportunity to each and everyone involved in that resurrection, and some will choose everlasting life. They'll take the right path. They'll make the right choices. They'll seek a savior and a relationship with God. So all those who sleep in the earth, the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, and on the other hand, some to shame and everlasting contempt, because they won't take advantage of that opportunity, that one chance they get to accept Jesus Christ as their savior, God's law, and the ability to have a relationship with God as his child. Verse 3, then those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

That's a spiritual description of you and I and the glory that will be reflected from us as we serve in God's family. I'm going to read this from the New Century, version verse 3.

It says, the wise people will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who teach others to live right will shine like stars forever and ever.

Jesus Christ will literally resurrect billions of dead souls and offer them salvation. Every year, the church joyfully celebrates and anticipates this holy day, the eighth day, we oftentimes call the last great day, also known as the great white throne judgment.

Well, in conclusion today, the elect of God will have prepared the world in advance for this massive resurrection. What you and I will be doing for a thousand years? Well, think about all the things that need to occur in advance for billions upon billions upon billions upon billions of people who are resurrected all over the earth. There needs to be housing, food, schools, worship halls, roads, clothing, parks, sports facilities, music facilities, and perhaps most importantly, three hours after they all eat lots of restrooms.

You know, we chuckle about that, but all of that has to be created, built, and designed, and functioning in advance of that resurrection. And that's the part that you and I play.

All of these things that are created and built in advance for this massive resurrection need administrators and teachers and coaches and tradesmen and engineers and musicians and ministers and servants of all type to get their hands dirty just like Jesus Christ did when he walked on earth. And they help rebuild and prepare that world. In my last sermon a couple of weeks ago, as I stated then, I hope that we can all look forward to the fall holy days this year. Let's get excited about our role in these upcoming events. Nothing in your life is mundane.

Everything you experience is preparing you for greatness. Every trial, every sorrow, every frustration is strengthening you and preparing you for service in the family and the kingdom of God.

The fall holy days remind us that God has not abandoned this world. He has not forgotten this world. No, he's preparing a people to serve in the new world. And those people are you. Those people include you and they include me. We should be preparing every day to fulfill our calling and purpose to serve in a mighty way in the kingdom of God. Have a wonderful Sabbath.