Connecting the Dots ... Where is the Kingdom Now? Part 2

[0:00] If I can find a place, I thought I had it here. I'm going to do something that I have not done in the 50 years that I have been with you. And that is, I'm going to read you content from somebody else.

[0:15] And the reason I'm going to do this is because it does tie in with, my goodness, I really lost my place here, oh well, with what we've been dealing with, and in your bulletin, the message is entitled Post-Resurrection Issues No. 5, and Part 2 is, to this particular one, Where is the Kingdom Now?

[0:43] And because of the strategic value of this term and the confusion that surrounds it, I want to take a few moments to introduce it, and then we are going to look to the pen of Dr. Dwight Pentecost, who is now with the Lord, but who served on the faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary for many, many years, and has written a number of books, and the chiefest of which, in my opinion, is a book called Things to Come.

[1:14] And it is, in its erudition and its scholarship, it is perhaps second to none other than George Nathaniel Henry Peter's Theocratic Kingdom, a massive three-volume set that I've already talked to you about.

[1:30] And Dr. Pentecost is just in one volume. But it is masterful, it is outstanding, it is just so very helpful, and I'm going to give you some of his content this morning, and I'm just going to read what he has to say about it verbatim, and you're going to just sit there and listen to it and be enlightened.

[1:54] We've talked a lot about the kingdom. I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but the communist philosophy has a kingdom also.

[2:04] They call it the glorious communist utopia. And it is intended, through electing the right people and having the right doctrine, it is intended to bring in a utopian society on the earth, where everything will be wonderful and as it is supposed to be.

[2:24] We are convinced that communism nor socialism is capable of doing that. The only one who is capable of doing that is the creator.

[2:38] And it is not referred to as a utopian society, it is referred to as the kingdom of heaven come to earth, sometimes also called the kingdom of God coming to earth.

[2:53] And I'm going to make some explanatory statements because they are so very, very valuable. When we talk about the kingdom of heaven, most people automatically think about those who die on this earth and go to heaven where God is, absent from the body, present with the Lord.

[3:15] Well, that's heaven too. And that is where God resides. But that is not the kingdom of heaven that is mentioned so many times in the Bible. The kingdom of heaven, as the Bible uses it, sometimes called the kingdom of God, has reference to the rule and the reign and the righteousness of heaven being brought to earth so that earth becomes what heaven is.

[3:44] That is expressed in that prayer that everybody, practically everybody knows, the prayer for thy kingdom come so that thy will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[4:01] That's the kingdom that we're talking about. And you need to understand up front, for those of you who do not, Christendom is divided, radically so, in connection with what the kingdom of heaven means.

[4:17] And there are three principal areas of the division. One is called, and I'm going to start at the back and work forward. One is called post-millennialism.

[4:31] And all that means is after, post, after the millennium. And by the way, the word millennium or millennial in the Greek or Latin both is millennia, which literally means 1,000.

[4:51] And in this context, we're talking about a period of time, 1,000 years in duration. That is the millennium. It is also sometimes called the kingdom.

[5:04] Those who are of the post-millennial persuasion and their numbers have radically shrunk over the last few decades so that there are not as many as there were.

[5:19] But a post-millennialist is one who believes that the church that is commissioned to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world is going to eventually succeed in converting the whole world and bringing the whole world to Christ as a result of missionary endeavors.

[5:42] And when that happens, then the world will have become a fit place for Jesus to return to.

[5:54] That's when he will come. That's the second coming. So post-millennialism says, mankind, the ball is in your court.

[6:04] And you are charged with the responsibility of Christianizing the whole world, cleaning up the world, driving out sin, unrighteousness, corruption, and all the rest.

[6:17] And when you finish your task, Jesus will take a look at the world and say, okay, it's good enough now. I'll come back. Well, you can see why that has deteriorated somewhat.

[6:31] In fact, it was World War I that caused a lot of post-millennialists to head for the tall grass because they just could not buy that anymore.

[6:44] And the number of post-millennials that exist today in Christendom are very, very few. Then there is another group, and you need to understand, this group is the largest among Christendom.

[6:58] This is the majority opinion, and it is called a-millennial, or a. When in the Greek language you put the alpha prefix, which is our letter a, you put the alpha prefix before a word, that means it negates the word that comes after the alpha prefix.

[7:25] So if one is a-millennial, that literally means no millennium on earth, no physical, literal millennium.

[7:38] That the millennium that will be is strictly spiritual. It is not literal, and it is not actual where you could define it in terms of time, space, etc.

[7:53] It is just spiritual. That's where most of Christendom is. And they are there because they believe, and I'm talking about Roman Catholics and most Protestants, they believe that the church is the kingdom, is synonymous with the kingdom.

[8:14] So when the kingdom talks about all of these literal things that are going to happen, and the Bible talks about them, they do not take them literally, but they take them spiritually.

[8:25] In other words, we talk about Christ ruling and reigning, the all-millennials just say, well, absolutely. We believe that Christ rules and reigns, and he does so in the hearts and lives of individual Christians.

[8:40] That's the rule in the reign of Christ in the world, is in individual Christians. And that is referred to as amillennial, which means no literal, actual, physical, millennial reign on the earth at all.

[8:54] There just isn't. And the last is that to which we subscribe, and it is referred to as pre-millennial, which simply means before the millennium.

[9:08] Our position is there will be an actual, literal, physical reign and rule of Christ on the earth, on planet earth, physically, literally, and it will come to pass because Jesus Christ is going to return personally and defeat the enemies of God, and he's going to rescue Israel, and he will be the king, the monarch of this whole planet, and everything will be under subjection to him, and when that takes place, the earth will be restored to what it ought to be.

[9:54] It will be a perfect environment because Jesus Christ will rule, and the text uses the term that Jesus Christ will rule with a rod of iron, and the rod is in reference to the scepter.

[10:13] The idea is when royalty sits upon a throne, and if you've ever seen the picture of Queen Elizabeth with all of her regalia and gowns and crown, and she's seated on this beautiful throne which represents the throne, the realm of Great Britain, she has, holds across her breast a scepter, and it's about 18 inches long, and it is encrusted with precious stones and diamonds, and it's part of the crown jewels, and it's worth a whole bunch, and what it does is it symbolizes her reign as the monarch.

[10:55] Jesus Christ is going to have a rod of iron, and what that tends to convey is it's going to be a no-nonsense realm.

[11:09] He will, wherever and whenever and if ever it arises, whether it is corruption or rebellion or criminal activity or whatever it will be, it will be summarily dealt with, and justice will flow down like the rivers of water, and it will be a perfect justice.

[11:28] justice. We all know today that the term justice is pretty hard to come by sometimes. We know there's a lot of injustice that takes place in this world.

[11:42] So, what I'm going to share with you is directly from the pen of Dr. Dwight Pentecost. As I mentioned, he was one of my theological heroes, and he's written this massive volume called Things to Come.

[11:57] I know many of you have a copy of it. I heartily recommend it. I had originally intended to attend Dallas Theological Seminary.

[12:11] That was one of my dreams early on, and I was married all the time that I was a student at Cedarville and had to work part-time. My wife worked to help support me and put me through school, and we were on the GI Bill and got $90 a month from Uncle Sam on the GI Bill because I'd been in the Army for three years.

[12:32] And my dream all the way through there was as soon as I finished cramming my four years into five at Cedarville, I was going to go to Dallas Seminary. But when the time came, the money kept going and the babies kept coming.

[12:53] So I just decided the Lord was not leading me there, but I'd always had that dream and that desire, and I think I've probably obtained just about every book that Dallas Seminary professors have written, and Dwight Pentecost is one of my favorites.

[13:10] And what I'm going to do is give you his description of what the millennium is going to be like, and I want you to pay close attention for a very good reason.

[13:24] You're going to live there, and you're going to flourish in this kingdom of which we are speaking. This world is in for a radical, radical rehab, and it will come about because Christ will return and establish that kingdom.

[13:47] Mankind does not have the ability, the smarts, or anything else to bring to pass what really needs to be done. In fact, if there is anything that we have demonstrated here in the United States of America, which many of us, including myself, would hold up this country as being the paragon of virtue and freedom and liberty.

[14:18] But there's a lot of ugliness going on in this nation. A lot of ugliness. A lot of things we would change overnight. And any American worth his salt will have to tell you that's true.

[14:31] We've had a bunch of problems here in the United States. And this country leaves a lot to be desired. But it's still head and shoulders above anything that anybody else has got going.

[14:42] And that's why people are violating our southern border to get in here any and every way that they can. And that's another subject that I don't want to get involved in now, but I will next week.

[14:55] And we'll be talking about that. So what I'm going to do now is give you directly from the pen of Dr. Dwight Pentecost who is now with the Lord his description all of which is scripturally based.

[15:13] But I regret to tell you I'm not going to be able to give you the scriptures with it because there are too many and it would take up too much time. So here's what I'm going to do. I'll give you the content audibly right now.

[15:29] And then next week I will come prepared with the printed copies and all of the attendant scriptures that support what he is saying and you can have your own personal copy.

[15:45] So I want you to enjoy what you're going to hear because this is going to be a paradise. paradise. It's going to be wonderful.

[15:58] And the reason it's going to be wonderful is because Jesus Christ will personally be at the helm. And under him David the king yes the same one who lived a thousand years before Jesus was born.

[16:17] he will be on this earth also and he will be ruling as a vice regent directly under his greater son Yeshua Jesus the Messiah.

[16:34] And more to come. The twelve apostles are going to be resurrected and Peter who will be the premier of the twelve apostles will preside over that group and they will have the responsibility of judging the twelve tribes of Israel during that kingdom period.

[16:59] I'm not going to ask you to turn to it now but if we were to do so it would be I think Matthew 19 where Peter asks the question Jesus has just told the rich young ruler what he needs to do in order to enter the kingdom and he's a young man said well I've done all of those things ever since I was a kid I've done all of that from my youth up and Jesus said well there's just one thing that you lack then.

[17:25] You sell everything that you have and give to the poor and come and follow me and you'll have treasure in heaven. And the text says the young man went away sorrowful for he had great possessions now that was all in connection with the kingdom that Jesus was talking about and presenting to Israel if they would accept him as their king as their messiah that would be the payoff they would have that kingdom now it becomes involved because there are there are things that are not I'm not able to address right now for instance we know that he came to die and his death is what will make that kingdom a reality and that possibility and that's another subject we've dealt with in the past and I cannot go into it now but this is so critical and so important and when Peter and the other apostles are standing around and they're hearing Jesus talk to this young man and saying well you just sell everything that you've got and come and follow me and they got the thinking and I could see well Peter over there scratching his head and and Jesus turns to them and says yes and Peter said well we've been thinking about this and we who have followed you for the last three years of your earthly ministry we're wondering when's payday what's the payoff what thinking just like a typical human being would think what do we get out of this because he said we've left everything we left family we left friends left our fishing business to follow you what's the end game and Jesus said verily I say unto you you who have followed me in the regeneration what is that that's another word for the kingdom when the planet that is now under a curse imposed by human sin in the regeneration when the planet is regened you who have followed me shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel and I can just see those guys saying wow now all of those men are gone they all died about two thousand years ago where are they now they're absent from the body they're present with the

[20:26] Lord and they are coming back when Christ returns they are coming with him and if you die before that time you're coming too we're all coming with him we saw that earlier and that's quite clear but we will not be in these physical bodies that occupy time and space yet there will be millions of believers who have passed on for the past thousands of years who are going to return and witness the final demise of the antichrist in revelation 19 we will see that we will not be participants but we will be witnesses and Christ will establish that kingdom David his son who now has been dead for 3,000 years that is his body has been dead but his spirit is very much alive yet not occupying time or space that's another issue later we'll get into that but not today and this is what is in store so

[21:43] I want you to pay very good special attention to this description because this is what you're going to experience and you will be in a glorified body you will not be in the body that you've got now the body that you will have then will be a body that's the same kind of body that Jesus had when he came out of that tomb and it is a body that is not subject to time or space but can adopt physicality or non-physicality it is amazing we have no idea what we're really in for but let me tell you something this world is nothing compared to what that's going to be it's going to really be something so here we go conditions existing within the millennium

[22:43] Dr. Pentecost says much scripture is devoted to stating the untold blessing and glory poured out upon earth through the beneficence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom many of these have been alluded to previously he's talking about in his book previously but an outline of the conditions on the earth will show the greatness of the kingdom and here is the first one he's giving he's going to go through the alphabet with these we're going to start with a and we don't end until w so hold on to your seat I can't give you the scripture references because there are just too many it would take too much time but you'll have them next week in print a first one that everyone longs for so much is called peace peace you realize that we have a war department in our government we have a war department secretary of defense and all that good stuff we don't have a secretary of peace do we isn't that strange that's the thing everybody says they want but and have you ever asked yourself what's wrong with the world you do know something's wrong with the world don't you this is going to fix it but it will not be fixed through the ingenuity of men it will be brought to pass because

[24:36] God the creator will be the one who is doing it peace the cessation of war through the unification of the kingdoms of the world under the reign of Christ together with the resultant economic prosperity since nations will need not devote vast proportions of their expenditure on munitions is a major theme of the prophets be joy the fullness of joy will be a distinctive mark of the age we can use that can't we c holiness the theocratic kingdom will be a holy kingdom in which holiness is manifested through the king and the king's subjects the land will be holy the city holy the temple holy and the subjects holy unto the

[25:42] Lord and the word holy literally means separated it means called out from all of the unholy it speaks of purity purity and the thing that is killing us and has been killing us is corruption that's unholiness corruption is devastating and it's everywhere it's in Washington D.C.

[26:20] it's in Columbus Ohio it's in London England it's in Berlin it's everywhere it's systemic to humanity and the reason there is so much corruption is because of you and me because of the stuff we're made of every one of us every one of us is essentially self centered you need to understand that if you don't know that you're self centered you don't know you we're all self centered it's the basis of self preservation and it's perfectly natural it's perfectly natural for a fallen world Jesus Christ was other centered that's what made him so different and so special he didn't come for himself he came for you he didn't die on that cross for himself he did it for you let this mind be in you which was also in

[27:20] Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but was willing to lay aside that treasured position take upon himself the form of a servant and being made in fashion as a man he humbled himself even unto death even the death of the cross Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever lived who was not self centered and you know what he's the only one who ever deserved to be self centered isn't that interesting wow glory D the kingdom will be a glorious kingdom in which the glory of God will find full manifestation don't know what that's going to be like when Peter James and John went into the mount of transfiguration and

[28:21] Jesus was glorified before them the effulgence was dazzling and the brightness was brighter than the noonday sun it was incredible just absolutely amazing that's the kind of glory that's the Shekinah glory the glory that is and that's the glory he's going to bring with him comfort we can do some of that the king will personally minister to every need so that there will be the fullness of comfort in that day F justice there will be the administration of perfect justice to every individual how many times have we heard said that here in the United States in the good old US of A there is available the best justice that money can buy huh isn't that true

[29:25] I mean I say it as an embarrassment but it's true it's part of that fallen nature that we've got you know it's just like I said it's systemic remember reading an article it was G.K.

[29:40] Chesterton was a famous writer for the London Daily Newspaper and he's written a number of books and had a real wit about him in a way of expressing things and he got a letter one day from a fellow Londoner and it said dear Mr.

[30:01] Chesterton I've read your articles over the years blah blah blah blah blah and he says would you be so kind as to just in as few words as possible point out to your readers just exactly what it is that's wrong with the world and he took it upon himself to do that and this is what he penned dear sir I am sincerely yours G.K.

[30:36] Chesterton that was it what's wrong with the world you are I am we're all what's wrong with the world it's called fallenness it's called sin it's called rebellion it's called self centeredness it's called robbery it's called crime it's called evil it's called murder that's what's wrong with the world do you get that that's what he meant I am what's wrong with the world you are what's wrong with and you know something one of the reasons that so many politicians and I don't call them statesmen because they aren't they're just politicians statesmen are of a different caliber so many politicians can never really address the problem because they fail to really recognize what the problem is and if you can't diagnose something you can't prescribe a treatment

[31:39] I don't want to go to a doctor who's just going to write prescriptions for whatever I want them to examine me and find out what the problem is and then pinpoint that problem with the right prescription but we have so many in government all over everywhere all over the world they don't have a clue you don't have a clue you know what their answer is the answer is if you put me and the right people in office we'll fix everything we'll change it all and every four years we go to the polls hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping and what do we get we get what we got and I'm not going any further with that okay gee full knowledge the ministry of the king will bring the subjects of his kingdom into full knowledge doubtless there will be an unparalleled teaching ministry of the holy spirit there's a passage of scripture in the new testament i think it's in first corinthians i think if it hasn't moved and it says something that's absolutely mind-boggling it says we shall know even as we are known wow what is that going to involve it means for starters i get to trade in this iq for one that is much much better i can't wait i remember when i was 18 that was back when i knew everything but you know okay instruction this knowledge will come about through the instruction that issues from the king and there are as i mentioned there are verses that support all of these and i'll see that you get them next week and i the removal of the curse we are under a cursed world thorns and thistles it brings forth all kinds of hurtful harmful things farmers plant their crops and they have to soak the ground with fertilizer because they have to fight against insects and fight against this and fight against that to take a crop from the ground the removal of the curse the original curse the original curse the original curse placed upon creation will be removed so that there will be abundant productivity to the earth animal creation will be changed so as to lose its venom and ferocity we're told that a child will play on the den the living quarters of a cockatrice now i don't know what a cockatrice is i had to look it up but it's an especially poisonous venomous kind of serpent and a child will be able to play on it without any harm amazing oh there's a lot of people that will be looking forward to this j sickness removed do you think jesus is going to allow people to be sick when he went through all the israel healing people of all kinds of diseases never found one that was too tough for him never had a failure the ministry of the king as a healer will be seen throughout the age so that sickness and even death except as a penal measure in dealing with overt sin will be removed now wait a minute where is this overt sin going to come from we need to understand that in addition to the multitude of people who will be there with glorified bodies and thus removed even from the capability of sin there will be a lot of people who will survive the tribulation period physically it's going to be hell on earth literally during that seven year tribulation period particularly the last three and a half years and inexpressible numbers of people are going to lose their lives b that is for billions of earth populations going to be reduced by billions when this time comes but there will be many who will survive the tribulation period despite the fact that the antichrist is trying to do away with them they will survive and they will go into the millennium with the same kind of a body that you and i have right now they will not have been glorified they will just be in these bodies and they will marry and they will have children and children will be born and that's going to go on for a thousand years and at the end of a thousand years you've got a whole lot of people and they will constitute the final rebellion that is described in revelation 20 when satan is released from the bottomless pit where he has been incarcerated for one thousand years he will be released and he has not reformed he will go out upon the earth to deceive those people who do not have those glorified bodies who will be subject to his lies and deception and they will sign on with him and side with him and as a result the last great conflict this is after the millennium the last great conflict that will be engaged will not even be a battle it is simply described as

[37:58] Christ will simply bring down fire from heaven and obliterate the enemy and then that millennial reign will merge into what is called the eternal state and John describes that as seeing the new Jerusalem come down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband and that will begin the eternal state because that brief interruption will come at the conclusion of the millennial reign I must hasten on item L protect I'm sorry K K is the healing of the deformed think of that everyone with the physical and I take it it will also include the mental there will not be any mental retardation there will not be any physical deformity accompanying this ministry will be the healing of all deformity at the inception of the millennium

[39:08] L protection there will be a supernatural work of preservation of life in the millennial age through the king M freedom from oppression there will be no social political or religious oppression in that day N no immaturity the suggestion seems to be that there will not be the tragedies of feeble mindedness nor of dwarfed bodies in that day longevity will be restored the whole earth is just going to undergo a cataclysmic change and I do not begin to understand the scientific analysis of this but some scholars are of the opinion that before in the original creation God had provided a canopy a vapor barrier over the globe and that this vapor barrier prevented many of the harmful rays of the sun from penetrating it and we are told even by experts today that it is exposure to the sun that tends to age things and it produces all kinds of wrinkles and skin problems and cancers and stuff like that from exposure to the sun and when this time comes

[40:44] I don't know if there's going to be a reinstitution of the vapor barrier or not but you know in the Bible particularly in the earlier books when it talks about man having life expectancy and Methuselah living to be 969 years the tendency of us know-it-alls today is say ah you don't believe that stuff those are exaggerations or they're months or they're nothing of the kind they're literal they're real years the only way they differ from our years is that the biblical year is 360 days ours is 365 and one-fourth but other than that these were real years and Methuselah really was 969 years old and people are going to live those who come into this millennium as with the kind of bodies that we have they are going to enjoy a variety of health and longevity the likes of which we can't imagine but I suspect it's going to be somewhat akin to what they enjoyed back and as you read the Old Testament the more you the further you go in the Old Testament you see the average lifespan declining 969 seems to have been the tops and that was

[42:03] Methuselah and by the time you get further into the Old Testament we are told that the average lifespan is three score and ten what happened there that's all part of this fallenness and the toll that it has taken upon humanity oh reproduction by the living peoples the living saints who go into the millennium in their natural bodies will beget children throughout the age the earth's population will soar these born in the age will not be born without a sin nature so salvation will be required they will be confronted with the need for salvation just as we were P labor the period will not be characterized by idleness but there will be a perfect economic system in which the needs of men are abundantly provided for by labor in that system under the guidance of the king there will be a fully developed industrialized society providing for the needs of the king subject agriculture as well as manufacturing will provide employment and you know the bible takes a position all throughout that labor and work is man's noble endeavor but as a result of our fallenness do you know how most people look upon work well you gotta work if you wanna eat and the only reason

[44:02] I work is because I don't wanna starve to death but if I could get away and live in this world without working that's what I'd do and the name of the game is do as little work as you possibly can in order to get rewarded with as much money as you can get do you know what that is that's the way your fallenness thinks that's the way natural man thinks that's smart I'm really smart if I can fool my boss into thinking I'm working when I'm really loafing and then he's paying me for money and for things that I didn't do that's cool man that's that's smart that's the way so many people look at it today and they don't realize that a good full hard day's work is not only honoring to God but it can and will result in a satisfaction and enjoyment that you can experience for having made a legitimate contribution and pulled your weight there is a certain amount of I don't know what else to call it other than emotional satisfaction a sense of gladness that you were able to accomplish something and it's it's there is nothing else as rewarding as that but there are a lot of people who don't want that reward they don't want to experience that they just want to be a bum they want a loaf they want somebody else to work for them they wanted to give it to them they want the government to give it to them they want their parents to give it to them give me give me give me and they just don't see the value of the output of energy and they think that working and labor hey that's for dopes that's for people if you're not smart enough then you'd have to do that that's that's that's part of the fallenness that's the way that's what's wrong with the world you get that economic prosperity the perfect labor situation will produce economic abundance so that there will be no want in this modern day of technology scientific advancement accomplishment brilliant

[46:30] IQ surfacing all over the place for crying out loud why can't we have baby formula what's going on here anyway even that is part of a fallen supply and demand system do you ever get the impression is there anything we do right sometimes you wonder don't you I mean good grief baby's formula increase of light there will be an increase of solar and lunar light in the age this increased light probably is a major cause in the increased productivity of the earth S unified language language the language barriers will be removed so that there can be free social intercourse that's amazing you know every now and then we see some of our some of our government officials visiting and talking with with people heads of state and representatives from other governments and I've been kind of taken aback by so many of these people that our people are talking to in Europe or Asia speaking pretty good

[48:05] English what is it with these people and now sometimes of course they have to use an interpreter but many times they converse with somebody from Sweden or the Netherlands or Germany and they're speaking just as good of English as we use what is it and I've just come to realize that English is pretty much the global language and there are a lot of people in a lot of places that English is not their first language but they speak it and the time is coming during this millennial reign when there will be no communication breakdown everyone will be able to communicate accurately with others and a unified worship T all the world will unite in the worship of God and God's

[49:06] Messiah U the manifest presence of God God's presence will be fully recognized and fellowship with God will be experienced to an unprecedented degree B the fullness of the spirit divine presence and enablement will be the experience of all who are in subjection to the authority of the king and W the perpetuity of the millennial state that which characterizes the millennial age is not viewed as temporary but eternal the wide diversity of the realms in which the blessings of the king's presence is felt is thus clearly seen what we're talking about is heaven on earth and none of us have ever experienced anything like this and I just want to close with this observation we wonder of course what that's going to be like just can't imagine experiencing these things because we have come to regard this as normal but what

[50:38] God is saying is no no no this is not normal this is abnormal this is sin wrecked this is God rebellion against God this is man going his own way this is man calling the shots and this is the mess that we've made of it and what this is going to be is just as good as wonderful as righteous as God can make it wow that is going to be something that will be heaven on earth and every one of us here right now if you are in

[51:38] Christ Christ is in you and this is what you are going to be living in and I am fully confident I am fully confident that the time is going to come in that millennium I don't know when it's going to I'm not setting any dates I don't know when but I know when it is I just I don't I don't make maybe this is my flesh okay maybe this is just my flesh which will be eliminated by then but it would really be so neat if someone would come up to me then and say hey this is what you were talking about that Sunday morning back at grace in May remember this is what you were talking about only you missed it because it's a lot better than what you thought it would be wow going to be as good as great as wonderful as holy as righteous as satisfying as fulfilling as assuring as enjoyable as

[53:01] God can make it and nothing left to do now but the clock says I need to pray so let's pray father what we've been talking about is beyond our ability to really comprehend and yet everything about you is and that's part of the enormous separation that divides deity from humanity and we would not know about you what we do had you not been pleased to reveal yourself in the way you have and so we're so so very thankful that you chosen to reveal yourself in a person who was like one of us and came to us and lived on our level and lived with our failings and our faults and loved us in spite of it and then you took upon yourself that unbelievable responsibility of buying back everything that was lost we just cannot begin to fathom that kind of love but we're so grateful for it and our prayer today if there is anyone here without that assurance without that joy and peace knowledge of forgiveness we pray even now that they would make this prayer their prayer dear

[54:36] God there's a whole lot about this that I don't understand but I understand that I am just like everyone else I'm a member of the human race that in many ways has turned its back on you I want to acknowledge that recognize that I want to admit that I know I know I'm prone to want my own way just like everybody else is but I believe you loved me and you gave yourself to pay the penalty for my sin and I don't understand that kind of love but I'm so thankful for it and my heart's desire right now is to put my faith and my trust and my confidence and my everything in this wonderful person that you sent your own son to do for me what I couldn't do for myself don't understand that kind of love but I rejoice in it

[55:37] I want Jesus as my savior I want your forgiveness I want your eternal life and I know there's nothing I can do to earn it or deserve it I want to accept it from you as the free gift that you have to give so with all of my questions and doubts and fears I right here and now take Jesus Christ as my personal savior I want him to come into my life and do for me whatever it is he wants to do thank you for that inexpressible kind of love I accept it and I thank you for it in Christ's wonderful name Amen