Unto All Who Love His Appearing

Thank you very much, Mr. Beatty. I did want to mention one thing, and that is when I said Terry is going to Tucson. It's not Terry, it's Doug. Doug Young. Terry. Everybody's looking. Do we have a... Yeah. Anyway, Doug is in Tucson. He called me the other night, and I think I kept him awake around Hela Bend. For those of you that have been to Hela Bend before. I know the Clarks have probably been on 8 over to Hela Bend, and a lot of you that used to attend the Tucson feast site.

Those memorable occasions in Hela Bend, for those of you that have been there. Two thousand years ago, people walked this earth with one goal and one mission in mind. And that was to tell a story. A story that had impacted their lives so much that they changed their life. And they hoped that by telling that story, and the components of that story, that likewise it would change other lives.

They would go from Asia, to Greece, to Rome, and all around the world, and they would be telling the story. And only one story. They spoke and they talked of a man. He was a good man. He was a man that had been sent to this earth by God. He was a godly man, because more than that, he was God in the flesh. He was perfect, and he was wise, and he was loving. He never did anybody any harm. He did no one any hurt. He never discouraged a single soul. He loved everyone in a godly way that came into his presence.

You say, what a wonderful person, and what a wonderful man, and indeed he is and was. But what happened is, as the story went on, is that the people around him didn't respect him. They did not like him. In fact, what they did to this man that came from God was, in that sense, God, for he had been with God forever.

The same people that he came to save killed him, crucified him. Now you say, well, this is a very, very, very sad story. And please, we don't want to hear any more. What we come to understand is, after the sadness comes the good part of the story, because he was going to come back again and appear to those that believed the story and believed in him. Simply put, it's called believing the story and believing in him, and really believing that he is going to come back. After all, that's the story, that's a part of the story that was spoken to those that went out around this world to share it.

They went back to that final evening of his life, the final night of his earthly ministry, and what he shared with his confidants, those that had been close to him. Join me if you would in John 14. Those words are before us in the Gospel of John. John 14, and let's pick up the thought in verse 1 and understand the words. Let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions and or offices. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. That was the deal.

That was the story. Jesus knew what was going to happen to him that evening and into that next day, and that he would ultimately be as dead as a doornail. But he wanted to tell those that might believe in him and believe the story that he was going to return. That the grave was but a pause, was but a comma to the rest of the story. The original audience that heard that night in that upper loft, they had to hear it again and again. Join me, if you would, in Acts 1. Acts 1 and verse 6. Right before he ascended to heaven, it had to be told again.

Some things are too good to be true. And also, some things are too hard to be understood all at once. So we have to continue to have that rhythm dropping on us in our minds and our hearts to really be firmly established in this truth. Picking up the thought in verse 6, then when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? So the thought on the minds of the people was the kingdom.

And when was it going to be restored? And he said to them, Christ speaking, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has put in his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, when they watched, he was taken up and a cloud received out of their sight. And while they looked, instead, fastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men, or two angels, stood by them in white apparel, who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus who was taken from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. Bottom line, simple statement, he is coming back. He is coming back. From that time forward, in the life of the early church, there was an immediacy, and there was an expectation of Jesus returning in their time.

There was an immediacy and an expectation upon his return, and the restoration of that kingdom. For centuries forward, that was the proclamation of a Christian. God had come in the flesh. Jesus is Lord, and he is returning.

Get ready. That's it. That's it. That was the proclamation. The answer had come, the answer had gone, and the answer in its fullness is coming back to this earth.

It was always something that was near and dear to the mind of a Christian. For Jesus himself had never said when he would return. He always referred to the kingdom as being near to returning over the horizon. But it didn't come immediately, as some thought. Even some of the men that we read their writings in the Bible, they thought it would be almost within weeks, maybe years, maybe in decades. It was not.

Bottom line, though, it remained the target for all. That Jesus Christ was going to return, and he was going to come back with a kingdom. After all, they loved him, and they knew he loved them because, well, after all, he had died for them. His word was as good, better than gold. At times, whether then or now, we continually need to be reminded that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth. I'd like to share a very precious verse with you out of 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4.

And 2 Timothy 4.

And, brethren, here in San Diego, there's a reason why I'm giving this message to you today. I actually had another message prepared for you when I woke up this morning. But because of everything that's going on around us right now, and it is challenging, isn't it? And it gets a little spooky, gets a little scary with what's going on. You know, it's easier to talk about what is coming than when it comes and you're going through it. And you see the systems of this world, whether it be political or economic or militarily, being shaken up. I wanted to give you some encouragement today. I wanted you to know that your life's devotion has been worth it. That the words of Jesus Christ are true, and that He really is coming back to this earth. That's the hope. That's the beauty of being a Christian, that the rest of the story is yet to be played out. That's what Paul reminds us of in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 6. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering in the time of my parchers at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. What do you mean, kept the faith? Is keeping the faith a Rolodex of Hebrew and Greek words? And knowing this or knowing that in the Scriptures, and understanding all knowledge and all happenings? Or is the faith knowing that God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed on Him should not die, should not perish, but have life everlasting evermore? And that one came who was perfect, who died ignominiously, and was resurrected in glory. But that's not the end of the story, that He's going to return. It's the return that's so exciting. He says, I fought the good fight. I've kept the faith. That's the faith. That's the belief. Those that believe on me and believe what I'm saying. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. Not today, but on that day. That's in the future. And not to me only. But notice also to all who have loved His appearing.

Loved His appearing. Waiting for that moment that we're going to talk about in the course of this message. That when He appears, that snapshot moment in the future, when the kingdom of heaven enters into the realm of earth and is established.

I know the other night I was at the airport. I hadn't seen my wife for nine days. I was ready to lay eyes. I don't want to embarrass. I never talk about Susan. I'll get in trouble. I know. But she's going to just have to take it. But we've been apart for nine days. And I was looking so forward. My eyes were focused as I was going down that drive, looking for the one that I love and loves me. I do not like to be separated from my wife. I looked forward to her appearing curbside in front of Delta Airport at 11 o'clock on a weekday and to see her. That made me happy. I could see it before it came. I looked forward to her appearing. Susan would be the first if she could come up behind the pulpit and say, We're talking about something even far greater than loved ones being parted. We're talking about the appearing of the Son of Man and what that will be like and what that will mean to all of those down through the ages that have given their life and changed their life once they heard the story and what that will be like. I haven't been to Disneyland for years, but I used to have a Kodak spot where you have that Kodak moment. This is right where you want to be. This is right where you want to take a picture of your loved one in front of the Matterhorn or it used to be the Submarines or it used to be Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Have you thought of what it's going to be like when Jesus Christ manifests Himself and appears? How much do you love the thought of that appearing? Because that is the title of my message today. Until all that love His appearing. It's very interesting when you look at the New King James Bible. It says that that loved His appearing. But I don't think that quite hits the mark. It's interesting that in the King James Bible it says that loved His appearing. It's an ongoing love affair. It never ends. It never wanes. It's not something that is passed. It is something that devours us, encompasses us.

It's very interesting what it says in the New Living Translation where it says that all who look forward to His glorious return. It's interesting when you take that term appearing, it comes from a Greek word. You might want to jot this down and think about it later. It comes from a Greek word. It comes from the word phaenō. Also, there's another word similar to it, epiphaenō. It means to shine, to be brought forth into the light, to become evidence. There's going to come a time when this story is going to be fulfilled and Jesus Christ is going to return. He's going to carry out that promise that I've gone, but I'm coming back. I've established something for you and I'm bringing it with me. I'm bringing it to this earth. There's going to come a moment when there's going to be a shining. There's going to be a revelation. There's going to be evidence of what I said in that room 2,000 years ago becoming manifested before you. There's something else I want to share with you that maybe you've never centered on before when you go to verse 8 where it says, And not to me only, but also to all of those who have loved His appearing. Allow me to share something that I think is absolutely profound when it comes to this Scripture. If you go to a concordance and you look up the word love, the word there is not filia. The word there is not eros. The word there is agape. Why do I share this with you, my friends? What it's saying is that this crown of righteousness is laid up not only for Paul, but for all of those that love His appearing. That love it the way that God loves it. Are looking upon it the way that God looks upon it. That has the same desire, the same fervor, the same fullness of being, that when that moment comes, it is going to be so glorious that none of us want to miss it. God does not save this thought for just one day out of the year on the Feast of Trumpets to think about His Son appearing, but God thinks about it without hesitation and reservation. Every moment of eternity, for this is the plan of God. Early on, 31 AD, 41 AD, 51 AD, people would meet in homes. Oftentimes, Christians, those that were involved in the way, met in homes, gathered together. Some of them might have the parchment. Some of them might have things that were written on papyrus or other articles that were written on. Oftentimes, people would come in and they would simply tell the story as they had been told it. People had remarkable memories in yester-age when they weren't dependent upon computers. They could go on and on and tell a story. That was a part of what antiquity was like. That's how things were communicated. They were told a story and or they had something read to them. Let's go over the very same words that those early disciples had spoken to them or read to them in those homes in Bethania and Cappadocia, in Lystra and Iconium, in Ephesus and in Philippi. Let's understand what that appearing is going to be like. Join me if you would in Matthew 24. Matthew 24.

Matthew 24. Let's pick up the thought in verse 1. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and His disciples came up to show Him the building of the temple. Jesus said to them, Do you not see all of these things? And surely He said, Do you not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down?

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came and privately sang, Tell us, When will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? So that was the setup for Jesus discussing what His appearing was going to be like. We find that in verse 21. Let's just allow the words of the Bible to describe what that appearing is going to be like.

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, No, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, you think about that you're in that house in Bithynia or that complex in Cappadocia. Or maybe you're in a square in Lystra and you're having somebody tell you these things by memory or reading off of a parchment. No, nor ever shall be.

And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, they will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, look here, it is the Christ or there. Don't believe it. For false Christ, false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. There will be people that will rise up and say, I know, I understand, I've got God, I've got Christ in my hip pocket.

Stick around me. I know when, I know how. Let's just allow the words of Jesus Christ to tell us what's going to go on here. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, look, he is in the desert, don't go out. Or look, he is in the inner rooms, don't believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. What do we understand by this, speaking of the appearing of Jesus Christ upon his return?

It's not done in our way. It's not done on our time schedule. And it's not done in secret. Shakespeare penned that the world is a stage. And I wholeheartedly agree. The one thing that he didn't write is, God would say, it's my stage. And I will use the wholeness of all that I have created to announce the appearing of my Son. The timing of his return is precise.

It is perfect. The dimensions and the breadth of this divine D-day, the divine invasion, is perfect. It's awesome. It's wonderful. The first thing I want to share with you about the appearing is simply this. Don't worry. If you're alive, you will not miss it. It's bigger than a postcard. It is going to be everywhere. It is going to be seen from left to right, from east to west. Just like for those of you that are from Texas or from the Midwest, as a thunderstorm rolls across that horizon, everybody is going to see the appearing of Jesus Christ. Verse 36.

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man. Whereas in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, bearing and giving in marriage until that day, that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. It says back and forth there are going to be two in the field. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken, the other will be left.

Verse 44. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. We understand through these verses that seemingly down here on earth, life is seemingly going to be going on. People are going to be giving and taking in marriage, doing all of those things that are patterns of life, as if nothing is ever going to interrupt the existence of man.

It can always perhaps get better, as troubling as things can be, but somehow it's going to get better. It will just go on and on, and people are not going to understand the time of Christ appearing. But as Christians, those that believe in Him and believe on what He said, He is going to return.

Let's talk about the dynamics of what that appearing is going to be like. Join me if you would in Revelation 19. Revelation 19. Let's pick up the thought in verse 11.

Does somebody have a watch on them? Could somebody bring me a nice watch with big hands? I noticed that there's no clock up there, and I don't want to go until Christ returns. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Oh, good. We've got a couple of hours. Revelation 19 in verse 11. We've talked about, number one, you're not going to miss it. That Kodak moment can occur all over the earth.

For when Christ comes back, all will see it. But now let's talk about some of the dynamics. Revelation 19, verse 11. Now I saw heaven open and behold a white horse. And he who sat on it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no one knew except himself.

And he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Oh, this is better than an old-time Western, you know, where the good guy comes over the hill on the white horse. Something about that white horse coming over the hill or coming down from heaven. And notice what it says, verse 14, And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.

The armies in heaven. That's a hard one at times for a mind to wrap around. And I'll discuss that in a moment. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, but with that he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule with a rod of iron, and he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thighs a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now let's understand something that comes right out of your Bible. Jesus does not appear alone. He is the superstar of the book of Revelation. Absolutely. He is that wonderful and fantastic fifth horseman of the apocalypse, the unveiling of what's going to happen in the future.

But he is not alone. He brings armies from heaven with him. And he invades the earth. That's a part of the appearing. He's coming down to intervene in human history once and for all. What is very important for us to understand for those that love his appearing, allow me to say something.

I love the appearing of Yeshua, of Jesus, of Joshua, whatever he was called when he was in the Galilee when he first came. That's a beautiful appearance. We know that the shepherds rejoiced. We know that the angels rejoiced. And we know that we can rejoice because God's purpose. And all of those prophecies in the Old Testament had come to fulfillment, that there would be one from the seed of Jesse, born in Bethlehem. That is an appearance, yes? That was the first appearance. There's another thought that comes into our mind, and that is the appearance of a young Jewish man, 33 years of age, hanging on a piece of wood on a mount outside of Jerusalem.

And we can, in a sense, if we work on it, we can wrap our mind around that. That also is an appearing of what God wants us to keep as a part of the story that has been told for 2,000 years. This appearing stretches us, stretches the Christian. We can deal with the baby. We can deal with even a sacrifice. But to think of that baby growing, to think of that man off the cross with the holes in his hand, and now coming back in this appearing, it is an expanded appearance. It is the same Savior. It is the same Jesus, now the Christ.

That also is a part of the appearing. And it's interesting what it says. He now appears as God's agent of judgment and justice upon this entire world. This verse is given definition all the way back in the book of Daniel. And I want to show you something here, in the book of Daniel.

Daniel 2 and verse 44.

This is a part of the appearing. And why we are to love it as Christians. In Daniel 2 and verse 44.

And why we are to love it as Christians. In Daniel 2 and verse 44.

Now stay with me a second, please. Remember what we mentioned in Revelation. Speaks of him that is faithful and true, and on the white horse, etc., etc. Now verse 44. And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. And it shall break in pieces and consume all of these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever, inasmuch as you saw that stone that was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces, the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has made known to the kings what will come to pass after this, and the dream... Well, notice it is certain, and its interpretation is sure. There's three things that we gain out of this verse. Number one, what God is using was not made with human hands. It is by God's design and by God's choice. Remember, Jesus, who is the rock, is that stone that was disallowed, that was thrown into the pond, thrown into the quick, by the religious people of his day, and by the Romans. He was chucked. As we used to say, we used to chuck rocks. When we were young, just chuck them. That means we didn't want them. We used to go down by a lakeside, over to Lake Murray, or Picoia Maca Lake, when I was growing up in San Diego. I had to get some of my San Diego roots in here. And you go by the shore, and you get an 11-year-old boy, you know what they're looking for? They're looking just for that nice, really flat rock. That's like a frisbee. It just has to be so... Right, guys? It just has to fit right into the hand. You know, you don't want to lose. You want it just right there. And then you go down, and you just see how many you can skip. Sometimes you just chuck rocks away. That's not going to be good. That's not going to be good after... you know, over... you know... Some of you look at, you don't even pick up. I'm trying to allow all of you to get into the mind of an 11-year-old boy. Ladies, I know it's hard. But here's the point. That's what humanity did with the one that God sent to this earth. It was the stone that was disallowed. But it says that He has taken the stone, not touched, not made, not carved with human hands, not chosen by man. He chooses it. And it is literally going to smash down the kingdoms of this world. There's going to be a smattering. There's going to be a devastation of what man has developed in the tree of good and evil. And it says that that kingdom will not be left to any human being. And it will be forever. It will be divine. And it will be ageless. Now, you think that through right now with what the United States of America is going through right now. That here we are after two years, 200 years of history of what's happening to America. We see what's happening to America now after 60 years, after World War II. Kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall. Kingdoms rise, whether they be a commercial empire, an industrial empire. They rise and fall, whether they are a military empire. You can use the case of Carthage. You can use the case of Rome. What goes up must come down. This says that when Jesus appears, the stone that was disallowed, the stone that is carved out of the mount without human hands, that kingdom is going to remain forever. What a wonderful, wonderful story. But I want to take you beyond that. Now, we've talked about the breadth of the appearing. We've talked about the dynamism of the appearing. I want to now bring it down to a relationship, and let's talk about the intimacy of the appearing. We would have processed on the ends four.

Processional means four.

And let's pick up the thought if we could in verse 13. Because this describes the appearing. Allow me to share the background of the book of Thessalonians. This is one of the more, what we call, primitive epistles. One of those, in other words, that was first written. And a lot of people didn't know a lot of things, yet they'd heard the story. They believed the story, but they needed to be reminded about the story and have it further defined. These Greek Christians were a little worried that maybe they had been left behind. The idea of resurrection was more of a Judaic thought than a Hellenistic thought. They were not acquainted with the thought of resurrection, shall we say, as Jews were in Galilee or in Jerusalem. And so, it's a brand new territory. So they had to be reminded of what the appearing is going to be like. Verse 13, I don't want you to be dumb. No, ignorant. Ignorant. But sometimes we can be dumb. Brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you, by the words of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. So he just lays it right out. He draws this wordy tapestry of what is going to happen. Of how it says that he's going to descend. He's not staying up there. He's coming back down. And with a shout, and with the voice of an archangel, seemingly it is the shout of Christ, who is himself excited about his appearing, and what it means in the plan of God. Also the shout of the archangel. And it says the trumpet's going to sound. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them and the clouds to meet them near. The dead go up first. Then those that are alive are going to appear. And thus we shall always... Uh-oh, what happened?

Thank you for appearing.

Then notice what it says. And thus we shall always be with the Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words. Why do I share this verse with you as it was shared in those houses in the first century A.D.? Because the immediacy of his appearing and the immensity of his appearing and the dynamism of his appearing must be matched with the intimacy of his appearing. His appearing is about relationships and about a love affair that he has with us and that we have with him and that he is not going to forget us wherever we are. And it says that comfort one another with these words, and we shall always be with the Lord. What does his appearing bring? Join me if you would in Revelation 21. Revelation 21.

What comes with him?

What's in the suitcase?

As he comes to this earth? Ultimately, as the plan of God moves forward in God's time and in God's way, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21. And the first heaven and the first earth passed away. And there was no more sea. No more barriers. Nothing more coming between God and man and man and man. Saw a holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. There's going to be festivity. There's going to be celebration. Oh, there's just nothing like a wedding. What a joy! 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, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And he's going to wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death and no sorrow nor cross. And there shall be no more pain for the former things that passed away. How's your life been going? Last day, last week, last month? Shred any tears? Been separated from family? Been separated from friends? Become distraught because of news in your community or your nation or this world? Does it seem as if there's a dark cloud that is descending? Upon the nations of this earth that with all the genius and all the computers in the world? Just like Humpty Dumpty, all of the king's men, they can't put back Humpty Dumpty back together again. That's why I want to bring you good news today. News right out of the Scriptures that saints have heard for 2,000 years that Jesus Christ is the King of the world. It's going to be awesome. The dimensions are going to be incredible. The impact is going to be tangible on this earth. But most importantly, the intimacy of being with God and Christ forever is the best part of what this is all about. Now, why do I share this with you today? Because I'm going to share this with you today. Good question. I realize that the Kingdom of God seminar series is coming up. This is not even the message that I'm going to give. I haven't thought that as is out yet. That will be two or three weeks down the line. This is a pep rally. This is like when you go up to camp. You're going to be in a camp. You're going to be in a camp. You're going to be in a camp. You're going to go up to camp for two or three days beforehand. Before you get ready for the campers, you've got to get into the zone. You've got to know what the zone is about. You've got to know what's going on. The Kingdom of God seminar series is going to be coming, and it may go on and on and on. We're not just doing this once. This is going to be every three to four months for, I don't know, however long. This is to establish in your mind how incredible the Kingdom of God is. What a blessing that we know about Christ coming back again, and that there is an appearing. I want to share a thought with you that I thought was interesting. I mentioned today to someone that I was going to be speaking about this subject. I gave them a sentence or two. That's normally what I do with fellow ministers. I don't like to give them the whole sermon, because I know they have their sermons to prepare. But it was interesting the individual retorted back, Oh, you're giving a feast or trumpet sermon today. I said, No, I'm not giving a feast or trumpet sermon today. I'm giving a Bible sermon today that needs to be on people's mind every day. Not just one day of the year. Not just one day of the month. Not just one focus out of the biblical plan of God through the Holy Days.

Paul said that a crown of righteousness is laid up for those that love agape, love like God loves, His purpose and His plan. And that moment in the future, when the clouds roll back, the trumpet sounds, Christ ascends, the dead rise first, the living join Him, and we are together forever. Can I ask you a question? I can roll them around now that I've got this mic. Are you saving that for the end of September or October to think about that? You may not be here by then. I suggest you start thinking about it now. That appearance is going to change everything. It might even make the rivers run upstream. Because Christ can do that. It's going to change lives, just like it did in the first century, just as it is in the 21st century, when people not only believe on the one that was sent by God, but believe in what He said. That He is going to return. The reason I'm giving you this message today is simply this. For the next year, we are going to have this as an ongoing series and theme in the Church. We cannot teach what we do not believe. And our belief is not what we know, but who we know, and know what is coming. It's not what we know. It's who we know, and know what is coming. Because when we focus on the who, rather than simply the gnosis or the knowledge, our life begins to change. We do things differently. We get up differently in the morning. We recognize that we have a purpose, because God has a purpose and we're God's child. We will conduct ourselves differently than we did before. We will deal differently with our spouses. We'll deal differently with our children, our grandchildren, our neighbors, our coworkers. We'll deal differently with the people that we go to church with, or we meet at the post office, or we run into in the most unfashionable manner on the freeway. Everything that we do will change, because we know that He's coming back. We know that He is appearing. We know that to whom much has been given, much is expected. Thus, there is an accountability and a joyful one. Because if He did it, we can do it. He said He'd give us a spirit to help us to do it, to live the wonderful world tomorrow, today, that begins to occur when He comes back. These Kingdom of God seminars, whether we have one person, two persons, three persons, or thirty persons, allow me to share something with you. The proof is in the pudding. May I make a comment? You're the pudding. You are the pudding. You are the lives that are transformed, because you have heard the story, you believe the story, and you love His appearing. You know, when I talk to people that want to talk about His appearing, rather than what they bought at Walmart, or what they're going to do tonight at some amusement park, or what they're going to do over here, or what they're going to do there, you know, that's a person I can deal business with. I know there is a person that is convicted. I know there is a person that loves the appearing. Now, please understand, I go to Walmart, too. That's not the point. And I have been to an amusement park within the last two decades.

We must also enjoy this earth. But if that's what dominates your thinking, if that is what you're all about, then you might as well join the people that said, Well, Jesus, I want to follow you. But first of all, I've got to go back and say goodbye to my friends. I've got to go bury my father. I've got to do this, and I've got to do that. When you truly love the appearing that is mentioned by Paul, you surrender your past, your present, and your future to God Almighty. You give them everything. You say, I have already surrendered. I've given my life. You don't need to invade like you will in the future. You don't need to bring in the angels on the white horses or the saints on the white horses. I give up. I'm done in. I'm not going anywhere. I realize what I am apart from you. I want to be a member of your family. I want to be like Jesus Christ. I want to be a follower of that way. I will do anything I will go anywhere that you ask me to. I may not have the capacity. You promised me capacity. I may not know the way. You'll show me the way. I may get tired. You said, I can lean on you. You will be my strength. Loving that appearing. Looking forward to that moment. Watching for that goal line is essential to the Christian. Join me if you wouldn't flip. Philippians 3. I'm going to share something with you that maybe you've never noticed about. This verse, you say, well, what verse? Well, let's turn there together and we'll figure out what's going on here. Philippians 3. Notice what it says here.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also eagerly wait for the Savior, for the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. What is very interesting, you might mark that down. Here's the word you want to jot down in your notes if you want to be students of the word. The word there is citizenship. Why does Paul use that when it comes to the book of Philippians? Philippi, which was named after King Philip, the father of Alexander, once Macedon had been conquered by the Romans, they imported and stalked that city with Romans that had fought in that war. Philippi, by and large, was basically a Roman city, inhabited by Romans, Latin stock. They did not consider themselves Greeks. They didn't consider themselves Greeks. They didn't want Greek ways. They considered themselves Romans, and they looked to the mother city of which was Rome. Their focus was on Rome. It wasn't on Athens. It wasn't on Philippi. They were pilgrims. Their citizenship was Roman. That's what they looked to. That was the focus. That's where their eyes and their eyes were trained. That's what they wanted to model themselves after. Join me, if you would, here in Galatians, the book of Galatians 4, because now this makes sense. Galatians 4, another writing of Paul. And let's pick up the thought, if we could, here in Galatians 4 and verse 26. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. As those Philippians of Roman stock looked to Rome and considered their citizenship and their activity there, and what they modeled after there. We notice here where it says, Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. Rather than mother Rome, which is a historical term today, Jerusalem above, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven in its fullness, is the mother. Not a church. That's a term that comes out of history of another church and another religious society. We have a heavenly father. We have an elder brother. Mother here is defined as Jerusalem above. The early church, which did not have a temple because the temple of God was within them, did not have a set of priests because Jesus Christ is the high priest. Looked for a kingdom to come, a kingdom to appear. Now as that waned, and as we get into the third and fourth century, with teachings that came into the church at that time, it began to be said that the kingdom of God is on earth through a church and through a religious system. The Bible says differently. The mother of us all is above. It is on a holding pattern, and it is going to appear. Join me in one last verse. Join me, if you would, in 1 Peter 1.

And let's pick up the thought in verse 3.

1 Peter 1, verse 3. I want to conclude this with thoughts of appearing, and loving, and longing, and looking forward to that moment in time. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again, with a lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. There's a hope. God is the author of hope to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. Sounds just like the words of Jesus on that night before He died, that I go and prepare, but I will return, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed or to appear in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory. Notice, at the revelation, and that is synonymous with the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen you love, though now you do not see Him yet believing, you rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of glory, loving His appearing in a godly and an agape manner, recognizing that His appearing is a part of the whole purpose of God, to redeem and to restore and bring near and dear all of humanity to Him in His time and in His way and by His grace. Paul mentions this in a book and an epistle that is sometimes called the Epistle of Suffering, for Peter suffered, and he went through a lot as a servant of God, and we know basically by tradition how his life ended. And yet he spoke of the joy of it, the appearing, the revelation, that moment ahead that is going to pale into insignificance, everything that you and I have gone through. What's going on in your life today in Chula Vista, in San Diego, in La Mesa, San Ysidro, Temecula, Sun City? What do we think is so heavy on us that somehow is heavier than the cross that Jesus Christ bore to Golgotha? And he did that for the joy that was set before him, because being God of the flesh, he could multitask. And while he was going through the pain as the Son of Man, as the Son of God, he knew what that appearing was going to be like. It says, for the joy that was set before him. Can you begin to even fathom the joy of what it's going to be like when those clouds roll back, that trumpet sound? You hear that voice? You say, oh, that's what Christ sounds like in glory. That's what Christ sounds like in his divine state. Wow! And you and I are going to be a part of that. Let me share one last thought with you. And that is simply this. There's a train, and it's headed our way. It's called the Kingdom of God. I know some people want to set a time, and they want to set a date for that train to arrive. I find the older I get, the less I know, the more I give to God, because after all, he's already said, no man knows the day or the hour. I have a question for you. Don't leave me yet. I'm not done. The last minute of his sermon is the part that the minister wants you to get. As that Kingdom of God comes down the tracks, what are you waiting for?

Are you waiting for the train to arrive as if it's just going to be a new deal from heaven, visited upon earth? Or are you waiting for somebody to arrive on that train and get off and meet for the first time in person? It's one thing to wait for a train. It's one thing to wait for the Kingdom of God, which is going to be marvelous. But may I share a deeper thought? I think a finer thought when it comes to those that love his appearance. It's not the train. It's who gets off the train. It's the person. It's the face, and it's the heart of the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ. What are you looking for as the train of the Kingdom is headed your way?

Keep your eyes on Christ. You're going to have an opportunity to one day meet Him. Not just His Kingdom, but Him who makes it possible, who makes it available for all of us to enter and receive that, which He's gone ahead to get ready for us. I leave you with this question. It will prepare you for the fine messages that Mr. Smith and Mr. Clark will be bringing in this first round, and others will be bringing. All of our elders and others are going to be involved. I want to share with you as one Christian to another just one verse out of the Bible today and expand upon it. It's a promise, and it's a hope, and it's you, and it's to me. There's a crown of righteousness laid up for those that love His appearing.

Thank you.