Last Great Day 2021: The Value of a Human Life

[Music] we've come to the end of another feast the feast of tabernacles and now the last great day in 2021 and what a wonderful day this is this last great day must be a favorite for many in the church because of what it shows us about our friends our relatives and other people around the world that we don't even know but many people even many people in the church struggle with some of the things that they read in the old testament and trying to understand the mind of god for example we read that whole cities were destroyed nations were destroyed and god was the one that told the people to destroy them in fact god directly destroyed the whole world during the time of noah and cities such as sodom and gomorrah in the cities of the plains so we must ask how does god value the life of a human being is life cheap to god among other messages of this last great day is that human life is not cheap to god but it's precious to him and in this sermon i'm going to bring perspective to the loss of life allowed by or even brought about by our creator during this age and as dr douglas esquinel often reminds us we need to see the big picture let's begin by looking at genesis the first chapter and we'll read verse 26 this is the creation chapter as it's called when god renewed the face of the earth and created life on it once again then god said let us make man in our image according to our likeness so man was not made like the cattle like the fish of the sea or the birds of the air man was made in a very special way in the image and the likeness of god now that should cause us to take a serious note of that we are separate we are different from all of the animals we're not simply the higher animal form yes we have an animal existence you might say a physical chemical existence that is temporary but we're not like the animals who do not have the potential that man has so god created man according to his image according to his likeness and let them have dominion or rulership over the fish of the sea the birds the air over the cattle over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth and then god made us male and female according to his will a wonderful plan that he had that we see today's world wanting to confuse and mix up even to where the word male or female is being censored in some cases and it's sad the direction that our world is going but this is the way that god created us for his purpose for his ultimate purpose of becoming as he is the sons and daughters of our creator we read though in the third chapter that man chose for himself to determine right from wrong instead of taking god's word for it we read in verse 3 of chapter 3 uh well verse 2 the woman said to the serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees but of the fruit of the garden or the tree which is in the midst of the garden god has said you shall not eat it nor shall you touch it lest you die now this was the choice that they had and if adam and eve chose the wrong tree he said death is the result of it it wouldn't happen necessarily that very day as it didn't although it did in a broader sense of days a thousand years but that day would bring the death penalty upon them but the servant said to the woman you will not surely die for god knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like god knowing good and evil you will be able to determine for yourself what is right and what is wrong and we know that mankind chose the wrong direction eve was deceived by the serpent adam was not he was weak he gave in to his wife and the end result was that they were cast out of the garden and death has been the result ever since we come over to the sixth chapter of the book of genesis this book of beginnings we don't have to go very far and we read of the time that the the world came to such a sinful state that god in his mercy wiped out all life except for noah and his family eight people and we'll just read a couple verses there one is verse 11 the earth was also corrupt before god and the earth was filled with violence we see our world today filled with violence just yesterday as i'm recording this nine people were killed plus the shooter there in san jose california and when i was preparing for a tomorrow's world presentation some time back by april the 5th of this year in the united states there were over 140 killings by gun violence in the united states where four or more people had been either injured or killed think about that from january 1st to april the 5th 100 i think was 142 if i recall correctly but it was 140 some killings that took place and since that time we've had many more mass killings when we think of masses as four or more people shot or or injured as a result of gun violence and there are other forms of violence knife violence and auto vehicular violence that take place from time to time in different places around the world we know that in southern france there was an incident that took place there where a lot of people were killed there was another incident up in toronto where somebody with a van started running over pedestrians deliberately obviously so our world today is filled with violence and this doesn't even talk about the individual violence where a person kills just one other person or shoots one other person or stabs someone there's all kinds of violence that is going on in our world today but he also says in verse 5 that the lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually we see pornography we see violence we see sex uh portrayed in a in uh on television in a way that well it really shouldn't be portrayed at all but we see that the the whole attitude of man is only evil continually today and that's the way it was before the flood we know that god tells us that it will be the same when christ returns we can read in the 17th chapter of luke that it would be like the days of noah before the flood it would be like the days of lot and when we look around we see that that's exactly what we have we must conclude that man is the one who has devalued life the evidence of that is in the fourth chapter of genesis where we find that at the very beginning uh even before the flood we see violence beginning and we read there of cain murdering his brother abel i won't read that at this time i think we're all familiar with it but it was a king killing abel murdering his brother his own brother think about it uh wha what a terrible thing to do and that was the beginning of murder although we know that satan was a murderer from the beginning his intent was to kill all of mankind but nevertheless we see that uh violence murder started there and we see plenty of it in our world today we have the evidence of abortion where the most unsafe place for a baby is in his mother's womb that's that that's a terrible tragedy not just here in the united states or canada or the uk but in other parts of the world japan china india all these places around the world abortion is is very common we have murder and attempted murder is mentioned and then of course there's warfare where one nation goes to war against another not based on god's direction but based on human ideas and usually starts out with somebody wanting to be somebody whether it be a hitler or mussolini wanting to control more of the world and the end result is we end up with wars we have another situation in the 15th chapter of genesis where we have a god directing another loss of life in addition to the flood we have in genesis the 15th chapter i'll just read verse 16 leading up to it it says verse and let's start with verse 12. now when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell on abram and behold horror and great darkness fell upon him then he said to abram know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them and they will afflict them four hundred years and also the nations whom nation whom you serve i will judge and afterward they shall come out with great possessions now verse 15 now as for you you shall go to your fathers in peace you shall be buried at a good old age but in the fourth generation they shall return here for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet complete so god was not going to remove the amorites from that land for israel to take over until iniquity till sin got to a certain level that god would say enough is enough now we can turn over to leviticus the 18th chapter and in this chapter leviticus 18 it describes all kinds of improper sexual relations everything from adultery to incest but here we find it also talks about bestiality about homosexuality all those things are listed there and then in verse 20 it says moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife to defile yourself with her and you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to molech so they were practicing human sacrifice in the land nor shall you profane the name of your god i am the eternal you shall not lie with a male as with a woman it's an abomination today's world is celebrated nor shall you mate with any animal and that's been a problem down through history and even today we don't hear much about it but who knows before the end comes how much we may hear about it more and more nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it it's a perversion do not defile yourselves with any of these things for by all these the nations are defiled which i am casting out before you in other words the iniquity of the amorites had come to a full degree to where god said enough is enough and i'm going to wipe these people out really for their own good because these things do not bring happiness one of the things we have in today's world is the trans movement and studies have shown that people who transition have a 20 times greater rate of suicide than the average population after a period of about 10 years so they're happy at first but it doesn't produce the happiness that they expect and the end result is sorrow and of heart and so much depression that they take their lives in many cases 20 times greater than the average population and that shows that there's a problem with that there was a problem that caused them to do what they did and that problem was never solved so god sometimes takes people out of the way for their own benefit we'll continue reading for the land is defiled therefore verse 25 i visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it and the land vomits out its inhabitants god is going to vomit them out of the land you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you for all these abominations that we read of there in this 18th chapter the men of the land have done who were before you and thus the land is defiled he said don't do it lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it as it vomited out the nations that were before you and we are you know working in our western world israelitis nations especially we're working in that direction where god is going to vomit us out of the land because of our sins just as he got rid of those individuals another case is found in the 17th chapter of exodus another group of people that god uh decided that needed to be wiped out and people sometimes have a hard time understanding these things but here in verse 8 of exodus exodus 17 verse 8 will begin he says now amalek came and fought with israel and refed him and moses said to joshua choose us some men and go out and fight with amalek so amalek started the fight there and moses said to joshua choose men and go out and let's defend ourselves let's fight against them tomorrow i will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of god in my hand and we're all familiar with how when moses raised his his arms with the rod there over his head that israel was winning and when he let it down amalek began to win and so uh the the uh two and aaron and her helped him hold up they put him on a rock and they they held the rod up uh his arms to support him and there was a great victory that israel had over amalek but then in verse 14 it says the lord said to moses write this for a memorial in the book of recount and recount it in the hearing of joshua that i will utterly blot out the remembrance of amalek from under heaven and moses built an altar there and for he said because the lord is sworn the lord will have war with amalek from generation to generation now for some people that's hard to understand why would god have war with these people from generation to generation and why would he say that he he's he's going to to wipe them out let's notice over in deuteronomy 25 because we have a little bit of support of what was the reason behind it genesis 20 i'm sorry deuteronomy 25 deuteronomy 25 and let's notice verse 17 he says remember what amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of egypt how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary and did not fear god so in other words those who are weaker perhaps those with small children there were there were those that may have been more feeble the older folks there and they were struggling a bit there as often happens when you are traveling in a group and here comes amalek he doesn't attack the the strong ones he attacks the weak ones at the rear and he says he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks all the stragglers at the rear when you were tired and weary and he did not fear god verse 19 therefore it shall be when the eternal your god has given you rest from your enemies all around in the land which the lord your god is giving you to possess as an inheritance that you will blot out the remembrance of amalek from under heaven you shall not forget it now we we have the example later on of saul sparing some of the amalekites and god said to wipe them out man woman and child and sometimes we think well why would god wipe out the the children well look at our world today amalek is still there we look at iran and believe that with the split personality that has there are persians and there are amalekites when you look at the story of esther we have haman who is an amalekite want to destroy all the jews and we have individuals in that part of the world today who still want to and it goes from generation to generation if if israel had done what god said back then a lot of the problem that we have in the middle east would not be here today but that's something that we we some sometimes think that we know better than god does but god knew the personality he knew the character of of that group of people under the influence of satan we're not talking about without satan being there but satan is able to influence them it's interesting the book not without my daughter a very true story and if you read the book it's better than the movie you you begin to see that there is a powerful spirit influence that is there in persia or in iran and while half the country or a portion of it a large number of people there are very pro-western as the shah of iran was you have this other group of people the ayatollah khomeini and malachite apparently based by name and by character and they have hated israel not only the jews but also the united states and see us as the great satan this is something that we need to understand the character of the people without the influence of god but with the influence of satan the devil and that influence when it's taken away is going to be very different but right now that's what's happening so is god unfair in wiping out some of those people or commanding his people to wipe them out back then we know that we don't do that today in our world that we are of a different uh calling we've been called to preach the gospel of the kingdom of god to all the world we've not been called to transform this world we're not a nation that had to protect itself as little israel did now as a a nation uh whether it be uh britain or canada or the united states yes we are a physical nation and our nations do defend themselves and god has fought for us uh he's allowed us to suffer some of the consequences of our sins but so far he has protected us in general but that's going to end sometime in the very near future because of the way that we are going but it was never god's desire to destroy human life human life for god is precious notice over in matthew the 10th chapter matthew 10 and verse 28. matthew the 10th chapter and verse 28 and we read here do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul so whatever a soul is can be killed but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell or gehenna there is fear god he says are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin and not one of them falls the ground apart from your father's will god knows even when a bird falls to the ground i i found a little bird in our garage came home from a trip and apparently it got in there when we were leaving and didn't have food and water and just died and it was upside down there it didn't even show it to my wife at the time because i knew she'd get real emotional about it if she saw it but i felt bad for that little bird how much more does god who created that bird or the ancestors or that brought it about the god loves his creation and it tells us here jesus made this very clear that uh even a bird a sparrow that the tiniest smallest most common bird you might say god looks upon with compassion and mercy but he says not all when they fall to the ground apart from your father's will but the very hairs of your head are all numbered god is able to number the hairs of our head i don't know that he he has a running tally for every individual here but if he where somebody asked how many hairs does that person have he could tell you he has that ability he created everything he's able to do things that we we can't even understand how he does them but in other words god is very concerned about each and every life and especially human life he says verse 31 do not fear therefore you are of more value than many spirals and he goes on to explain other things from there but the point is that we are of greater value than many sparrows many many sparrows you might say uh who knows how many uh it would take but actually in other words we're of greater value than any sparrow or any bird or all the birds uh put together in ezekiel the 33rd chapter ezekiel 33 and verse 11. ezekiel 33 verse 11 say to them as i live says the lord god i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked so even though god commanded the wicked to die or brought a flood upon them or rained down fire from from heaven to destroy the cities of sodom and gomorrah or commanded israel to destroy the amalekites or the canaanites that were in the land god says even there when we consider it i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked those were wicked people that that he commanded the death of but he didn't take pleasure in it but that the wicked turn from his way and live that's what god wants for mankind is to turn from our wicked ways and sometimes terrible things have to happen for others to wake up and to understand that certain behaviors are are inappropriate they're wrong they're sinful he says turn turn from your evil ways for why should you die o house of israel why should you die o house of israel that's a warning for us this is ezekiel he's talking about end time israel and specifically here the house of israel he says why should you die o house of israel god doesn't want us to die he wants us to live forever this is his attitude there we can see in ii peter the third chapter i may have already been read to you earlier today but we'll read it once again in second peter the third chapter and verse 9 it says the the lord is not slack concerning his promises some count slackness but his long suffering think about the meaning of that word suffers long he is long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that's the will of god that's the heart of god that's what he wants for all of us and he is long-suffering you know if you if you put yourself in the mind of god he created us he's up on his throne he's looking down here he's seeing us murdering one another he's seeing us cut each other down verbally and all the other things we do he sees us slandering one another on facebook and youtube and various other places he's seeing us changing the meaning of of what it means to be male and female he's seeing all this perversion that we have here on the earth today when a parent sees a child hurting himself the parent hurts too doesn't doesn't apparent and god is our father he is our father because he's begotten us if we are his children that way but he is the one that created mankind and he is the one who looks down on all of mankind with compassion and mercy but sometimes he has to spank sometimes he has to do things to get our attention and usually that means he has to do something that is painful for us so he says it's not his will but uh he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that's his purpose for these things that happen i know that the world uses john 3 16 in a way that is really not proper in other words it's it's that well just god loves us and we just need to love one another and we don't have to do anything it's all been done for us and so they they use this this powerful scripture and they they really demean it they make it ordinary and take away from the great significance of it in in the book that i wrote on the subject which i really didn't fully comprehend how how many truths are found there that the world does not know they don't know who god is they don't know what the love of god is they don't know who the son is that he was the god of the old testament the one that created adam and eve the one that spoke the ten commandments the one that brought destruction on sodom and gomorrah they don't understand all those things and when you break it down in that booklet that i wrote on the subject i didn't realize how much the world misunderstood until i started getting into it and i was asked to make it in serial form and then a booklet but i again i have to encourage you if you've not read it please do so but this is such a powerful statement for god so loved the world not just you and me and a few other christians out there as many christians view it many professing christians view it well we're saved and all the rest are lost and to grow and burn in hell forever no it says god loved the world and he's not talking about just the physical creation he's talking about his creation of mankind god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son now that's explained in that booklet why it says only begotten son we're begotten as well so why does it say only begotten son well read the booklet and it'll explain it so he gave his son that whoever believes in him you see this was a painful experience for god the father he was the one that gave his son his son did it voluntarily but people leave the father out of the picture um that whoever believes in him should not perish the world doesn't even know what it means to perish they think they're going to live forever in hell fire but have everlasting life that's why he gave his son as a sacrifice that we could have the whole world would have the opportunity for eternal life everlasting life now when you think of this life even if you live to be a hundred years of age that's nothing in comparison to eternity it's such a small fraction and it gets smaller as you go on into eternity to where it'd be virtually forgotten i don't know that we will forget this physical life but the tears we certainly will forget god has a much bigger picture i'm i'm reminded of a parent teaching a a child to ride a bike and the parent knows that it's good for the child to learn to ride a bike but the parent also knows that he's going to fall over from time to time and the parent knows that it's going to be painful in some cases and so the child falls down and cries and there's a temporary pain but the parent has that big picture that he'll get over it she'll get over it this is not forever it's just a very short time and so the parent comforts the child but nevertheless the parent knows that the the big picture that this is only for a short period of time of sorrow and when the sorrow is over eventually there's a young person that can ride a bike maybe goes on to write in the tour de france probably not your kid or mine well not mine for sure but uh it nevertheless it's something that they they learn that skill and it's a wonderful skill to have and maybe they take that bike to get to work or to go on you know some other trip it's a wonderful thing but we understand that it's all temporary those pains that we have and there are so many other things through life as a child grows up and crying a lot of times and the parent just knows that it's not going to be the worst thing that's ever happened i sometimes maybe usually with a child who's not old enough to understand that's crying all you say well cheer up it's going to get worse uh kind of joking with the parents more than anything else because it will get worse there are many more pains in life but nevertheless there's there are also good things and it's just a private personal joke i guess you might say and some might take offense to it but life does have it's it's bumps and bruises doesn't it we've all gone through them and will continue to go through them in psalm 103 psalm 103 and in verse 8 we'll begin psalm 103 verse 8. one of my favorite psalms uh we'll just start here in verse 8 it says the lord is merciful and gracious and this really goes back to the 34th chapter of of exodus and it's when moses was was seeing god's backside there and it was proclaiming the name of the lord and it the lord or the eternal is merciful he is gracious he will not always strive with us nor will he keep his anger forever god's anger is not going to be upon us forever he doesn't hold grudges in that way he has not dealt with us according to our sins you know if god dealt with us according to our sins boom we'd be dead the first time we sinned nor punished us according to our iniquities we don't get the punishment that we deserve we do have punishment from time to time but it's never according to what we we totally deserve again because we would be put to death because the penalty of sin is death he says for as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy toward those who fear him notice it's toward those who fear him as far as east is from west so far has he removed our transgressions from us just like from east to west as far as you can go that's how far he's removed our transgressions from us it never quite meets east and west it's always further and further away one step away he says so has he removed our transgressions from us as a father pities his children so the lord pities those who fear him notice again those who fear him for he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust he knows how we are made he knows the influence of satan and how powerful that is as for man his days are like grass as a flower of the field so he flourishes for the wind passes over it and it is gone and his place remembers it no more but the mercy of the eternal is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him those who come to respect and honor god and his righteousness to children's children to such as keep his covenant and those who remember his commandments to do them that's god's great mercy that he's going to have on that he has on all of us and that he's going to have on all the world as they come to repentance someday the book of jonah is quite instructive i think it's a it's it's an interesting case here something that that everybody uh seems seemingly knows about i know that not everybody doesn't the more we go on in this world uh the less that people really understand and if they went to that movie on the subject uh what an abomination that was i didn't see it but i saw enough of the trailers and read enough reports on it that it was a terrible abomination it was anti-god in every way but right before micah we have the book of jonah and it's a fascinating study in the the nature of jonah uh he was a prophet of god he's no doubt going to be in the kingdom of god i think he's going to have a little bit of a red face shining like the sun but maybe a little red when people read or know of who he is oh you're jonah oh yeah you know i kind of think that there will be moments like that at the beginning but everybody will love jonah and uh you know he he did things that we wouldn't be willing to do uh perhaps and uh so we read of his case here and i'm gonna start in chapter three verse 10 the last verse of chapter three says then god saw their works that they turned from their evil way this is the city of nineveh these were the ancestors not the ancestors the predecessors of i guess ancestors of modern day germany um and uh they had that same uh very orderly approach and they could be cruel if satan used them but they were also wonderful people in many other respects and are today with great characteristics and just happen to be that god uses them notice he uses them not because they're more evil than the rest of us but he used them to punish israel and they repented at jonah's preaching and you know when of our nations really repented from a prophet of god in the way that the ninevites did it's where god postponed punishment upon them for decades as a result of it chapter four verse one just reading on it says but it displeased jonah exceedingly and he became angry now here's jonah he's going to these people he's telling them to repent they repent and he gets angry about it well he knew that these were enemies of israel and he didn't want them to repent that's no doubt one reason that he fled and didn't want to go so he prayed to the eternal and said verse 2 ah lord or eternal was not this what i said when i st was still in my country therefore i fled previously to tarshish for i know that you are a gracious and merciful god slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness there again goes back to the 34th chapter of of exodus where it gives us the name of god this is proclaim the name of god gracious merciful slow to anger abundant and loving kindness who relents from doing harm therefore now eternal please take my life from me for it's better for me to die than to live you know woe is me i'll go out and eat worms and die so to speak and the eternal said is it right for you to be angry is it right for you to be angry jonah and jonah went out of the city and he sat on the east side of the city and there he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade till he might see what would happen to the city and then god prepared this plant that grew up overnight there and it gave him shade from the hot sun and jonah was very grateful for that then verse 7 but the morning dawned the next day and god prepared a worm so god prepared not only a special fish but a special plant maybe kudzu i'm not sure but a special plant and then he also prepared a a special worm that would destroy the plant very quickly and it happened verse eight when the sun rose that god prepared a vehement east wind and uh the sun beat on jonah's head so that he grew faint then he wished death for himself and said it is better for me to die than to live verse nine and god said to jonah is it right for you to be angry about the plant i created that plant i sheltered you for a time is it right for you to be angry about the plant and jonah said it is right for me to be angry even to death but the eternal said you have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored you didn't do anything to bring that about you didn't fertilize it you didn't plant it you didn't do anything it gave you shade temporarily there and you have pity on the plant nor made it grow which came up in a night and perished in a night verse 11 and should i not pity nineveh that great city in which are more than 120 000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock as well god wanted to give them a chance before he brought destruction upon them and god pitied the people of nineveh he is slow to to anger and he is long-suffering so we see the mind of god even when it comes to some of the enemies of israel and of course we can read how israel and egypt and assyria are going to be you know together leaders in the world tomorrow we see all those things so god doesn't just hate in the sense that we think of as hate people we know that he loved jacob and hated esau i mean to love to a lesser degree at that time but doesn't mean that god has written these people off forever in romans the 8th chapter romans 8 and we'll begin in verse 14 romans 8 and verse 14. very familiar with this he says for as many as are led by the spirit of god these are the sons of god and we know that it means far more than just a figure of expression or figure of speech we are sons of god we are begotten of god's spirit the very spirit is in us and we are going to be born into this very family and he says if we are led by the spirit of god we are the sons of god verse 15 for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear but you receive the spirit of adoption or sonship by which by whom we cry out abba father two different languages saying the same thing but it's kind of like daddy father the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of god we have god's spirit in us uniting with the spirit and man making us a new creature and if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ we are to inherit all those things joint heirs with christ if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together so there is suffering in this life and there's there's a lot of suffering in this life when we think about it there are a lot of good times most most of us don't suffer more than we than we enjoy life but there are those times in life and sometimes rather extended periods of time especially toward the end of life when there is a great deal of suffering but even there they're lessons not only for us but for family and friends and those around us where god is teaching us lessons and the importance of you know god's plan and how death is our enemy but there's coming a time when he will wipe away all tears from our eyes for i consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of god there is coming a time when the sons of god will be revealed to this world and that's hopefully going to be you and me and we know from second corinthians the sixth chapter it speaks in verses 18 to 20 speaks of sons and daughters so we're not leaving the ladies out on this i i love that scripture uh i'm married to uh one would would be a daughter of god and uh look forward to to sons and daughters and who knows exactly what we're going to be like in the kingdom uh in terms of specifics and everything but god is is bringing us into his very family and it says here the creation was subject verse 20 to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope god has given us hope because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption that's decay that is death and decay he's delivered us from that into the glorious liberty of the children of god for we know that the whole creation verse 22 groans and labors with birth pangs together until now and not only that but we who also have the first fruits of the spirit that's you and that's me even we ourselves grown within ourselves regularly waiting for the adoption or the coming into sonship the redemption of our body for we were saved in this hope but hope that is seen is not hope for why does one still hope for what he sees so god is is holding out to us this incredible opportunity to become his very sons and that same hope is opened up to all of mankind ultimately as we're learning from this day and hopefully you had the message earlier today on on the meaning of this day in a in a more uh a patterned way uh let's notice over in hebrews the second chapter hebrews 2 and i'm not going to read the whole part i think we're familiar with it and also it may have also been read earlier today but in hebrews the second chapter uh we'll just notice verses 14 to 18 it says inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood that's you and me taking part in this flesh and blood he himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil so jesus came in flesh and blood our creator emptied himself and and came down here as a human being and he came to release those who verse 15 through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage for indeed he does not give aid to angels but he does give aid to the seed of abraham mankind is a special creation we certainly need to value that fact therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining to god to make propitiation for the sins of the people friend that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to aid those who are tempted so he came down here so that he could be a faithful high priest in in every sense he could understand what it was like to be in the physical flesh that he had created but he wanted a a greater understanding and he set the example he was leading us in the right way this i've already mentioned does second corinthians 6 verses 18 to 20 that speaks of sons and daughters i won't turn there because god is creating a great family he's bringing many children to live with him forever forever and that's a long long time and whatever number you want to come up with you can square it means multiply it by itself and multiply itself again and it just goes on and on and on you know there's so many things in this life that we get so upset about we get concerned about we get caught up in the politics of the day or into anger or somebody did something to me so i'm angry with that person and i'm not going to forgive them that's how some people are but but really what does that matter in terms of eternity the only thing that matters is if we don't forgive god's not going to forgive us and if we get caught up in this world and doing the things of this world and you know lobbying for this cause or that cause in a worldly way we're not we may miss out on all of eternity god is in control he knows what's happening here right now we are temporary and most people fail to see the big picture and if we're honest with ourselves there are times in our lives when we get distracted from the big picture something so big in our life maybe a death of a loved one maybe the suffering of a loved one we get caught up in that and yes we are emotional and we should be emotional about those things but we always have to keep the big picture there's a far greater picture than anything that's happening here on this earth than any world war or anything else there's a bigger picture to it all as we've seen god takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked he's gracious merciful forgiving and long-suffering today reminds us that those who die not having their minds open during this age still are part of god's plan and in god's plan they will be brought back to life again to have a chance not a second chance a second life but not a second chance in other words if we reject god when we really know what it's all about and we we've had the opportunity to know really really know the truth and to live the truth and we reject it there's there's no second chance as we are told uh several times there in the book of uh hebrews but we're talking about people who whose minds were never opened by god and he's going to open their minds and he's going to give them their chance this picture by this last great day and they're going to live forever those who died during the no asian flood they're going to have a chance to come back to life and to know what the big picture is to know to understand what was lost when adam and eve were kicked out of the garden they're going to be able to understand the bigger picture the amalekites who foolishly but ignorantly fought against israel are going to have their opportunity the perverted people of sodom and gomorrah and the cities of the plains they're going to come up and we we know that from matthew the 10th 11th and 12th chapters it talks about you know the cities of capernaum and and the cities of judah at that time how uh if the miracles the the mighty works had been done in sodom and gomorrah and in other cities of the gentiles they would have repented long ago so we know that those people are going to be given that opportunity so we often maybe some people see it as railing against the lgbt movement and homosexuality and so forth it's the actions that we're railing against but those people are going to be given their chance in so many cases they're they're really a pitiful lot we don't know all the the circumstances of life that led them to come to those conclusions and of course satan working there and now turning our whole culture upside down and trying to destroy it but those perverted people of sodom and gomorrah are going to come back to life and have their chance and many of your friends and relatives co-workers on the job acquaintances neighbors you know they're going to have their chance as well and that's a wonderful thing i think that we all look forward to certain peoples certain special people in our lives who didn't understand and they're going to be given their chance all will be given a real first chance now some few during this age but others at the age to come after the millennium they'll be brought back to life again as we again learned this morning today we rejoice in our calling and in the knowledge that is given to us this big overview this big picture of what god has in mind for us we can rejoice in that we don't have to look at everybody that doesn't believe it like we do or as we do and think oh they're lost forever they're just going to fry forever in eternity in hell i mean what kind of hope is that what kind of joy is that going to be when you know your mother and your father and various other people you love are down here on this earth someplace just frying or boiling forever that's that's no hope god has given us a calling and he's given us an understanding the knowledge that he's given to us is so wonderful but we also greatly rejoice in the fairness of god god's fairness that he is going to allow everybody a fair chance for salvation when he's going to give everyone who's ever lived the same chance that we have to live for all of eternity this truly does picture a very great day [Music] you

Channel: Living Church of God

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Length: 55min 37sec (3337 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 29 2021