What Benefits Do Christians Have?

You know, often workers go on strike for wage increases. Of course, we see a lot of that in the world these days because of all of the inflation that's going on and because the country, of course, is going through economic changes at this time. But this you may not know, but I find it very incredible that the wage floor for U.S. workers climbed to a record high of $79,000. In other words, workers expect to be paid that if they hire on to a company.

And that's according to the Federal Reserve of New York, who released that on August 21st. Just recently, this happened. And I want you to think about the fact, too, that along with that kind of a wage of $79,000, there is an expectation of benefits on top of that. You know, it's like in the United Church of God. When we have someone we hire in the church, we have to consider what is their wage going to be and what are their benefits going to have to be in order to take care of an employee.

Because, you know, $79,000 is not all there is to it. And surprisingly, benefits add up to a whopping 30 percent. 30 percent more for them to have an employee. So you do the arithmetic. You know, do 30 percent of $79,000, and you find out what it costs for the average employee for a corporation to hire them and to take care of them. You know, people, again, expect, don't they, health insurance? They expect vacation.

They expect sick leave. They expect 401k programs, retirement programs. They expect all kinds of things, you know, as perks in order to be hired on to a corporation. I want you to think about this fact. What is a corporation anyway? I mean, if we were to ask that question and define it, what is a corporation? Well, a corporation is basically a body of people that they engage in in business, don't they? It's just a body of people. You know, they make up the corporation. I want you to think about the fact that in one sense, the church, and I don't mean this from a physical sense, but a spiritual sense, the church, the body of Christ, is a corporation.

It's God's corporation. The church is a spiritual organism that is a corporation. And interestingly, there are wages that are given by the corporation. But also, there are benefits that go along with what those who are part of the church of the corporation receive. Let's go over to Psalm 103. You know, I know we don't like to hear that the church is a corporation, but I mean it from the stance point that we're a body.

We're a body of believers. And there are benefits of being a part of that body of believers. Let's go to Psalm 103 and verses 1 through 2. But here it says, Bless the Eternal, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

It says, Bless the Eternal, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. So there are many benefits. And who was it that said this? It was King David that wrote these things. Don't forget the benefits that come from serving God, of being a part of the body of Christ, of his spiritual corporation.

You know, I think every Christian probably at one time or another has said to themselves, well, what good is it to be a Christian? And of course, hopefully we didn't have a wrong attitude in asking that. But, brethren, what are the benefits of being a Christian? What benefits does a Christian have? You know, what is offered as a perk for God's spiritual corporation or body, as it were? Well, let's go on down through here and read what King David says. He says, don't forget the benefits. I think sometimes people do forget those benefits that God offers to us.

But notice here in verse 3 of Psalm 103, we'll just go down through here and notice these, who forgives all our iniquities. So here's a benefit that we can be forgiven of sin.

And notice going on, who heals all your diseases? You know, when man can't do it, and very often he cannot deal with the physical ailments that people have in this world, God can't. God could do anything. He heals our diseases. And in fact, you know, God said to ancient Israel, he said, look, if you will obey me, I won't lay on you any of the diseases of Egypt. And you go back and you look at the Hebrew there, God is the Yahweh Rapha, or the God healer. That God is a healer. So he heals all of our diseases. In verse 4, who redeems your life from destruction? Wow, what a benefit that is. You're ready to careen off the cliff? God redeems us. He saves us from the structure. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies? So these are the things that God does for us, brother. Who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles? You know, how is it that some of God's people, they just go and go and go like the, you know, the ever-ready battery, and the bunny, you know, the advertisements that they used to have. Just keep going and going.

And it says, the Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. So our God gives us justice. And again, some of these things don't happen right away, but in the long run, He gives us justice. And it says, and made known His ways to Moses, and it's acts to the children of Israel. The eternal is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. So these are the things that God does. David recognized that He does for us. So God is not some ethereal being out in the universe. He's real, and He's a tremendous boss, a tremendous employer.

And you know, what is very important to realize that these things here that are listed in Psalm 103, these are the characteristics or the traits of God as an employer. Our employer, our boss, this is the way our God is. And you know, brethren, a relationship with your employer is always important on any job that you have. And so if we sort of compare this to that, we want to make sure we have a good relationship with our employer, our boss, who is God. And you know, God is looking out for us on a continual basis. He's always equitable. He's brought us into the loop. You know, oftentimes employees get disgrown because they don't know what's going on. What's the boss doing? What are those people doing up there? You know, these people are in that big office up there. You know, those those people north of Richmond, you know, up there that are running things. You know, what are they doing? Well, God clues us in to tell us what's going on and what He's trying to accomplish. Our boss is, again, always fair. He's concerned about our safety, our mental outlook, our health. We have a wonderful boss, brethren. And you know, the contract that God made with the church, with you and me individually, is a much better agreement than He made with ancient Israel. So we got a whole lot better deal, you know, as God's people, you know, in the way God did things than what ancient Israel had. And that was a tremendous deal that God made with ancient Israel. Let's go over to Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8, and notice this. In Hebrews chapter 8, and down here in verse 6, we'll go down to verse 10. But it says, but now He's ordained a more excellent ministry. You know, there's a more excellent ministry, as He says here, inasmuch as He is a mediator of a better covenant, a much better contract that we have which was established on even better promises. You know, that in fact culminates with eternal life for those who are part of this contract. What a wonderful thing that God has given to us. For He says, if the first covenant had been faultless, then no place would, it says, had been sought for a second. So the first covenant did have a fault. But what was the fault of the first covenant? Well, it tells us, it says, because finding fault with them. So the fault was in the people, not the covenant God made with them. It was with the people. And it says, He says, Behold, the days are coming, says the eternal, and I'll make a new covenant with you, the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. So it's not just that God is making a better covenant with us, but He's going to include ancient Israel in this as well. So He's going to make this tremendous covenant with them as well. He's making it with us now. He says, Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers of the day when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the eternal. For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So God was going to put His laws inside of us, and each of us are having that done, in fact, on a daily basis as we grow closer and closer to God. You know, the new covenant is a much more improved contract or much more improved covenant that God is making with us. It's a greater package, if you want to put it that way. The old covenant involved what God did for His people, and He did a lot for them.

But the new covenant is different. The new covenant also includes what God is doing within His people. See, it's different. You know, then it was what God did for His people. Now it's what God is doing within us, and that He's putting His laws and His commandments in us. And so it's quite different. And you know what? The Holy Spirit in us makes many other things possible that wasn't even possible for ancient Israel. So God's given us His Holy Spirit, which is a tremendous gift, another gift that God has given, a perk for those who are part of God's Church that will eventually be made available to others as they come to understand. You know, also quite interesting, qualified personnel often have a choice of what company they want to work for. You know, and of course there's a wide array of companies in the world that people can work for.

We have a choice as well. It's the same is true for the Church that God gives us that chance. In this world, there's only two companies, by the way, that you could work for. And you have a choice. One company is God's company that we're talking about here in the sermon today.

The other company belongs to the devil. And he has a company that he really tries to make look attractive, and many people are suckered by it. You know, God won't make you join the Church. In fact, you can't even join the Church. You have to be added to the Church.

It's like you've got to be added to God's company. You know, God's not looking just for anybody to be a part of the Church. He wants to add people that are really sincere and want to follow God in their life. You know, when we choose is when we're called. That's when we make that choice. God calls us, and he sets before us life and death, good and evil. He said, okay, choose. What do you want?

A lot of times when God calls us, we've been through the keyhole backwards. Now, we've been through things in our lives that we don't want to go through anymore. I remember telling myself when I was first called, and God began to open my mind. I asked God, prior to that, I said, God, is this what life is about? Because, you know, I came up with a family with many trials, as many people do. I don't think I was very unique, but there was a lot of sickness, there was a lot of poverty, a lot of things that just don't make life very enjoyable. But I said, if God, is this what life is about? Because if it is, I don't want to have anything to do with it. And then God opened my mind, and he showed me, and of course, the rest is history. But we have to choose when we're called, when God calls us, which way we want to go. He said, I set before you life and death, good and evil, therefore choose, and we've got to choose. Now, believe me, Satan is a ruthless competitor with God. You know, God doesn't compete with the devil, by the way. The devil competes with God.

And he makes his way seem so good to people. I mean, you get to make all your choices, you do it, you don't have to obey anybody, you just do what you're like, as he used to say, do your own thing.

And, you know, of course, what he doesn't tell you about is you do your own thing, you have a lot of problems in the course of your life that begin to come. Let's go to Hebrews 11, just a little bit over where you are there, if you followed along last time. But in Hebrews 11 verse 24, let's notice this. Hebrews 11 verse 24, it talks about Moses. Here Moses, as you know, was a general.

Many of you have studied the history of Moses. He had been adopted by the pharaoh's daughter.

He walked among royalty. He walked in the palaces of the pharaoh. He was promoted, became a great general. Anyway, notice this in verse 24 and 25. It says, by faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

But notice verse 25, he made a choice. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to go God's way, but he looked to the end result. He looked to the reward that was going to come in the future. So here we see that Moses made a choice between God and Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh represented who? He represented Satan. So Moses made a choice between God and Satan, and he left those temporary pleasures behind and the sin also. And he looked to the end result, the reward at the end. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. I mentioned that, in fact, we make that choice when God has called us. You know, God has a great future for all those called in this age. You know, some don't always see that great future that God has outlined for us in His Word, because it's so easy to let the trappings of the world cloud that out so that we don't see it. But in Acts chapter 2 and verse 38 here, you know, people wonder, what do you do when you hear the truth and you become convicted about it? Then Peter said, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you. That great promise that God is making is to you and your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And we pray there are many that God will call in this end time. And it says, with many other words, He testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. It is a perverse generation that we live in, and it's growing that way on a daily basis. So our contract, our employment contract, if you will, begins when we receive that gift of the Holy Spirit. Those promises begin to accrue to us when that happens, when that occurs. This is when we, so to speak, sign on the dotted line of the contract, when we're baptized and we receive that Spirit at the laying on of hands. Now realize this, brethren, that the benefits take effect with the laying on of hands.

And the benefits are in effect so long as we stay with the company. We leave the company, we lose the benefits. I mean, that makes complete sense, doesn't it? And if one leaves the company, the benefits will end. Now some don't really believe that.

They think they just keep going on. Well, you can believe what you want to believe. Satan will convince people to do that. He convinced Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. You can believe what you want to believe. And like I say, God won't make you be a part of the church. He won't make you do that. You've got to make that choice. But when you make a wrong choice, remember, there is a penalty. Let's go to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. So you want to be very careful the decisions that you make. In fact, the Bible says, you know, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And it doesn't say that for nothing. But in Hebrews 12 here, let's notice verse 15. Hebrews 12 verse 15. But here it says, looking carefully. Again, look at what we're doing carefully. Lest anyone fall short, it says that the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness spring it up, cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. You know, we look at what happens in the church. And again, there were days in the church. Oftentimes we look at the glory days when, you know, this room here was filled. You know, the partition there behind you was not there. And people went all the way to the back. What happened to all those people? Well, something happened to their minds, and they're not here anymore. It's like Mr. Fenway's talking about.

You know, we got to stay with it to the end. Don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. Don't let something get you embittered. God has gotten you in the loop. You're in the loop. You know what's going on? And when people know what's going on, there's peace. And in the United Church of God, brethren, there's more cooperation than at any other time in the history of the church.

You know what the church is doing, what we're trying to accomplish, or what God is doing. Not just what the church is doing. Jesus is the head of the church. What he's doing, what he's trying to accomplish. But going on here, so don't let a rude of bitterness get in there and trouble you, and you get defiled by it, lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. So he gave it all up, brethren, because he made a wrong choice.

And it says, for you know that afterwards, when he would wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. God has granted you repentance, brethren, to see yourself so that you can understand and you can repent. He has not promised he'll let you do that again. Once you repent, you repent, don't you?

And we need to, again, turn our back on the world and sin and go God's way and never turn back.

So Esau forfeited his benefits for basically just a morsel of bread, for a bowl of soup.

Not even a good meal. He gave up everything and walked away from it. Again, that's why we're told, brethren, not to forget the benefits. Why? Because God's benefits are different in many major senses. Let's sort of notice over here, and it shows how we can receive those benefits.

Over here in Luke 11, Luke 11, in Luke 11, notice here, it shows us what we have to do.

It's like I had a man write to us and I had written him a letter and said, we're here to counsel with you, to help you any way we can. He's a prisoner, an inmate.

He wrote back and he said, fantastic. He said, what are the steps and what are the procedures?

And I wrote back and I said, all you got to do is write us. All you got to do is write a letter and ask a question, read our booklets and ask a question, and we're happy to help you. Or we can give you personal counsel. But notice what Jesus said here in Luke 11 and verse 9, how we can access the benefits. But it says, so I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find, knock and it will be open to you. For everyone to ask receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be open.

He goes on to show that God is much better to us than any physical parent or, frankly, employer or anybody else in this world could be. He's more loving, he's more kind, and more generous.

And God will not, again, redic on that promise, and he will bless you with benefits if you ask him. That's all you got to do. And we have in this way also to grow in our relationship with God. God wants us to ask because he wants us to talk to him. He wants a relationship with us.

That's why he wants us to kneel down and pray and to talk and say, hey, Father, you know, I've been going through this and I need your help with this. Of course, there are many other things that Jesus said about how to pray. I'm not addressing that in the message today, but we need to know, again, what to ask for and when to ask for it and other things, other details about asking for the many benefits that God gives to his children, which is another thing to think about.

We are a company. We are a corporation, but we're also a family. And God loves us as his own children.

Now, that's a different kind of company, isn't it? It's a family company. And, you know, the thing about a family company, we're working to make the company more successful, to accomplish what God wants to accomplish. So let's get into the nitty-gritty of what are the special benefits made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. We were already talking about healing. Now, that would deserve a whole sermon unto itself, that God promises us that we will be healed if we ask. Because we have to have faith. We have to have belief that God will do that.

But we'll address that topic at another time. But I have several benefits here I want to talk about. I probably won't get through it all. I think I have nine that I want to pass on to you. But we'll try to get to them all, but probably won't make it to the end.

But the first tremendous benefit, brethren, that you and I have, we can have a close relationship with the God of the universe. Not everybody has that. We can have a close relationship with the God of the universe and His Son as well.

And, you know, He wants to have that relationship with us. That's what the Bible says. Let's go over here to John 4, just a couple of verses that we'll touch upon here. But in John 4 and verse 23 and 24, here the Apostle John writes what Jesus said when He was talking. Remember to the woman at the well, the Shabarian woman at the well, and apparently her whole family ended up being called into the church. But in verse 23, notice, but He said to the woman, He said, but the hour is coming.

And, of course, that was going to be made possible when the Holy Spirit was given in a wholesale fashion to the church. But it says, and now is, when the true worshipers, hopefully that's you and me, will worship the Father and Spirit and truth. For the Father, notice here, is seeking such to worship Him. So He's seeking people like you and me, called in this age, brethren, to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Imagine how many people kneel down and they talk to God in this country from the multiple millions that are part of counterfeit churches, and they wouldn't know the truth if they crypt over it. He wants to hear from people that do know the truth, that don't know what the Bible actually does say. And He seeks such to worship Him in the right spirit, the right attitude, and in truth as well. And it says, for God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Well, that word spirit, by the way, I'll just mention this because it's not all that it means, but I always like to put the word attitude, the right attitude. That's what spirit is, isn't it?

The Spirit of God is the attitude that God has. God wants us to have that same attitude.

And you have a lot more fun in life when you look at life from a different perspective, and God wants us to have a positive perspective based on what, in fact, He's doing. So God seeks more of His employees to serve Him from the heart and out of love. And the Holy Spirit makes it possible to have a direct line to the Father in heaven. And Jesus is, of course, the mediator.

And what the Father doesn't understand, Christ is there to say, God, I know what He's going through. Father, I know what He's going through, or what she's going through. And let me explain a little further. I went through this when I was down there. He could put it that way. I went through these things. I know it firsthand. So, number one, we can have a close relationship with God. That's a benefit, a tremendous benefit. Number two, God reveals to us His master plan.

He gives us His master plan. You'll notice a lot of times when people are contentious in a business or in a situation that very often they're contentious because they don't know what's going on. They're out of the loop, as I mentioned earlier. Though God has put us in the loop. We know what's going on. He's clued us in on His master plan. His plan is hidden from the world, the Bible says, but it's revealed to us. Jesus said in John 15 verse 15, He doesn't treat us as servants or slaves. He didn't treat the disciples that way because He said, I shared with you everything that the Father revealed to me. I gave you everything. So, that's the kind of brother we have, our elder brother we have, and that's the kind of God that we have. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, another passage over here that corroborates this very truth. But in chapter 2 and verse 7, Paul says, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 7, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages by for our glory. He did it for us.

Which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, eye is not seen nor ear heard, nor entered in the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Do you believe that passage right there in verse 9, brethren? Has it even occurred to most people what God is doing on this earth?

They may think they've figured it out. The reality is they have not. Only those that God has called know what's going on. But God is, in verse 10, but God has revealed them to us through the Spirit, His Spirit. So that's where that Holy Spirit has come again out to make something possible that wasn't possible for ancient Israel. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. And so the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to understand things that the world has never understood, is never grasped. So again, the number two benefit is God reveals to us His master prayer. What He's doing, what He's trying to accomplish. Number three, point number three, if you're writing these down, is we can have the mind of Christ. What a tremendous gift that is.

And again, it's possible through the Holy Spirit that God has given to us. We can have that mind of Christ. Let's go down to verse 11. For what man knows the things of man except the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

And it says, now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but with the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. And so we have a different mind, a different mind altogether, and it's the mind of Jesus Christ. Of course, we look over in Philippians 2. I'm not going to turn there. Philippians 2 and verse 5, it says, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus.

And we know that Jesus Christ laid his life down unto the death for us. And so we should scribe again, have that mind of Jesus Christ. Let's go over to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, just a book over from where you are there. But in 2 Corinthians 5, in verse 16, let's notice this.

Down in verse 16, or chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians, but it says, I'm sorry, verse 16, therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer.

I don't know if you ever thought about the fact that when Jesus Christ was resurrected, his physical body is gone. He's spiritual, completely spiritual. When you and I are resurrected in the future return of Jesus Christ, our physical bodies will be gone.

The person that was Jim Tuck will be gone. To be no more. You won't be around anymore.

But the spiritual you will be. And that will live forever. That's what he's saying here in verse 16. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. So this tremendous thing. All things have become new. Have a new mind, a new body. I don't know about you, but I think I'm ready for the new mind and body. Because this old one is not cooperating with me.

When we have received these benefits of God, and we really understand and we begin to have the mind of Jesus Christ, the scales sort of fall off our eyes as they did for the Apostle Paul.

And he began to see. And we see things differently. When you begin to grasp these things, you begin to understand these things. We see the Father and we see Jesus Christ differently. We see people differently. We have hope in people. You know, we believe in people. And what God, not necessarily believing in the person, but we believe what God is going to do with every human being. That everyone is valuable. We're not the same anymore when our minds, again, begin becoming like the mind of Christ. We are a new creature. And eventually, we're going to be completely and totally different in every way. Again, the physical will be gone. The old you will be gone. And you know, we'll understand that much more when it happens. But number four, we can have an understanding of all truth. Now, get that word, all. All truth.

You know, you might think, and a lot of people would think this, you mean all truth? Oh, come on!

No, I mean all truth, brethren. Just as the Bible says and just as Jesus Christ said.

You know, we must be cautioned, though, to realize this doesn't happen all at once.

All truth doesn't come to us all at once. And let me promise you, it doesn't come to us in a hundred years, all at once, or a thousand years. But it will come to us with our foundation, you know, as such that it is. And by God's Holy Spirit, we can come to understand all truth.

Without the Holy Spirit and without the right spiritual foundation, we can't ever understand all truth. You can never understand it unless you have that. Let's notice in John chapter 16, because that's what Jesus said. Notice over John 16, down in verse 13.

It's speaking, Christ talked about the comforter. He says, however, when he or when it, we should understand, because in the Greek there was no neuter gender, so he was ascribed to the Holy Spirit. So we say it rather than he, because the Holy Spirit is not a person, not a separate person of a trinity as the world teaches and believes. But when if the Spirit of truth has come, it will guide you into all truth. And notice that word, all truth. It's going to guide you in it. For it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears, it will speak, and it will tell you things to come. And who's the Holy Spirit going to be led by? Who will be led by God?

It follows the instruction of God and of Jesus Christ, as a matter of fact. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth we need to know at this time. You know, frankly, we don't need to know all things right now. It probably scares half the death if we knew everything right now. We're just not equipped to understand it. These bodies are, you know, are just not equipped, in fact, even right now, to make full use of what God has already given us. We're like, again, a very low type of engine, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. You know, or can compare it to cars. Like, the Holy Spirit has put in us, and that car is only going to go so fast. It's only going to be able to perform, you know, at a certain level. It's like a governor. The Holy Spirit's like a governor over our bodies, and it makes it possible for us to, of course, all be human beings.

But the Holy... when we're spirit, we're going to be making full use, full use, and many, many other things will be possible. But, you know, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. And by the way, this is not just an academic exercise of how much you study. In other words, you study, study, study, you're going to understand all truth. It doesn't work that way. You could study from now to the time you die and never take any time off, and you never understand the truth. You see, God reveals it to you when you need it, when you need to understand it. We must pray for it, and the power of the Holy Spirit leads us to it, and God reveals it to us. And the truth, Jesus said, will make you free. What will make you free from? What it'll do is it'll free you from the falsehoods of this world. You know, the scribes of the Pharisees were in bondage, and they didn't even know it. Remember Jesus was talking to them, and, you know, he talked about how they were in bondage, and they said, we've never been in bondage to anybody. And yet they were in bondage to Rome, and they had been in bondage to other nations that were above them. You know, they claimed to be Abraham's seed and never, ever been in bondage. I guess I forgot about Egypt. That's a big thing. It goes back a ways.

Yet they, again, were in bondage also, not just to those, but they were in bondage to wrong traditions and teachings, which negated God's commandments. Like a lot of people today are in bondage to the world's teachings, the world's ideas. Some people are in bondage to Christmas and Easter, and you can get the point of what I'm talking about here. So, brethren, we have that tremendous benefit of understanding, coming to understand all truth. Again, that's not going to happen right away, but over time we will come to understand all truth.

And at point number five, we're called to have the divine nature. So that's a benefit that God gives to us as well. We have the divine nature. If you go look up that word in the Greek, you look in the Strongs, it says a godly nature, a divine nature.

Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 1. Here Peter was talking about it, the Apostle Peter, the Apostle Peter, and chapter 1 of Peter.

But here in verse 4, we'll notice a couple of things that Peter says. But in verse 4 of the first chapter, he's talking about the heavenly inheritance, and I'll break it into thought. It says, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith, for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

So we're kept in that, that tremendous inheritance. I'm sorry, I'm in the wrong book. I meant 2 Peter 1. In verse 4, it says, So God has made it possible for us to be able to receive that tremendous gift of divine nature. And that's godly character.

There's an old saying, like father, like son. So we're going to be like our father. We'll have his character. You know, Jesus Christ, in fact, was the spitting image of his father, the exact character of his father. And you and I are going to be the same thing as well. Let's go over to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul writing to young Timothy here.

And chapter 1 and verse 7.

2 Timothy 1 verse 7. Here Paul was merely telling Timothy. He was reminding him to stir up the gift of the Holy Spirit that God had given to him. And to remind Timothy of this, for God has not given us a spirit of fear. You know, God doesn't want us to have this cowering, craven fear of anything that is coming, but of power. There's a power that comes from the Holy Spirit and of love and of a sound mind. The product of the Holy Spirit is to have a sound mind. That is a divine nature.

You know, a sound mind makes sound decisions. And that's what God wants us to be when we go on into the kingdom and we're kings and priests. We're going to make sound decisions, more than we could even imagine in this world that we live in today. So that Holy Spirit leads us to have a sound mind. It doesn't lead us to be crazy. It doesn't lead us to make stupid dumb mistakes all the time. But it means we have stable lives because we are doing sound things in our life. And, of course, the Holy Spirit also gives us the fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit and that, of course, of those fruits of love, joy, peace, and long suffering, and generalness, and goodness, and faith, and meekness, and temperance. Self-control. That is the mind of God. That is divine nature. That's what God's divine nature is. You know, God is joyful. God is happy. God loves. God is everything that, in fact, that Galatians 5 verse 22 says. That's the divine nature, brethren, that God has gifted us with. Number six, we have the benefit of comfort in our lives. There have been many times in my life, brethren, as I've told other ministers, that when you're in the ministry, you're going to get burned out. You will be burned out. I've been burned out so many times. I couldn't even tell you how many times. I hope you never knew when I was serving you. I tried to stay away from people when I felt burned out. But you know what I did, usually, when I went through that, I just felt like I couldn't take one more thing. I would go to God and I'd pray about it and say, God, I need encouragement.

This thing is loading me down, and it's discouraging me. And, you know, I don't know how God did it, because I would get my mind off of—I tried to get my mind off of what was getting me down and discouraged and all of that. And somehow or another, through His Spirit, He would he'd bush me back up. And I'd keep going, keep doing the things I needed to do.

You know, Jesus said, when I leave, I'm going to send you the comforter.

And that Greek word is perikletos. And you know what that word perikletos in the Greek means? It means to exhort. You know, there's times when the Holy Spirit enters into us and it lifts us up in ways sometimes we can't even predict. We don't know how it happens. It is a miracle, brethren, beyond our understanding. It encourages us. I don't know whether it turns screws in our brain or what it does. I don't have the answers to all of that, brethren.

It consoles us. Somehow or another, as the Spirit comes into us and we're consoled during difficult times in our life. So if you ever get discouraged, brethren, remember you have that benefit of a comforter that's there all the time, no matter what you go through in your life. You can depend on it. You know, the early church faced severe persecution. And in Acts 9 verse 31, I won't turn to it, but it says there in Acts 9, 31, they were edified in walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. No, depending on that comfort. You imagine when you're being persecuted, that's a time when you're vulnerable. You can really get down. Now, an example of that is Elijah. What happened to Elijah? And God, again, lifted him up, helped him during that time as well. So we have the benefit of a comforter. Number seven, we have the benefit of unity, of unity. We can be in unity with one another. Now, what brings about unity, brethren? Well, when the same spirit is present, unity results. And there is peace. So that's where unity comes about, the same spirit. When you have a group and there's two different spirits that are there, you're going to have contention. You're going to have problems. Hopefully, I don't have to explain that to you from the history of the church. You've been through it. If you've been around very long, you know what I mean by that. But over here in 1 Corinthians 12, let's notice this quickly in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13. It says, For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. That's why we should be able to get along. We have the same spirit, and we're the same body. So the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is the key to our unity. In Ephesus 4, Paul admonished the brethren in Ephesus that they should endure to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You've got to work at it as well, but the Holy Spirit leads us to be at peace with one another. But like I mentioned earlier, though, if all this feels like we're a part of what's going on in the church, and you're in the loop, so to speak, that you know what's going on, you know what we're trying to do, you know what we're trying to accomplish, there's going to be peace, there's going to be unity. So we can have the benefit, brethren, of unity in our life. In point number eight, we have the benefit of gifts, gifts that are given to the church. Now, gifts are talked about in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.

We could spend a whole sermon on the topic of gifts in the church. I won't take the time to go through the scriptures about this, but you can read in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 1 and 7 and 11. It talks about these gifts, how the gifts are given to profit everyone, to be a benefit to everyone.

You know, I am convinced through the years that when we have a church congregation, no matter how small it may be, that God has put in that congregation the gifts needed to do what has to be done in this modern age where we live in, of guiding and teaching and leading us to understand the truth of God and to carry on a congregation. God puts the gifts in those that need it.

You know, I've seen people that felt more comfortable behind a tractor, driving a tractor. You wouldn't think they could have given a sermon if their life depended on it.

You would never have thought they could lead songs, and yet those very people have risen to the challenge by God's Spirit and have done that very thing. You know, women have come out of the woodwork, as it were, to do things that they never thought they could do.

And so God does this for us at a congregation. We're all important, and God has given us the gifts, and everybody here has a gift. We all, of course, have gifts that we need to develop. But make sure you understand, though, the gift is not to make you aggrandize or me aggrandize, it's to serve the congregation and to take care of God's people.

And point number nine—can't believe I got to this—we have the benefit of one of the greatest promises of all, which probably you would have said first, rather than ninth here in my list. We have the benefit of the promise of eternal life. That's something to be amazed by. Romans 6, verse 23, tells us, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Through Jesus Christ, we can have eternal life. In Romans 8—let's go over to Romans 8. I think we should read this here as a final scripture.

But in Romans 8, in verse 9 and 11, let's notice this, but you, in Romans 8, verse 9, it says, but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He's not his.

I'm sorry somebody could claim that they are of God and they love God, but if we don't have God's Spirit, we are not a part of the Church, spiritually speaking. Either the Spirit has to be with you or in you. But if we don't have the Spirit, we are none of His. We have nothing to do with Christ. But going on here, let's know this in verse 10, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin. But the Spirit is light because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So if we have God's Spirit, we have that promise that we're going to be resurrected. There's no way around it. God has made that tremendous promise, rather than to each of us. In verse 14, let's notice this, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So make sure that the Spirit of God is leading your life.

And we need to turn our backs on this world and follow God, follow His way. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out of a Father. In other words, we have an intimate relationship, again, with a Father, which is one of those benefits that God gives to us. And it says, and if heirs, then heirs of God and joined heirs with Christ. That's astounding. We look in, in other words, the will, as it were, of the Father, and your name is there, as a joint heir with Christ. That's fantastic to think about. You know, almost pinch yourself. How could that be?

Well, God is that, you know, loving toward His people. And it says, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. And it says, I consider that the sufferings of this age, this present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Now, we can't even grasp it, can we, brethren, what God's going to do with us. It's going to be so great, so beyond anything we could even imagine. We are joint heirs with Christ, and we're not, we're going to be glorified together with Him. You know, in Christ's name is called, you and I will have our name called at the same time. Now, God is going to, again, glorifies us in the future. You know, every company has what they call prophet's sharing. Well, God will share the inheritance with all of us along with our elder brother, Jesus Christ. He's going to share with us something to think about. The one benefit, brethren, I'm here to tell you that is not promised in the Bible because it's really not needed is retirement. I'm sorry to tell you you will never be able to retire. Of course, you won't ever need to retire. I don't know how old you and I are going to be when we are resurrected, but we're going to have the bodies of 30-year-old people. In fact, you won't be able to describe what kind of body we're having. It's going to be much better than any physical human being body could be in that time. And we won't ever need to retire because we will never age, never lose that energy, that excitement for the future. We'll be able to, again, to continue to serve on into eternity and increase in our productivity. Again, no one is going to need to retire. So, brethren, we need to remember the great benefits available to us through the Holy Spirit and be reminded why we need to remain steadfast in our calling that God has given to us. He's inducted us into a spiritual corporation, the body of the church. And King David, again, admonishes us, bless the Lord, and do not forget all of my benefits. Don't forget God's benefits, brethren, because God wants to give those benefits to you. Bless you abundantly.