When No More Is Forever

Well, it is a great privilege and a great honor to be able to complete and build upon the foundation of all the gentlemen that have spoken before me. It's always a great privilege and honor to be able to speak on the eighth day festival. You and I recognize we are Church of God members, and we recognize that from either March or April, depending upon when the festivals are celebrated, we recognize now that this is a very important day.

It's a very special day to all of us, as Mr. Antion was pointing out this morning. This is a day, unlike any day, that touches our hearts and lifts our hopes to what our God Almighty is going to perform, not only now, but in the future. It's a wonderful day. It's a fantastic day. And in so doing, I would like you to open up to Isaiah 46.

And Isaiah 46, because it is this day, even though it is the eighth day and it is the last of the festivals, this allows you and me, as we depart Oceanside, California, to begin with the end in mind. And to recognize that you and I worship a God who has no end and has no beginning. And Isaiah 46 tells us of whom we serve and who we have surrendered our lives to.

Isaiah 46 and verse 8, Remember this, and show yourselves, men. Recall the mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God. And there is none other. I am God. And there is none other like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all of my pleasure. Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel from afar country. Indeed, I have spoken it, and I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, and I will do it. Dear friends, fellow members of the body of Christ, this is the God that we serve.

This is the God that has laid out not only our own personal salvation before Him through Jesus Christ, but has given us these days of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day Festival, to recognize that it's not just simply about our own personal salvation, which, please understand, is important, but that in our minds and our hearts we have a bigger map, and more hearts, and more lives, and that our God is so great and so wonderful and so loving, that on this day it portrays a time in which every human being, as we heard this morning, every human being, everyone that has ever been made in His image and in His likeness, is going to have an opportunity without the curtain, without the veil, without the distractions, without Satan, at that time, having been put away, to recognize that they are going to be able to see God and know God and understand God, just like you and I are able to do today, and that by His grace, not only His saving grace, but His sustaining grace, in every moment of their lives, as they come to Him in faith, as they repent of their sins, as they surrender their personal kingdom to Him, that they will become His children, as we, the firstfruits, have become His children now.

Brethren, it does not get any better. I remember when my family's eyes and hearts were first attuned to this truth, over 53 years ago, and what a difference it made in my life, as I recognized that everybody that I bumped into was a potential family member, that God loved them as much as they loved me, and they loved my family.

And that as a 12-year-old boy, I started thinking, you know, I better be nice to them. I may be spending eternity with them. And what a glorious and what a wonderful truth we have. And those individuals, like us, are going to have an opportunity, as we heard through Mr. Turgeon, as we heard through Mr. Antion this morning, they're going to have an opportunity to enter into eternity. Eternity is already happening. Eternity is. Eternity is where God is. Join me, if you would, in Isaiah 57, verse 15.

In Isaiah 57, verse 15, the word eternity itself is not utilized a lot in Scripture. Eternal is. Eternity, there's just a couple of mentions, but this begins to allow us to have a taste of what eternity is like.

In Isaiah 57, 15, for thus is the high and lofty one, speaking of God Almighty, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and the holy place, and with him who has a contrite and a humble spirit, and to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. God inhabits eternity. I'm going to build upon where Mr. Turgeon was. I'm going to go a little bit beyond the seas and the oceans.

I'm going to go a little bit beyond now where Mr. Antion so well led us in understanding the resurrections. I want to deal specifically this afternoon and deal with eternity. So often we set up goalposts, and we've got to make sure that when we're setting up goalposts, and we're setting up targets or goals to reach to, to recognize that we don't want to come up short. Sometimes you and I just kind of want to make it through a day. Absolutely. Or make it to the seventh day Sabbath, and be able to rest, and to be nurtured and nourished. Others of us have our thoughts and our goals on being a king and a priest during that thousand year period of Jesus Christ.

And all of that is well and good. Please understand. But that is still not the goalpost. And that's not the goalpost that God has for everybody to cross, ultimately. The goalpost is eternity and being with God the Father and Jesus Christ in this realm. Now, I have a question for you. I have a question for you. How do you measure eternity? You can't take a yardstick. You can't measure eternity by inches. You can't even measure it by multiple millions of years.

It just simply is. You can't put it on a scale and weigh it. But the one way that I'd like to share with you what eternity is like and why you have sacrificed your life and why you are here and what God's will and what God's pleasure is and what He is going to do, we're going to talk about that eternity.

And we're going to discuss it this afternoon. It's different, in a sense. And the eighth day and why this is called the eighth day, in a sense, gives us a feel for what God is allowing you and I and all of His children, spiritually speaking, to enter. As we deal with the world of man, as we even come up to the millennium, we're dealing with that in that since that creative week of seven, where there's an allotment or a time period of where man, apart from God, and after Eden, has the rule.

And then, of course, that seventh day Sabbath that we keep is a type and points to the millennium. But now we're dealing with something different. We're dealing beyond the original construct of Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 of the seven. Now we're dealing with the eight.

We're dealing with something absolutely grand and absolutely extraordinary of what God Almighty, the Word who became Jesus Christ, planned from the very beginning. So we're going to take a snapshot of it today. We're going to take a snapshot of eternity. And we're going to come to understand what the immortal children of God are not going to have to contend with anymore. I'd like to give you the title of this message, and it is simply this. When no more is forever. When no more is forever. There are a lot of no mores that are mentioned when it deals with God and Jesus Christ being amongst their people.

I'd like to share some of those. But for every cause there is an effect. So all of those no mores that are mentioned in the Gospels and or in the Book of Revelation, they just don't happen on their own, just like evolution. There are people today that think evolution and everything that is around us just kind of happened by wishful thinking by a chimpanzee.

I've got news for you. My great-great-great-granddaddy ain't any chimp. Our Heavenly Father commissioned the Word to create all things as a life-giver, as a law-giver, as a sustainer, as a designer. We are beautifully, we are wonderfully, we are specially created, but we're still flesh. And we are not yet what we shall be.

So let's understand then that all of these no mores that we're going to have to not have to contend with anymore happen for a reason. Join me, if you would, in Revelation 21. In Revelation 21, and let's pick up the thought. It's been read, but that's good. Emphasis is the best reminder. This is why eternity will be that way. And now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

The second epistle of Peter speaks of a melting away. That which is will be no longer something more wonderful, something more beautiful, something more exciting, something more incredible is going to come to this earth. And also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride and adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle, the dwelling. In Greek it's called skinnu, that's the original word. The tinting, the dwelling 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 He will be their God.

Dear friends here on Oceanside, this is the great echo of the Scriptures. This was God's intent from the very beginning. God always wanted to dwell in the midst of this special creation. From the very beginning in Eden as the one that is called the Word, fashioned and shaped out of the clay of Eden, and created Adam, and then created the woman from the man.

He wanted to be with them. He wanted an intimacy that is so incredibly close and neat. He wanted to walk. He wanted to talk. He wanted to enjoy. He wanted to experience His creation. He wanted to be their God, and He wanted them to be their people, His people. He wanted, as He made Adam and as He made Eve out of Adam, and the first thing as they opened up their eyes, He wanted them to see Him, and love Him, and follow Him, and worship Him, and then that He might walk with them and talk with them.

How neat is that? Here we've been at Oceanside for these last seven days, plus one. Could you imagine you and your family walking down the beach along the Pacific Ocean and having God walking right there with you? Or walking out the Oceanside pier and having God walk with you? I wish you'd been walking with Suzy and me because I've got this bad knee. I think he could help me some. But that's what He wanted to do. He wanted to be our God, and He wanted us to be His people. And that is finally going to come about in this time period as we look at it, as those resurrections come about, that there's going to come a time when the Holy God is simply going to have holy people around Him, serving Him, worshiping Him, existing with Him in sacred service.

That's what this day represents. That's what it's all about. I want to share something with you. I get excited when I speak about God. I hope you get excited when you speak about our Heavenly Father. God is excited about His plan. Join me, if you would, in Isaiah 62 and verse 1. In Isaiah 62 and verse 1, let's take a look here. And again, in a sense, as we look at this verse, I just want to use the principle. The principle is more about what is going to occur in the future with a Jerusalem that's on this earth. But let's think of this as speaking of God even beyond this prophecy and that ultimate heavenly Jerusalem that is going to come down from above. For Zion's sake, which speaks of Jerusalem, I will not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation is a lamp that burns. And the Gentiles shall see her righteousness and all the kings your glory. And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. We heard Mr. Garner talking about this. Brethren, here in the Oceanside, allow me to introduce you to the restless God. God is restless. He's got a serious scratch that needs to be itched, that needs to be scratched, needs to be done, needs to be fulfilled. And He and the Word, the Christ, are anxious to come to this earth to fulfill the purpose that He said from the very beginning, and that I will do it. The restless God is restless for you to be there, sharing eternity with them. So what is it like? Let's begin by looking at Revelation 3 and verse 12. And I'd like to introduce you to the first, no more. Revelation 3, in that series of letters written to the churches, but it was actually written to all of the churches and all of the saints of God at that time, with particular chapters. But notice what it says here in Revelation 2 and verse 3.

Did I say Revelation 2 and part? Revelation 3 and verse 12. Here we go. He who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out... Did you notice? No more. And I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write my new name. The first item that I'd like to acquaint you with is simply this. There will be no more going out. When we are in eternity with God Almighty and Jesus Christ, there will be no more going out. Today in this world, today in this society, today in man's civilization, apart from what God designed and eaten, man in a sense has been wandering and rambling for 6,000 years. You probably experienced today, or have in your lifetime as a child, or even now, a coming and a going out of houses and apartments and homes, and sometimes in and out of families. And sometimes even with people here, the door has been closed on you. The windows have been shut on you, maybe at home, maybe at the office, maybe at school. So we understand this in and out business in the human sphere. There is going to come a time when God says there is going to be no more going out. In eternity, the goal post, there is no going in or out. What do I mean by this, friends? God is not preparing a guest residence or a timeshare called eternity.

He is creating a home. He is creating a home. Now I realize at times we talk about a church being, and even the Bible alludes to it, it calls it the household of faith. Or sometimes the term building or house will be used. Let's not make any mistake. Let's underline that with the word home. There is a difference between a house and a home. There is a difference between renting an apartment and going into a home on the second floor of a structure. God is creating a home. Christ stated that one of the most important functions that God the Father allotted to Him, let's look at that in John 14 verse 1. In John 14 verse 1.

And Jesus Christ shared this encouragement.

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions, and another term would be offices. If it were not so, I would have told you. Notice what it says here. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. That's a promise. You can take that to the bank in your heart. That's not wishful thinking. And for the last two thousand years, and if not before, God the Father and Jesus Christ have been establishing a home for us. That where I am, you may be also. Well, where is God? God is eternity. Eternity is not an axe that you can mark off carefully, because eternity is in a sense beyond time and space. The eternity that God wants us to consider is a home. The eternity that God wants us to understand and embrace and hold so tight that neither man or woman or any event in our life can take it from us is not just simply a destination, but it's a way of traveling and knowing that we're headed towards a home that Jesus Christ is preparing. Hebrews 11. Join me if you would, please. Hebrews 11.

Let's pick up the thought in verse 13. These all died in faith. We've had saints of God die this week, some that we know by name, some that we know by reputation in the church, but there are others that have died this week around the world. Saints of God. They all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off or assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers in pilgrims on the earth. They were still on the march. They were still on the move. A pilgrim, friends, hear me, is one that is moving towards a destination, towards a shrine, towards a goal. Once that individual that sets out on pilgrimage puts their roots down deep, the pilgrimage is over. They're no longer a pilgrim. Our citizenship, our home, right now, is reserved in the hands and in the hearts of God, and he's going to deliver on that. But now they desire a better that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Other translations say a homeland.

The first thing that we need to remember is there is going to be no more going out. Number two. Number two. Join me if you would in Micah 4 and verse 3. In Micah 4, back in the Old Testament. For those, as somebody mentioned the other day, Micah in my Bible is on page 1073. Micah 4 and verse 3, notice what it says. He, speaking of God, shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Notice, neither shall they learn war anymore. Now, in a sense, this is set in a millennial framework. Hear me. But now let's take it forward, because we recognize that even during the millennium, there is going to be a disruption by Satan the Devil as we understand Scripture. What I want to share with you this afternoon on this eighth day, to understand the significance of eternity when those that have given their lives to God Almighty through Jesus Christ and have accepted His grace and have come to Him in faith and have repented of their sins and have lived in His Word and practiced their way of love, they will no longer ever experience war. But even unlike the millennium, here's the difference in eternity. There will be no war on earth and there will be no more war in heaven. There just simply will not be any more war. When you look at the Bible and you look at the contests that have happened at times in a world that is a spiritual world that at times we don't think about, you go to the book of Daniel. It talks about the messenger from God that was kept away from Daniel because there was contention in heaven. And the prince of Persia, an angelic force above this world, was contesting with the messenger of God. We recognize at times that great champion of the covenant people, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, Michael, the archangel, at times has had to go up against Satan. Here's the difference, brethren. Get it, please? I'm trying to get it. In eternity there will be no more war, neither in heaven and or on this earth. Beyond that, join me if you would in Romans 7.23. Not only in the heavens, not only on earth, but there will be no more war in us. In Romans 7.23, join me if you would there, please. Notice Paul's words. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into the captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. There's a war that goes on even in the members of devoted Christian spiritual folk. There's this tug. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? When does this ever get over? It's kind of interesting what Mr. Antin, I really picked up on it this morning, Gary. We are all in the sense going to die. Everybody dies. We all thought we were going to get through and just, no. This flesh, this existence is ultimately going to die, even in the twinkling of an eye. And it is then and only then that there will no longer be any war in our members. No more war. No more tug of war. No more wanting to embrace God almighty's ways and love Him and follow Him. And yet we've got this nagging thing called human nature. It's going to be gone. It's going to be non-existent. Only those that are a holy people will be set before a holy God in that holy Jerusalem for sacred service forever. We will no longer have to fight ourselves. How often do we say that the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak? And we want to obey God but our human nature arrives early. You ever notice that? No more. Let's go to Revelation 21 verse 3.

You know, I just noticed this is going to be a work of faith. I can't read the clock. Ward, bring me up your watch.

In Revelation 21.

Thank you.

Okay. Okay.

Something that maybe you've never considered before. In Revelation 21 verse 1. We've so often looked at, now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. But notice this. Also, there was no more sea.

No more sea. Now, let's understand that the book of Revelation, in a sense, is written in an apocalyptic sense. Imagery, figures, color. What does this mean? Does it just mean it's just going to be one big landmass? Maybe it does, but allow me to make this comment, having read other commentaries.

When you look at antiquity, and dealing with just Western civilization and thinking of the Mediterranean Ocean, is to recognize that most of your early sailors, most of your early sailors were basically what we call coast huggers. They went along the coast. They were in shallow water. There was a dread of being out in the open. You know, it's just like the other day, and I certainly do hope we have survivors. I know we've been at the feast. A 735 foot long freighter went down in the Atlantic with that hurricane or that major storm they had. That's one big boat with 35 men on it. Going out to sea has not always been easy, but there is always a danger. There's a gulf. There's a fear. There's a dread. There becomes a separation between peoples and nations and kingdoms.

God says in this eternal society, there is going to be no gulf. There is going to be no barrier. There is going to be no distance either between man and God or man and man. There is going to be a unity and there is going to be an intimacy not only between us and our Father above, but with all of the sacred servants, all the immortal children of God that are going to be in that family of God. And a little bit like what we've experienced here... Can we talk a second? Is it alright? Can I tell you something? Some people think that this is work. They think it's a job being a festival coordinator. You have put me on vacation these last eight days. You have been just the easiest group that I've ever had the pleasure of working with in about 40 years of doing this. Because it's God's Spirit. There's not an animosity. There's not a feeling. There's not a negativity. There's not a dissension. I know you have also experienced it, haven't you? That doesn't mean that we don't have our challenges, our problems. Life goes on. Things don't work out. But because you took the advice in the beginning that, you know, obviously we're going to have accidents, but don't make them incidents. Allow God's Spirit to work with you during this feast.

In eternity there will be no sea. There will be no barriers. There will be no gulfs. Let's go a little bit further down here in Revelation 21 and see what the other no-mores. This is the hottest list in the Bible. Here we go. And it says, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death. No more death. No more sorrow.

Nor crying. There shall be no more pain. Are you with me, friends? Are we reading the same book? Eternity. No more death. Nor sorrow. Nor crying. And there shall be no more pain. For the former things have passed away, there will be no more gulfs. No more death. Mr. Antion this morning mentioned how many of us in our families have experienced death. Death came very early in my life. I think I'll be able to make it through this. About talking about my brother.

My brother is my hero. There is nobody like my brother. Nobody. I was only eight years old. I was the runt that always followed the brother. And yet, my brother Flip always looked behind me and he didn't shoo me away, even though he got a little irritated. He was always there for me. Flip was the brother that, and the man and the person, even at his tender age of 13, that I always wanted to be. And as Gary was mentioning this morning, if I could say Gary, because we're just all brothers this afternoon.

The last time I saw my brother, I was in the back seat. We were both in our bathrobes. He was being taken to the hospital. And I was being taken to somebody's house for the night. And as my big brother Flip always did, he looked down with a big white smile. He had a beautiful smile. I still remember it almost 56 years later. And he said, Robin, what's wrong with you? You look at me as if you're never going to see me again.

That was prophetic. I never saw my brother again.

My brother died about three days later, from things that happened on an operating table. I have spent my entire life looking for big brothers.

I have spent my entire life looking for big brothers.

Normally four to five years older than me, which is interesting. It does not satisfy, as you said, Gary. You can't replace people. And at the tender age of eight, I, for the moment, had my brother missing.

When Gary talked this morning about who do you want to see at that resurrection, I want to see my brother. And I only share this as hard as it is for me, because I realize that all of you have fathers and mothers and grandparents, wives. I can only imagine what the spouses are going through this week that we've talked about with the loss of their mate. And there's only one person that can fill that hole, and it cannot be filled. And it has affected me all of my life.

There's only one being that can fill that hole one day.

And that's my brother, Flip. And I'm going to see him. And he's going to see God. And he's going to see Jesus Christ. I want to be there. I don't want to have him asking, where is that past Robin?

Where is my little brother? I want to be a part of the solution. I know my mother, Tommy, many of you know Thomasina. I know she wants to be a part of that solution. I want Susan, my wife, who has heard so much about this wonderful young gentleman named Flip, I want her to meet him. I think she has met him because we have a grandson that's very much as his granduncle would be like. Like a walking, talking picture of what my brother was like. He's a wonderful little soul. Brethren, this day, in faith, is for my brother Flip, for your mother Mary, for your father Sam, for your daughter Sally, for your son Joe, for all of God's children, the mighty, almighty God, is going to perform his purpose. He's going to do his pleasure, and he will do it. That is why this is such an incredible and marvelous day. There will be no more death, no more tears, no more sorrow, no more anguish. 56 years ago, I remember the sorrow that was in that home. I remember my dad crying. When a man cries, it's something else, because men don't cry that much. There will be no more sorrow. There will be no more death. There will be no more tears. There will be no more crying. There will be tears. Are you with me? There will be tears. Tears of joy. Tears like when you see your children born. And you don't know what else to do but cry for joy. It's a miracle. Tears when you see your children wed. Tears when you see somebody being baptized. There will be tears, but a different kind of tear that will be forever and ensconced into eternity. There will be no more pain. In Revelation 24, no more pain. No more spiritual pain. No more emotional pain. No more physical pain. No more pain of being separated from people. Because we will all have one God and one Savior in Jesus Christ. And we will be all serving them. In Revelation 21 and verse 22, let's notice here. It says, but I saw no temple in it, speaking of this heavenly Jerusalem. For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. There will be no more temple.

Because God will be in the midst of His people. And God moved away from temples made of curtains that shylo, to temples made of ivory and stone in Jerusalem. And through the inspiration upon Paul, He said, You are my temple. You are the temple of God. I am now no longer dealing with curtains made out of domestic livestock. I am not dealing with stones or mortar, but I'm dealing with flesh and blood and hearts that are going to be consecrated to service to me forever. And so that's why there's not going to be any more temple. Because He will be in the midst of that temple. He will be in the midst of what we call the church, the body of Christ, the temple. Again, notice what it says here as we go further in Revelation 21. Let's just go right down the line here. And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it. There's going to be no more sun. For the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

That's one of the names of Jesus Christ. I am the light of the world.

And when God the Father and Jesus Christ do come amongst the people, the saints in eternity, that's going to be a pretty bright light.

It's going to be like so many suns. It's going to be that bright.

And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. And notice, and its gates shall not be shut at all by day.

Remember what God had to do in the beginning with Genesis. He put up a gate of angels at Eden. He put two caribs there to guard because humanity had rejected, rejected the love and the rule of God.

You know, the only thing, the only human edifice that can be seen from outer space, and it must make God cry, as he looks down from his sovereign heights, is the Great Wall of China. What God sees from his throne up above is he sees a wall. With all the creativity, with the Spirit and man that is in man to do so many wondrous things, what is the one thing that reminds God of why he needs to come back?

That Great Wall.

Notice in Revelation 21 verse 17, there's going to be no more defilement. Revelation 21 verse 27, pardon me, but there shall be no means entered at anything that defiles or causes any abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the book of life. There will be nothing that is not holy, nothing that is not sacred, nothing that has not been surrendered to God Almighty, because he is there. And because those that are there, or those that are in this lifetime, have surrendered their personal kingdoms to God Almighty, and said, I will follow you, I will go your way wherever you might lead, and I will have the faith and the outcome that Father knows best. Revelation 21, verse 3, We notice here, as we look at Revelation 21, and we look at it in verse 3, there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. There will be no more curse. No curse on animal, no curse on woman, no curse on man. That which came about in Eden because of man's rejection of the kingdom of God.

No more curse.

And they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, they need no lamp, nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. They're going to see God's face. And when you think about this verse, stuck all the way at the end of Revelation, it bears witness of what Jesus said in on the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the pure in heart. Are you with me? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see the face of God.

You and I will have an opportunity as the sacred servants of God, the immortal children of God, and that family of God. As we bid our bid into eternity, we're going to see the face of God. How awesome is that? Even Moses could not barely see God. He had to get behind a rock, right? Behind the rock. And then just the backside. Are you ready? This is the PowerPoint. Just the backside. Now, going like this. And all analogies break down, I'm not God. But I'm just saying, just the backside. We're going to be able to see the face of God. How do you and I know that? Because we can turn to the Scripture. Are you with me? 1 John 3.

1 John 3.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. We're not going to be just angels, brethren. We're not just going to be spiritual automatons. We're not just going to be celestial robots.

We're going to be above the angels. We're going to be partakers of that divine nature.

Oh no, there are only two that are uncreative, always. Two that deserve total worship. Two, God the Father and Jesus Christ. But he says that we are going to be children to him. We are going to be likened to him. There are going to be incredible elements of the divine nature that you and I are going to be able to experience. We have to because, as Gary said this morning, according to the Bible, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And it says here that we are the children of God and as it has been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So with all of these no more, brethren, allow me to begin to wind up and ask you a few questions. Simply this. When does no more begin in your life? Here we have opened up God's Word for eight days. We have seen what the kingdom of God is like. We have seen the personality, we have seen the attributes, we have seen the love of God. Can we dare go back into this world as we came in eight days ago? Is there not something that God has spoken to us, written in our hearts and minds, to recognize that we need to go back into our own personal lives and say, no more? No more?

Maybe I've been a part of a church. Maybe I've had a certain amount of understanding, but I've held this to myself, and I've reserved this to myself, and I've reserved this to myself.

Brethren, we are not just simply here during the Peace of Tabernacles to collect information. We're not just here to be inspired for eight days. God Almighty, His purpose, His plan, His pleasure, is to transform us from the inside out to where we surrender every element, every facet of our life, our past, our present, our future, and to His carrying hands.

And we frame everything in our life from morning till night. We frame everything in our life through the existence of Jesus Christ. His life, His death, His resurrection, and the hope that He is once again returning.

About 140 years ago, there was a Native American chief. You've probably heard of him. His name was Chief Joseph. Chief Joseph had left the reservation because the white man had broken his promises.

And Chief Joseph, for some time, led the American military on an expedition all through the Northwest with the Nespierce tribe, with four or five hundred men fighting him. And as brilliant as Chief Joseph was, and some of his tactics are still studied in military institutes today, at the end of the day, only 40 miles away from Canada, in which he could have gone over, he looked at his people. He saw their state. He saw where they were. He'd seen that in all of his brilliance, his life, and his people had only gone around in circles and circles. And Chief Joseph finally surrendered to the white man. And in that famous speech, he said, From where the sun sets, from where the sun sets, I shall fight no more forever.

As we move away from this room in just a few minutes, brethren, who's your fight with? Who are we fighting against? What no-mores are we still holding in our life that we have not ourselves given to God? And said, I need your help. I need your help. Show me your ways. Lead me in your paths. Grant me your miracle. Allow me to be your child. I am weak, but you are strong.

I need your spirit.

Father, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. I realize that some of you are going to be going back, and you don't know if you have a place to stay when you go home. Some of you are facing being homeless because of economy. Some of you are facing homeless because of relationships in the family. Some of you are perhaps wondering if you'll have a job when you get back because you trusted in God enough and believed in Him enough that God said He was making an appointment here in Oceanside, California, and you said, I must be there.

I want to tell you something. Our God, my God, your God, the God of eternity, will see you through. Remembering that Jesus said it would never be easy, but what we're talking about this afternoon, brethren, will be worth it. It will be worth it. You know, it's very interesting that the early Christians, as they looked around the world, that the Gibbons himself, the famous author of the fall and the rise of the Roman Empire, said this about the early Christians, the ancient Christians were animated by a contempt for their present existence and by a just confidence of immortality, of which the doubtful and imperfect faith of modern ages cannot give us an adequate notion.

Their life was already moving ahead. Even as they were facing the challenges today, they wanted the kingdom of God to come.

Brethren, as we've concluded this peaceful week, how much more do we want the kingdom of God to come? And who are we looking for? Who are we looking for when it is about to come?

It's very interesting that the early believers, those that had heard the Christ, those that heard the apostles, the early believers weren't looking for something to happen. So often we get out our charts and our jigsaw puzzles of prophecy, and we try to square them all up, and we know that God says, no man knows the day or the hour, so we just simply go for the month.

I've been watching it for 50 years. The early believers were not looking for something to happen. They were looking for someone to come. You know, looking for the train to arrive, have you ever done that? Or been to the airport? Look at the jet to arrive is one thing. But what are you really looking for? American Airlines 623 to arrive, and are you looking for the person that you love and long for to come off those steps, and you embrace them? Brother, and I leave you with this question. What do you look for in eternity? Who do you long for? Are we leaning forward, looking and anticipating, and doing our part now? Like Chief Joseph, putting those things out of our life that are so small compared to what God Almighty has in store for us. And are we waiting in anticipation to be embraced by God Almighty? And Jesus Christ? I told this story a couple of weeks ago, and I'll finish with this one. There was a six-year-old boy, and a certain family member would come, but the certain family member that came, you never knew when he would come because he was never on time. He never told you when he would come. But this little six-year-old boy would wait about two blocks down the neighborhood, because he loved that Uncle Tom. His Uncle Tom was everything to him. So this little 1950s kind of boy in this little blue jean, sitting in the mud by the curb, leaning forward, looking around the corner, two blocks away from his home, two blocks away from all security, but two blocks away, he couldn't wait for his Uncle Tom to come around that corner, because he knew everything was going to be all right. I was that little boy. That was my Uncle Tom, who was an incredible individual. I wasn't so much looking for his car. I was looking for the individual that was in that car. Can you imagine what it's going to be like, brethren? Just think about it for a moment, can we? Of what it's going to be like. Just think about it for a moment when you and I are clearly and literally, are you with me? Going to see God Almighty and Jesus Christ face to face, recognizing everything that they've done for us. You say, what have they done for us? How can we know that God has loved us? We know God loved us because he gave us his Son. Jesus Christ is loved personified. That's how much they loved us. And that's the eternity, brethren, that God welcomes us into. Brethren, as was mentioned a few days ago by Mr. Steve Knutsman, keep the vision alive. Keep that vision alive.

No matter what is happening down on this earth, keep your feet firmly on the ground. Keep them embedded in God's way of life, in God's truth, in God's commandments. And as you do, you look up. And whatever happens this coming year, you look up. And don't let anybody rob you of what God so freely wants to give you. He wants to give you a view of something that is going to be so special, so incredible. You do not want to miss it. It is so incredible that God Almighty's Son gave his life so that you could have front row seating to see this. We're going to see that heavenly Jerusalem coming down from above. We're looking forward to eternity. Not as a destination, but as a relationship that we will forever then be with God Almighty and with his Son, Jesus Christ.