What the Last Great Day Means for Mankind

[Music] well greetings to all of you on this last great day this very special day that we celebrate at the very end of God's plan that he shows us in his holy days one of the most challenging accusations that we face is if God is real if God exists why does he allow such suffering as we see in the world today we see children starving women raped we see the unspeakable horrors of wars where people are bludgeoned and hacked and blown apart and oftentimes people die in those circumstances in great agony they die in agony from cancer and other diseases so why does God allow such suffering in our world today how could a loving God allow these awful things to happen in the world if he does exist and then there's the accusation God is not fair they look around the world and they see different peoples in different places some are living in wealth some are living in poverty some have one form of religion and when atheist or agnostics come and they look at Christianity they say well you know here you have an opportunity to hear the truth or as you perceive at the truth but over there you can't hear the Bible they aren't even allowed in some countries and so is God really fair well how we respond to these questions and accusations is very important and there are solid answers to the questions that people pose the problem is that those solid answers don't always come in a single sentence and it takes a little bit of time to explain it we also recognize that those questions come out of emotion there are emotional questions not necessarily questions of logic even though they are posed as questions of logic and we also know that we're dealing in many cases with the carnal mind actually almost all cases unless it's one of one of us just musing trying to figure it all out but most of time we're dealing with a carnal mind one who is hostile to the law of God and very often people bring up these questions as excuses to disbelieve in God so that they can do what they want to do this day this day that we celebrate this last great day demonstrates God law God's love and his fairness and so my purpose today is to give you the meaning of the last great day and to show how God is loving and fair this is separate feast from the previous seven and it has a distinct meaning to it it is not just an add-on one last day that we come and we you know we have to have eight days so it's okay to come in the morning but let's skip the afternoon and be on our way home we're kind of getting tired that's not the reason for this day this day is a separate day and it has rich filled meaning it's something that we look forward to something that I look forward to and I hope that you look forward to we're going to have to wait a while before this day comes but it is a day that is a day of happiness and joy because it shows us that God has a plan that he's working out and that he has a plan that it includes every single human being the answer to the the questions I gave would take time to to answer but let's note that there are other questions that people have concerning God and his plan what happens to small children who die early maybe just a few days of age what happens to them and I know that as I'm talking to a large audience to this particular means that there are people out there who have experienced the loss of a very young child there are people who have lost children maybe 10 years of age or 12 years of age but have they really had the opportunity to know God and to make the choice that that they need to make in life what about people who live in other parts of the world where they've never heard the truth or they've never heard the true gospel or even a false gospel think about that fella in the Solomon Islands who died three days after Christ was resurrected did he have any chance whatsoever to hear the message of Christ well we know that such cases such situations have existed all around the world where people have never known the truth there are countries where even the Bible is banned and they have no opportunity to know about it what about those who have grown up with a particular doctrine or form or understanding maybe they are Muslim maybe they are atheists and in a home where everybody's an atheist what about those people do they have the same chance as someone who grows up for example in the Church of God knowing the truth I think that we all recognize that that's not the case what about my uncle George my I try to make him famous my atheist uncle George it was a very vile man in many respects but he came to believe that there was no God when his mother which is my grandmother told him look for the eggs at the rabbit slate and he knew that they didn't lay eggs and he began to question the whole thing of God as a result of that what about your aunt Mary maybe your Methodist Aunt Mary what about her she doesn't believe the same way that we do in many different respects but what about her is there a chance for her and a big overriding question is is Satan stronger than God because no matter what your definition of saved is if you're really thinking about it the vast majority of mankind is unsaved the majority are not being saved by at least most people's reckoning there may be a few that think that well everybody's just going to end up in in heaven of course we know that's that's false but nevertheless when you look at it is is st. is stronger than God because it would seem that far more people are lost than are being saved if look at it that way Jesus speaks of a coming resurrection and the time of judgment for the world let's notice over in Matthew the tenth chapter and we'll also see in the eleventh and twelfth chapters that he brings into the discussion the fact that there is a day of judgment coming let's notice that first of all in Matthew 10 verses 14 and 15 says whoever will not receive you nor hear your words when you depart from that house or city shake off the dust from your feet he was sending his disciples out and then in verse 15 he says surely I say to you it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that City now that should cause us to stop and think more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah those were cities that God destroyed for their gross perversions and he rained fire down upon them he destroyed those cities and the only righteous that came out of it were lot and his family and sometimes you wonder about some of his family when you look at what happened afterward and he says to his disciples I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves now let's notice chapter 11 and let's pick it up there in verse 20 then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works have been done because they did not repent he says woe to you corazon woe to you bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in tyre and sidon these Gentile cities they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes but the sense is that they didn't repent in sackcloth and ashes they didn't come to the truth but he said if they had seen the miracles that Jesus performed among the the cities of Corazon and basada that area where he spent so much time in his ministry that they would have repented in other words if they were given the same or equal chance they would have repent but I say to you verse 22 it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon in the day of judgment than for you sometimes people refer to the general resurrection there's a sense that there's an understanding of time coming later but I think that most to think of that general resurrection know that there it's it's just a matter of how much you're going to be punished not that you're going to have a fair chance he says in verse 23 and you Capernaum who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to Hades or the grave for if the mighty works which were done in you have been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day but God didn't bring those works to Sodom so what is he saying here what is what is the message verse 24 but I say to you that it shall be more tolerable in the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for you let's notice the twelfth chapter three chapters in a row really bring this out I will pick it up in verse 41 this is right after the sign of Jonah verse 40 that is so prominent in our understanding but verse 41 it says the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment there again we hear three times about a time of judgment with this generation and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is here he also says in verse 42 the Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment and with the generation and condemn it so when the Queen of the South rises up she's going to condemn the the generation that Jesus was dealing with because had she known these things then she would have repented no doubt for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon she had enough sense to to come and hear Solomon but she didn't understand the truth of course and indeed a greater than Solomon is here so the greater than Solomon of course is Jesus himself he said one greater than Solomon yet you reject me you don't listen to me so we read here that there there's a time of judgment coming now the the book of Colossians the second chapter and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because I have on many other occasions and we do have a letter on the subject if anybody has questions or check with your minister if you're new and don't understand it but in Colossians the second chapter there are a couple verses that are actually more than just a couple that are greatly misunderstood and yet when we truly understand them properly they give us a hint a clue they give us really that the key you might say to understanding these holy days and verse 16 he tells the Gentile Colossians he says so let no one judge you in food or in drink regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbath numbers don't let somebody tell you what you can eat what you can drink and all these different things behaviors regarding the the the Sabbath or the new moons or a festival which are a shadow of things to come they foreshadow future events he says but the body as it should be even in the New King James mind has a little one besides substance and you go to the margin it says literally body and that's what it should be as it is in the old King James but the body of Christ the word is is in italics and that the point is that he's saying don't let someone come along some outsider come along one who is trying to teach you ideas of gnosis or knowledge of the Gnostics kind of a pre Gnostic idea that was going around perhaps the essence who are a very strict sect of the Jews that ones that worship the basic principles or elemental spirits of the world he says don't let them come along and tell you what to do what you how you should eat how you should drink and so forth these things which are shadows of things to come but the body of Christ let the body of Christ and the body of Christ in Chapter one in verse 15 verse 18 it says and he is the head of the body the church Christ of the head of the body the body of Christ is or the church is the body of Christ as it also tells us in the first chapter verse 24 at the end for the sake of his body which is the church so let the church teach us these things this is where we learn where God is working as opposed to some outsider coming in and trying to disable eyes the people and then he goes on after that in verse 18 let no one cheat you of your reward taking delight and false humility and worship of angels you see this is the heresy that was being involved there where Christ was not sufficient to get us to God he was just the last of emanation as the word is often used the last last one that comes down and that you have to go through all these Angels to get to God he says in a false worship false humility and worship vain JAL's and true ting into those things which he has not seen vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head that is to Christ from whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God so he talks about you know if you're dead if you died with Christ from the basic principles or the elemental spirits of the world why is a living in the world are you subject to these regulations that they were imposing don't touch don't taste don't eat don't do this don't do that so he is talking about that this is a passage that is so misunderstood but the key here is that the Sabbath the holy days the festivals are a shadow of things to come they foreshadow future events we know that Passover the ancient Passover when they came out of Egypt where they took the blood of a lamb and they put it on the door above the door and the two side posts was a type of the Passover lamb that was to come and so in 1st Corinthians 5 the latter part verse 7 it says for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us and then it goes on in verse 8 to show that we are to put out the leaven he says therefore let us put out the leaven and he wants us to get rid of the not just a physical Evan but the leaven of malice and wickedness so we see that the time that they came out of Egypt at seven days pictured our coming out of sin our repentance from sin putting the leaven that puffed up things out of our lives and humbling ourselves and then we see on the last day they walk through the Red Sea which we read in first Corinthians a tenth chapter was a type of baptism the first two three four verses show us that they were all baptized into Moses in the sea and under the cloud so we see that these are foreshadowing future events we see the Pentecost where the law was given in ancient Israel in the Covenant we see in the New Testament that God pours out his Holy Spirit to write the law in our hearts and in our minds and so all these things foreshadow future events and so this last great day is foreshadowing some future event and what a wonderful event that is as we shall see let's notice over in John the seventh chapter where Jesus gives us a hint as to the meaning of this date as we may have read earlier during the the feast days Jesus went up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles not openly at first but in the middle of the feast he did show himself and then we come to verse 37 where it says on the last day that great day of the feast we're talking about this day today the last great day Jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as a scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living waters now that was no doubt understood by the people that heard it of his time if they really got the message but here he's saying if anyone thirsts and we read in other scriptures as we shall read in just a minute or two here that not anyone could come to Christ that only those that God the Father drew to Christ and so he's saying that there's a time coming if he's talking about the meaning of the last day which we certainly believe that he is that this is a hint of that and that he says if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living waters but this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified so he gives a message that if anyone wants to come to him they can and the only time that anybody everybody all people have the opportunity to come to him as we shall see is during this last great day will notice that as we move forward Romans the ninth tenth and eleventh chapters are definitely involving the meaning of this day if I took time to go through them and detail that would be the whole sermon you can spend a whole sermon on on one or two chapters and we have three chapters here but it begins in verse 1 of chapter 9 Romans 1:9 I tell you the truth I am not lying my conscience also bearing we witness and the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart for I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren my countrymen according to flesh who are Israelites now Paul being a Benjamite and Israelite generally called a Jew by most people but we we understand that he is more of the house of Judah but not technically of the tribe of Judah we know that that Paul is saying look I I love my countrymen I love the Jews I love these people here I wish that they could be saved now he doesn't use that word now because because as he goes through this we shall see that he certainly means that he long for them to be converted for them to come to Christ but then he begins talking about the differences between the Jews and the Israelites and how it is not according to our will or according to our works but it is according to God's selection or God's calling and he shows that he even from the book of Genesis that God called certain ones and rejected others at that time he chose Jacob over Esau as an example and he says that Pharaoh he called Pharaoh for a particular cause and purpose and then he says is that unfair because I'm calling one person for this person another person for another purpose at this time he says in verse 21 does not the Potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor what if God wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long-suffering the vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction so as we see here he contrasts those who had called and he's showing that the Gentiles at that time were being called and that the Jews were not in an in the the big way now we know that the church began among the Jews but he is dealing with the Gentiles and showing that so many Gentiles were coming into the church and how do we understand all these things between the Jews and the Gentiles he say it says it's by selection by God's grace not by what we do is our works in the sense that we can we can determine that we want to be called right now not that anybody would even hardly think of that but it's not by our works but by God's calling he says in chapter 10 my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved and so he goes on he discusses that some more then we come down to chapter 11 and we'll begin there in verse 7 he says what then Israel has not obtained what it seeks but the elect have obtained it and the rest were blinded the rest were blinded now second Corinthians the fourth chapter verses three and four show that Satan has blinded people to the gospel of God but here it says that there's a blindness that God is allowing as it were in a general sense for mankind he says what then Israel has not obtained what it seeks the elect have obtained it and the rest were blinded just as it is written verse 8 Romans 11 verse 8 God has given them a spirit of stupor eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear to this very day and then he quotes David as well now let's move down to verse 25 he says Romans 11:25 for I do not desire brethren the you should be ignorant of this mystery this mystery to the world certainly lest you should be wise in your own opinion that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the times of the Gentiles has come in so God is allowing this blindness to come to Israel not just the Jews but really to Israel in a broader sense he's allowing blindness to come upon Israel for a period of time as it says there and so all Israel will be saved he says there is hope because all Israel will be saved in the end as it is written the deliverer will come out of Zion and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob notice it isn't just the Jews but but Jacob here is it saying for this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake for you Gentiles he's talking - they are enemies for your sake but concerning the election or selection they are beloved for the sake of the father's yes God hasn't cast them off he called the the Israelites early on and he's allowing them to be blinded for a time but he still beloved by God or they are beloved by God for the gifts of the calling of God are irrevocable God is not going to change his mind on this for as you were once disobedient to God you Gentiles were once disobedient to God yet I've now obtained mercy through their disobedience even so these also have now been disobedient that through the mercy shown you they also obtain mercy for God has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all so God is working on a plan to purpose and we don't always understand all the little ins and outs of his plan on purpose but what we see here is that God is allowing blindness to happen to a certain group of people so that he'll work with others but in the end God wants all to be saved as we shall see from the scriptures let's look at this plan and let's go back to the book of Genesis and let's see what happened at the very beginning it is at the beginning that that we do need to start so that we can understand the the scope and the the the the the way that history goes down through time what God's plan is from the beginning all the way to the end and we have to start here at the beginning so that we can understand we know that Adam and Eve took of the wrong tree they rejected the tree of life and took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they decided they wanted to determine what's right and what's wrong as opposed to letting God tell them what is right and what's wrong and so down in verse 22 it says then the eternal God said Behold the man has become like one of us to know good and evil or to determine good and evil and now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the eternal God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken and so he drove out the man and he placed carob M powerful spirit beings there at the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life he cut mankind off from the Tree of Life and when we read down through time the the Old Testament we see that the majority of mankind has been cut off we see that God had to actually destroy the whole world except for one man and his family and start over again because man had bee come so degenerate so evil so violent and when we look at our world we see the same events today the same perversions that are taking place the same violence that's all around us we see the same conditions and so God is going to have to deal with mankind once again now sometimes people think that when Christ came that he called everybody at that time and yet as you and I know that's not the case it's good for us to be reminded of these things we can read over there in Matthew the thirteenth chapter beginning in verse 10 this is after he has given the the parable of the sower then he says here in verse 10 the disciples came and said to him why do you speak to them in parables that was a very good question why did Jesus speak to the the people and parables they didn't understand this parable that the disciples didn't as we shall see so he answered and said them because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been given whoever has to him more will be given and he will have abundance but whoever does not have even when he has will be taken away from him and then we read on down through here in verse 18 he says therefore hear the parable of the sower and he describes where he explains the parable to his disciples at that time and then in verse 34 says all these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables and without a parable he did not speak to them that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world let's notice Mark's account that confirms this as well in the book of Mark we see the parable of the sower in the first part there and then down in verse 10 it says but when he was alone those around him with the twelve asked him about the parable notice that they didn't understand this parable and then we have Matthew's account where he's where they asked him well why do you speak in parables and then he says verse 11 to you it has been given to know the mysteries a mystery of the kingdom of God notice one says kingdom of heaven kingdom of gods synonymous is heavens Kingdom God's kingdom but to those who are outside all things come in parables those are outside all things come in parables and then in verse 34 again you have Matthew 10:34 and you have our 13 with a Matthew I was getting mixed up but it's Matthew 13 34 and here we have in mark 10 34 we have the same statement but without a parable he did not speak to them and when they were alone he explained all things to his disciples so to the public he spoke in parables to his disciples he explained what the parables men and that's so different from what most of the world thinks they think that Jesus came and he called everybody and made the meaning clear to them and yet we know that's not the case over in John the sixth chapter John 6 and verse 44 very familiar scripture to us jesus said no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day God has to select an individual if they're going to come to Jesus to really know his message now God has selected you and he selected me and that is a precious gift that we should never take for granted and that we've got to hang on to with everything that we have because it can be taken away if we drift off in the wrong direction so let us you know hang on to that let us be very careful let's not let someone take our crown and let us not let the things that we know slip away from us it is God's plan that all should be saved however even though he didn't call everybody at that time even though Jesus hid the meaning from people we know from second Peter the third chapter and verse 9 that God has a plan to purpose he's working out and he says here the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness but is long-suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that's God's will now do we really think that if God wanted to bring the world to repentance right now that he's unable to do so it's his will to do so and so if he's not doing so right now he must have a plan and a purpose that he's working out you that or we'd have to assume that Satan is more powerful and we know that's not the case so God wants all to come to repentance notice also on first Timothy the 2nd chapter first Timothy 2 verse 3 it says for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and yet we know that all men haven't come to the knowledge of the truth we know that all men are not saved at this particular time so God has a plan he has a purpose and he's working it out and this last great day explains it we have the booklets the holy days God's master plan that go through all of the holy days showing what each one means and showing that this day has a special meaning to it and in addition that we have the booklet is this the only day of salvation because many people think that you're either saved now or you're lost forever right now and when we look at little children that die when we look at people who live in a different part of the world where they've not had the gospel preached them and when I say the gospel preached them I mean even a false gospel preached to them they simply are unfamiliar with Christ and what he's done for us and when we only look at it from our world today with mass communication even now the whole world hasn't heard but when we think of this during the first century in the second century all down through time where we did not have mass communication or mass transportation as we have it today it was impossible for much of the world to really know the plan and the purpose of God and so there are those who say well God is is just going to judge them on what they know but we know from John the the fourth chapter that there's no other name under heaven or as acts of 4th chapter let me get that right right Acts the fourth chapter nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved so there's no other way than through the name of Jesus Christ that one can be saved and some would say well if somebody wanted to know that God would get the message to them but we read in the 10th chapter of the book of Romans and verse 13 it says whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved but then it goes on to say how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard if they've not heard of Christ how could they possibly want to learn about Christ and how shall they hear without a preacher unless someone comes and brings the message to them and how shall they preach unless they are sent as it is written and that quotes here from I believe it's Isaiah yeah I say as I say in 57 so we find here that that God has to bring the message to them he has to draw us close to him otherwise we're simply not going to understand so what is God doing here there's a passage in 1st Corinthians that is relevant here that shows us that God has a time sequence for his plan the 15th chapter which is called the resurrection chapter one that we no doubt very familiar with we oftentimes read the end of the chapter but the whole chapter is of great value and so it says in verse 22 for his in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive notice that even in Christ all shall be made alive it doesn't say only Christians or those who believe in him but he says even so all shall be made and made alive but each one in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward those who are Christ's at his coming now he breaks it off from there he says then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father but there there's a lot in between there he's not trying to give the whole plan here but he's giving an overview and he says here that everyone's going to die we all have to face death but God is going to resurrect people in a particular order those that are Christ's at his coming but what about the rest of the dead that we're not reading of here and second Corinthians the sixth chapter we have a passage that is greatly misunderstood it it it's used oftentimes to say that everybody is being called today and that's just plain ridiculous if we look around the world if we look outside of our little neighborhood where we are and we look at the whole world in all parts of the world and through all times not just our times they butt down through time it's ridiculous to think that everyone is being called today it says we then chapter 6 of second Corinthians verse 1 we then as workers together with you also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain now he's talking to the church at Corinth and he says let us not receive the grace of God in vain it's a warning that we've we've been given the grace but let it not be in vain in other words don't mess up what God has given to you don't don't go the wrong direction for he says in an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you and then the verse says behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation now people take that out of context and say oh now is the time of salvation right now for everybody there are a few problems with that first of all it does not even reach the logical sense that the people are not given that same chance little children die early people in other parts of the world and so forth people that grow up is Muslim or some other Hindu or Buddhist or whatever that's their their frame of mind and we can say well if they were really wanted to know God they could but let's face facts we know that people generally follow the path that their their parents set for them so some would have a greater opportunity than others at the very least God would be unfair now in this particular passage I went to the the Greek English New Testament it gives the the English or it gives the Greek first and then it gives the English translation underneath it and I've also looked at a number of translations and most of the translations or many of the translations say now is the accepted time as it does here in the New King James but in the original and I'm not a Greek scholar so I don't claim to to know there but let me just say this that it's very clear that the Greek scholars accept the fact that this could be translated somewhat differently and it says in a time acceptable I have heard you and in a day of salvation I helped you behold now a time acceptable notice behold now a time not the time but a time acceptable behold now a day of salvation now that's that's what it says in you know that the Greek English New Testament that I have here that's how it translates it instead of thee it says a and the old King James if we go back to the Book of Isaiah from which this is quoted isaiah you know i hold your place here because i'm going to come back the 49th chapter it says in verse 8 and an acceptable time i have heard you and in as it should be a day of salvation i think the old king james has a day of salvation i have helped you i will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people so the the original in the king james has a day it doesn't say the day now let's just take a bigger view of this particular passage paul is talking to the church of god at corinth and he is saying to them don't allow III plead with you that you do not receive the grace of God in vain so it is clear that he's talking to a group had received God's grace God's forgiveness God's gift of his truth and he's telling them not to receive it in vain and then he quotes this Old Testament verse that as we've seen here from the the Greek English New Testament that even in the New Testament it should properly be translated in an acceptable time I have heard you and he said Behold now time it leaves out the word leave the verb but it says now a time acceptable behold now a day of salvation but even if we take it to say now in is the day of salvation who is he talking to he's talking to the church in the same way we have said many times the ministry that now is our time of salvation it's not for the world but it is our time and so even if we look at it in the total context he is saying that yes now is is a day of salvation or the day of salvation when it comes to you that's the sense of it now is your opportunity that that that's the intent of what he's saying so don't receive the grace of God in vain because your time is right now let's go over to 1st Peter 4 and let's notice another passage that is sometimes I think even in the church we've we've misunderstood this or misapplied it we understand the the the basis of it and sometimes when we quote things often as I bring out my booklet on John 3:16 where you memorize a verse and then you think you know everything about it and so you read it casually carelessly without really looking into it to see what the the total meaning of it is and so in 1st Peter 4:17 it says for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God and if it begins with us first well will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God now we we focus on the first part of that that time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God so he's saying here that judgment is on the house of God the people of God and we recognize that that's talking to us the judgment is on the house of God but then as kind of an afterthought we then read what it says what will be the end and if it begins with us first notice us first showing that judgment is going to come to others later on he says but if it begins with us first what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God and I think subconsciously many of us have in the past read this to mean or what about those Outsiders out there who are disobedient to God what happens to them but let's go back and let's pick up the context of who he is addressing when he says what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God is that talking about the rest of the world or is that addressed to the people of God who are under judgment at this time let's go back to verse 12 he said beloved do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings yes there are sufferings in this world and there's a purpose for suffering and when we suffer it helps us to kind of boil everything down to what's really important and they're great lessons from it and he wants us to learn lessons from it he allowed his son to suffer on this earth and he learned by the things he suffered as we're told said but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings that when his glory is revealed you may also be glad with exceeding joy if you're reproached for the name of Christ blessed are you for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you on their part he is blaspheme but on your part he is glorified so if we are reproached for the name of Christ if people persecute us because what we we believe and what we teach he said that that's fine on your part you know God loves you on their part you know you're gonna be blaspheme but on your part he has glorified God is glorified but notice verse 15 but let none of you he's talking to the church he says let none of you suffer as murder a thief an evildoer or as a busybody and other people's matters in other words if we're going to suffer let us suffer for the right reason if we are suffering because someone is reproaching us or if we're suffering because of our you know our health or whatever it might be different reasons for it that's one thing but letting none of you suffer as a murderer as a thief as an evildoer or as a busybody in other people's matters yet if anyone suffers as a Christian if you're suffering for the right reasons let him not be ashamed don't be ashamed of the fact that people are persecuting us and talking evil of us but let let him glory in this matter for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God and if it begins with us with us first what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God so who are the those that he's talking about here he's telling us that let us not suffer for the wrong reasons what's going to be the end of murderers and adulterers and the the others that the thief the evil evildoer the busybody and other men's practices so he's not talking about the world here it's it's read that way in almost all the commentaries because they think that we are this we of speaking of them Christians and everybody else is going to really get it in the end and then in verse 18 he goes on to say now if the righteous one is scarcely saved where will the ungodly and the sinner appear the sinner out in the world or is he talking about in the church when he says let none of you suffer as a murderer a thief etc so I think it's it's a subtle difference but it's a very important difference that we should come to understand therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him and doing good as to a faithful creator now let's go to look at what this day is is really just how it's described in Scripture let's go first of all to Revelation the 20th chapter we see at the beginning of the chapter the feast of Atonement or the fast of atonement in reality we see where Satan is removed even the previous chapter Christ descending and so forth and fighting against his enemies and then we have chapter 20 verses 1 2 to 3 where he shows how Satan is going to be removed we know that is picturing as pictured by the day of atonement and then verse 4 of Revelation 20 he speaks of Thrones and they who sat on them and judgment was committed to them and he saw the souls of those who have been beheaded for their witness to Jesus for the word of God and who had not worshiped the beast or his image and they lived and they reigned with Christ a thousand years well that's the seven days that just passed the the millennial reign of Christ the time that we pictured during the Feast of Tabernacles he says but the rest of the Dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection so he's saying that at Christ's return there will be those who are Christ's at it's coming they will be resurrected and help bring about this millennial reign working with Jesus to bring about peace upon this earth but he says now the rest are dead so the rest of the dead are those who were not Christ at his coming they're the the thousands of millions the billions of people who have lived down through time and we're not Christ for whatever reason or whether they rejected him or whether they just never heard of him they are those are the ones that will come up at that time he said blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection indicating that there is going to be another resurrection over such the second death has no power that first resurrection is a better resurrection because it is a razor the spirit life that's the the main part of this there may be other aspects of it but that first resurrection is to resurrection to life whereas the second resurrection is we're going to read brings us back to physical life but not to eternal life he says over such the second death has no power but those that come up later the second death still does have power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years now at the end of the thousand years Satan is released notice not the last hundred years of the millennium but after the thousand years when it has expired Satan's released from his prison he goes out and deceives the nation's that are on the earth and then they fight against Christ again the devil who deceived them verse 10 was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone verse 11 then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great now we're talking about another resurrection not the first resurrection but a second resurrection and he sees the dead small and great the little people of this earth those that have been neglected that the slaves the serfs the the poor of the world as well as the great names that we would recognize at least today we would and names that would have been recognizable back in the time when people lived a hundred thousand years ago or whatever it might be the small and the great standing before God and books were opened so these are the books of the Bible as we know because they were cut off from understanding the truth the books were open and these books these letters that are put together in one giant book the Bible as we call it we're opened up to them so they could understand them and how many people have picked up our literature picked up the Bible read and it just doesn't make any sense to them it's not because they're stupid they just don't get it their mind hasn't been opened God the Father has not drawn them to Christ as it says here in 1st and John the fourth chapter I'm sorry John 6:44 and 65 God hasn't called them he hasn't turned that screw he hasn't taken his spirit and worked with that person's mind to where that individual can understand it they just didn't get it and so these books now for the first time are opened up to where they can understand the message of God and another book was opened which is the book of life now we know the book of life is the book that it we have to have our names written in if we're going to have eternal life and it's not pictured as a closed book it's a book that's open where names can be written in it it's not necessarily a book as we understand books as we have them today it might be a scroll it might be a you know something electronic so to speak well however God keeps track of that he's basically it's symbolic of the fact that the opportunity for individuals that have their name written there so they can have life is going to be there and that's a that's a wonderful thing that the the time of salvation is not closed but it is open and it says in the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books notice it says that were written in the books that's going back to standing before God the books were opened in other words the books of the Bible they're judged by this and people read into it to mean that well that all their sins are written down and they're well if we you know that they're not saved because if they were saved they'd have been resurrected a thousand years earlier so we don't have to know that these people at this point are not saved but they're going to be judged they're going to have their time of judgment just as we have our time of judgment right now they're going to have their time of judgment and then it goes on to say that sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades or the grave delivered up the dead who are in them and they were judged each one according to his works so their works which will be there at that time let's notice over in Ezekiel the 37th chapter one of the my favorite passages of scripture I think it's one of the favorites of many of us it's a it's a beautiful thing I saw just recently a youtube video that was portraying the rising up the nation of Israel from dead bones in other words he had the Holocaust and it showed all these pictures these bones there and then the miracle of Israel rising up the little nation of Israel and that's how they interpreted this particular passage of Scripture but when we read it carefully it doesn't fit the nation of Israel today does not know God they are they're mostly secular or many of them are secular then there you have the ultra-orthodox and they don't get it they were just like the Jews of Jesus day straining out gnats and swallowing camels this is talking about something yet in the future in chapter 37 verse 1 of Ezekiel then the hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley and it was full of bones then he caused me to pass by them all around and behold there were very many in the open valley and indeed they were very dry they're very dry because they had been dead for a long time newly a newly a bone that that comes immediately from any kind of animal life has moisture in it it's alive a living thing but a bone that is dry has been dried up and died for a long period of time and so he said to me son of man can these bones live can these bones live so I answered oh my lord or Oh Lord God you know again he said to me verse 4 prophesy to these bones and say to them Oh dry bones hear the word of the eternal thus says the Lord God or the eternal God and under the actually Lord eternal to these bones surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live he's going to allow these people to come back to life breath that's physical that's air I will put sinews connecting tissues ligaments tendons on you and bring flesh upon you and muscle tissue in other words and cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live notice then you shall know that I am the eternal now has that taken place in Israel today they might have come up out of the ruins of second world war but do they know God I think that we all know the answer that no this secular state that is calling itself Israel doesn't know the truth he goes on to say then you shall know that I am the eternal so I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was a noise and suddenly a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone indeed as I looked the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over but there was no breath in them also he said to me prophesy to the breath prophesized son of man and say to the breath thus says the Lord God come from the four winds o breath and breathed on these slain that they may live so i prophesied as he commanded me and breath came into them and they lived and they stood upon their feet and exceedingly great army then he said to me son of man these bones are the whole house of israel not just the jews not just the Benjamites these are the whole house of israel he says they indeed say our bones are dry our hope is lost and we ourselves are cut off I know when my uncle as an atheist went to his grave he thought that was the end of it whatever point he he had his still conscious he was thinking that was the end of it just like these people they think when they go the grave that's it therefore prophesy and say to them thus says the Lord God behold on my oh my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the Land of Israel then at that time then you shall know that I am the eternal when I have opened your graves all my people and brought you up from your graves I will put my spirit in you we don't see that today this is something yet future I within you and you shall live and I will place your neurone land then you shall know that I the eternal have spoken it and performed it says the Lord or the eternal and then he goes on and in what follows to say there there's two sticks one for Judah one for Israel and bring them together then there'll be one nation this is something that has not happened in the little nation of Israel it's showing that the house of Israel is still in existence with the house of Judah at the very end and then the 12 apostles are going to be ruling over each of the 12 tribes so this is not just talking about the Jews it's talking about a far greater event this is that great white throne judgment when these people come up and they will be given their opportunity to know the truth what a glorious day that's going to be we believe that that day will probably be or that time will be a hundred years based on Isaiah 65 verses 17 to 20 that seems to be the only places this fits in we're a little baby an infant is not going to die just a few days old but will be given a hundred years and so forth so we believe that's that's the case in Romans the eleventh chapter Romans 11 in describing God's plan and how he's going to save all Israel eventually maybe not every last individual because we'll be those who reject him but the majority no doubt he says in verse 33 romans 11:33 oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments in his ways past finding out for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him yes God has an amazing wonderful plan God thinks big the universe look at how big it is and he is looking at bringing literally billions of sons and daughters in his family at the white throne judgment first Israel but he will also bring up the Gentiles as well it is his purpose in his will that all men come to be saved to come to the knowledge of the truth this demonstrates that God is fair that he has a plan and a purpose that will include every individual it also demonstrates his great love for every single human being both great and small and how thankful we should be for that because there aren't too many great among us most of us are just ordinary and small but God has called us now and he's going to call all people that have ever lived to give them their chance may we rejoice and be buoyed by the hope that God has given to us through this special wonderful day the last great day the white throne judgment you

Channel: Living Church of God

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Keywords: prophecy, last, great, day, white throne, judgment, kingdom, god, god's plan

Id: Ah7f5JmICoQ

Length: 64min 14sec (3854 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 01 2018