Good morning, everyone. Morning, Vicki. Came to the well Give me some healing water. I came to the well. I am your faithful daughter. There is a river that There is a fountain going to freeze my soul from sin. Come to the waters, there is a vast supply. There is a river, the river shall never ever shall run dry. I came to your table to eat all the bread of life. I came to your table because nothing else will suffice. There is a river that flows from deep within. There is a fountain floor where they'll freeze my soul from sin. Come to the waters, there is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall, never ever shall dry. Lord, He said, if any man is thirsty, let him come to the water and drink. And it's only by Your Word that You could satisfy this desert in me. Blessed is he who offers and thirsts after righteousness. Drinking in your living water I am satisfied There is a river that flows from deep within There is a fountain flowing that frees my soul from sin. Come to the water, there is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall and never ever That almost made me Pentecostal. Thank you, Vicki. That was great. Vicki wrote that. Wonderful. Good morning, everybody. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the body of Christ and the freedom to gather together which may be short-lived in this nation, if certain parties have their way. But we pray that that freedom would continue, because no form of tyranny can restrict our freedom, because it's like a river of living water flowing out from our innermost beings. Thank you, Father, for the Lord Jesus Christ. The very air that we breathe, the one who gave life. created us in the image and likeness of God so that we might have fellowship with our Creator. Though we've never seen Christ, we believe in Him. Though we do not see Him now, we love Him and rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory as we share the body parts and the gifts that the Holy Spirit's given to build up the body of Christ. and rejoice in Christ Jesus, putting no confidence in the flesh. Bless the Word of God as it goes forth this morning. May we understand a little better the prospects and principles of the kingdom. In the name of Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, we pray, amen. I've entitled the message today, Two Kingdoms, and it loosely will fit the title. Sunday, June 10, 2017. You can turn to Matthew 13, 24. Jesus presents another parable after he does the parable of the sower, which is the mother of all parables. It defines the terms of the parable so that we get the very simple message. The first message is, be careful how you listen. And by the way, Amy said, print that up for us. So I did. And it's back there on the shelf by the door. So you get a copy of the 12 points on how you listen. Be careful how you listen. Take care how you listen. For to the one who has what? Listening skills. Listening and hearing the Word of God is not like hearing or listening to other things, to other lectures or teachings. Because it's comprehended by faith. It's presented by the Spirit, Spirit to Spirit. Not a human teacher to human students. That's not what makes it stick. What makes it stick is having all of your expectation toward God. Listening carefully and letting the word of God flow over you like the waves of the ocean. Not stopping and thinking about other things. Thinking about who would really benefit by the message. You benefit by it, because you're here and they're not. So don't think that thought. When that thought comes into your mind today, just cast it down and just listen. Independence upon the Holy Spirit, because he'll give you the enabling power and the concentration to take it all in. So it starts out, I did the exegesis here but I won't bore you with the parts of speech, an accusative adjective in the feminine singular. It's not, not something you need. He says, another parable, another parable, he, Jesus, presented to them, to his disciples, only to his disciples. He says, to you it has been granted, do you understand, the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it has not been granted, it is always presented in parables, so that hearing they might hear, and seeing they might see, but hearing they don't hear, seeing they don't see. As Isaiah the prophet said. So he presented to them another parable, saying, the kingdom, basalia, the kingdom of heaven, orinon, orinon is heaven, orinos is heaven, is like a man, anthropon, Jesus is the man, sowing good seed. in his field. The field is the world. But when these men, that is his workers, went to sleep, his enemy came and sowed tares. Tares are zits of neon. Tares. It looks like wheat. But when it matures, there's no grain, no fruit. It looks the same, but there's no fruit. So, his enemy came and sowed tares. It says, one after another, that's what he did, one after another, amidst the wheat, and then departed. Verse 26 says, but when the blade, zortos is the blade, sprang up. And the yield was made. Then also the tears were made, uh oh, apparent. So side by side, one can hardly tell the difference. until the head of grain appears, until there is fruit or the absence thereof, you can't tell the difference. The wheat is useful, the tares useless. Wheat is fruitful, tares are fruitless. John 15, 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. that whatever you ask of the Father, in My name, that qualifies it, in My name, in the name of Jesus, He may give to you. John 15, 8, By this is My Father glorified. that you bear much fruit. And so prove or demonstrate that you are my disciples. Disciples bear fruit. Why? Because they take in the seed. They prepare the soil so that they have the yield, 30, 60, 100 fold. John 15, 5, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing. Have you discovered that? You can't do anything apart from Him. You say, well, I do lots of things apart from Him. Nothing that counts, nothing that helps, nothing that meets the standard of God as acceptable, as truly useful and fruitful. Nope. John 12, 24, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit, referring to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and ours in Him, by Him, because of Him. Those that the Lord plants produce fruit. Those who are counterfeit There's lots of them. You don't know who they are. Produce the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Good for no one or nothing. Destined only for burning. They're good as evil. Their fruit is rotten, poison, deadly. Sown and cultivated by the evil one, as the parable tells us. They're spawned by their father, the devil. and along with him will be destroyed in the end, gathered in bundles and burned, Jesus said. But pay them no mind. Leave them alone. That's what he told his disciples about the Pharisees. Leave them alone. You're not going to convince them. And you don't want to enter into arguments or debate. Let the chips fall where they may. None are exempt from the light of the gospel or the kingdom, from the gospel of the kingdom, the law and rule of the king and his kingdom. Do not engage them, debate them, and 2 John says don't even greet them. for to do so is to participate in their evil agenda and to feed their momentum in the dark kingdom. We've been delivered from the domain or kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son in Colossians 1.13. Not everyone who calls me Lord, Jesus said, will enter the kingdom of God, but only those who do the will of my Father." Well, what's the will of his Father? First, to believe in Christ. Second, to believe in all that Christ has said. That's the will of God. So you want to be fully persuaded, fully accepted, and have a full inheritance and a full reward? Then fulfill the will of God. Get that word in your soul. If you don't do anything else, do that. Jesus called it the one need for a necessary thing in Luke 10, 42. So the counterfeit Christians take the kingdom by violence, like the purveyors of radical Islam, who, like their daddy the devil, steal, kill, and destroy. Uh-oh, they're going to come after me, because I said that. You're not allowed to say that today. But we have to say what we have to say. Woe unto me if I don't preach the gospel. There's no difference between Islam and counterfeit Christianity. Both are wolves dressed like sheep, lurking in the shadows of death, waiting to reap terror upon the unsuspecting. It is inexcusable that anyone should equate Christianity with Islam or Buddhism, and enfold infidels and their idolatrous religion under the guise of tolerance as Chrislom, you've heard of Chrislom, or Buddhianity. I made that one up. God Almighty, the Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will not have it. Ishmael has no part. and Esau has no blessing. Jacob I love and Esau I hate. They produce no fruit, provide no benefit, serve nor save anyone, not even their own people or their own lives. as they whirl and dervish into the fire. You know what the whirl and dervish is? That's the dance they do. They're Pentecostal, the Islamic people. Whirl and dervish into the fire. Don't do the whirl and dervish. It's Islamic. Like Pentecostal extremists who create modes of worship that exalt ecstatic, emotional expressions, who protest social ills like abortion, and in some instances, kill doctors, bomb clinics, and attract fools and fiends, sponsor genocide without regard for God or man, and raise hell on Earth. That's what they do. Religion is evil. You say, well, don't we have religion? I hope not. I hope you're not religious. Religion is manned by his own efforts and his own ability bringing or attempting to gain or maintain God's acceptance or approval rather than faith alone in Jesus Christ and afterwards faith in his word. They will indeed spend eternity in the fire. You don't say that today. That's not popular. They will indeed spend eternity in the fire. Jesus talked about it so often. More often, they talked about heaven. Why? Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. You know what? You don't have to react to the kingdom and the king. You're going to the fire. Sorry. Oh, we don't like to think of that. Oh, you don't know the justice of God, the price that was paid to redeem all mankind, everyone being an equal candidate for eternal salvation. And you have to spurn his kindness and reject the good news of the gospel every day of your life until you die to go there. It's not an easy task. daunting task to do so. When the evidence demands a verdict that Christ lived, died, rose from the dead, God holds all men accountable to that truth in Acts 17, 26. We'll get there in a minute. So, they will despend eternity in the fire that cannot be quenched, where the worm of regret gnaws away but can't be satisfied. It's almost too horrible to think about. the subtle and the blatant, all having been exposed. But until then, leave them alone. He said, well, can't I preach the gospel to them? No. They're not going to hear you. All they're going to do is turn on you and trample you like pigs that have no capacity for pearls. Cast not your pearls before swine, or holy things to dogs, Jesus said. And he didn't do it, and we're not to do it either. Even though you have zeal, you probably have it without knowledge if you do that. Among them, that is the unbelievers, are many of the Jewish race who operate under the cover of darkness as high-ranking agents of satanic evil and are used to disseminate vicious lies and violence throughout the earth. He sponsor and create public opinion whose influence in media, politics, global finance, and false science deceives the masses. I hope you're not taken in by any of the lies because you have the Word of God as your filter. So, verse 27. I'll go to verse 27. And the slaves coming to the landowner said to him, Sir, curiae, sir, not lord, but sir. Lord means sir. In certain instances, now when they talk to the Lord himself, it's Lord, meaning Yahweh. The Greek equivalent of the Hebrew tetragrammaton, Yahweh, Y-H-W-H, which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ every single time you find it. So, he said, sir, you sowed Did you not sow good seed in the field, in your field? How then has it tares? That is, how then has it produced tares? Evangelists recruited by the cosmos, the world system, sow false gospels throughout the field, which is the world. The field is the world. To most, they appear as though they're true in terms of their zeal to do good deeds and fight evil, fight evil causes. But theirs is a gospel of works without faith, human good, without truth, without grace, and apart from Christ. That's the devil's sin. I will be like the most high God, but I won't allow him to do it in me. I'll do it myself. In subtle ways, they deny the Lord, ignore his word, and fashion their own systems of righteousness. Very common. Among them are the Muslims, the Mormons, the Masons. Meals on wheels. I'm kidding. The Peace Corps. Many others that provide relief and help to victims of disaster and respond to health crises, but are not sent by God with the gospel of the kingdom. which they do not believe themselves or respond to personally. Does that sound cruel, even crazy? Probably to some people it does. They seek social reform and spurn the spiritual basis of all true good, which is the love of God and the judgment that will come upon all who refuse the kingdom. That is the kingdom rule of Jesus Christ. What does it profit a man? Mark 8, 36, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. Or like Paul said, if I give my body to be burned and don't do so by the love of God, agape, true virtue from God, I wasted a perfectly good body. They curse God and die. rather than acknowledging his right to ruin their lives and that they were created for his glory and exist only by his kindness and providence. Who are all equally offered eternal life, if only they'll acclimate to the gospel that was preached to them for the salvation of God in time and for all eternity. It was purchased with the blood of God and revealed by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's right. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When they stand before Him with their good deeds, their inferior sacrifices, and their lame excuses, He will say to them, I don't know you. Where did you say you were from? I never met you. You never came to me to receive my salvation. Rather, you attempted to come another way. There is no other way. Acknowledging the sacrifice of Christ and the right he has earned to rule mankind as King and Lord is incumbent upon all men everywhere. Turn to Acts 17. Because you know, I want you to mark this passage. This really clears up a lot of confusion. regarding what God demands of mankind. And why He demands it? He did something in the midst of human history that no one can deny. He divided it. B.C. and A.D. before Christ, not before the common era, B.C.E. like they've changed it to now, tried to change it to, but you can't ever get past that division, that great dividing event of human history, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in A.D. and of Domini in the year of our Lord. We live in the year of our Lord. On the finished work side of history, our redemption having been accomplished by Christ, April 4th, thereabouts, 30 AD. Acts 17, 30. Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all men everywhere should repent. That means go from unbelief to faith in Christ. Recognize the reality, the historical reality of Jesus Christ's life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension. because he is fixed today in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Christ from the dead. There it is. Nobody has an excuse. no one had never heard at all. There was, but not now. Not these days. You know, the aborigines have televisions and cell phones. Yes, they do. The internet. There are very few primitive tribes left. Well, they're primitive, but they just have certain apps. Not all of them. like you do. You need to pitch most of them. Who's in charge of the World Wide Web, anyway? Oh, Satan? You say, can God use it? In certain ways, he does. See, because of this, religious people are ruled out. Those who try to come up another way, like Jesus said, therefore, whores and tax collectors come into the kingdom before these do-gooders. You say, I don't know about that. It's true. Read the Bible. Don't believe anything because I say it. Read the Bible. Check it out. Jesus said it, not me. I just have to say what he says. And if I don't, woe unto me. No one has an excuse that there's no one under the heavens in any place on earth in any generation that is after the death, burial, resurrection of Christ. following upon the events that took place in Jerusalem on or about April 4th, 30 AD, that is exempt or excluded because of ignorance of faith in Christ as God and Savior. They'll all stand in judgment and will be guilty or innocent on the same basis by the acceptance or rejection of the shed blood and atoning sacrifice of God's Savior, Jesus, for the remission of sins and the free and irrevocable gift of eternal life, and on no other basis. John 3.18, He who believes in Him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already. because he has not believed in the name of the one and only, the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light. lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 5, 24. Truly, truly, verily, verily, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life and shall not come into judgment. but has a day already passed from death into life. Those who don't believe are already under judgment. Those who believe have passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave the Son also to have life in Himself. and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Or John 3.36, he who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son, that obedience is obedience of faith, shall not see life, but the wrath of God hangs over his head and abides on him. So what's the clarion call of the gospel? Jesus said it over and over again, Matthew 3, 2, 4, 17, 11, 20, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. That has a double meaning, a double entendre for unbelievers and for believers. In Matthew 3.2, Jesus went about preaching, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. In 4.17, from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, that was John the Baptist in 3.2. From that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 11.20, then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his miracles were done because they did not repent. Mark 1.15, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Mark 6, 12. And they, the disciples, went out and preached that men should repent. Luke 13, 3. I tell you, no. But unless you repent, Jesus said, to those who brought up a news item about a tower that fell on people. Hmm. I wonder if that will ever happen in our time. Jesus said, do you think these people were exceptionally evil? No, he says, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. That's verse three and verse five of Luke 13. Acts 2.38, Peter said to them, repent. and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 3.19, repent therefore and return his message to Israel that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 8.22, therefore repent of this wickedness of yours and pray the Lord that if possible the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. That was Simon the sorcerer. Acts 17.30, therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to man that all everywhere should repent. Acts 26.20, Paul says, I kept on declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also Jerusalem, and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. Peter said it best. From the beginning to the end, Acts 4.12, there is salvation in no one else. I don't care what anybody says about we have the same God as them, et cetera. We don't. They don't believe in Jesus Christ, so how could they have the same God as us? He's God and our Savior, Titus 2, 13. And we're waiting for Him to come from heaven to make all things right. There's no other name under heaven. No other name under heaven. It's been given among men by which we must, must, must be saved. The only way to be saved. Judgment is coming, therefore make sure you have the righteousness required to enter, moreover to remain and reign in the kingdom. The issue for the believer is reigning with Christ in the kingdom. Let's look at the judgment of the nations, of the people, of the masses, and also of believers. Because every believer will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, give an account to the deeds he did in his body, whether they be good or bad. Jesus is coming and his reward is with him. to reward those who by faith went to hope, from hope into love. Therefore, the statement of warning of the everlasting gospel is this. I want you to turn here, too, so you can mark it. Revelation 14.6. This is in the midst of the tribulation period, the final three and a half years. God is so gracious that he sends an angel flying through the midheaven every day at noon proclaiming what he calls the everlasting gospel. It's good news that is cast in a severe warning. Don't miss it, he says to the people of Earth. And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on Earth. You thought you could live however you want, didn't you? You can't. To every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. That excludes no one. He said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory. Because the hour of his judgment has come. And worship him who made the heaven and earth and sea and springs of water. To fear God is to believe in Jesus Christ who is the salvation solution, the only one. Those who do not abide, do so under wrath. They abide under wrath. Whether they be individuals, nations, generations. There's one standard upon which all will be judged and will be deemed either fit or unfit for the kingdom. No one is judged for their sins, but all are judged on the basis of what they thought of the Son. What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he? believing upon him and his sinless perfection, upon his satisfaction of justice, his righteous life, followed by his sacrificial death, and his vindication by resurrection, which all men are required to acknowledge and believe. Some will say, I thought you were dead, when they face him. That's what our leaders told us. Some will say, I thought you were a wise and learned teacher, That's what my parents told me. Some will say, we thought you were a prophet, like Buddha, Mohammed, Siddhartha, Joseph Smith. That's what Oprah told us. Therefore, we investigated no further. We didn't need to go any further than that. Those were authorities. People say, very well, let's see what good you've done. that qualifies you to dwell in the glory of eternity. Revelation 20, turn to it. If this scares you, that's good, because it's good to be afraid of God, but not to be afraid of anything or anyone else. Fear not those who kill the body, but the one who can destroy body and soul. and the garbage dump, the firey garbage dump. The soul's a terrible thing to waste. And to discard the great privileges and prizes of heaven, and go to those who have faith, hope, and love. These three abide. If any man's work abides, he'll receive a reward. If any man's work is burnt, he'll suffer a loss. Oh, he'll be saved, but like one escaping through the fire. 1 Corinthians 3, 14 and 15. And I, John, this privileged spectator in Revelation, saw a great white throne. White speaks of purity, righteousness, and perfection. And him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away. No place was found for them. The picture is they're like whirling around the throne. They can't even stand. And I saw the dead, the famous and the obscure, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And books were open. And another book was open. which is the Book of Life. God gives them all the benefit of the doubt. He opens the books, which are the books of good deeds. And then, if there are no good deeds in there, then we go to the Book of Life to see if there are names in there. But it was blotted out. They died without believing in Christ. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books. according to their deeds, not their sins, their deeds. That's their good deeds. Sins are bad deeds. Deeds are good deeds. And the sea gave up the dead. This is the gathering and reuniting of souls and bodies, souls and bodies, of the dead, of the wicked dead, the unbelieving dead. The dead were judged from things which were written in the books according to their deeds, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades. Death is the body. Hades is the soul. In hell, he opened up his eyes, being in torment. Just the soul goes into Hades. Gave up the dead. which were in them, and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds. And Death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death of Thanatos, of Deuteros, the second death. The Lake of Fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire. That's not analogous. That's actual, factual, Definite. Literal. Matthew 25, turn there. 31. This is about the judgment of the nations. That was individuals standing before the judgment seat of Christ, or before the great white throne judgment. Now here are the nations. Prior to the millennial kingdom. Takes a few weeks before the millennial kicks off. when He separates the nations. When the Son of Man, Matthew 25, 31, when the Son of Man comes in His glory, He didn't come in glory the first time, He came in humility. Next time He's coming in great glory to tread out the winepress of the wrath of God all by Himself, to gather together the nations, and to destroy all of his enemies, to get and to lay their corpses as a smorgasbord for the birds of the air, called the great feast of the birds. They eat the flesh of kings and mighty men. And all the angels with him, and he will sit on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed with my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you visited me. Now, I was hungry, and you fed me. You gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. Now, this doesn't say what you think it says. Now, I'll explain it to you. This is national judgment. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when, let's see, I skipped ahead, sorry. Let's go back to verse 34. King will say to those on his right, yes, I did that, didn't I? I get confused so easily, I'm old. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? Or when did we see you a stranger and invite you in and were naked and clothed you, when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them you did it to me, then he will say to those on his left, apart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in naked, and you did not clothe me sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they themselves also will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer to them, saying, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it, to one of the least of these, You did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Where the nations are concerned, their policies toward the Jews will determine their national blessedness. And with the few that believe, those nations, even will be the least among all that is in the Millennial Kingdom. Notice. No one is judged for their sins, only for the good they did from a living faith in Jesus Christ. And if there was no faith, then there were no works that measure up to the standard of righteous perfection. No place in heaven can receive them. Rather, they go to their own place. What's it mean to go to your own place? It's that Judas went to his own place. It means the place of their own choosing. God doesn't choose it for them. They choose it for themselves. Not designed or prepared for men, but only for the devil and his seditious spirits who chose to follow Lucifer along with those who by default joined the band. Among them are the contrary, the counterfeit, the deceived, and the dishonest. Revelation 21. It will be done in about 45 minutes. No, it will be done soon. Hang in there. Just let it flow over you like the waves of the ocean. Don't stop and say, whoa. That's why we have sermon audio, so you can go back and check me out. How many listen to sermon audio on a regular basis? At least listen to the message one more time. Oh, heaven, that's not nearly enough yet. Listen to it once again. You'll get something from it, I guarantee you will. Paulette told me one time, she said, it's layered. Didn't you say it, Paulette? She did. Because it is. Not by me, but by the Lord. Revelation 21 what? And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away. That'll be okay. And there's no longer any sea. Just a large land mass. Like Atlantis. And I saw the holy city. New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride, adorned for her husband. See, the church is not the bride of Christ, the body of Christ. Israel is not really the bride of Christ. Jerusalem is the bride of Christ. It's just an analogy. Nobody's really the bride. He's not going to put a ring on your finger or bells on your toes. So you can make music wherever he goes. It's all spirit. I saw the holy city of New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne say, behold, the tabernacle of God, the tent of God. Remember, Jesus came and tented, tabernacled among us. And He's coming down to make His permanent abode on the earth. And Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem, is the capital Behold the tabernacle of God is among men. And he shall dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be among them. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. That makes me want to cry. Wipe away the tears from my eyes. And there shall no longer be any death. There shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things have passed away. Thank God. He who sits upon the throne said, behold, I'm making all things new. And he said, write this down, for these words are faithful and true. And he said to me, it has begun. Just like he said, it is finished. Here, it's get on mine, said a Tetelestai. It has begun. Your Bible says it is done. That's not correct. I am the beginning and the end. Alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Beginning and the end, I will give to the one who thirsts, just like Vicki sang about so beautifully today, from the spring of the water of life, with no cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the die-lost, the cowardly, they're afraid to believe in Christ because of what people would think. and the epistos, those who would not believe no matter what. The unbelieving. And the abluso, the abominable. And murderers, I forget what the word is for that. And immoral persons, pornos. And pharmakos, drug addicts. And idolatolatros, idolaters. and all liars. And such were some of you, but you've been washed, you've been cleansed, you've been purified by the Word of God and the Spirit, so don't think that's talking about you. Get their part. Their part will be in a lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, Come here, I shall show you the bride of the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone. as a stone of crystal, clear, jasper, and as a beautiful green cast, and the light comes through it, and all the shades of green, which is grace. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Greens you've never seen. It's so green as no one has seen. so luxuriant. But God's prepared for those who love Him. No eye has seen, no ear has heard. It's never entered into the mind of man. Verse 12. It had a great high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names were written on them, which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. everyone who has any Jewish heritage at all. But we'll be able to relate. There are many, many, many, even most, inhabitants of the earth that came somehow or another from Jewish stock. I know the Warnbergs did. And the Claytonsteins, right? I know the Seligmans. Of course, that's a given. They have a Jewish name. Let's see, the wells, what would be a well? Not Z's, no. We'll think of something for the next time. My mind isn't working that way. Anyway, so. And the wall, let's see, let's go back here. They had a great high wall with 12 gates. And at the gates, 12 angels. The names were written on them, which are those of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. 12 gates all together. And the wall of the city had 12 foundation stones. And on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall. And the city is laid out as a square, literally as a cube. And its length is as great as its width and he measured the city with the rod 1,500 miles. Its length and width and height are equal. It's a 1,500 mile cube. And he measured its wall, 72 yards, according to human measurements. And just in case you think human measurements are different than angelic measurements, he says, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements, just so you know. What are angelic measurements? Same as human measurements. And the material of the wall was jasper, another green, beautiful green gemstone. And the city was pure gold. clear like glass. No impurity at all. What makes gold golden in color is impurities. All the impurities are out. The foundation stones of the city, wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper. The second, sapphire. The third, chalcedony. The fourth, emerald. The fifth, sardonyx. The sixth, sardius. The seventh, chrysolite. The eighth, beryl. The ninth, topaz. The tenth, chrysoprase. The eleventh, jacent. The twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold. The asphalt in heaven is pure gold like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty, you know who that is? Jesus, was its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it. And its lamp is the Lamb. Its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime, for there shall be no night there, its gates shall never be closed, and they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it. but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Let's pray. Father, thank You for the Word of God. It is indeed supernatural and amazing. And we acknowledge that before You today. And if anyone needs to repent, do so. The stakes are too high, aren't they? Just agree with God, even if it means you have to go against yourself. And we all do. Because naturally we do not think right, or do what is right. And it behooves us to do so, because it always yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. But to do what is sinful, to do what is hurtful and harmful and wrong, only brings the rotten pieces of bad decisions. The negative consequences of opposing God's word and God's truth. We need to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. We want to have a full inheritance, a full reward. We want to bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to be among those who step forward with confidence, not those who shrink back in shame because we did everything except what he told us to do, and that is to get his word in our soul, to know who he is. and his good news gospel of eternal life to everyone who believes in the full reward slated for each one. Every heavenly blessing, every blessing possible in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, which we would be so enthralled and happy and grateful to receive. When we really didn't do anything, but we just learned to let or allow him to will and work in us, according to his own good pleasure, and he accounted our faith as righteousness, even as he did to Abraham, not only when he believed God, but when he offered up Isaac. So he affirmed Abraham's faith and works, because his works came out from faith. They were not apart from faith. He didn't say, I have faith. But I can't show you my faith, because it doesn't work its way out or work out that salvation with fear and trembling. If I could have Vicky, please, if you would get ready, and if I could have my ushers. Bless the Offspring, Father, in Jesus' name, amen.