Why Am I Here?

[John Elliott] Happy Sabbath to those of you who are joining us online. We're very glad that we can be together on this Sabbath as we assemble in whatever ways we are able to do that.

I'd like to thank Chad Browning for the special music today. Really glorifying God and Jesus Christ for so many things that they do and encapsulating that in a way that's very meaningful.

I would like, before beginning the sermon today, to highlight a brand new Beyond Today BT Daily. It was released yesterday and you'll find it out on YouTube. You can find it on the ucgia.org main web page if you scroll down.

But it's entitled Iran, Israel, and Prophecy. And it presents quite a different worldview than what people are concerned about right now with what's been going on over there in the Middle East.

But it's very timely and it appears under our Beyond Today brand, which connects us with, in the United Church of God, with that Beyond Today brand and certainly connects us with the work that's going on around the world.

I would just encourage you, as you have opportunity to see that, please share that on social media. I think it's very timely and it would be helpful for that to get replicated out there on social media where people can see it.

But Mr. Steve Myers is the presenter on that. It's only about two and a half minutes long. It's short, it's punchy, it's right there, giving a worldview that, again, people don't have out there because they're not biblically based, they're not biblically minded.

It's really impacted me lately to see how much society is basing itself or promoting fantasies, what I would call fantasies. The Bible might refer to it as folly. That word folly in the Hebrew can be translated as senselessness. It doesn't really make any sense.

But when you think of the fantasies that we're seeing out there more and more, people like artificial things, artificial realities.

We have CG or computer graphics cinematics that presents something that isn't real, but in a sense it's a fantastic view or a sense of things that will take place.

The world likes evolutionary creation of the universe, this fanciful, fantastic view of how things were created and how we actually got here. And since humanity is at the top of the chain, it's almost like we are the creators and we will drive our future.

Also, we find that people like fiction. Fiction and entertainment. That fiction is usually driven by breaking God's laws. Some of the Ten Commandments drives almost every type of fiction and entertainment that's out there.

And that begins to then use fanciful or fantastic fantasy locations. Environments are dreamed up either here or in the stellar universe.

We find that powers that individuals have in these fantastic situations, those powers, and also the travel that they're able to do. You know, zipping along, just all of a sudden, whatever they want, in whatever thing, it doesn't have to make any sense. But that becomes almost the reality.

There are other beings, whether extraterrestrial or some sort of hyped up or superd up, fantastic or fanciful ideas that explore other types of governments that are fantasy governments, fantasy populations, fantasy relationships. Almost nothing that is being promoted today in the world that I see, that I bump into, is realistic. It's not factual.

I looked at AI and I asked it, you know, how fantasy influences society. And here's what came back. Fantasy influences society by presenting alternative social structures and moral frameworks. “Fantasy can broaden understanding of different possibilities and challenge conventional thinking. Fantasy also deeply reflects and shapes societal values and attitudes. It provides a lens through which authors explore complex social issues using fictional worlds to comment on real world problems and societal structures.”

You can see kind of where this is all going. You end up with a gobbledygook that is unreal. It's not true. It seems like a valuable tool reminds me of the Abba song back in the 70s, I Have a Dream. I Have a Dream, a fantasy to help me through reality. And that's people kind of feel good about that, kind of rely on that, they kind of hope for that.

And we weave that into our society through Satan's influence, the father of lies, and what do you end up with? Well, you end up with society being led by folly that views God's truth as fantasy. And that's how society is viewing God and the truth of God, as some kind of fantasy.

In Isaiah 9:16, just break into that verse, Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 16, long ago the prophet Isaiah, hundreds and hundreds of years before the New Testament was written, is inspired here to say from God. "for the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed". (Isaiah 9:16)

Now you look at the leaders, just go to your local theater or go online to your local cinema theater and look at the titles. And you see, almost everyone is debauchery based on some sort of fantasy that tears society apart.

Go on to your bookselling site and look at the titles there. Go on to the entertainment. Look at the songs. Analyze what people are hearing. Analyze the leaders, the lifestyles of individuals in whether government, entertainment, or anywhere. And the leaders of this people are causing them to err. It didn't say encouraging, causing them to err. You know how long you can go back in entertainment films, your old classic films, to go back and find that those films had a requirement to teach perversion in order to get published.

You know, in order to make it into a cinema, there was a requirement by Hollywood that they had to work in some twisted aspect of relationships. And you say, well, watch this old movie. It's back from the 90s or back. It's in there as well. It's been pushed and causing people to err.

In Isaiah 9:17, "for everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly" , again breaking into the verse, that fanciful senselessness that comes upon people that are not being led by God.

Now let's compare to those being led with folly to the people of God, to you and me. We know that "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). These are the children of God. This is the family of God.

What a difference! In the same society, you and I can choose folly or we can choose truth. One group is heading towards this fanciful crash. The other are sons of God. And that whole passage there in Romans 8 is just rich with all the treasures that belong to this people that God is calling out at this time. It's important for us to realize this, and some of you youth that are here, you need to grasp this in your own life and to make choices in your school, in your education.

What things you're going to be led by, what you're going to be influenced by. Because one direction will end up in a fanciful destruction, Jesus warns, and the other that is considered to be folly in this age and is repudiated and will be hated by all nations, actually turns into the sons of God who are part of the ruling class of God beings when the millennium begins.

So our biblical worldview that you and I have is in stark contrast to what this one world concept of fantastic ideas out there is saying. Their ideas, so exciting, so good, so wise, remember, has a backup.

Rocket to Mars, you know, that's being built, right? Sort of just in case it doesn't work, probably won't. You might be able to get in a rocket and go live on Mars. If you've seen the book, The Martian, I'm not sure why anybody want to go there, including the guy that got stuck on it in the movie. But that's the mindset. It doesn't make any sense.

Let's go to Romans 1:20, and we'll sort of marry these two groups together in one passage.  "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen..." 

Now, society likes to look at creation, but they like to look at it through a couple of different lenses. One is to be wowed by the fish, by the plants, the animals, by the stars, by the human body, the mind. We can be wowed by that. But the creation does begin to show then the minds and the intellect and the power of the Creator. And those show God's invisible attributes clearly, being understood by the things that are made.

It's important for us not to just say, oh look, looks nice outside, but actually go look at those things. Look at those trees in a hurricane on the news that are still standing down there on the beach. You know, that's God's power. Look at those giant limbs that go straight out that weigh hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds on an old tree that just sit out there like that and somehow tie into a trunk. How does that work?

You know, we as humans can't do that with even steel. You'll see long poles with traffic lights that the pole leans over and that thing's out there kind of doing this, but not God's tree. You start looking at this and you think, wow, his eternal power in Godhead.

I'm always impressed as a pilot in gnats. Gnats will come into the office somehow and there'll be this little tiny gnat and I just want to go, you know, and if you do it, you just kind of smear, you know. But wait a minute, this thing can fly and I can't. How come that little thing can fly?

You get out a microscope and you look at this. It's a complete little flying thing and it's got antenna, it's got eyeballs, it's got a digestive system, it can reproduce. I mean, why did God make that little? I don't know what it does. It looks incidental, but he made it and it's pretty cool to look at that.

We have right now cicadas sort of falling out of the trees, but people say, oh, cicadas. Well, wait a minute. You get one of those cicadas, they're pretty neat. They really are cool. Those things can cling like nothing else. They're very interesting to hold and let walk around.

There's just so much in God's creation. We see some things that are like roadkill. You know, there's a dead deer on the side of the road. There's a dead, I don't know, possum, a possum, we call them, or a raccoon. And I like those things. They eat our chickens and whatever. Wait a minute. These are great animals.

At our house, we feed them. We have a lot of animals. We have a yard light, and the yard light aims out on the yard. So right in front of the light, we'll put food, because they're nocturnal. Put the food right in front of the light, and they'll come up, and they'll eat, and we watch them. We sit on the porch. You can talk to them.

I've sung Rocky Raccoon over and over loudly to a raccoon. It was just fine with that song, for some reason. And it's a cute little paws, and they have to do this and that.

You know, an opossum. It looks like a big rat, but it's not. He's not even related to the rat family. An opossum is a wonderful little... it's got the coolest little feet. And if you don't like opossums, you will in just a second. Okay? Opossums are cute little animals. Well, they're not cute. No, they're not cute. Okay. Opossums have a lovely little disposition, and they eat 20,000 ticks.

You like opossums. Oh, yeah. We want to have opossums. The sad thing is they only live about two or three years. That's their lifespan. But they're really good at eating ticks.

So anyway, you know, if we look at God's creation, begin to just analyze some things, we think, wow, this is quite the Creator.

Now, in "Professing to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22), the minds everywhere that dissed this professed to be wise, but they became fools. Their minds became senseless, foolish.

"Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever" (Romans 1:25). For they exchanged the truth of God for the fantasy, for the lie. And they worshiped and served the create, the creature that which was created, in other words, an individual or the creation, that which was created is what they worshiped rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

"For this reason God gave them up to vile passions..." (Romans 1:26). For this reason, for them not recognizing God as the Creator and not looking to Him for the source of truth, God gave them to vile passions. And then you begin to read what those vile passions are. And oh, isn't that right in our society today in your face? All of it.

And that whole list right there, that's everything to do with entertainment. That's everything to do with business. That's everything to do with our world. And somehow, that's wise. But God's way, in their minds, is foolishness.

At the end of Romans 1:32. Well, I'll just read verse 32. It says, "knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death..." These who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death.

And you think, but wait a minute, these people don't know God. They don't know the truth. Oh, yes, they do. You know, all of those things people consider those bad things above. All, everybody knows that's bad. They do call Las Vegas Sin City, after all. You know, they know it's bad.

The Bible is the best-selling book. Everybody has a copy out there. Every language that's on earth. They know the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death. They not only do the same, but they approve of those who practice them.

You know, it's the very people who trace their lineage back to David, who are the biggest promoters of lawlessness on earth. And that's a sad thing. Let me say that again. The very people who trace their lineage back to David are the world's biggest promoters of sin. In the entertainment world, in the business world, all of these things that were just mentioned there.

But whether you're young or you're old, this is our world today. We've exchanged, as a race, the truth of God for a lie. We've rejected God's invisible attributes and his Godhead by rejecting his being the creator of all things, and thus, as creator, the ruler, the one in charge of all things.

It's important for you and me to note something. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made..." (Romans 1:20). We see God's eternal power and Godhead by the things that he made. The things that he made, he made in six days. And we are here on the seventh day, the day after God made all of those things.

Those things include people. Those things include all the things that you and I are capable of. And we are here today worshiping him on the seventh day in spirit and in truth.

The purpose of the sermon today is to encourage us to acknowledge God in all of our lives. Acknowledge God. See him as the creator. See him, therefore, as the author, the ruler, the one in charge, the one with the plan, the one with the future, and be led by him.

He created our environments. He created your and my life. He gives us our capabilities. He gives us our understanding. And through the spirit and man and with the Holy Spirit, he gives us our guidance, our understanding through the new covenant. And also, he gives us our eternity.

And these are things for us to keep in mind as we go through life. Because out there, the human mind, if we're not staying close to God, we could begin to assimilate with the world more and more. And all of us have known people that have gone back into that vomit.

So the title of the sermon today is, Why am I Here?Why am I Here? It's a very important question. I'd like to delve into that as to why each of us are here and why we are here today.

How often do you ponder, how did I get here? Wherever you are, if you're watching this or you're sitting in this room, do you ever ask the question, how did I get in the seat that I'm sitting in right now? How did that take place?

Think of where your family used to be. Think of where your ancestors used to be. Think of where you as a child, how you came into the world, how you came through your life to this point, to where you're sitting where you are at this very moment. I look at my life and I won't spend time with it, but I know I shouldn't be here.

I was not anticipated as even a child by my parents. Later, I should have died at the age of 12. I was given 45 minutes to live. I should have been killed twice with my wife in accidents, but the accidents never happened. Along with nearly every element of my life that I've had, none of it was anything that I could have imagined or brought about.

How about your life? I'll bet it's something very similar. How did I get here, you might ask? When you look at your family's experience, your family lineage—maybe your grandfather was the guy driving the pickup. This really happened. The guy driving the pickup years ago when you had a radio on the dashboard that was analog and you turned a dial and it moved a little pointer. You could figure out the station, right?

This particular guy always listened to the same station. Country music—lived on it. He was going to die on that station. He drove the country on his job, back and forth. One day he was out on a highway. I don't think there was anyone much around. His truck just started spinning out of control down the highway. No apparent reason. Stopped. He was okay. He drove off. But the radio had Herbert W. Armstrong on it now. And his kids and grandkids probably are in the Church today.

How about the individual who couldn't stand the fact that somebody kept the seventh-day Sabbath and decided to disprove that the Sabbath was on the seventh day? Herbert Armstrong was one of those.

How about the individual who somebody pushed a booklet at him? "You ought to read this." "I'm not going to read that. No. It's crazy stuff that person has." Finally, one day, "Okay, we promised we'd read it." Sat down and read it. That was my parents.

What about a coworker who picked up something at a dentist’s office and said, “Hey, what do you think of this?” There are so many things. Maybe your parents came into the Church, and that's how you began your journey.

But again, how did you end up here today? Probably it’s the result of a very long, convoluted story with many coincidental circumstances that brought you into a relationship with God, in a relationship with His Church, in a relationship to the work of God that brought us here today.

I'd like to begin with where that journey began. I'll just quote it from Ephesians 1:4. "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" See, the reason why you and I are where we are is because we have a God who created us—a God who began with a plan in mind—and He chooses some at this point in time to be certain places and do certain things.

But the next part in the journey comes from Isaiah 43:7. God says, "Everyone who is called by My name..." You're called by God's name. You're in the Church of God. You are a child of God. You are a son or daughter of God. "...Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

So not only did He have a plan for you sometime before the foundation of the world, but He has created you. He says, “I have formed you.” “I have made you.” He says that three different ways.

So what a wonderful God we serve. And what a wonderful blessing it is to have a calling now, with the opportunities that we have to be part of the God family—now, as a son or daughter—and future to actually be divine beings in the Godhead.

Humans who acknowledge God in all their ways have a relationship that is tied to creation. Let’s go to Colossians 1:16. "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth..." This is our worldview. It’s biblical, right here.

For by God all things were created. This is Jesus Christ being spoken of—the one who did the creating. The Father created it through Him. "...Visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers..." So not only the physical world, but also He directs—as Nebuchadnezzar gave a great dissertation about—how God directs things with powers and principalities. He directs those as well.

"All things were created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Notice verse 17: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." In other words, He created everything. He was before all things existed, but now He has that presence. He is the authority above all things.

This is your and my view of God, and we need to retain this. We must not slip away into some fanciful idea that, “I don't know if there really is a God,” and start elevating the self and get into all kinds of fantasies. But rather, know this: "He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

What is that referring to? Next verse: "He is the head of the body, the Church..." That’s where Jesus Christ is reigning and ruling today—as our Lord and Master. He is the head of the body. "He who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead..."—indicating there are more to be born from the dead—"that in all things He may have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

So Jesus Christ and God the Father need to have the preeminence in our life daily. That’s why we pray to God. That’s why we study His Word. That’s why we try to imitate God. Young and old, all the way through life, this is our view of life—that God is our head, and He has preeminence.

So we’re connected different than society at this point. And of course, the reason for that is a miracle that takes place. A miracle. God has added His Holy Spirit, so we can see and understand.

Let’s go to Romans 11:7. And again, we’ll see these two groups of people—society and then the elect of God. We’re going to marry them in the same sort of time capsule but show the contrast. "What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded" (Romans 11:7).

We have obtained something.

And notice, "the rest were blinded. Just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, to this very day'" (Romans 11:7–8).

You and I have a powerful component in our thinking. It's called God's Holy Spirit. It's a miraculous thing that exists as long as God lets it exist. But if we transgress against it, if we don't like it, if we don't like the flavor or the taste, as the Bible says, of that Holy Spirit after we've tasted it, God will remove it. And we'll go right back to this blind spirit of stupor, eyes and ears that shouldn't see and hear. So it's very important that we show God that we desire the spirit to be active. Like David said, "Take not Your Holy Spirit from me, I pray" (Psalm 51:11). Without it, what would we be?

It's not part of us, this character and this understanding. That's a miracle that takes place. So if we did not acknowledge God and His Spirit in our life and our understanding and our capabilities, we would return again to the vomit results of society's fantasies. That's the only thing that's left out there. We just couldn't understand it. And it's so important that we hold on to this, as we heard in the sermon last week by our pastor here. We need to grasp it, hang on to it. We need to fight for the faith once delivered, you know, daily in our own minds to keep this front and center. You know, the source of our higher understanding, our wisdom, our ability to teach others is gifted. It's gifted to us. It's not something that's deep inside.

Some of us can look back through the years and we've seen spiritual leaders in the church who knew more than any of us. And in an instant, it was gone. They made other choices, couldn't see any of it anymore. It was foolishness to them, couldn't even remember anything valuable from it. This is a gift.

Let’s go to Exodus 35. I just marked some areas this morning in the Bible, and say in verse 10: "All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded" (Exodus 35:10). And then he goes on and starts talking about all of these special things down here.

Verse 22: "They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart" (Exodus 35:22). Verse 25: "All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands" (Exodus 35:25). Verse 26: "All the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair" (Exodus 35:26).

Verse 34: "He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan" (Exodus 35:34). Verse 35: "He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works" (Exodus 35:35).

Then chapter 36, verse 1: "And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded" (Exodus 36:1).

We have to be on our knees asking for God—His inspiration, His help, His wisdom—in doing just the crafty things, just the work that we do, whether it's for the Church or anywhere out there. These are things that we should acknowledge God as the source of. Their talents and their gifts are from God.

Let’s look in 1 Corinthians 14:37: "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37).

This is from God. This is God's logic, God's wisdom. Jesus Christ has become for us, you know, wisdom and understanding.

Let’s go to Jeremiah 9:23: "Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches'" (Jeremiah 9:23). And then verse 24: "But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the Lord (Jeremiah 9:24).

Let’s go to Ephesians 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ".

Just as "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to sonship as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (Ephesians 1:4–5).

"To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).

You and I are here because God made us accepted and acceptable in the Beloved, "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7).

"Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself" (Ephesians 1:9).

And "in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:11–12), "in whom you also trusted" (Ephesians 1:13).

See, here we are. Come out of the world. We're trusting in God. He is our Creator. He is our Sustainer. And "we heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation" (Ephesians 1:13). That is the Word of Truth. This message, this announcement we give is God is truth. And He and Jesus Christ are the Word of Truth, "in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13–14).

If we go over to chapter 2: "And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6–7).

This is all good. This is all future. This is reality. This is something to be involved with and thankful for. And so here we are today, different than society. Someone asked you, where'd you go today? I went to church. They're like, really? You know, your neighbors probably look at you a little funny every Saturday.

But we are different. We are worshiping God on the Sabbath day. There's an interesting connection to this, by the way. Worshiping God, Sabbath-keeping, and creation are mentioned together in the Bible many times. We don't have time to look at them all. But those three tie together so well.

We could start in Revelation 4:6. "Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back" (Revelation 4:6). These living creatures—each having six wings and eyes around and within—“do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!’” (Revelation 4:8).

In verse 11 they say, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

So here you have worship and you have creation. And why is He worthy? Because “You created all things” (Revelation 4:11). See this creation and God and worship?

You and I, of course, are the pinnacle of that physical creation. Let's go to Psalm 89:5: “And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints” (Psalm 89:5).

So we're going to have praise from that which God has created, and also that which is in heaven—the spirit beings—and also those in the assembly of the saints. Here we are on the Sabbath, on the seventh day, in the assembly. “For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?” (Psalm 89:6).

"God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him" (Psalm 89:7).

So we see in the heavens, those around God revere Him—we just read that in Revelation—and we see the assembly of the saints are revering Him. The word "fear" in both Hebrew and Greek, as I understand it, can mean either fear God or revere God. If you don't revere God, you better fear God. But you have that reverence for God—or if you're disobedient, then you've got the fear of God. God doesn't want us to be afraid of Him. He wants us to revere Him.

Verse 11: "The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them" (Psalm 89:11). Verse 12: "The north and the south, You have created them" (Psalm 89:12).

You have worship, you have God, you have the assembly of the saints, and you have the creation. The Sabbath is a holy day to worship God, to acknowledge the creation.

You know, we love creation. When we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, what do we like? Everybody like to go to downtown, you know, big city downtown, stay in a skyscraper? Nope. We want something where we can see God's creation, feel, you know, something where we can identify more with the Creator God who will roll out a beautiful, wonderful world tomorrow.

And so on the Sabbath day, it's a holy day to worship God, to acknowledge the creation along with His laws, His kingdom, and His family. It's part of the sign between us.

If we go to Exodus 31:16: “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant” (Exodus 31:16). Verse 17: “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17).

So here we are on the seventh day. God made the heavens and earth, and we have a covenant observing the Sabbath as His people. The Sabbath includes acknowledging what God has made.

People, as the pinnacle of God's physical creation, are very, very important to God—so important that “He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16), and His Son came and lived and died for us.

God, creation, the assembly, worship, Jesus Christ, head of the Church—this is a living, dynamic relationship and organism that He has created.

People can get wooed by creation, however, and tend to not acknowledge its Creator. Let's go to Deuteronomy 4:19. This goes back a long, long way.

Kids, remember, don't just get infatuated with the creation out there, and fall for the evolution, and forget the Creator, because notice this. "Take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage" (Deuteronomy 4:19).

"But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day" (Deuteronomy 4:20).

Here we sit here as the people of God, an inheritance of God, a bride that Jesus Christ is developing, getting ready to be a bride for His Son.

I'd like to look at the Gospel message in the future, Revelation chapter 14. After Jesus Christ returns, and the firstfruits are with Christ—Revelation chapter 14 and the first four verses, you can read that, there before the throne—we come to verse 6.

"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water'" (Revelation 14:6–7).

There it is again. Look to your Creator. He is the Creator. He's the one running the program. Worship Him. Revere Him. Give glory to Him.

Humanity may have lapsed into worshiping what was created, but you and I need to be examples in our daily lives of exalting God and coming under His direction.

Let's look at Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5 as we begin to wrap this up. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5–6).

And as He directs your paths, then you acknowledge Him. As He directs your paths, it's kind of like a loop, isn't it?

"Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine" (Proverbs 3:7–10).

You know, these days contain evil. They're dangerous times. The time of the end are dangerous. But at the same time, let's not over-focus on that. Yes. Are we living in the time of the end? Marriage and family is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Is the book of Revelation rolling out? Yes. With God, we're making life work.

You know, all of you young people have a wonderful, bright future with God. And no matter what comes, Jesus Christ tells us to not be overly worried about it.

Let's go to Luke 21 and verse 34. Jesus has just talked about the end-time events and the catastrophes that are coming on an evil generation. But let's notice here in Luke 21 and verse 34, what He says after this:

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth" (Luke 21:34–35).

Uh-oh. So, verse 36, "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

We don't have to worry. We don't have to fear about that. If we are worshiping God and we are His people, and He has got you where you are right now, and you are in that relationship with Him, Jesus says, look, pray because here's what we want for you. We want you to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of Man.

So, in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, Jesus gives these words. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:33–34).

So, brethren, how did you get where you are today? Well, I have a pretty strong feeling that you got here because of a whole series of events that God has worked through your life and brought you to where you are this very moment. And God will continue that work.

Let's conclude by reading Isaiah 33, beginning in verse 13.

"Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might" (Isaiah 33:13).

Acknowledge My might, God says. What about these end times?

“The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’” (Isaiah 33:14).

The answer is in verse 15: "He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil" (Isaiah 33:15).

These can refer to entertainment. They can refer to the things that are attractive to humans.

That individual, verse 16, "He will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water will be sure" (Isaiah 33:16).

So we can have confidence as we go forward into uncertain times, and certainly the times that are prophetically described as being terrible for this world. But let's be separate from a fanciful society by acknowledging God as the Creator and the guide of our lives.