Why God Is Expecting You to Be in His Kingdom

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A very happy Sabbath, everyone! It's a wonderful gathering to be here with people from so many different places, all across the United States, Canada, east to west, Europe, Netherlands, Australia. For God's people to come together at an opportunity like this, sort of mid-Feast of Tabernacles and Passover, it's very exciting. The one thing that we notice here that some of you online aren't seeing is the diversity of ages that are here. We have four-month-old babies, and we have elderly, and every age group in between.

It's very exciting for families in God's church to have a relationship with God that is really firm and solid in their lives. Let me ask you a question. How many of you are absolutely certain that you will be in God's kingdom? Hmm. How many of you want to be in God's kingdom? Yes, all right. We each are progressing towards the kingdom of God or entry into the kingdom of God through many multiple chapters in our lives.

They're just many of them, honestly. I think back 75 Feasts ago, I was two months old in the arms of Herbert Armstrong being blessed as a little child up in Belknap Springs, Oregon. Through the many chapters, last night I evidently entered a new chapter, and that was, elderly, please go through the line first. And they were pushing me.

All of you are in a chapter in your life, and each chapter is different, but they're all very, very important. This morning I asked a group of 15 preteens, what would be important in a sermon that you hear? They thought about that, and they said, societal issues, in particular, social media challenges. And I thought, wow, here are young people in their chapter of life working on and wrestling with matters that they need to champion, they need to conquer, they need to succeed in. And we are all here wanting to win the game of life.

Now, we've just had a lot of sports. Some 42 teams I hear playing on 24 courts, and I think that's probably plus this funny tennis rack. I don't know what that thing was, but it seemed very popular. And, you know, as we get into any type of, whether it's sports or career or education, whether it's marriage and family or striving for the kingdom of God, which Paul kind of alludes to in a sports context, you know, of wrestling or running or fighting, you know, that type of thing takes a lot of effort. And we don't mind putting in that effort. I want to do better. I want to get better.

And so we have this winning mindset. I want to win. The Apostle Paul said, you know, there's a crown that I want to be crowned with. It was a wreath after running a race and being the victor, you know, all running a race, he said, but one receives that crown, that laurel wreath. Run that you can receive it. And so we're in this life progressing in the development of godly character at every age, every age. You little children are just as important as anyone else. And young adults with families, you are so very important, somewhat underserved, I think, and so I've given more focus to our church efforts coming up to really make sure our young families on all elements of that are as served as the rest of the demographics.

Now, we have, in any success, conditions for success, don't we? There are conditions. Whether that, again, is in a career, in marriage, in life, in heading for God's kingdom, being successful, there are some conditions we have to meet. There are goals. There are rules. There are responsibilities. There is personal development that needs to take place. And these are good things. We, as humans, we're designed with challenge and growth, and those are things we want to aspire to. In Matthew chapter 19 and verse 16, somebody came and asked Jesus, what good things shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

All right, so there it is. What is it we have responsibility? What are some of the conditions that we have to meet? Jesus answered, if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

So God gives each of us a book, a Bible. And in this are the conditions for our success in really all areas of life, but concerning the kingdom of God, we have these conditions.

He says entry into his kingdom is quite possible. In Revelation chapter 21 and verse 7, Jesus lays it out even more clearly. He who overcomes, or that word elsewhere is translated conquerors, right? You're out to win, you're going to conquer, you're going to achieve, you're going to defeat the enemy, which is basically yourself and Satan and carnal nature and your old carnal human nature. You're going to conquer that. He says, he who conquers shall inherit all things. Did you notice the condition there? He says, he who overcomes shall inherit all things. So that's a conditional promise. But what I'd like to do is back that up and just look at it one more time. He says, he who overcomes shall inherit all things.

And I will be his God and he shall be my son. This is not an iffy promise. This is something that you and I not only can hope for, we can develop a personal expectation to achieve it if we are fulfilling the conditions that he lays out. Now in verse 8 he does mention also that the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars who have not met the conditions shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire in brimstone, which is the second death. So let's not get in our minds that somehow, oh, I'm in the church, therefore I'll be in the kingdom. Or therefore, you know, I'm married, therefore I'll be happy. You know, there are conditions and responsibilities and we have to be tuned to those.

Now, is everyone perfect in doing this? And as we go through life, we find ourself at every step being told, now as a little child, you know, don't do this. You need to improve at that. I mean, I was a church kid and one day at age four, my mom brought in the groceries and put them on the counter. And I'm looking up at the counter, what you got in the bags. My older brother, he was three years older than me and taller and mom was taking stuff out of the bag and out came a pack of hot dogs. Hot dogs. You kids who like jelly, well that's my jelly, was like hot dogs. We didn't get hot dogs and there's a pack of hot dogs. Oh, I want to talk. Let me hold the hot dogs. No, I've got the hot dogs. No, please, I want to hold the hot dogs. My brother Mark, no, he's got the hot dogs. He is in second grade. He can read. He's holding the hot dogs and I'm like, I want to hold the hot dogs.

Mom, these hot dogs have pork. What? No, they don't. No, I got all beef hot dogs. It says so right there on the pack. No, mom, they're all meat hot dogs. Oh, really? It's like they just canceled the whole jelly show. Like, poof! It was scheduled. I was looking forward and it's just gone.

Like, whoa, what do you do with that? My mom says, all right, we'll feed them to the dog. Like, ah.

Now I'm in the church and I'm four and I figured this out. Mom says, boys, each day you'll give the dog, Skipper, a hot dog. Starting with Stephen, the older brother. So, Stephen, you know, I'm watching the dog. Next day, Mark, I had a little time to work on my strategy.

I took a bite out of the hot dog, turned it around, held it in my hand, and held it out to the dog.

Mark said, mom, John took a bite out of the hot dog. What seemed just so right to me turned out to be a painful experience when her red belt came out. And so it is through life. As we go through chapters, we are shown areas which we fall short in. And it's this always constant temptations, pull, correction, societal pressures. And we're striving almost like in sports training. You know, you never, never quite get there. Somebody's doing it better than you. You're being told how to do it better. You don't always win your playoff games. You know what I mean?

It can be frustrating at times. Let's go to Romans chapter 7 verse 21. The Apostle Paul wrestled with these frustrations along the way, and they can be a bit discouraging.

Paul says in Romans 7, 21, I find then a law that evil is present with me. And as we go through each phase of our life, God, through his Spirit, will reveal things to us. It says, you know, that's not right. What you want to do isn't right. What I want you to do, you don't think is right.

And you've got to wrestle with this. So he says, the one who wills to do good has evil. For, verse 22, I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is my members. It's one step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, one step back, and he says, verse 24, oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Notice his words. He's in one sense asking the question, will I be in the kingdom of God?

How many times have you asked the question, will I make it into God's kingdom?

Because sometimes along this path we see the goal and we see the heart, but we don't always see the right choice. And we say, will I be in God's kingdom? If all you can see in God's word are your shortcomings, and that's all you see in God's word, then it can become very, very discouraging.

It can feel like the kingdom of God is unachievable in our imperfection.

Even worse, it can feel like God doesn't want me in his kingdom. It's a one-sided desire that I have, but it doesn't seem like God really wants me there. And I don't see how I'm going to get there, being the sinner that I am. The Apostle Paul changes that in the next verse when he says, after he says, who will deliver me from this body of death, he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, there's more to the equation than my side and your side. There's more to our being given entry into the kingdom of God than just our own efforts. That's why the Bible says, you cannot earn your salvation. You can't do this on your own. Oh, yes, you're supposed to do your part, but like in a marriage, there's two parts to a happy marriage. There's two parts to our entry into the kingdom of God. And in fact, our part, I would have to say, is much less than the part we're going to discover now in Scripture. The reality is that God and Jesus Christ desire for you to enter the kingdom of God more than you do. Much more than you do. The title of this sermon is, Why God Expects You to Be in His Kingdom. God expects you to be in His kingdom. Jesus Christ expects you to be in His kingdom. There's no gates or bars keeping you out. There is the hope. There's the promise we just read. On God's part, He will never think about leaving or forsaking you in your partnership with Him going towards His kingdom. And so let's look at eight reasons why God expects you to be in His kingdom. God expects you. How old are you? Four, eight, 12, 13, 16. Going through those tough times of 15, 16, 17. You're kind of wondering where life is taking. You're getting put down by everybody in junior high and high school. College is unknown. You're getting pushed out into who knows what before you're ready. And somebody's tapping you on the shoulder saying, you should be baptized. I think, wha!

Wherever you are in your journey into God's kingdom, here are eight reasons why God expects you to show up. Reason number one. Because it's the Father's will for you to be in the kingdom of God. Now when God the Father, the great, powerful designer, creator, being of all things, has a will, it's pretty strong. And He wills for you to be in the kingdom of God.

We find in John chapter 3 in verse 16, you may know this from heart, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Think about that for a minute from God's standpoint. It is not His will that any should perish, but that they should have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son in the world to condemn you, but that the world through Him might be saved. That's the whole purpose of everything, is that you can enter the kingdom of God and ultimately everybody who has or ever will live will enter that if they want to fulfill the conditions. But that's up to us. Like I said, that's an important part. It's a very important part because God's not going to bring somebody who doesn't want to be like God and make Him into a powerful being like He and His Son are and then have a super Satan on His hands. God's got to be very, very careful. That's why we're physical. That's why we're do-away-able if we don't really want to be like God.

In 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, Peter states this, The Lord is not willing that any should perish. Think of that from God's perspective. God's will? He asks, I wonder what God's will in my life is? There it is. The Lord is not willing that any should perish. So what is His will? But that all should come to repentance. God wants you and me to come to repentance. From Adam and Eve to Cain to all the people before Noah to the sons of Abraham through Israel, all the entire Bible speaks of repentance. Jesus Christ came preaching a message of repentance and submission to God and His laws. He sent the disciples and the apostles out. He filled the New Testament with what we call the Gospel, which is the submission to the authority of God and the laws of God. And then we will join Christ, and what we will do, we'll teach this truth to all the world. Jesus Christ will return, sit on the throne for the Second Resurrection, and guess what's opened? These books. And everybody will then be given the opportunity to comply with the requirements of entering God's kingdom.

In verse 13, Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, this is God's perspective, it's His will, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

That righteousness is our responsibility with God to develop that character and dwell there with Him. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things. That's what we're to look forward to, to these things. Righteousness. God, the kingdom. Be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless. That's our part. But you see how eager God is, how willing, how desirous, how expecting God is for you to be in His kingdom. Just be diligent to be without spot and blameless in His eyes. In 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 4, if you don't believe it's God's will yet for you to be in His kingdom, 1st Timothy 4, God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's His desire that we all are saved. Have that not only the knowledge, but actually the application of God's Word. So, point number two. You are expected to be in God's kingdom because Jesus gave Himself and continues to give Himself for you to be in God's kingdom. Think about that. Jesus Christ helped create everything. He's been working with individuals all through the Bible times. He's been working and working and working. Then He came to this earth and He worked. He gave His life and then in His resurrection He said, I'll come and dwell with you. I'm continuing to work in you. The Father and I will dwell with you. I'll never leave you or forsake you. All right? John 6, 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Wow! There it is. If we eat of this bread, if we eat of bread of Jesus Christ, or we have His mindset in us with His Spirit, and you young children have God's Spirit, that's how you know truth. It's not living and dwelling in you, but it's working with your minds to help you understand. He says here, if we grow to the place where we will then go through the gift of repentance and baptism, receive God's Holy Spirit, and really eat the bread of life, He will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. We know in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25 when the Apostle Paul speaks of marriage, another relationship that's a type of Christ in the church, type of God in you. He says, husbands love your wife just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify her and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. That's what he is devoting himself to in your life and mine, cleaning us up. He is so excited, honestly. So excited. Imagine how long and we'll get into this in a moment. He's been waiting for a bride that's like him, made like him.

And he is love. He gave himself for us that he might present her to himself. There's an occasion in the future that is really going to be big and God and Jesus Christ are looking forward to that. They are expecting you to be there, expecting you to be part of that. Jesus has gone to make a place for you in the Father home. Prepare a place for you. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

John 17 21, before he died, Jesus said, Father, I pray that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us. How's that for an expectation? How's that for a desire? Verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am.

Jesus Christ wants you in the divine kingdom of heaven where he is, that they may behold my glory, that bright glory, that, you know, just massive amount of energy that radiates that would kill us probably in a quadrillionth of a second. But then he wants us to be like that and be there. He wants that. For you love me before the foundation of the world. Point three, as to why you are expected to be in the kingdom of God. Because God made the creation this Sabbath day and the holy days to proclaim you in his kingdom. It's not just that thing in the future. We are actually celebrating today you being in the kingdom of God. You have six days in the week, have humanity doing its own thing. And then at the end of those six days, what happens? The return of Jesus Christ and the first fruits rise. And we are with Christ. We are reigning with him over that seventh day, that seventh thousandth year, as it were. And God created you with an expectation. He created you in his image. He created you in his likeness. He created you with the same opportunities and abilities for knowing, communicating, understanding, being at one with him and each other. In verse 14 of Genesis chapter 1, let's just go there, Genesis chapter 1 and verse 14 is an interesting statement. After creating all things, or during the creation of all things, God said, let there be lights in the firmaments of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons.

The word seasons is moed, feasts. Let them be for signs. The Sabbath is a sign. Moed for feasts. The moon provides us with the months by which we calculate the festivals of God.

The sun allows us to see the seven-day cycle of a week. And all of those feasts are about you and me, Jesus Christ dying for you and me to receive that bread, for us in the days of unleavened bread, to become a type of Christ, unleavened, putting sin out of our life, moving forward to the harvest of the first fruits, the wheat harvest that joins Christ as first fruits. Eventually, at the Feast of Trumpets, that resurrection takes place. We join Him at that time. We reign with Him through the Millennial period and on into the family of the kingdom of God as the bride of Christ. And verse 14 continued, and for days and for years. So we have this weekly Sabbath proclaiming the rest that you are expected to help Jesus Christ bring first to the remnant of the house of Israel and ultimately roll out to the whole world, a rest from Satan's mindset and his societies. To the greeted man, God commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. In Mark chapter 2 and verse 27, let's look at what Jesus says about the Sabbath day.

Mark chapter 2 and verse 27, Jesus Christ is the Lord of this day that you and I are keeping that He made for us that proclaims you in His kingdom. You're expected to be part of that bride and be in His kingdom. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 1. Jesus Christ is the Lord of this day that you and I are keeping that He made for us that proclaims you in His kingdom. You're expected to be part of that bride and be in His kingdom. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 1. This rest isn't just a single-day rest, but it actually portrays a future rest. It'll be a wonderful time when the pressures that currently exist in this world will be greatly diminished because Satan will have been removed. In Hebrews 4 and verse 1, Thomas remains of entering his rest. He has promised for those who comply with the requirements for kingdom entry, he has promised that they will enter his rest. Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them. What was that? What was preached to Israel who came out of Egypt? Well, we just look at the law, you know, the first part of the Bible was preached to Israel as they came out of Egypt.

For indeed the the message, the Word of God was preached to us as well as to them, but the Word which they heard did not profit them. See, they did not become committed to it, and they didn't want to be under the rulership of the one in the cloud and the fire. And they wanted to go to something else that they had in mind. And so it did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard. For we who have believed do enter that rest. Ha! There it is. Pretty encouraging, isn't it? We who believe do enter that rest. God expects us to enter that rest. Verse 9, therefore there remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Is it automatic? Well, no, it's not automatic. But verse 11 tells us, therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. So we have to be compliant with God's standards, God's purpose for us, His commandments, His rule, and oversight over our lives. Otherwise, we won't enter that rest. But we see here it's very much God's desire, and Jesus Christ gives Himself. Let's look here in verse 4. Not verse 4, point 4. Point number 4, why God expects you to be in His kingdom is because God put in you a desire to be in His kingdom. That's interesting, isn't it? All humans were created with a desire for eternal life.

God put that in there. Humans, whether they've never known God, never will known God, they all want to live forever. You go back through time and you'll find various cultures never knew anything about God. But, oh, when I die, I'm going to become a star. You know, I'm going to go to heaven. Something, I'm going to somehow live forever. Good old Walt Disney, back in the 60s, I think it was, when he died, had his head cut off and frozen, just in case someday they could figure out, you know, how to make a good body and stick his head back on it so he could keep living. Cryogenetics, they called it. There's just, you want to keep living. God put that in us.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1, we see the Apostle Paul speaking about this. It's in all of us. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1. I've written it out here.

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent he calls it, is destroyed, we have a building from God. Whoa, that's pretty confident, huh? We've got another body. We're expected to be a spirit body, a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. There it is. That's what all humans have in our hearts. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. Verse 4. For we who are in this tent groan, now, you heard the teens or the preteens. We've got some challenges here in life. All of us groan, you know, physical, mental, societal, that which I want to do, I don't always do kind of stuff. We groan, being burdened, not because we want to die or be unclothed, but further clothed. We want eternal life, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Verse 5. Listen carefully. Now he, God who prepared us for this very thing, is God. God prepared you to have eternal life, who also has given us the spirit as a guarantee or a pledge, an earnest, a down payment. He's committed. You're going to be there. Here, I'm already counting on you. Right? Verse 8. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. There's a confidence there, you see, because we are doing those things as God shows us. We're doing our part.

We're in the game, you might say. You know, we're in training. We're striving to win.

Therefore, verse 9, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what He has done, whether good or bad. We have this desire very, very strong in us. We find in Romans chapter 8 and verse 18 that our minds, when coupled with God's Holy Spirit, feel an earnest need to be in the kingdom. How many times have you thought, oh, I just need to be in God's kingdom? I just want this to be passed. I want to be in the kingdom of God. Well, let's go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 18. I'm going to read this from the King James Version, because wherever it says here in these verses, wherever it says the word creation or creature, it's the same word in the Greek, right? So what happens is the translators will choose which one they want. Is it the creature, the person, or is it the creation?

Well, the King James Version, I believe, gets it right. Other versions, not so much. So here we go.

I reckon that the sufferings of this present times are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, that glorified body. For the earnest expectation of the creature, you and I just talked about this, right? We have this earnest desire. The expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. We are waiting for Christ's return. We are waiting for the resurrection. For the creature, that's me, was subject to—the Greek word vanity means temperanous or futility or we're going to get old and we're going to die—we're subject to that, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope.

God has hope for you to be in the kingdom just as you have hope to be in his kingdom. Verse 21, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Everybody who dies goes through what the Bible calls corruption. We go back to dirt, right? It's not a pleasant thing. We tend to put that underground. Don't think about that. But it says the person itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, from decay, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Wow. You can see how positive God is, how positive Paul is. Verse 23, we break into verse 23, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the sonship, the redemption of our body. So we see here there's an expectation of God, and he has put that same expectation in you and me. And we both see we have hope, and we both know that that will happen if we comply with the requirements.

Point number five. Why you are expected to be in the kingdom of God? Because God built you into his plan from the beginning. You personally. From the beginning. You might think, I was just called, you know, 15 years ago. Don't know why it took me so long. Don't know how I got here, but just happened to, you know, pick up. Like somebody recently told us, I believe in Pakistan or India. My brother and I were always at the house. We don't know anything about religion. We shared a house, and one day there's a Beyond Today magazine on the table. Oh, that's interesting. Have they, you put that there? No, I didn't put that there. You put that there. I didn't put that there. How'd I get there? I don't know. Let's read it. Oh, now they're leaders in the church over there. You know, how does that happen? I don't know. I remember years ago when the World Tomorrow broadcast was on radio, AM radio, a person told me, yeah, my dad always drove a pickup truck to and from work, up and down the highway, up and down the highway. One station, country music, never changed the dial. One day he was driving down the road, and his pickup just went and stopped. And that radio dial had, Herbert Armstrong is talking. Well, you know, God will get you when he wants you. And there's an expectation. Let's just look in Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians 1 and verse 4. Ephesians 1 and verse 4. I'm not faking this. I'm actually turning to the Scripture so that I'm giving you time to get there, even though mine is printed out, because then I want to read the wrong verse. Ephesians 1 and verse 4.

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. Now that's an interesting statement. How could he choose us? How could he choose you before the earth was created? Now we might start limiting God and say, well, couldn't have known that. So he just meant to call somebody. What I like to do is go sometimes and read the 11th chapter of Daniel and pull out a commentary. And here is a prophecy about specific people going through hundreds and hundreds of years, maybe even thousands of years up to our time. It names whether they're male or female, family connections, personalities, and deeds that they do.

Hundreds of years in advance. It's like, wow, that is really incredible. So how far in advance did God know you? I can't say, but I look at the description. I'm just not putting any limits on it, but it says here, 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. Take that any way you want, but that says God has been expecting you. He's built you into his plan or somebody like you that you just happened to fill the spot. I can't say, but that has been a plan from the beginning. Point number six. Because God and the Son of the Kingdom plan to give you eternal life. They plan to give you eternal life. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 11, back to the Apostle Paul, Romans chapter 8 and verse 11, and we're going to break into the middle of this verse, it says, if the spirit of him, the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, ask yourself, does God's spirit dwell in you? Is it leading you if you're baptized? Are you led by the Holy Spirit? If it dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit which dwells in you. Wow, that's a pretty strong statement there. It doesn't sound like there's a whole bunch of question, is it? Will I get in the kingdom? If I do my part, one who raised Jesus from the dead will give you, give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit. verse 14, for or because. Here's why. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. This is family. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage to fear, but rather the Spirit of sonship, we like to say. Sonship, sons and daughters of God now, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are our children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, there's testing involved, that we may also be glorified together. In Philippians chapter 3 and verse 20, we find out that we're not just alone here on earth. You're not just some person who goes back to your area, your country, home, or your place in the city, or you know, your class in school.

You actually have a different relationship than those in society around you that don't understand you. Romans 8 verse 11 will break into the verse. I'm sorry, Philippians 3 verse 20. We won't break into the verse. Philippians 3 verse 20, our citizenship is in heaven. You know, you might think of yourself as, oh, I'm a citizen of Australia or the Netherlands. I'm a citizen of Canada. I'm a citizen of the United States. Maybe you're a dual citizen. You have two passports. Hold on. We are really not part of the political or the societal. We're not part of what society puts out in the form of entertainment, in the form of things visually, in the mind of greed and corruption. No. Our citizenship is in heaven. Remember, we're children of God, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it might be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. We have strength. We have power. We've got a friend. We have a Father. We have the power of God's Holy Spirit. We have desire. They have desire. They're pulling for us and with us. Together we do this, and we are doing this, and we will do this.

Point number seven. You are expected to be in the kingdom of God because you were written, and are written, in Christ's book of life. Your name is there. In Revelation chapter 3, in Revelation 13 and verse 8, it talks about a beast power and people who are not citizens of the heavenly kingdom going to this corrupt, sinful beast power. And it says here in Revelation 13, Jesus Christ was scheduled to die before the foundation of the world so that you could die to your old self and his blood would cover you so that you could be his bride and you could reign with him and help bring all humanity into the kingdom of God. That goes way back. This has been planned for a long time. In Revelation chapter 3 and verse 5, he who overcomes, he who conquers, got that sports outfit on, you running for the kingdom, you racing for the kingdom, you wrestling for the kingdom, you're heading for the victory line. Revelation 3 verse 5, he who conquers shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not block out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. Now here's an interesting question. When did your name get written in the book of life? Well, I wasn't there. You know, don't look to me, but I'll read you a scripture that says when your name was written in the book of life.

That's all I can do. Let's do that. Okay? Philippians chapter 4. Oh, no. Revelation 17 verse 8 first. Revelation chapter 17 and verse 8. When was your name written in the book of life? Let's just read what the Bible says. Huh? Revelation 17a. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel at this beast whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.

Now, we've got a statement there from Paul and Ephesians, and now we have this one in Revelation that talks about us being planned from the foundation of the world. What do you do with that? Well, I'll tell you what I would do with that. I would say God has a great expectation for us to be in his kingdom and has for a long time. However, God has planned that, and I don't have any answers to it. But I find that pretty encouraging that God has a plan for you and for me.

Now, let's look in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. Prophetically, Daniel 12 and verse 1 in the end times that probably are drawing pretty close. I mean, it's just coming up on 2,000 years after Christ's death already. It's not going to go on forever.

One minister, I understand, took a kind of a survey of his congregation. When do you think Christ will return? People began to say, about 50 years. I'll tell you what, I'm not sure. I'm not sending any dates, but as I wrote out this week in the Home Office Weekly Update, Germany has just started rearming and they've come out full-blown. They are now going to be the power of Europe, and they have full world support and ultimately the nuclear weapons of NATO there to support them along with the European Union, which Bible prophecy speaks about there being a union and somebody pretty strong coming forward. So, things are moving in that direction. Don't put your life on hold for that. Keep living life and pursuing it with godliness. Just always do that, and you'll be in the right place at the right time. So, at that time, Daniel 12 verse 1, and at that time your people shall be delivered, Jesus told us not to worry about those days, because be prayerful that you will be counted worthy to escape all those things. That's what Jesus wants for you. He doesn't want you to go through the tribulation. He wants you to escape all those things. The Bible talks about the church going to a place of safety. God knows what your needs are. Trust Him. Just live this. Do your part. And as it says here, everyone will be delivered who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. There's our responsibility, isn't it? We have to do our part. But verse 3, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars of heaven. That's what God has in mind for us.

7 is a number of completion. But let's note there are eight days in the feast, so let's go for number eight. You are expected to be in God's kingdom because God is waiting for you to be in His kingdom. It's been a long, long, long, long, long wait since God created the heavens and then the earth and put life here in human fashion in His image. He's been waiting and working and waiting and working. And when Christ returns, which probably isn't very long from now, the wait will be over for the first children of God to be God-beings. Wow!

God is waiting for that. Let's go to James chapter 5 and verse 7. James chapter 5 and verse 7. You know, I'll tell you something about farmers. Farmers do a lot of preparatory work like God has done in creating everything, and then they plant a bunch of seed. It's like you in your garden. You know how that is? Some of you are probably already getting anxious a little early yet, but you know, get out there and till that garden. And then you're gonna stick some seed in there. You know what happens after that? Nothing happens. You're like, come on, come on. Well, here he says, therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth.

Precious fruit of the earth. You know, it's like you go out and you check the garden every day and I have nothing yet. Oh, little grain. No, that's fertilizer. You know, I'm like, oh, look, look at that. There's something is pushing up. The ground is kind of broken. Something's coming. It's so exciting, you know. He's waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. That is so important for you and me to understand.

You see, the early rains happen after the Feast of Tabernacles. The seeds that he's speaking of are the barley and the wheat, the winter wheat that get planted at that time. The sun is waning. The temperatures are cold. It's snowy. It's icy. It's windy. It's nasty. The light is low.

That's where you and I are growing. We live in an age without the light of God shining on the whole world. They don't see it. It's more difficult for you and me. We have the persecutions, like the firstlings that come up of the wheat and the barley. We have the snow and the ice, and we have all of these challenges, right? But the world's going to need food, and the first crop that is ready to eat is barley, and the wave sheaf of that is waved at Passover, and Jesus Christ is the bread of life for humanity. And right behind him comes the wheat harvest, celebrated by the Feast of Pentecost, the harvest of the wheat, the first fruits with him. And together they feed the world during a time of light, sun, you know, beautiful conditions, warmth, nutrients, and the crops, the easy crops without Satan will grow throughout the millennium and the second resurrection. So yeah, it's tough right now. Sure, it's tough right now. But establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand, and you are a precious crop. So will the others be. But God and Jesus Christ have evidently been waiting for perhaps billions of years for you to be in their divine kingdom, and that crop is coming to them soon. In Revelation, we find that chapter 21 and verse 27, it's right, second to last chapter in the Bible, Revelation chapter 21 and verse 27, we find that entering New Jerusalem, entering this divine kingdom of God, new heavens and new earth, says, there shall be by no means enter anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie. Remember my little hot dog? I was lying. I was holding the bitten part. I was clever. Well, for four years, I guess I wasn't clever. Well, I thought I was ingenious. No one's going to enter anything that causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life. If you've been baptized, received God's Holy Spirit, it's definitely there. I don't know about the kids. Probably, they've been in there for a long time. I don't know. But we do know this. Our responsibility is to make sure that we fulfill what we are told to do in God's Word.

The Apostle Paul came to the conclusion in his life where he said, I have fought the good fight. I've won the race. And a crown, a crown of life, not a golden crown, but the victory crown, that he saw the Romans and the various athletic competitions winners win. He said, that crown is laid up for me and for everyone who loves Jesus' appearing. We're in. We're in the race. We're doing well. Let's keep that up.

This is our time to overcome. In James chapter 1 and verse 12, to begin to wrap this up, let's look in James chapter 1 and verse 12.

Blessed, that word in the Greek, blessed, is an energetic word. It's more like, oh, how supremely blessed! Exclamation point. When you see that in the Beatitudes, blessed is who you know, no, it's like, whoa, blessed! Blessed is the man who endures temptation.

For when he has been approved, right, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who agape him. Right? So there's reward and conditional. There's entering into the kingdom with us fulfilling our part, but you will receive the crown of life in God's eyes. He has promised it to you as long as you agape him. You love God with your heart, soul, and might. You love your neighbor as yourself, and that represents all of this. We're doing that, aren't we? We're all doing that. Kids, parents, grandparents, we're all doing that.

In conclusion, God has declared that you are wanted, you are desired, you are needed in his kingdom, you are needed, Jesus Christ needs a bride. You are expected, and God the Father and Jesus Christ have been and are giving their all for you to be there. There's nothing more that God the Father and Jesus Christ can do or could have done than what they have and are doing for you to be in the kingdom. We need to appreciate and respect that. They are doing everything, giving everything, gave his only begotten son, gave his only life for us to be there.

So, brethren, keep growing, keep loving, keep repenting, keep persevering with God's help, so that as Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 1 and 11, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. See that expectation? That's a reality from God's part that needs to be our reality that we're pursuing. Remember how much God is tirelessly working, and he wants it at his will. He's giving their lives every moment of every day, God the Father and Jesus Christ, in the vast eternal divine spirit kingdom, are thinking of you.

That's what their life has been concentrated on. And this, brethren, finally is all so that your betrothed husband, your betrothed husband, who has been waiting and giving himself for you, can say these words.

This is from Jesus in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34, so that he can say these words to you, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.