[Gary Antion] ...both young people in our congregation. They do special music, they do other things that serve, and they are diligent in going to Bible studies, and we really appreciate that. And all the old folks like me appreciate seeing the young people who have the verve and the vigor that we once had but has somehow left us to some extent. I still love sports, and I still love activity, and I love seeing people who can do all those things that I used to be able to do. So it's great to be with you on this Sabbath day, and I say happy Sabbath to you all. Thanks to my son-in-law, Mike Cook, for this wonderful sermonette on the day of small things. I want to talk about the day of great things. Do you think about salvation that you will have and have received from God the Father and Jesus Christ? Do you think about it very often? How often do you?

Matthew 6:33 Tells us, "Seek you first the Kingdom of God."

And when I was a young man, newly in the church, I always thought that salvation was something that was far off, something to come. But the fullness of salvation is what's happened to us now and what will happen to us in the future. We dare not forget all the blessings of great salvation. I'm talking about, do we ponder all that is involved in great salvation.

I'll read a scripture to you in Hebrews 2. God has given us salvation, and God is giving us salvation. God gave me salvation when I had my heart valve replaced and when I fell and broke my leg and had pneumonia as well as low sodium levels in my blood, which I found out later I could have died in that case. I didn't know that, okay, the hospital... I only knew that God's people's prayers covered me for 47 days. I'm so glad to be alive. I don't know if you saw it or not, but I was watching the presidential election the presidential speech or whatever and he was shot. I saw the moment he was shot and dropped to the ground, grabbed his head, and dropped to the ground. I didn't think he was dead because if he had been knocked dead, he would have just fallen over. But he put his hand to the head and lowered himself to the ground, which he should have done because they had that barrier in front of him. In the Republican convention, I watched a lot of the speeches...

By the way, when I was a young person I hated conventions, any type of convention. But it was the worst time of the year to watch television. But, boy, were those speeches dynamic, and so many of them made reference to God saving him. God saved him. That's what they all said. That it was a scant millimeter closer to his head would have killed him. So they all said it was God's intervention. But God has had to intervene in all of our lives. And sometimes we don't think as much about those because it happens, and it's over with. We do it and it's gone. Something happens and it's gone. Do we really ponder how great salvation is? In Hebrews 2:1-3, we're warned not to neglect great salvation. I used to think it was don't neglect, greatly neglect salvation, no, it's don't neglect great salvation. So my question for all of us is how great is great salvation to you? How great...? The word by the way is if you neglect it...it's called don't let it drift away in verse 1. I'll read that to you in a moment. And then verse 3, it's to be careless about...talk about small things. It's to be careless about large things. Do you think about great salvation? I'll read the scripture. "Therefore, we must give..." This is verses 1 to 3.

Hebrews 2:1-3 "Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest we drift away." The word, therefore, drift away means to flow by. Hence, slip away from us. Don't let those things slip away. Talk about how we've been saved, how we have to be careful about how we lead our lives. Notice verse 2, "For if the word spoken through angels prove steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, we'll be rewarded for those things that we do evil, we'll be rewarded for those things we do well." He says, "How shall we escape if we let that thought slip away? How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"

What are we talking about when you read the word salvation? I checked on Strong's Concordance. I also checked with what I have called Bible Hub Program. It's free. You can check any Greek word. You can check it. It gives you several different things. How many times it's used and all the rest. But the word here is soteria. It's called soteria. It means salvation, deliverance. Deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety.

And here's how HELPS Word-Studies puts it, "Salvation is God's rescue which delivers the believers out of destruction into His safety." So when you're baptized, that death penalty that you had over you is canceled. That death penalty is canceled. And your old man is washed away. That God says, "I'll forgive their sins and blot them out, and I'll never remember them." So if you bring up something you've already repented of in order to make yourself feel good, God doesn't know what you're talking about. You already repented of it. It's past with Him. And whatever came with that old body is gone.

You don't have to keep reliving with that, "Oh, I'm so sad. My life has been so bad. I've been so..." You're a new man in Christ. God made you that, you didn't make yourself that. God made you that, that's salvation. He saved you from the death penalty. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is life and life eternal ultimately. But the first phase...and there are two aspects of that, the first phase of it for salvation is a present phase. You want a scripture for it? I won't read it, Philippians 1:19, look at it. He talks about you're saved now. With famous scripture we read in Ephesians 2:8, by grace are you saved through faith.

By the grace of God, you're saved. What do you save from? The initial grace given to us was God's forgiveness at baptism. And the grace that we will have throughout our lives covers our sins anytime we slip and stumble. And the ultimate grace will be to give us eternal life in the Kingdom of God. So there are two facets of salvation. There's a present facet where we are now, we are saved. But not yet eternally. That's the second facet, the future. If you want a scripture on that, 1 Peter 1:5-10, both talk about the future. In the future you will be saved. So we're saved now, and we're saved in the future. It's all salvation. Saved from destruction, saved from harm.

And the NAS, the Standard Bible, Exhaustive Concordance, puts it this way, deliverance and salvation, "Deliverance, preservation, and salvation." Now, the word for neglect... Don't neglect great salvation. The word for neglect is an interesting word when he tells us not to neglect it. It's ameleó, you know what it means? To be careless. I'm careless about the salvation. I don't think about it much. I'd throw it aside. It could mean without concern. Unaffected, viewing something as being without significance. Do we dare let the salvation that God offers us to be a part of His Kingdom, His spirit beings, His children of God and the Kingdom of God, do we dare let that slip out of our hands? Do we dare neglect so great salvation?

So let's understand from the holy Word of God just how great the salvation from God is. And we will see several reminders of how great salvation is, was, and will be. So that's what I'm going to cover today. Give you several points...several reminders I call them. I won't call them one, two, three, four. I'll just tell you what is and next one will follow and give you a couple of scriptures on each one. So let's take a look and let's read. First of all, what do we save from now? Sin and self. Sin and self. Listen, we should remember that we had our sins blotted out. Acts 2:36-38. Remember the people were given that sermon on the day of Pentecost? And so many of them said, "You mean that that man that you crucified is now God and King? We thought He was a crook. We thought He was rotten. We said, 'Crucify Him. Crucify Him.'" They were there in Pentecost. They were there to observe God's feast, the Israelites from all over the world.

Acts 2:36-28 And he said, "That one that you cried, 'Crucify,' He's sitting in heaven above now as God's right hand, as Lord and King, Master." So we're saved from that. So it says, "Let the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart." It troubled them deeply that they had done this. They had yelled, "Kill, the Son of God." Now, He would have been killed somehow, but did they have to be yelling it? Did they appreciate? "...they were cut to the heart? And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'" Verse 38, "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

In Isaiah 43:25, I'm not going to read it, just tell you. It talks about He will blot out your sins and He will remember them no more. That's the characteristic of God. Isaiah 43:25. So from sin, we're saved. Do we think about that? God saved me from sin. God has given me a new life. He's given me a new lease on life. That's an awesome blessing. That's salvation. What about from self? Saved us from sin and self. Isaiah 55:7-9. What do we have to come to recognize before we're baptized? "Let the wicked forsake his way."

Proverbs 14:12 "There's a way that seems right to a man. The end is the way of death,"

Proverbs 14:12, 16:25. Both places. The way that seems right. Seems right...everybody...most people out there are not doing that. This is wrong, I'm doing it anyway. This is right. What's wrong with a little bit of Christmas? What's wrong with a little bit of this? What's wrong with a little bit of that? What's wrong with a little bit of sin? Not a lot of sin. I only lie once in a while. I don't lie all the time. A little sin, is that okay? Little things, yeah, that you should despise. Those little things. Sin.

Isaiah 55:7-9 "Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man, his thoughts. And let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts." "Neither are your ways, my ways," God says.

Think about it. When you think about, God says, "More blessed to give than receive." No way physically you can figure that's right. I have two items in my pocket, a comb and a pen. And if I give one away, I have one. If I keep two and somebody gives me one, I have three. Three to one. No way you could tell me it's better to give this one away. But God says, "More blessed to give than to receive." That's God's thought. Not my thought, God's thought. I would say, "Keep two and receive a third one." That's my thought, humanly. God says, "Give it away." He says, "My thoughts are not yours, your thoughts are not mine."

Give 10% away of your income to help support the work to the church, tithe. Isn't it better to keep 100% rather than go by 90% and save another 10% for the feast? That's 20%, so I got 80% to live on. How can I ever make it? Easily. Because you've given up a lot of vices that cost you money. Because you're trying to be a godly person. And when you give up those vices, you've saved money. Plus, God's way teaches you to be organized. So you learn to manage things better. And you find that you're okay. God makes it happen because He said, "My way is not your..."

God says, "Feed your enemy." I had a man who wanted to take my life and my family's. He was in and out of the church, came back to church. Wanted to come back to church. We had a public campaign so we couldn't keep him out. He wasn't allowed to come to church, but he came to the campaign. I saw him back there, I knew who he was. He came up and talked to me afterwards. He wanted to see if he could start coming back to church. So I'll have to talk to you first. So I invited him to dinner. He had already told me he had a gun. He would shoot me and my family. Knew where they went to school, knew where we lived. We had him over for dinner. Had a deacon there with dinner too. He wasn't a big hunk. He wasn't anywhere like Danny Brady but had Danny there with me, it would have been good. I'd have felt much safer physically, but he wasn't. But he came. We had dinner with him, talked with him, visited with him, and he left.

He later on turned sour again, and I had to ask him to leave my home, which he did. That was several months later. And he finally left the country. But for that time period, believe me, every time I came out to look at my car when I parked in a private parking lot where we had an office, when I came out, I would check my hood of my car to see if anybody had a look under the car. I was careful when I started the car. I'd usually have somebody else go start it. No, I didn't do that. If you start the car for me, I'm going to stand over here while you do it. It'll be air-conditioned. Please, you start it for me. I wouldn't do that.

Our deacons loved us so much. You know what they offered to do? We had about eight deacons. We'll come. We'll take turns. We'll come, and we'll stay, sleep downstairs...in your downstairs, your bedroom is upstairs. We'll sleep downstairs. We'll give up a night in case anything happens to you. We'll be here. I wouldn't do it. I said, "I will not let you risk your life for me." So I know what it's like, okay? I know what that's like. God's ways are not ours. God doesn't say feed your enemy for nothing. Just feed him. So I did. And everything worked out great.

Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The old man is blotted out, Romans 6:3-4, in baptism, he's buried. That's why we make sure all of you is under. So that whatever comes with the old you goes with the old you. And God says, "There's a new person now. There's a new person here." That's you. We need to appreciate that salvation that's already happening to us. Next. First, appreciating great salvation. We need to appreciate a savior and a redeemer, what Christ and God the Father endured for us.

You see, Christ gave up being equal to God. The Word was in the beginning with the God, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Later on, it tells you the Word became flesh. That's Christ. Came to the earth and became Jesus Christ. God in the flesh, Emmanuel. But He gave up being God in the Spirit. He knew from the time He was a baby, conceived in the womb, He had God's Spirit there. To give Him an edge in life more than any of us have. And plus, that Spirit was what He was. It just reduced it to a baby. He could read people's hearts, read people's minds. He could see what they were doing. He had power from God, but He wasn't Spirit. And that physical part of Him had to die. The Spirit didn't die, not any more than the Spirit that in you will die when you die.

We've had several deaths. The people who died, did God's Holy Spirit die in them? No, it went back to God. But it wasn't active until that body is resurrected. But right now we have that blessing from God. We have a savior who was willing to do that for as -

John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God."

He was in the beginning with God and all things were made through Him. He's the one who made these individuals that are going to kill Him now. Made these individuals who would laugh at Him, who would spurn Him, who would ridicule Him, who would spit on Him, their maker did that. And God allowed it. He was in the world, He came to his own, Jewish people. Came to His own, and they did not know Him. They did not receive Him nor did they know Him. He was the rock that followed Him into wilderness. He was the God of the Old Testament that dealt with the Old Testament Israelites. They didn't know who He was. They didn't know Him then. They didn't know Him when He came in the flesh.

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh..." That's verse 14 of John 1, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

And by the way, this is giving me a lot of echo because I don't think it has one of those sponges on it, but that's why I'm hearing a lot of sssst sssst…. If you're hearing that, I'm sorry, I apologize. And by the way, Philippians 2:6-8 tell you that Jesus Christ gave up being equal to God. He gave up being equal to God the Father in power and might and majesty and glory. Gave it all up for you and me. That's part of great salvation. What about the Father? The Father watched him suffer knowing all the time that he could have sent 12 regiments of angels to save him. Remember when Peter swung that dagger, I don't think it was a big sword, it was a dagger, cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. Jesus picked it up, put it back on his head, reattached it, no surgery, just put it on its head, it worked.

Matthew 26:53 And He said, "Put away your swords. Don't you know that if I ask God the Father right now, He would send 12 legions of angels?"

You're the Father, you see your Son being pummeled, beaten, criticized, spat upon. And you could help Him, but you don't for us, for humankind. That's part of great salvation, what Christ did. And you know Jesus Christ promised for the whole world? John 3:16. We often read John 3:16. We often don't read John 3:17.

John 3:16-17 We read, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." There, stop. But notice, "For God did not send His son into the world to condemn it."

Jesus did not come here to say, "You're bad. You're all bad, bad, bad." He came in the world to save them. Now, they have to know they're bad so they can turn to be good. They have to recognize that, no doubt about it, though, we have to preach a message of repentance. But Jesus did not come to condemn the world. And He had plenty to condemn it for and plenty to condemn us for. But he said, "But that the world through Him might be saved." Same word, saved. God's going to save the world. That's part of our job, in the coming, we'll see that in a moment.

So the second area, we should be grateful for salvation because we have a savior and a redeemer. And God the Father had to go through what Jesus Christ...watching His Son suffer, all the time knowing He could intervene any time to stop it. God has also promised us a Kingdom, rulership. When we were kids at school, we used to hoot, see who's going to be the king of the hill. Who could climb up or get on this mound of sand or mound of dirt? Who could get up at the top and push everybody else off, and they go tumbling down? God promises you that you could be king of the hill. Oh, it's not going to be just a pile of dirt. It's the rule in his Kingdom.

Luke 12:32 I'll just refer to it. He said, "Do not fear, little flock, it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."

Boy, when people get power, how many of them want to yield their power? How many of them want to give up what they have when they got power? I don't want to give this up. I don't want to share this with anybody. I'm king and potentate. No. He said, "Hey, I'm going to give you the Kingdom too. I want you to have a part in it." And how awesome of a Kingdom is it? What does God promise you?

1 Corinthians 2:9 "As it is written," we read verse 9 from Paul, "'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,'" that's why we can neglect it because it doesn't come naturally, "'the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'"

What is God preparing for you? A Kingdom. What is He preparing for you? An office in His Kingdom. I don't know what it's going to be. You don't know what it's going to be either if we make it. And we have to endure to the end to make it. We can't just give up and quit. We got to keep on going. And it can get discouraging sometimes. It can be disappointing sometimes. But we got to say to ourselves, "There's a Kingdom that God has for me." There is great salvation that He's already given to us. And there's great salvation ahead of us. God has promised it.

Daniel 2:44 We read, "And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the Kingdom shall not be left to other people. But it shall break in pieces and consume all these Kingdoms. And it shall stay forever. It'll be given to the saints of the Most High."

He said that when the world leaders, the world rulers of the world, the four world-ruling Kingdoms, they were at that time emblematic of the whole system of the world. Said, "I'm going to break that in pieces. It's all going to be my Kingdom. And I'm going to share that with you."

Next, another reminder. We will be changed through the resurrection. Think about it. Oftentimes, when I'm on an airplane...I haven't been on an airplane for a while now. But oftentimes, when I am in an airplane, I'm sitting up there soaring through the sky. What would it be like to be soaring through the sky without an airplane? What would it be like to be able to look down and see like Superman? I saw one of the original Superman. And by the way, Superman was based on a lot of thought about God. The name of his dad was El, E-L. You could read a thing about Superman and how that's... And the closest thing that I can ever think of to help you understand how you're going to be as a spirit being is Superman. He fights for law and justice, fights for truth. He believes in truth and justice. He stops the evil and rewards the good.

What else does he do? He can see through walls. He can walk through walls, although he makes a destruction when he goes. Christ can go through walls, doesn't make any destruction. The only thing that bothers him is kryptonite. Well, we don't have to worry about kryptonite, spirit beings. He can see what's going on over here and over there, and he can see through things, except lead. Spirit being, you'll see through lead. He's faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. What is it? It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Superman. Jesus Christ went from earth to heaven and back in a very short span of time. How many light years was he traveling? Speed of light and faster. You want speed, you'll get it as a spirit being.

God wants to see you in heaven, not as He's always going to be, and He meant to start with, so the Kingdom is ready to be handed over to Him. He can say, "Hey, I want you to come up. Well, it's got a long trip, God, do I have to pack some lunch or something?" Pshew… You're up there. It won't take long. God has promised you a Kingdom, He's promised you a part in it, and you have to be changed to be there. You can't walk in as a human being. Human beings will be under the Kingdom during the millennium, but they won't be in the Kingdom. They'll have all the benefits of the Kingdom's rule and leadership, and that's the Kingdom of physical Israel they'll be a part of, but not the Kingdom of spiritual Israel. That's a different Kingdom, but we have to be changed. So in 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul lets us know clearly, verse 50.

1 Corinthians 15:50 "Now, this I say that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God."

As a fleshly being, I'm subject to all kinds of things. You are too. Physical debilities, allergies, sickness, itches, whatever else you get, as you get older you get more. Just be ready for it, young people. You're beautiful, wonderful, and nice, and spry. Wait till you have to get ready and say, "Boy, it takes time to get ready for church. I don't button things as fast as I used to. I don't tie things as clearly, as well as I used to." As a spirit being, you'll be so fast, it won't even be funny. You'll be changed in this moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and we shall be changed. It says you must put on...this mortal must put on...this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. It's not something we have already.

We say, "Oh, I've got an immortal soul. I don't need to put on anything." You don't. Nowhere do you find immortal soul in the Bible. In order to prove that, they say spirit. Spirit is different from soul. Don't confuse your words. Souls die. So many souls died in that...whatever. They didn't use that today. Soul means life. God can take that life, physical life, from you and me. But God is going to give us immortality. You'll be like the angels. You'll never die. And spirit beings cannot be destroyed. They could be neutralized, which Satan will be. Can't be destroyed. You're a spirit being. You won't be able to be destroyed.

1 Corinthians 15:54 "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption," verse 54 of 1 Corinthians 15, "and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass, saying that it's written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'"

How many people on their deathbeds, how many people want to live? Everything in us wants to live. We don't want to die. We want to live. When we hurt, we want to be better. You don't say, "Okay, hit me again, harder, harder." I don't like to be hit again, harder and harder. Do you? Give me more sickness. I love this sickness. Give me a different one so I could cope with it. Who wants that? Nobody. When You're a spirit being, you'll never have to worry about death. That's part of great salvation. And it's part of you being equipped. Because not only will you be a spirit being, 1 John 3:1-2, we read what God said through the pen of the Apostle John.

1 John 3:1-2 "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God."

You're not just going to be a person over there in the Kingdom, a spirit being, a nondescript spirit. You're going to be a child of God. You're a child now in anticipation of the day you'll actually be in his Kingdom. Therefore, the world does not know us. They don't know why you are the way you are. Why are you so nice? Why are you so kind? Why are you so giving? Why are you so on top of things? Why are you so diligent? Why are you so faithful? Why do I never hear any dirty words come out of your mouth? Why? Because you're a Christian. Why? Because you are of God. One day, you'll never sin. Those who are born of God do not sin. "Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know this, that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. We shall see Him as He is." That's part of great salvation.

You're going to be like Jesus Christ. You're not going to be a second Jesus Christ. You're going to be like Him. Didn't say you're going to be Jesus Christ number 2, or number 3, or number 20, or number 50, but you're going to be like Him. You'll have the power and strength of God. And I'm going to give a sermon at the feast. My opening sermon is on how you become...what will you do with your new spiritual equipment? And it's not for you to just look at yourself. Hey, look at my glory. Oh, I'm glorified. Watch me shine over here. Wait, wait till you hear. If you're here, I'll be in Cincinnati. And you'll understand, and it's not given to you just for yourself, but what a blessing from God to be like Jesus Christ.

Of course, Philippians tells us He's going to transform our body that'll be conformed like His glorious body, like Jesus Christ, according to the working by which He is able to even subdue everything to Himself. You'll be able to subdue things. You'll be able to put down crime like Superman did. You'll be able to, say, take that gun, and they shoot bullets at you, you just deflect them. You don't need any type of rope like Wonder Woman does. You don't have this rope or whatever. This is sword, you don't need these things. You just...what's that? Then take the gun, you bend it, here. Shoot it at yourself. Now, shoot it. That's great salvation. We have to be changed to be a part of that coming Kingdom of God. And not just only being changed, we will become His children, which is God's goal for all, Hebrews 2. So another reminder of great salvation is we will become His children not only just called the children of God.

Hebrews 2:9-10 We read, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory."

God's purpose is to bring many children into His family to be glorified as children of God. That's the purpose. That's one of the reminders we have of great salvation. And how great is that? And I don't know what you'll look like. I know what you'll look like if you want to appear. If you want to appear to your loved ones who were left behind, who aren't converted yet, you want to make sure they see you, you'll appear like Jesus did.

He didn't disguise himself for everybody. Just to what He was playing with, or, let's say, talking to the ladies on the way back, and that couple...that man and another guy coming back, he said, "Why are you walking? You're so sorrowful." "Haven't you heard?" "No, what happened?" "Well, they crucified the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ three days ago, and that's why we're so sad." Then He talked to them, and then they realized it was Jesus Christ. Then He appeared to them, whether their eyes were clouded over, they couldn't see Him, or whether His appearance was different. They couldn't tell until He revealed Himself. But as a spirit being, you'll be able to reveal yourself. God is bringing many sons to glory. And God wants you to be a part of that Kingdom for sure.

2 Corinthians 6:18 We read in there, "I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters."

We used to always take a scripture and say, "Yeah, whoever's going to be born in the Kingdom of God, they'll be the son of God. They'll be a son of God. What about the ladies? Do they have to practice being men now? So they can get ready for the Kingdom?" No, God says I have sons and daughters. I'll be a father to both of them, both sexes. To God, there are only two, by the way, not five, six, seven, eight, nine, or whatever, only two. So 2 Corinthians 6:18 is a beautiful verse.

And Revelation 2:26, He promises to give them rulership. And that's the next blessing we have, and reminder that we need to pay attention to and not neglect. That is you will be a ruler in the Kingdom of God. You're not just going there to roll around heaven. You won't have to learn how to play a harp. You won't have to learn how to sit down by the riverside. You won't have to learn how to roll around heaven all day. You'll have to do your gymnastics up there. You won't have to do that. God has work for you to do, and me. He wants us to rule in the Kingdom.

Daniel 7:22 "And the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given, made in the favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the Kingdom."

If you have any questions about who saints are, look at 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, first chapter, couple verses, "To the people at Corinth called saints." That's who were saints, people who were in the church of God at Corinth, and you. All people who are Christians, true Christians, are also called saints. Now, we don't go around telling each other, "Oh, there's Saint Joseph, and there's Saint Mary, and there's Saint this one, and there's Saint..." We don't do that. You could, it would be a little bit unusual, and hopefully, if somebody's name is Nick, you're not going to call him Saint Nick, okay? Especially around December 25th. So we won't be using saints. But you could, as a spirit being. How honorable is God to do that for us? That's part of the greatness of God. He's going to give us the Kingdom of God to share it.

And what for? So we could be there, "I'd rule over everything. I'm a master ruler, that's great." Is that what it's about? Or is it about you helping other people to be there? Which is God's plan. That's why Christ came to the earth, not to condemn it, but the world through Him might be saved. Now, how can I do that? How I be a ruler over 10 cities, 15 cities, 2 cities, 1 city, how I do...? I've never learned to be a mayor. Have you learned to be a mayor? I've never learned to be a mayor. I've never been a governor of a state. How do I govern? I've never been over a nation, how will I do...? Simple. Spirit being, your mind will not be limited like it is now. God will be able to say, "Here's how to do it, do this, this, this," and you'll remember it. You'll have perfect remembrance. You won't remember the things you don't need to. Perfect forgetfulness.

God wants us to be busy, and that's what I'm going to show on the first day of the feast. We're not going to be there ruling around heaven. We're not going to be strumming our harps. We're going to be actively working to build away cities, to turn this world into a garden of Eden, and to help people that don't know anything, any language. He's going to have one pure language too. He's going to wipe out diseases. He's going to do a lot of things, and He'll have you helping Him help people. Because you could say, "I know what it's like, I was there. I know what it's like because I went through that. I can help you with this because I overcame that." We're not going to be sitting around. We're not going to be lazing around. And whatever He tells us to do, we could do it quickly. We don't have to memorize it. We don't have to take notes. He just tells you… Pssssht, your mind. What an awesome time that will be.

Of course, Matthew 25, Luke 19, talk about have rulership over so many cities because of how you've used your talents, how you've used your wealth, or whatever you have, your energies in this life now. He said, "Come." And it's awesome. He promises to give us power over the nations in Revelation 2:26, and Revelation 3:21, He talks about us being able to rule with Jesus Christ from His throne, because we'll be in our direction, our marching orders from Him. It's going to be His Kingdom, right? He's going to turn over to the Father, finally, whenever all the other nations are put down. But we're not going to come, presto chango. We had a horrible world, now we have a utopia. How does that happen? There's a lot of work to do in the Kingdom. We'll roll up our spiritual sleeves, hike up our robes, if we wear robes at that time, cinch them up, use our golden belts, or girdles, if you want to call them, your belts, and be able to do the work. God doesn't want you lazing around heaven. Jesus doesn't want you staring in his face.

And I've taught comparative religion, and I teach Catholicism, and I know Catholics, what they want to do is have the beatific vision. They want to look at Jesus, gaze in His face, look at Him. I would get tired having people all stare at me. Wouldn't you get tired of people sitting there staring at you all the time? That's what you're going to do? Get new glasses so you can see better. Oh, you won't need glasses. God has a plan for us. God wants you to help others. It's His way of giving, right? It's more blessed to give. You made it with God's blessing and guidance and strength. Help others make it with God's blessing, guidance, and strength.

So those are some of the reminders we should have, that we will not be neglectful, that we will not be careless, that we will not forget. Let's not neglect great salvation because the world is waiting for you. Do you know that? The world is waiting for you. It's waiting for the children of God to be placed, to be ordained, to be sanctioned, to be given their marching orders, and save them. And save them. Romans 8:18-25...I only pick out selected scriptures. The world is waiting for us to bring peace and joy, health, blessings, and salvation to them.

Romans 8:18 "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." What are we going to do with that glory? Just show it off? No. "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God."

They're waiting for us, for children of God, for all Christians, true Christians. They're waiting for them to be a part of the Kingdom of God to bring this world some sanity. Nobody's going to bring this world sanity. Nobody. I mean, you hope that human leaders will be strong, at least, and good. Is there a human leader that's going to create the Kingdom of God? No. Only Jesus Christ can bring it about. Only Jesus Christ. But He's going to get some help. Because on the day of trumpets, people are going to be changed. What's pictured by trumpets? To join Him, spirit beings, sons of God, daughters of God, children of God. The world's waiting.

Romans 8:19 "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope."

God let the world go its own way. Some of it He had to. When He made babies, babies have to cry to let you know they're hungry. Babies have to cry to let you know they're wet. They can't talk yet. Babies have to cry to tell you, "Please hug me, dad." They have to cry. They're selfish to start, then if they're not careful, they're selfish the rest of their lives too if they don't learn. But God wants us to help people. He wants us to be there.

Romans 8:20-21 “They're subject to vanity, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope.” God hopes for us. God hopes for the world. He came to save it. "Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."

Whatever's holding them back in this life won't be holding them back in the Kingdom of God. That is awesome because of you and Jesus Christ and God the Father working to bring all these people to salvation. What an awesome time that will be.

Romans 8:22 "We know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now."

What kind of birth pangs? Ten...I forget how many... I do remember seeing it, looking it online on how many people have died. Fifty-five million people bit the dust was either last year or 2023. Fifty-five million people died of sickness, disease, or whatever else. That's a lot of people that bit the dust. People that are sick. Heart disease, number one. I'll just give you the 10, I have it here. Diseases in the world, number one, heart disease. Stroke, number two. Respiratory illness, number three. COPD, you have a hard time breathing and finally, you can't. Cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, which is the worst, dementia. Fifty-five dementias, that's the worst. Second worst, Parkinson's. Diarrhea, tuberculosis, cirrhosis. Ten of the world's worst. Our world is sick. They need to be healed.

God even says in Isaiah, "They won't come and say, 'I'm sick,' because they'll be healed." The land's going to be healed. The people are going to be healed. There'll be one true religion. There'll be peace, no war. You know there have been 56 wars in this year? 56, you haven't heard of them. Ninety-two nations have been involved in those 56 wars. Wars going on in our world. Not affecting us yet, but saber rattling right now. What would a world be like without war? Look at Ukraine. Here, give you money, go let your troops, go let your people go out and fight for us, fight against Russia. Now, we'll show them. Give you money. Here, ammunition. Go on. How many people are left in Ukraine? How many young people have not been slaughtered already? How many buildings are standing? You ever see pictures of Ukraine now? Whole cities wiped out. It'll take trillions of dollars to rebuild Ukraine. I'm not saying give it up, I'm just saying that's the state of it. That's what war does to people. It devastates them.

When I was in England in 1962, '63, as a senior student, I visited people. I visited one lady who was alive during World War II. Many of the people were at that time. Still there that I would visit, older. She was afraid to go out of her house. She had agoraphobia. Did not want to go anywhere unless she knew where she was going and felt safe. Because of those air raid sirens that they had when the Germans were sending those rockets over from Germany, bombing London. She lived in the environs of London. She was scared to death, and it followed her after the war was over, what, 18 years? In 1963 it was over. It was already over in '45? Still had it. War is horrible. One of the guys said war is Hades. War is Hades, hell. That'll be ended. God's called you to help. We're waiting that we can be changed to our adoption or sonship, the redemption of our body because we're saved through hope. They're eagerly awaiting. Says we do eagerly wait.

Romans 8:25 "But if we hope what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance."

Are you eagerly waiting for the fulfillment of the future salvation of you and the world? Eagerly, or are you neglecting it? Do we let things get in our way? Do we get so focused on something in this life that we forget? There's a Kingdom coming, God wants us to be a part of it. Isaiah 35, "It'll be beautiful." Matthew 24:3-13 talks about the need there, how important it will be for us to look and see what's going on now, what's prophesied to come, and watch and be alert to it all. Watch for the tribulations of this world, watch for the difficulties. "And think of the beautiful time when the animals lose their hostility," Isaiah 11, "land and the people will be healed, there'll be abundance and everlasting joy." No more sad sacks in the world, they'll be happy. It'll be a happy world.

When you see people smile at you, aren't you happy? Aren't you happy? The lady that looked after me in the hospital, 24 out of the first 36 hours that I was there, when I was taken in on a gurney because my leg was broken, my femur, and I had this pneumonia, I didn't know it. She took care of me the first 12 hours and was off 12 hours, and on, again, 12. So I saw her for 24 of the 36 hours, first 36 hours. I paid a visit to her, that nurse, I remembered her name. Only her first name, I'm not invasive. So I found that she was still working, knew the floor she was on, went to that fourth floor. I asked for them to call her, she was at lunch break, it was lunchtime. She came walking around the corner, I always remembered her, she was so nice to me. Walked around the corner, soon as she saw me, her face lit up, she was always nice. Anything I wanted, she couldn't be more attending. Came walking and she said, "Well, look at you." I was there, and said, "Well, you only saw me lying down before."

And she gave me a hug. I said, "Is it okay if I hug you?" Because she already had her arms out like... I said, "Is it okay if I hug you?" She said, "Yes." So I hugged her, and I told her how much she meant to me. And I said, "If you treat everybody the way you treated me, they'll heal a lot faster." And when she left, she had a big smile. I gave her a couple of Starbucks cards. She said, "You don't have to do that." I said, "I know I don't have to, but I want to. You helped me." You have a happy world, people are going to heal quickly. You have a chance to bring it about. That's what God wants. "No more war," Micah says, "one religion, they all come to say, 'God, we've waited for you.'" And I'm going to read this one, scriptures I close.

 Isaiah 25:9 "It shall be said in that day..." Usually, "In that day," is talking about the end time. This is what's going to be said by those Israelites who are left. "'Behold, this is our God, we've waited for Him. We waited for God to come, and he will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for Him. And we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.'"

May we never neglect the salvation that is so great from God.