[Gary Antion] And I had a
little bit a nosebleed on Saturday before the Feast began, had a little bit of shortness
of breath and headaches, and they all tell me that's elevation sickness. And so took a few days to get through that. I spoke on opening night. So that was not exactly the greatest time
to begin. But I was okay and God saw me through as He
normally does, and I was happy to be there for the Feast. I was a little more huffy puffy in my breathing
than I would have normally been. But it's nice...it was a beautiful setting. They had the most beautiful weather there
that they've had. It was all nice all the time we were there. So I think this coming week is supposed to
snow a little bit. So I don't know how much. But several saw lots of wildlife. Some people saw, like, what is it? Elk in their backyard or outside their condo,
bears, and different things. So we saw a grey deer with whitetails coming
back down. They were on the side of the road. The fawn and the doe, several fawns and a
doe, were right there on the side of the highway. So it was really nice. Others saw a bighorn sheep and so on. And we actually had something I'm probably
going to bring if I can do it. Our opening, when we got there the first night,
we wanted to have something to eat in our bellies before I spoke. So we went down and they had elk chili. So I've looked in Cincinnati. There is a place where I can get some elk
meat. So hopefully, we will make elk chili. So you might want to look out for that. And my wife and I will try to put it together
for you, and that will be a remembrance of up there. And elk tastes really good. So we were happy to have that. There's no wild taste or anything in it. So it was really great to have that opening
night. They never did have it again. We ate it several times at the cabin and they
didn't have elk chili anymore. But they did have it at the opening night. It's great to be back, nice to be home. It was also awesome to be at the Feast. We saw about 16 or more people that we have
known for a while. Some, for years, I put on Facebook. We put on Facebook a young lady that we knew
in 1984. She graduated from Ambassador and we haven't
seen her in about 30 years. And she and her husband are still hanging
in there. They're down in an independent group in the
Kansas City area. But it was wonderful to see her. She sat right beside us. She and her husband sat right beside us the
opening night, and then we managed to visit with them after that. But it was a great Feast for visiting and
meeting people that we have known through the years, college students, former college
students, ABC students, and others. It was really awesome to be able to be there. And to me, that was what the greatest event
that we had, highlight of our Feast, was meeting so many of these wonderful people and seeing
so many of God's people. The music was outstanding. It was wonderful at Steamboat Springs. So anyway, we are so glad to be back and glad
to be here with you. Since we've just returned from the Feast,
we were there picturing God's wonderful Kingdom to come. I hope you had a view of it. I hope you had some picture of what it represents
by being at the Feast of Tabernacles. We had that foretaste. Moses was given a foretaste or a view – not
actually a foretaste, but an actual view – into the Promised Land. Let's take a look at the scripture in Deuteronomy
chapter 32, verse 48. If you want the title of this sermon, it's,
"Moses Didn't Make it, Will You?" "Moses Didn't Make it, Will You?" So Deuteronomy 32:48-52. So God is speaking to Moses just before the
Israelites were getting ready to enter into the Promised Land, which they had toiled for,
for years, right, coming out of Egypt, being rescued out of Egypt, going through all the
wilderness of Zin and other wilderness areas as they wandered for 40 years. And now they've come to the place where they
are about to enter. So in Deuteronomy 32:48, "Then the Lord spoke
to Moses that very same day saying, 'Go up this Mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which
is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho. View the land of Canaan, which I give to the
children of Israel as a possession.'" “I'm going to give it.” God owns everything. He owns us. He owns his land. He could decide who lives where and who gets
what. “And die on the mountain which you ascend,
and be gathered to your people just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and was gathered
to his people.” Why? “Because you trespassed against me among
the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did
not hallow me in the midst of the children of Israel.” Do you remember what happened? They kept complaining about no water, no food. They got food, no meat. Then they got meat, then they, "No water. We don't have any water. We want to go back to Egypt. There's lots of water there. We can get water there." And so God told Moses how to do it. And He told Moses, "Speak to the rock. Glorify Me." And what did Moses do? Moses was provoked by these yapping, backbiting,
rebellious, riotous Israelites; stiff-necked, throw that in as well. And because of that, he was so frustrated,
when he came to get the water, he took his rod and he struck it. And he said to them, "Do we...," he and Aaron,
"Do we have to give you water?" God didn't like that. They didn't hallow His name. They didn't say, "God's going to provide it. Watch. Water has come forth." That's what they were supposed to do. Instead, he said, "Do we have to do this?" Bam, bam, and God let the water come out. But God didn't like it. Thankfully, as we heard in the sermonette
about forgiveness, God will forgive. God did notice. Verse 52, "Yet you shall see the land before
you, though, you shall not go there into the land which I am giving to the children of
Israel." After all that toil, after all that strain,
after all that stress, after all that obedience through the years, withstanding all kinds
of comments and backbiting, he's not allowed to go into the land. Now, we'll get the rest of the story at the
end. But Moses saw the land but was not able to
go into the Promised Land. God has promised us a kingdom. He's promised us a kingdom, and my question
for you and me, will we be able to enter it? Will we truly enter that land, or will we,
like Moses, be shut out of the Promised Land, which pictures the Kingdom of God? So he saw it, but he didn't enter it. How sure are you that after seeing a picture
of the kingdom and seeing it year after year, I figured out it's been 60 years now that
I've been able to be at the Feast of Tabernacles since I was 19 years... let's see, 18 years
old. 1959, I went to my first Feast of Tabernacles,
and this year. So I've been doing it, but you know what? What a disappointment. If I don't make it, guess what? I don't get there at all, period. My days are finished. The Kingdom of God is there. Will you make it? Can you know you're going to make it? Are you sure you're going to make it? Will you be there in God's Kingdom? You know, Paul was certain. The Apostle Paul was certain he was going
to make it, 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 to 8. 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 to 8. Can we have that same certainty in our lives? 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Here's what Paul said, "I am already being
poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand.” My life is withering. My life is failing. I'm going down, at the time of my departure. Departure from what? From this life. Where would he go? To the grave, not to somewhere else. And verse 7, he says, "I have fought the good
fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally," verse 8, "There's laid up for me…" He didn't say, "Well, I hope there is," or,
"I might make it. God might have a place for me." "Finally, there is, laid up for me, the crown
of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. And not to me only, but also to all who love
His appearing." And when He comes back again, what is He going
to do? Set up His Kingdom. You'll be changed from physical to spirit,
and you will then be in the Kingdom of God. He was assured. He was certain. May we be certain, too? I tell you, yes. Yes, there's a way that you may be certain
you're going to be in God's Kingdom. And there are three steps to that, three aspects. First one is this: through God's grace and
power, through God's grace and power. And let's never diminish grace for the sake
of power. It's always God's power, but sometimes I get
the feeling that we try to do a lot of it ourselves, and we eliminate the grace of God. It takes the graciousness of God in our lives
to help us through. It takes His strength, not our own, to help
us be there. It's not, "Well, I overcome this. I didn't eat any pork today. I didn't do this. I didn't do that." Wait, are you relying on the power of God
or just your own good willpower? We need to rely on the power and might of
God, and the strength and the grace. Why is grace important? So when we slip and stumble along the way,
God forgives us and puts us back on the right path. God gives us the strength. It's through His grace. Let's look at a few scriptures. So first of all, realize it's through God's
grace and His power. So Luke chapter 12, verse 32. I don't think Jesus would have said this if
He didn't think God was going to really give it to you. Luke 12:32, "Do not fear little flock," He
talks to His Church, His following. He said, "For it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the Kingdom." So is God just dangling this out there for
us and saying, "Well, I hope you can get it. Come on. See if you can get it. I don't know if I'm going to give it to you
or not." He says, "This is the Father's good pleasure
to give you the Kingdom." Let's look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. The Apostle Paul stated this very clearly
about grace, Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace, you have been saved through faith." Now saved is a word. It can mean saved from sickness. I could mean saved from death. I could be saved from Satan. It could be saved from your sins. But it also can mean saved eternally. “By grace, you are saved through faith.” It's believing in the grace of God, that God
could actually do this for you and with you. Now, God's not going to swoop you into His
Kingdom. God's not going to say, "Okay, get in your
hammock now and just rock back and forth with the breeze, with the wind, and I'll take you. Just say, 'I accept Jesus,' Okay, now you
get to be in His Kingdom.” That is not the Word of God, as we heard. Those are not the Scriptures. It does not have that scriptural support. On the other hand, you can't do it all yourself
either. I can't do it all myself. We can't do it all ourselves. It takes God's grace and God's power. So in Ephesians 2:8, he says, "By grace, you
have been saved through faith." It takes belief in the power of God to help
you, to bring us through, to forgive us. Again, sometimes people can't forgive themselves. Sometimes they can't forgive the situation. So they go on in their lives and hold this
guilt instead of saying, "God has forgiven me." I told my classes when I taught, "You know
you might crawl into the prayer closet when you've done something wrong and you say to
God, 'I'm so sorry. Please forgive me,' and you repent, and you
mean it, and you show that change. But when you walk out of the prayer closet,
should you still be crawling?" Not if you believe God because if you repent,
He will forgive you. Now, I don't say you would walk out with your
head up with pride, but I don't think you come out of there crawling if you believe
God's grace. God will forgive you and me of anything we
can repent of. Isn't that amazing? I don't know how many students comment to
me over the years that they heard some dynamic sermon by, or lecture by Mr. Meredith or someone
else who, you know, you guys... they go "I don't think I'm converted." I say, "Wait, what do you mean by that?" Or they might say, "I think I committed the
unpardonable sin. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to do it but...," I said, "Are
you sorry for it?" "Yeah," "You didn't commit it." You commit the unpardonable sin, you won't
be sorry for it. You won't care anymore. And I've had several people, you know, over
the year come tell me, "I think I committed..." "Are you sorry?" "Yes, I'm sorry." "Did you mean it?" "No." "You didn't commit it. You didn't." God forgives. Ephesians 2:8, "By grace, are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God." Salvation is the gift of God. His Holy Spirit is the gift of God, not of
yourselves. It is the gift of God. So by grace, we're saved. Psalms 140, verse 7, I love this section. I've been reading through the Psalms slowly
and picking up a lot of information. But in Psalms 140:7, just this little snippet
of information, notice what David, psalm of David, toward the last of the Psalms, he says,
"Oh, God the Lord, the strength of my salvation," the strength of my salvation. You'll find many places in the Psalms where
he talks about, "Lord, my salvation, God my salvation, the Lord who is my salvation." God is our salvation. God is our strength. And it's trusting in Him and His power as
verse 7, "Oh, God, the Lord, the strength of my salvation." God is our strength. And as we go to Him in prayer, and as we are
close to Him in study, as we are sharing with Him in our prayer lives, and as we're talking
and walking with Him, He helps us. He strengthens us. I'll never forget the one comment I remember
as a freshman at college, Mr. Armstrong made. "Do as if it all depends on you, but believe
as if it all depends on God." And I can look back at a lot of things that
I used to like and a lot of ways I used to be that weren't very nice, and I can say,
"Why don't I have any interest in doing that anymore? Why didn't I for years?" It wasn't because my nature was so good, because
my nature led me to do those things. But it was the strength of God in our lives,
in my life. So we as individuals have to rely on the strength
of God for our salvation. Philippians 1, verse 6 is another beautiful
verse talking about this first area of being able to make it through God's grace and His
power. Philippians 1 and verse 6, you probably know
this one as well. It's a great verse to know. Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this
very thing," Paul wrote to the church at Philippi which he loved very much, "Being confident
of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you…" Has God begun a good work in you? Maybe you're not baptized yet. Maybe He's beginning a good work with you. But once He begins, here's what it says, "That
He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Now, is He going to force you to have salvation? No, He'll never do that. You talk about the giant, you're in God's
hands. Nobody can take you out of His hands, John
10:29. Nobody could take you out. You know what? You can jump. God will not make you be saved. If we don't value God's Kingdom and eternal
life enough, He won't save us. We've got to want to be there. We've got to want to be in that Kingdom to
come. And He'll help us. He says, "I'll complete it." He will not quit on us. But He can't keep you from quitting on Him. And sadly enough, I have known many people. Many of them are my friends on Facebook that
I love. Many of them sat, and listened, and heard,
and studied, and did excellently on tests on the Bible and all the rest. Sadly, they're not walking this way. Why'd they quit on God? I don't know. Maybe they weren't converted. I hope that for a lot of them. But I don't know. Romans 8, verses 9 through 11, it's got to
be through His power and His might that we can do it. Romans 8:9-11. Paul writes, "But you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” or works with you. “Now, if any man does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of His." He's not His, doesn't belong to Him. He doesn't have the Spirit of Christ. Notice verse 9, sorry, verse 10, "And if Christ
be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness,"
God's righteousness in us. God helps us to live an honorable, a decent,
a right, a true life, by His Spirit, because God is righteous. God is good. Many scriptures in the Psalms talk about the
goodness of God. If ye is good, He can give it to you. I've got a sermon I'll give you one of these
days entitled, "Are You a Goody Two Shoes?" “Are You a Goody Two Shoes?” It'll be interesting. It's almost ready to go, but I've decided
not to give it yet. Look it up online. Look up goody two shoes. You'll find some good information on it. Verse 11, "But if the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit which dwells in you." Having God's Spirit in you gives you life. And it is not only life now to live it right,
but it's life…enables us to have life eternal. Remember what Jesus Christ said as He left
this earth? He told His disciples in Matthew 28:20 and
He had said in verse 18, "All power is given to Me in heaven and in Earth." And He said in verse 20, "I am with you always,
even to the end of the world." Moses, when he was asked to lead the children
of Israel, he said, "God, I don't know. You told me to go up, but who's going to go
with me?" And God said, "I will. I will go with you." God will go with us on our way to the Kingdom
of God. And I'll tell you one thing, God is not a
loser. God is a winner. I would love to be able to win every game. I played basketball. "I hope we can win this game. I hope we can win this game. I hope we can…” You know. You don't know you're going to win. God's a winner. And if you're on His side, you'll win. Let's look at the second aspect. Second aspect, first one is through God's
grace and His power. The second one is be a doer. Not a talker, not just a thinker, not just
a hearer, but a doer. We have got to do. We've got to practice our faith. We've got to live our faith. Matthew 24, verse 46, Jesus speaking at the
end of the Olivet prophecy, notice what He said in Matthew 24… Went right past it into Micah. Matthew 24:46, just a very short statement,
here's what He says, "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds so doing." God does not want us resting on our laurels,
resting on our oars, just floating through the water in our canoes. God wants us to be actively going. He wants us to do what we can, and there's
a lot for us to do. For instance, "He that endures to the end
shall be," what? Matthew 24:13, "saved." That means endurance. "He that loves his brother knows he's passing
from," what? "death into life, because he loves the brethren." Those are some of the doers. Let me give you a few others. Matthew 7, verse 21. Matthew 7 and verse 21, and notice what Jesus
Christ gave this lesson, Matthew 7:21-29, we'll read it all. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,'"
see He's not just talking a good fight. "Oh, I love the Lord." What we knew at college, what I knew at college
or came to learn after a few years, that there were people, students who came, who could
talk a really good talk. They could tell you how great things were,
how wonderful they were doing. They would tell you how...they would sometimes
even be able to quote some scriptures. Did they make it? Some didn't make it even through college. It's not just talking. And Jesus said, "Not everyone that says to
Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of My Father in heaven,"
"He who does the will of My Father," it's not just, "I know His will. I think about His will. I understand His will," do you do His Will? Verse 22, "Many will say to Me in that day,
'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name? Didn't we cast out some demons, and done many
wonderful things in Your name?'" Did they? Did they follow Him? Did they believe in Him? Did they practice the way that He prescribed? And verse 23, "Then I will declare to them,
'I never knew you.'" Who are you? I don't know who you are. "Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness." They weren't doing what God had given them
to do. Verse 24, "Therefore, whoever hears these
sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the
rock." He didn't just build it anywhere. He didn't just settle down. He didn't just get all comfortable and safe
somewhere. He did it on the rock. "And the rain descended, the floods..." Let's see, "Rain descended," sorry, "The floods
came and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall for it was founded on
the rock." You can endure when you're doing God's way. And in verse 26, "Now, everyone who hears
these sayings of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house
on the sand." "Oh, there's a nice place. I'll just scrape the sand off pretty easy,
just scrape it off and build my house here."And the rain descended, the floods came, and the
winds blew...," and we know from North Carolina, a lot of houses floated away too, didn't they? I'm not saying they were built on sand, but
that principle. If it's not built solidly on a rock and had
a solid foundation, a rock foundation, and that rock was Christ, the Bible tells us. "Beat on that house and it fell, and great
was its fall." Verse 28, "So it was when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one
having authority and not as the scribes." Doing. Doing God's way, practicing God's way, believing
in God's way. Mark 16, verse 16. When you were baptized – you're baptized,
you're on your way to eternal life. You're on your way to being saved. Baptism is an act, a rite. You know, you can jump in water and go underwater,
and you can do scuba diving and be underwater, and you aren't forgiven your sins. But when you believe and you repent prior
to being put under the water and coming up in a meaningful service, you're forgiven. Notice in Mark 16:16 and on their way to eternal
life, "He who believes...," Jesus Christ said this, red letter, "and is baptized, will be
saved." Baptism is an action that we must take. And once we take it, we are on the road to
eternal life, which is one of our booklets, by the way. You are on the road to eternal life. So Mark 16:16, "But he who does not believe
will be condemned." So faith, trust in God's grace, and action
by being baptized, letting somebody put you under water. Meaning I want to give up this old guy. I was a young guy when I gave him up, and
I could do a lot better job of repenting now than I did before I was baptized. But I could repent enough to say, "I don't
want this old guy around. Forgive him in the watery grave of baptism." And I still clearly remember, 1959, December,
saying "Goodbye, Gar. Goodbye, old guy," when I was put under. It's an act that we do. I don't mean a pretense or an entertainment. It's a rite. It's an established procedure that God gives. And He says, "If you've done it, you will
be saved." That's a promise from God. Philippians 2, verse 12, the Apostle Paul
spoke again to this church that he loves so much. One of my favorite books in the New Testament
is the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 2, and the Apostle Paul
is so upbeat though he's in prison. He's so upbeat. Philippians 2:12. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always
obeyed..." that's a hallmark of God's people. They obey. They listen. They follow. They're willing to follow what God teaches
and what God says. No, they don't follow garbage. No, they don't follow that which is untrue. Never follow that which is untrue. Don't be a blind follower. Be an educated follower. But in Philippians 2:12, "Therefore, my beloved,
as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but much more in my absence." Isn't it interesting? Don't we all sometimes want to be men-pleasers? When somebody walks by we try to be, you know,
somebody who of position walks...we want to be a little bit nicer. And it's okay to show respect. We should show respect to those who are our
elders, our leaders. That is right and good. But to show preference? No. Show respect. Hold them in high respect, high esteem. But it doesn't mean you're a man-pleaser that's
so…when they go, "I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing now," when they're out
of sight, "Now, it doesn't matter if I do the right thing." That's a man-pleaser. You know, who sees you? You can't play games with God. I can't play games with God. I can't pretend to be something and say, "He
didn't see it," no, he didn't, because he doesn't have the discernment of God's Spirit
that God gives when you're a spirit being. He can't see the heart. We can play games. We don't want to play games. So he says, "Now much more in my absence,
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Your salvation is on the line. My salvation is on the line. If I've been baptized, my salvation is on
the line. So is yours. Are we working out our salvation? And notice what He says, how do you do it? Verse 13, "For it is God who works in you." That's how you do it, "Both to will and to
do of His good pleasure." So how can you be a doer? You have God in you to give you that strength
and to give you that power, give you that might to help you have more willpower and
do power. My dad had great willpower. He smoked for 40 years, and he didn't want
to smoke anymore because he saw in a newspaper a man who had some young family developed
lung disease, lung cancer and died. And my dad smoked for 40 years, come to find
out at the end of his life, and my mom's latter years, he said, "Your mother's the one that
wanted me to smoke." "You did this to dad? You told dad to...?” Because she thought it was nicer to see a
man with a cigarette in his hand that looks… "Mom, why did you do that to my dad?" He put it up on his dresser, a pack. Every morning he'd get up, he'd look at it
and disdain it and go to work. He was an electrician until he overcame it. He never went back. And he was offered right after dinner, he
had to go work somewhere, walked into this place as a foreman to oversee a job while
they were putting up lighting and all that in case they needed any help with electricity. And everybody there was offering him a cigarette. He said, "I'm going to go lie down over here
and rest. If you need me, I'll be in his old room over
here.” Removed himself from it. Now that's just willpower, human willpower. But God gives us His power which is much greater
than human willpower. He says, "For it is God who works in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure." Verse 14, "Do all things, do all things without
murmuring and disputing." Where were we when we saw the sign, "Don't
complain,"? I forget, there was a lot of complaining. I was standing in line somewhere... Oh, I know where it was. It was at the DMV. It said, "Don't complain. You're standing in line, don't complain,"
and talked about what complaining is. God says, "Do all things without murmuring
and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless." How can we become that? We're human. We're fallible. God's Spirit in us, God gives us strength,
extra help. “You may become blameless and harmless children
of God without faith in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine
as lights in the world.” And I'll tell you one thing. As a light in the world, I would not be down
there screaming at some senator. What you see on TV, that's not the way you
show respect even if you disagree with them. You could say to them, call them on the phone,
write them a letter and say, "I disagree with you for supporting this judge," if that's
what your feeling was. But to stand there, yell in their face, "Shame,
shame, shame." It irritates me so much that people have no
sense. I would say, "So who's paying you to do this? You tell me. Who's paying you? Why are you off the job? Who got you here? Who paid for you to be here? Who's paying you to do...? Who told you what to say?" And that's what they're doing. What a shame, what a shame. Anyway, he says, "You should shine in the
light, in the world. And verse 16, "Holding fast the Word of life,
so that I may rejoice," Paul says, "In the day of Christ that I have not run in vain
or labored in vain." So there you find what Paul wrote as a doer
applying godliness by having God in us to live that way. Philippians 3:13, just across the page, here's
what Paul wrote. Philippians 3:13. "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended." I haven't made it yet. I haven't held on to eternal life. I haven't grabbed it yet. I can't grab eternal life. Where is eternal life? I can't grab it.” You know, one of those claw machines? You're trying to get something out of there. You can't grab it. Even if eternal life were in there, you couldn't
grab it. You can't have it that way. "I haven't apprehended, but one thing I do,
forgetting those things that are behind." When you live in the past, you can never make
it better. When you live in the past, you can never make
it better. And I know it's part of the grieving process
to deny, and then to bargain, "Oh, if I had just done this and if I had just done that,"
that's all part of the process of grieving. But you can't live there. If you get stuck there and live in the past,
you can't move forward if you're stuck. "Forgetting the things that are behind," he
goes on to say, "And moving forward, reaching forward to those things which are ahead." Forward-looking, and what's ahead? The Kingdom of God. And does this world need the Kingdom of God? You bet. Verse 14, "I press..." that's doing something,
"toward the goal, for the prize of the," I say high calling, it says here, "upward call
of God in Christ Jesus." I press, that's doing something. Are you pressing toward the Kingdom? Are you looking toward the Kingdom? Do you want the Kingdom? Do you talk about the Kingdom? We'll see that in a moment. One more scripture, 2 Peter 1, verses 10 and
11. This is something we can all do. Something absolutely we can all do, and what
the end result will be in God's Kingdom. 2 Peter 1:10-11. "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent,"
that's doing something, "to make your calling and election sure." You've been called. You've been elected. You've been chosen to make your calling and
election sure. Last part of verse 10, "For if you do these
things, you'll never stumble." Now, ask yourself, what are these things? They're listed, verses 5 through 8. What are they? “Add to your faith,” start off with faith,
“virtue. Add to virtue, knowledge. Add to knowledge, self-control. Add to self-control, perseverance. Add to perseverance, godliness. Add to godliness, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, agape love.” If we are building the character of God step-by-step,
we're going to make it. Why? Because you want to be like God. What is God? What's the last one? Love. What's 1 John 4:8 tell us? "God is love." You're going to be there and he goes on to
say in the last part of verse 11, "For so an entrance will be supplied to you…" Will you barely squeak in if you do those
things? Will you have somehow to slip in the back
door? Notice, "For so an entrance will be supplied
to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” So be a doer. Practice God's way with His strength and His
power. And don't let down. Add that godly character into our lives and
as we do, we'll never fall. Third and last point: Look for the Kingdom
of God. Look for it now. And I don't mean it's here on Earth yet, but
look for it. What kind of a difference would God's Kingdom
make in this world? What kind of a difference would it make in
some of your friends at work? What kind of a difference would it make in
the workplace? What kind of difference would it make in governments? Many of which take advantage of their people
heavily, I'm not saying that our government doesn't. But think about what the difference there
will be. The beautiful time we had at the Feast, how
awesome is that to have people living together and working together in harmony. And so many people it took to set it up. I was very impressed with the detail they
had. They had butterflies on a lot of the...even
on the sound speakers, the sound system, the speakers' poles, they had butterflies. They had them wrapped in various colors. It was beautiful. The stage was beautiful. The whole area was really kept nice. I was so pleased. And the harmony and unity, and everybody was
good, and everybody seemed fine. I don't know if we had any major problems
up there. It was awesome. God's Kingdom is going to be that way. If people ask you to sit over here, you sit
over there. Well, big deal. I'm supposed to move this way, so what? So what? We learn. We had that opportunity. Look for God's Kingdom. Matthew 6, verses 9 and 10. Matthew 6:9-10. We're supposed to pray about it. Matthew 6, Jesus Christ gave in His prayer,
outline prayer, He said, "In this manner, therefore pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed
be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven." Do we really believe that? Do we really want that? I know when I was a younger person, I thought,
"Well, just give me a few more years. Hopefully, I'll be able to get married and
I'll able to have a... Just give me a few more years." You know what? The greatest time you'll ever have will be
in God's Kingdom, greatest time. It won't even be compared. You know, He talks about what God has prepared
for us is not worthy to be compared to what we have here. And I don't know what God's plans are for
each one of us and I don't think you do either except He has one big plan. He wants you in His Kingdom. He wants you in His Kingdom. He wants you to be a part of that glorious
wonderful time that the world is waiting for, for the placing of children of God in positions
of leadership. And we'll say "Wow, I've never ruled a city.” How many have ruled a city? Have you ruled a city? I've never ruled a city. “Well, how can I be over 10 cities or 5
cities or 1 city? How can I be over any of those?" When you become a spirit being, you're not
going to be subject to a finite mind. God tells you to do this, this, this, and
this, you say, "Just a minute. I need to write that down." No, you won't calculate. You're a spirit being. You're not a physical being. If you're a physical being, you have to take
a lot of lessons, "Let me go to school, learn how to be a governor, learn how to handle
this, learn how to be a financial wizard, learn how..." When you're a spirit being, you're changed. You have the power, and might, and mind of
God. What a great thing. Pray for God's Kingdom to come. Think about it, talk about it, pray for it. Verse 33, "Seek you first," Matthew 6:33,
"the Kingdom of God, seek it and His righteousness." Seek God's Kingdom, look for it. "Wow, boy, God's Kingdom will do it this way. God's Kingdom will do it that way. When God's here, He's going to do this. There's going to be fairness. There's going to be equity. There's going to be understanding. There's going to be proper judgment," because
God can see the heart, not just the words. Pray for God's Kingdom to come, want to talk
about it. Talk about with your family. Talk about it with your loved ones. Talk about it with your friends in the Church. Psalms 119 verse 174. I found this interesting scripture. Psalms 119, verse 174, just one brief statement. Psalms 119:174, "I long for your salvation." David, the psalmist said, “I long for your
salvation, and your law, O Lord..." he said. "And your law is my delight." I long for God’s Kingdom. Do we long for it? When we see, in action, when we see the inhumanity
to man occurring, when we see the stupidity sometimes, when we see the riots, when we
see the trouble, when we see people who can't get along, do we long for God's Kingdom to
come? Seek God's Kingdom. Talk about it, pray about it. Hebrews 2, verses 1 to 3. Do we talk about how great it will be? Hebrews 2, verse 3. I'm amazed sometimes to see how the animals
even have a nature to care for each other. Even animals of different kinds, how when
one needs some help... Well, there was an elephant helping whatever,
it was a crocodile or maybe something had fallen...one of the other animals had fallen
into the water, couldn't get out. And the elephant went over there and helped
it out. Now, why did it do that? It wasn't its kind. Where did they get some of that kindness? Who made them? God. Did God give them a little bit of that mercy,
kindness, care, in their natures? It's amazing. Hebrews 2:3. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great
a salvation?" Do we talk about how great it's going to be,
what an awesome time it will be? On the last day, we talked about who we want
to see, who we can't wait to see in that...you know, as a spirit being, when they're resurrected
physically or even spiritually. In the first resurrection, who do you want
to see? Do you want to see how tall David was? Do you want to see how strong he looked? Do you want to see what Christ looked like? What Paul… He'll be there with them. It's going to be an awesome time, talk about
it. Psalms 145, verses 10 to 13, Psalms 145:10-13. Great section of scripture about praying. Psalms 145:10, "All Your works shall praise
You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your Kingdom." Do you speak of the glory of God's Kingdom? Do you talk to one another? Do you talk to your family? Well, like, “When God's Kingdom comes, they're
going to be organized. You know, they're not going to have signs
like this, these street signs that nobody can see.” “Well, everybody knows where that street
is.” Yeah, everybody who lives there, but strangers
don't. Have you ever tried to find a place in the
middle of the night? You are driving in darkness, you can't see
the street signs, you're looking, and you don't want to bang the car in front of you. You know what I would do... and I've seen
some cities at night, they have them lit up so you could see them. Isn't that nice? Isn't that thoughtful? And the Kingdom of God will teach order, will
teach care, will teach thoughtfulness toward the stranger in the cities. Psalms 145, "Your saints shall bless You. They'll speak of Your Kingdom. They'll talk of Your power to make known to
the sons of men His mighty acts and the glorious majesty of His Kingdom." They'll talk about it. And verse 13, "Your Kingdom is an everlasting
Kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations." And you know, get behind and pray for these
broadcasters, for Mr. Myers, for Mr. McNeely, for Mr. Petty. That's no easy job. It's no easy job making a script sound natural. It's no easy job writing, regularly, scripts
to convey God's Word and to try to motivate people that you can't even see in front of
you to be a part of God's Kingdom, to preach the message, the good news of God's Kingdom
to come. We've got a job to do. We can do it on our knees. We don't have to do it via our hands. Pray, pray that God's message will go out. Pray that more people will hear it. Pray that God will bring in the maximum number
of people that He wants before the end time. We've got a job to do. Further the Gospel. Talk of God's Kingdom to come. Speak to our families. Speak to the world. You know, the Apostle Paul in Acts 28, verses
30 to 31, you know what he was doing at the end of his life? Well, before he was released from prison,
do you know what he was doing in his own hired house? Preaching the Kingdom of God for two years. Probably had chains on his feet, maybe chained
to the guy next to him. When he would try to make a gesture, the other
guy's hand had to go up. Acts 28:30-31, that's the Scripture. I want to bring this third point to a close
with 2 Peter 3, verse 10. 2 Peter 3:10. I'll signal I'm almost finished. 2 Peter 3:10-13. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night in which the heavens will pass away with great noise and the elements will
melt with fervent heat." Now, some apply that to the Day of the Lord
when He first comes back, or you could apply that before the new heavens and new earth. "Both the earth and the works that are in
it will be burned up." But verse 11, "Therefore, since all these
things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct in godliness?" But here's the point in verse 12, "Looking
for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord." What's going to happen, the day of the Lord? Jesus Christ is going to come back to set
up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Because of which, “the heavens will be dissolved
and being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat." Verse 13, "Nevertheless, we, according to
His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." The new heavens and new earth can refer to
what God has to redo this earth after the initial return of Jesus Christ. And again after that time of the last before
the new heavens and new earth come to this earth, when God brings New Jerusalem down. Will we make it to Mount Nebo? Will we only make it to Mount Nebo and not
enter the Promised Land? You see, Moses did only make it to Mount Nebo
and didn't enter the Promised Land. However, the end of the story is Moses will
be there in the promised Kingdom of God. You find him listed in Hebrews 11 among the
heroes of faith. And isn't it interesting, when Jesus Christ
wanted to depict the Kingdom of God to His disciples, He said, "There'll be some of you
standing here," this is the end of Matthew chapter 16, I think it's verse 28, on down
to Matthew 17:3. "There are some of you disciples standing
here who are going to see Me come in My glory in My Kingdom." And then He took Peter, James, and John with
Him in chapter 17, and He was transfigured before them. While they were there, they were like in a
trance. And they saw Him, and they saw Moses and Elijah
as a sample of who is going to be in God's Kingdom. Moses was denied the Promised Land physically,
but Moses will not be denied the Kingdom of God. If we follow these three steps that we will
be able to, through God's grace and power, through being a doer, and through looking
for, praying about, seeking, talking about, and longing for the Kingdom of God, we'll
be able to be there. As Peter said, "Make your calling and election
sure, for you if you do these things, if you do these things, you will never fail." And there will be an abundantly opened door
to welcome you and me into the Kingdom of God. And that will be God's great pleasure.
