Preparing for the Day

We started this little subject two times ago, so there are two prior tapes. If you're interested, over in the old building on my right to the rear, you'll see a big sign that says Book and Tapes. Just ask for the last two tapes, that would be last Tuesday and last Sunday morning.

It will make this make more sense to you. Now in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, it talks about rewards to the overcomer. And the overcomer merely is the person who has the victory.

It's no big deal. Some Christians live without the victory. Some live in victory.

You know tonight whether you're in victory or not. If you can honestly say I'm doing what the Lord has asked me to do, I'm praying, seeking his face, I'm getting the victory over my sins, you're in victory. If you're careless, you're not praying, you're not reading the word, you're not assembling with the saints, you're kind of drifting, telling dirty stories, doing things you know you shouldn't, you're not living a victorious life.

And Christianity really kind of has two parts to it. One is getting saved, and we get saved by believing in Jesus and being baptized in water. But at this particular, during the 2,000 years of the church age, something else is going on.

And that is the Lord is calling out to himself what we call a royal priesthood, or people to be his priests and his kings. So that's a separate issue, it's not the same as salvation. Salvation comes by believing and being baptized in water, that's how you get saved.

But during the 2,000 years of the church age, and we're about at the end of it, God is calling out people, we call it the church, and it's not just a case of believing and being baptized, you have to live the life. You have to live the life. Sometimes it's called a fight, sometimes it's called a race, and it's for whosoever will, it's up to you if you want to run it.

You can't deal. You can't deal. You can't say, well, I'll just settle for being saved.

You can't do that. You have to do what God calls you to do. If you don't do what God calls you to do, you're disobedient.

So if God has called you to be a member of the church or the royal priesthood, you can't say, well, I'll just be saved and drop it. It doesn't work that way. When God calls you to do something, you have to do it or you're judged to be disobedient.

And the Bible says, to whom much is given, of him shall much be required. So it's a joy and a privilege to be called of God, to be a part of his church, to be a part of his royal priesthood. It's a wonderful thing.

It's the best thing in life, I'm here to say. I've been at it for 50 years, and it's the best thing in life. The best thing in life.

But each person has to judge for himself. So what we're talking about is in Revelation 2 and 3, we're talking about living the victorious Christian life. And the rewards, you might want to take notice of them.

There's a number of them in Revelation 2 and 3. You might want to take notice of them, what they are. They're not what we usually think with going to heaven or mansions. They're nothing like that.

They have to do with rulership, crowns, life, pillar in the temple of God, different rewards associated with being a member of God's royal priesthood. So, the Lord here is speaking to his churches on earth. And they're not perfect here.

But he's calling out of his churches, just like he is today, he's calling out people who will hear his voice, hear the Spirit, and do his will. Out of all the churches and all the people that mill around and call themselves Christians, there are those who are hearing the Lord. They're hearing the Lord, and they're following him.

And it's up to you. It's up to me to follow the Lord. I can't guarantee anything.

I can tell you what God has said. I know it's true. I know it is literally and exactly true.

And it will come to pass exactly as God has said. I know that it's simple and workable and practical. And it's something you can do if you want to.

But I'll tell you this. You cannot hang on to the world and be a victorious saint. You cannot do it.

And the world is getting worse. You know it's getting mean. People are getting mean.

I mean, on the highway, you'll get shot for cutting in front of somebody. People are so tense. So negative.

So filled with garbage. So upset about the country. So upset about politics.

You can see it everywhere you go. People are under tension. Under tremendous tension.

That's why they take drugs. So many boozers and things. Life is not pleasant.

But in the midst of this darkness, God has sent a shaft of light. And that's always God's way. When things are the worst they get, the more God is present.

And today, there's so much darkness. But there's light on the Bible that has never been in existence before. You won't find it in any commentaries.

There's light on the Bible that has never been before. And so, here it is. You can take advantage of it.

You can buy it. And if you do, you will prosper. Even in, I don't care how crazy the country gets.

You will find your way home to God. Nobody can stop you. So, these rewards.

One thing that I want to stress tonight. I said Sunday morning that these various rewards to the overcomer in Revelation chapter 2 and 3. Eating of the tree of life. The crown of life.

And so on. Are really steps toward the first resurrection. And I want to explain that again.

We've explained that before. But it's not a common teaching in the world. But I'll give you scripture for it.

Then you can judge for yourself. So, David will put up my little fancy diagram here. That he just made a couple of minutes ago.

I didn't know I was going to push this one. But there must be a reason. And that's very simple.

What it says up there. It's just a horizontal line. Saying this for people on tape.

It is a horizontal line. And on the left side of the line. It says first resurrection.

And on the right side it says second or general resurrection. And then the line is named the thousand year reign on earth. That we call a millennium.

It's very simple. Very simple diagram. Now the point is this.

We are approaching the coming of the Lord. We're approaching that. Now I don't know how close we are.

It could be 50 years. 100 years. It could be.

I don't think it'd be within 5 years. A lot of things haven't been fulfilled. But I'm not going to say when the Lord is coming.

I'll leave that to other people. I'm not going to say that. When the Lord is coming.

But I will tell you that. I'd say it's nearer than when we believe. It's nearer tonight than it ever has been.

Can you argue with that? Alright. So. It's been 2,000 years of the church age.

We're coming up to it. And the types work in terms of this 2,000, 3,000. I don't want to go into it.

But it looks like we're heading up pretty close. When the Lord comes there's going to be a resurrection. Now let me explain to you about the word resurrection and what it means.

The term resurrection applies to your body. When you become a Christian, your spirit is raised from the dead, so to speak, and ascends to God in Christ. And that's just common teaching, Romans 6, Ephesians 2. We are seated with Him at the right hand of God.

Spiritually. But bodily we're on the earth. But the great hope of the Christian church is the resurrection.

Now when you're young that doesn't mean too much to you because you think you're going to live forever. When you're my age you don't have the same point of view. Okay? I'm looking over the hill.

Alright. Now. We don't live forever.

You've probably never known anybody that lived forever. I mean sooner or later we kick the bucket. Alright.

We die. Death is a reality. It's a physical reality.

There's no use kidding yourself. You're going to die. I'm going to die.

You're going to die. Okay? It's no big deal. We don't fear it because we're Christians.

Alright. Now the Bible promises clearly in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that every person who has ever died on the earth, ever lived on the earth, his body is going to be raised. Not his spirit.

Our spirit is already raised. All that are in the grave shall hear his voice. Well our spirit isn't in the grave.

Our spirit is with the Lord. But it's the body that's in the grave. All that are in the grave.

Now the word resurrection only means one thing. It means to take a dead body and bring it to life again. That's all it means.

It doesn't mean anything more than that. That's resurrection. Now you say, well suppose I'm hit on the head with an atom bomb.

You know, that poses certain problems. Because I'm vaporized. Well, you've got to think of something.

When God made man in the beginning, he made him out of clay. He didn't have something that he just kind of filled out. He just started with the ground.

God is God. And God can tag your molecules. Don't worry about it.

Scientists can tag things with isotopes. God can tag your molecules. There's no problem.

God doesn't see like we see with 20-20 vision. God doesn't see that way. He can look.

He can see the atoms. He can look. He can see the farthest galaxies.

He can look. He can see the nucleus of every atom. He can look and he can see the particles within the nucleus.

God is God and he has made everything. He is not a human being. He is God.

Okay? When God says he's going to raise you from the dead, he has no problem. He's going to raise you from the dead. Whether you drown, rotted away, whatever happens, God is going to raise you from the dead.

He's got you tagged. Jesus had an interesting thing. He said, Fear not.

The very hairs of your head are numbered. Well, you stop and think about that. Every human being, God knows the number of hairs on his head.

Ordinally and cardinally. That means he knows the sum total. He also knows which is first and which is thirty-second.

Okay? God knows the number of the hairs on your head. Hey, you don't, do you? How many people know the number of hairs on their head? Probably not too many in this room. Actually, no.

I sat down and counted the hairs on your head. You know, you're not that worried about yourself. But God is.

Just fear not. Even the very hairs of your head are numbered. Not a sparrow falls to the ground.

God knows it. God is in control. God knows.

He doesn't see. He doesn't think like we do. He has total recall.

Total vision. Total knowledge. God is God.

Jesus came to tell us about God. God, who never lies, said, all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Okay? Whether you're wicked, whether you're good, you're going to come forth.

Your body is going to come forth from the grave. Okay? Now, the scripture, it doesn't matter. You're going to come forth from the grave.

But what matters is what happens to you after you come forth. That's what's important. That's what's important.

The kind of resurrection you have. That's what's important. You are going to be raised from the dead.

I'm going to be raised from the dead. But what's going to happen after that is the issue. How many can see the simple logic of that? See, it's what you're going to face when you're raised.

And I just want to talk about just one aspect of this. We've talked about many aspects of the resurrection prior. But just tonight, just one point.

The Bible teaches that there's going to be two resurrections. This is not commonly taught, so you need to see it, and I'll give you a couple of scriptures. The first one's going to take place when the Lord comes.

That's the first resurrection. The second one, and then there's going to be what the Bible calls a millennium or a thousand-year kingdom age, when the Lord rules on this earth, not a new earth, this earth. Now, the thousand years may be literal.

They may be figurative. I cannot tell you. But it says he shall reign for a thousand years.

At the end of that thousand years, everyone will be raised, that is the bodies now, and I'm talking about spirits, the bodies of everyone will be raised who was not raised in the first resurrection. So, if you take the first and second together, you have everyone who has ever lived will be raised in either the first or second resurrection. Now, at the second resurrection, which comes at the end of the thousand-year period, people will be judged according to their works, the scripture says, according to their works, whether they have done good or bad, and the book of life will be opened, and if your name is not found in the book of life, it says you will be cast into the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, cast in in your body.

This all happens in the body. It all happens in the body. So, if to be saved, we use the term saved, the word saved means that at the second resurrection, you will not be cast into the lake of fire, but you will be brought forth to eternal life, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and you will be brought forth to eternal life on the new earth.

That's what it means to be saved. It's just as simple as that. It means that when your body is raised from the dead, you do not face an angry God that can't find your name in the book of life, and you are brought forward, you may be spiritually immature, you may never have heard of Jesus.

God just judges you on the type of person you are. It says that every man shall be judged according to his works, and this is repeated many times in the scripture. And God judges you to be saved on whatever, if you've heard the gospel and received Jesus, then you'll be judged on that basis.

If you reject Jesus, you're in trouble. You are in trouble. If you hear the gospel and reject Jesus, you are in trouble.

I don't care how good you are. You can't say no to God's Son without experiencing the wrath of God. And I'm here to tell you that God's wrath is as great as His love.

God's wrath is as great as His love. Don't ever forget that. God is not some big loving Santa Claus.

He is a loving Spirit. He is also a Spirit of wrath. And when God says to accept Jesus and be saved, that's what He means.

He doesn't mean to spit in His face and say, I don't need you. Jesus said, he that believeth not the Son is condemned already. So, what you're concerned about primarily is when you're raised from the dead, you will be brought forward to eternal life in the new world of righteousness.

That's what you want. You don't want anything to do with going into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. You don't want that.

There will be people in that lake. You don't want to be there. You don't want to spend eternity in a lake burning with fire and sulfur with the devil and his angels.

You don't want that. And so Jesus died on the cross so that you don't have to. The lake of fire is not prepared for people.

It is prepared for the devil and his angels that sinned against God. The only people that will be there will be people who have chosen Satan over God. And so when you hear the gospel, God said, I died for your sins.

You accept it. You baptize in water. God's promise to you is you shall be saved.

Meaning in the day of wrath of God when the heavens and earth pass away as Peter talks about. That's what you want, to be saved. Now, what about the first resurrection? The first resurrection is a resurrection of God's royal priesthood and it has to be attained.

The second resurrection, the one at the end, does not have to be attained. You're going to come up willy-nilly. You can say, I prefer to sleep here.

It isn't going to do you any good. Marvel not at this. The hour is coming all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth.

They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment. That's John 5, 28 and 29. Okay? You have no choice about that.

You can't say, I prefer to stay here. You're coming out. God says, come.

Your brain can be saying no, but your body will come. It will obey God and stand before God. And you want to be saved in that day.

Man, if you go through life and you're not saved, you're foolish. If you hear the gospel and you can realize I can accept Jesus and be saved it takes away the fear of death. It takes away the fear of death.

If you know you're saved, you know you've got your peace with God, it takes away the fear of death. Who's afraid? Why die? Somebody says, I'm going to shoot you. So you're going to put me into paradise? Big deal.

And Christ came to do that, to remove the fear of death. People are afraid of death. And rightly so.

It's unknown. It's unknown. But God speaks out of that unknown and He says, I'll take away the sting of death.

The sting of death is sin and I will forgive your sins if you will receive Jesus. Now, if you don't, you're walking around and suppose you die tomorrow. You say, well, I can't die tomorrow.

I'm sixteen. Hey. Hey.

I'm reading a book right now that was written by a pediatrician who is in pediatric oncology. In other words, she just deals with children who are dying of cancer. That's all.

That's her whole thing. Children who are dying of cancer. By the way, it came from Miss Eastep.

The book. What's the name of it? Miss Eastep. Where is she? What's the name of that book? I'm reading it.

When I get through, I'm going to hold it up in front of the church. It's a marvelous, marvelous thing. This woman started off.

This doctor started off as an atheist. But as the children were dying, they began to tell her what they were seeing in their atheism. Because you got especially close to children.

And as these little children were dying of cancer, they said, well, nurse, can't you see them? There's all the angels all around. They knew the kids weren't putting on. You know.

It was marvelous. Hey. There's a world out there.

It's a children's hospital down here full of kids. And some of them are dying. You're not too young to die.

You're not too young to die. So when you hear the gospel, you grab a hold of it. Say, that's for me.

You believe and you get yourself baptized in water. If you haven't been baptized, see Stan here, the man with the guitar and the envelope and his shirt pocket. And because he's going to be having a baptism one of these days, you get yourself baptized.

The Bible says, he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. I'm not too young to die. You're not too young to die.

We don't know. We have no guarantee of tomorrow. But we do have God's Word.

He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. When we come to that resurrection and we're raised, Christ looks at theirs in the record. Well, the gospel came to them.

They did what I said. You know. Next case.

Because there's nobody God's the judge and Christ is the prosecuting prosecutor and He also defends those who trust Him. It's not too bad to have the prosecutor on your side. So, it gets thrown out of court.

God says, next case. What can you do? They gave His Word. You're free.

You're home free. But when we come to this first resurrection, the one that will take place when the Lord returns, the one before the thousand year, it's a special resurrection and it doesn't happen to you willy-nilly. You have to attain it.

And I'll show you where that expression is. It's in Philippians, the third chapter. Now, you need this because, as I say, it's not common knowledge.

You need to be able to give an answer to people that ask you. They say, where did you ever hear that? Why do you believe it? Well, there it is in Philippians 3.11. We're looking for Philippians right now. Philippians 3.11. And Paul says, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Now, the Greek term is out-resurrection. It doesn't show in most translations. It does in some, but it's important because it's the only time in the whole Bible that the term out-resurrection is used.

And it's used here in Philippians 3.11 in order that I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead. Now, let me explain something to you logically. Okay? John 5.28 and 29 says, all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth.

How many see that there's no attaining to that? There's no attaining to that. You don't have to attain anything. It's going to happen.

Okay, but in this out-resurrection, it's something. Obviously, Paul, here he is an apostle, and he's not trying to attain to the general resurrection of the dead. He's trying to attain to something special.

Okay? How many see the logic of that? You don't have to attain to the resurrection. You're going to be resurrected. So, evidently, he's talking about a special aspect of the resurrection.

If by any means I may attain to the resurrection. Okay? Then we go over in Revelation chapter 20, and we find the first resurrection described. And you will find in Revelation 20, verses 4 through 6, you will find that, well, we'll take verses 5 and 6 of Revelation 20, you will find that the language here, the language implies a special resurrection.

It's not the general resurrection of the dead. This implies the language, the way it's spoken. It's not talking about everyone that is saved.

Now, listen. The rest of the dead did not come to life until a thousand years were completed. That's at the end of the thousand years.

Then, referring back to verse 4, it's saying, this is the first resurrection. We've got to read verse 4, so it makes sense to you. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon.

Okay, stop and think now. Stop and think. This is describing the first resurrection.

Okay? So what is the purpose of the first resurrection? What is the purpose of it? To provide what? Rulers. It has nothing to do with salvation. It has to do with ruling.

People say, you know, I'm not into that. I don't know all about that. Hey, the biggest problem in the world today is righteous rulers.

That's the biggest single problem in the world today, is that the governments are full of corruption. Now, think about that. They're all playing games with each other.

They're doing this and doing that to keep their power. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer, and the politicians lord it over everybody, and it seems that most of them are completely lacking in integrity. They just want to keep their jobs.

Right or wrong? Is that right or wrong? How about our government? It's full of honest people. I'm not running down the government. I'm telling you that, how would you like to have the Lord Jesus as President of the United States? Every person treated fairly, the poor fed, the naked clothed, no double dealing, no dishonesty in government, whatever, no lying, just straight righteousness, the wicked are punished, the innocent are spared.

How would you like to live in a country like that? The need is for government, and that's what the Bible is about. The providing of government. The increase of His government and of peace.

There shall be no end, it says in Isaiah 6. The New Testament talks much about rulership. If we suffer, we will rule. The word royal priesthood means a ruling priesthood.

It's constantly referred to in the New Testament, and also in the Old. The problem with the world is government. We don't have righteous government.

And so, the meek are run over. The honest people are hurt. The crooks go free.

It happens. The innocent suffer. God is coming to put an end to it.

This is His world. His people. And He's going to set up a righteous government.

How many ever heard the expression, King of Kings and Lord of Lords? That's what Jesus is. He's not just a Savior. He actually is a King.

And His throne isn't going to rule in Heaven. He's going to rule here, where we need Him. And He's training rulers.

Now look again at Revelation 20 verse 4. And I saw thrones. And it doesn't say He sat upon it, does it? Doesn't say He sat upon it. What does it say? Who are they? Who are going to sit on the thrones that rule the earth? Who are they? Those who attain the first resurrection.

It's as simple and straightforward as that. First you get saved. Being saved makes you eligible to press forward to the rewards to the overcomer.

The rewards to the overcomer have to do with rulership. Crowns. If you don't understand that, there's no use in my teaching Revelation 2 and 3. It won't mean anything to you.

You say, oh isn't that dandy? I went to church and I learned something I have no idea what it has anything to do with anything. And here I am, my household is in chaos and they're talking about something I don't know anything about. Okay? So what I'm telling you is very simple.

You're a human being. And after you get through this wild ride we call life, you're going to die. And after that you're going to be raised again.

I can't tell you who's going to be elected in the next election. I don't know. I can't tell you what's going to happen in Haiti.

I'm very suspicious about that situation. But I'm not positive. I don't know what's going to happen there.

I don't know if a year from now the dollar will be worth a penny. I have no way of knowing that. But I'll tell you one thing I do know.

The day's going to come when you're going to die. And the day's going to come when you're going to be raised again. So if you stop to think about it eternity is a long time.

You want to get practical? Start getting your life insurance together. Okay? Your eternal life insurance. And after that you can sweat the small stuff.

Okay? Get the big one handled and you can sweat the small stuff later. You know? By making a living and making some kind of sense out of your family compared with where you're going to spend eternity. Okay? That's the heavy.

That's what the Bible's about. And that's why I'm not giving you some formula for a happy marriage. There's enough doing that.

I don't have to do that. My job is to tell you what's the one thing that's important in life is what you do with Jesus. That's the one solitary thing that is truly important is what you do with Jesus because it affects where you're going to be forever.

The spirits don't die. Adam and Eve are alive somewhere. Hitler's alive somewhere.

You know? I don't know whether Adam and Eve are in the hot place or not, but I'm sure Hitler is. Your spirit doesn't die. You can't kill a spirit.

You can't get at it. How are you going to kill it? Death is the separation of the spirit from the body. That's what death is.

But your spirit doesn't die. Your body dies. But your spirit's going to be alive somewhere forever.

And this is God's eternal life in church. I'll tell you what. So you not only have eternal life in the second resurrection, but there's something else that God is doing during the church age, during the time when Jesus died to now we call it church age.

And God is taking... He's got a lot of people in the churches that believe all kinds of things and are all levels of spiritual development. But out of this, God is training rulers. Now why is God training rulers? Because there is no way to make this earth a decent place to live until you have righteous rulers.

You can make all the rules you want. You can do this, you can do the next thing. But until all over the earth in every country there are placed people who fear God, love God, have a heart for people, and are willing to help them and serve them, this mess will go on and on and it will never stop.

The only solution to it is a rulership that will bring peace and righteousness. And that's what Jesus is. He's the Prince of Peace.

He's coming again to rule. And He would have stayed here the first time that He came to rule, but He had no people to rule with Him. So in this 2,000 years He's doing two things.

He's saving people, but He is also preparing rulers so that when He comes they'll come with Him. The wicked will be brought under their power. Satan will be driven out and we'll have 1,000 years of peace on this earth.

It's as simple as that. That's all there is to it. You get saved and then you begin to run the race for this crown of life.

And you'll rule with the Lord. And you say, well, I don't particularly care about ruling. You will want to when you see it.

Just take my word for it. Say, right now, the idea of having a 16 pound gold crown on my head and a scepter and sitting there doing nothing but judging people is the last thing in the world I want. I'd rather be up in the main woods taking pictures of the wolves or whatever your thing is, okay? Trust me.

When it comes around, it's going to be something that you want. God doesn't have you go through all this to give you something that you don't want. So just shine the church stuff.

Forget that. We're not talking church. We're talking reality.

You were born into the world and I was born into the world for a reason. And if God moved over the 5 billion people in the world and He picked you out to hear the gospel, then you're privileged. Because most people in the world have known nothing about it, okay? Alright.

Then, if God puts it in your heart and you begin to see deeper into this, hey, there's some purpose in all of this and God is going somewhere, then you're even a smaller minority of people. But as this keeps increasing in your life, so does the responsibility. And you have to go for it.

You don't have any choice. That means that God has created you so that you're never going to be happy until you are in the place ruling and governing where God wants you. Trust me.

If you're here, that's what you were made for. That's what you're created. I'm doing a lot of things.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a ballistics expert. So I ended up a school teacher and then a preacher. You don't know what's in you until God reads you.

I didn't even go to church when I was a kid. And somebody said, you're going to be a preacher. I said, what's that? You know, the only church I knew was the Episcopal Church.

I never heard of Pentecost and all this wild stuff. I had no idea. I loved guns.

My whole room was all covered with pictures of guns. I wrote to every gun company, of course, in Connecticut where I was brought up, there's a lot of gun companies. I had a Mossberg 22 and down to the factory and got it.

That's where the Mossberg factory is in New Haven. I went down there and got a Mossberg 22 out of the factory. And Colby Peeing Arms is there.

Remington is there. I don't know whether Savage. Savage, I think, is in Ithaca, New York.

But there's a whole bunch of, we used to go down to Winchester Repeating Arms. I was a member of the D-Millet boys and we had a rifle team and I went down there. In the Winchester Repeating Arms, in the cellar, they had a shooting gallery.

And this was all my mind was on. Guns, guns. I enlisted in the Marine Corps when I was 17.

So I have a gun. You know, I'd have more guns. I already had guns, but I got an M1.

The guns, I was nuts about them. Nuts about them. There's nothing I love better to do than window shop and look at guns.

And the bigger and the more powerful, the better. It's a thing, you know. It's just a thing.

And here I am, a preacher. I mean, it's crazy, but I know this is what God has called me to do. I know that that's it.

And God knows the thing better than I do. He knows where I belong. He knows where you belong.

He didn't bring you into the world for nothing. If He knows the hairs on your head, He knows where you're supposed to be going. So if God brings you to salvation like He has many, many millions and millions of people, then that's God's will.

If out of that God shows you there's more to it than this and you're supposed to run the race and end up like the Jew Paul saying, Oh, if I can attain to this thing, then that's you. Then that's your thing. Don't lose it.

To do God's will is the only worthwhile thing in the world. If you're out of God's will, you've blown the whole thing. And all you are is an animal, eating, sleeping, working, playing and reproducing.

That's all you are is an animal. The thing that makes you different from an animal is to get a hold of the hotline. Get a hold of God where there's eternal life there and do His will.

You'll be happy. Everything isn't going to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect.

Nobody's got life perfect. Do you know anybody that's not having trouble? But if you're a Christian, at least it's going somewhere. It's going somewhere.

It's making sense. And I can see it over my life. I can see it since I was 19.

I can see the pattern. It makes a lot of sense. So, now look at Revelation 24, verse 4, and you'll see that this is a special resurrection that's going to take place when the Lord comes.

And it's not common knowledge. So if somebody asks you about it, then say, well, look at Revelation 20, verse 4, in Philippians 3, 11. I saw thrones, and they sat upon them.

See, it has nothing to do with being saved. And judgment was given to them. What does that mean? It means that you call the shots.

You never have a desire to call the shots. Boy, I do. There's things I'd change in this world, I'll tell you.

If I had the power, I'd change them. Is there anything in this world you'd change if you had the power? Hey, is there anything in this world you'd change if you had the power? Well, that's what a judge does. He says, do this, don't do that.

Okay, judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image. The beast is the world system.

And to worship it is to bury yourself in making money, doing the irregular thing, the entertainment thing, the violence thing, the drunkenness thing. That's the beast. That's the world system.

And you can live in it, or you can come out of it. Thank God we're out of it. We're out of it.

Left the television along the way, I'll tell you. Because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast, and had not received the mark upon their forehead, that's thinking like the world, and the mark in their hand, that's acting like the world. The world is sick.

It's sick. It's on drugs and alcohol because it can't stay in life. We don't need it.

We don't need drugs and we don't need alcohol. We need Jesus. Drugs and alcohol are no way to solve problems.

They don't solve problems. Drugs and alcohol create problems. But Jesus solves them.

Drugs and alcohol delay maybe thinking about it, but it doesn't solve anything. But Jesus solves them. One by one they're solved.

You try it and see. Not you get your money back, whatever you put in the offering. Now notice this.

And they came to life. Now how many see that? They came to life. Now of course they were spiritually alive prior to this because they had done all this righteous stuff.

So they came to life means what? Physically. Physically. They came to life physically.

Okay? And they ruled. That's the purpose of it. They ruled.

That's the first resurrection over here. That's why you have to attain it because it's an elite situation. It's not your general thing.

It's an elite thing. The terminology shows you it's an elite group of rulers. And you have to attain this resurrection.

The rest of the dead didn't come to life until a thousand years were completed. This, referring back to they came to life and reigned, this is the first resurrection. Now notice verse 6. You can see it has nothing to do with salvation.

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. You see the terminology there? It's not talking about being saved. Now go over and compare the general resurrection is in the same chapter in verse 12.

In verse 12, Revelation 20, verse 12 is the second resurrection. And notice the great difference. Now you're talking about basic salvation.

And I saw Revelation 20, verse 12 and I saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne. And books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds.

Many places in the scripture it says that people will be judged according to their works. Okay? And the sea gave up the dead and death and the 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 in the lake of fire.

This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life. Now notice this, carefully.

If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life. What does that imply? What does that imply? Okay, let's talk about a majority and a minority of people here. It says, if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life does that imply that everyone was thrown into the lake of fire or a majority or a minority? Look at the language.

If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire. Does that language say that everyone was thrown into it or a minority or a majority? The language. What would you say? If anyone's name was not found written does that imply a minority or a majority? The language of it.

It's a minority. How would it be worded if it were the majority? If anyone's name was found. If anyone's name was found it would imply that the minority were saved.

But by saying if anyone's name was not found it's like we went to the book and uh-oh, here's a guy's name wasn't found. What happens to him? What happens to the man if his name is not found? He's thrown into the lake of fire. That's the second resurrection.

Now how many see that that's plainly talking about salvation? You see that? There's nothing about thrones. There's nothing about rulership. See that? Okay, but when you go over to the one that we read chapter 20 verses 4 through 6 it's not talking about salvation at all.

They weren't judged according to their works. They had overcome. They had not worshiped the world system.

They had overcome it. And therefore their judgment was Now listen to this. This you won't get the answer unless you listen carefully.

Okay, their judgment was occurred when they refused to partake of the world system. If this is true then and they were raised when the Lord came in the first resurrection what was that first resurrection then in terms of a court? You're going to get that. It's a hard question.

Okay, they were judged on the basis that they had not partaken of the world. See their deeds weren't judged. They were judged on the basis that they had been true to the word of God.

Okay? Now, it says they came back to life and they ruled. What was that in terms of a court? Can we get that? Huh? That was the sentence. They were sentenced to come to life in the first resurrection and to rule with Jesus.

See that? Simple and clear. Okay, now Paul's making sense. See if by any means I may attain to this.

It's something that you attain. Now when you go back into Revelation I won't be too much longer here. When you back into Revelation chapters 2 and 3 Okay? You read it when you get home.

I'm going to go through it now. Revelation 2 and 3 When you go into Revelation chapters 2 and 3 When you go, okay? You with me? There are a number of rewards. Rewards.

R-E-W-A-R-D-S There are a number of rewards. Okay? I know you know how to spell. Alright? I'm just trying to get your attention.

Okay? There are a number of rewards Where? Revelation what? Chapters 2 and 3 There are a number of rewards. Okay. Now These rewards These rewards are two things.

They are the right and the ability to participate in the first resurrection. Okay? In order to participate in the first resurrection you have to have the right and you have to have the ability. You have to have God say you're worthy and you have to be able to rule people.

You can't take somebody that can't ever get the victory they're not true to God they're not obedient to God they're in and out they're up and down and sit them on a throne. I mean this is ridiculous. So you have to have the ability and you gain the ability in this life by overcoming the things that come against you.

Satan, your own flesh, people, relationships desires, all kinds of things come against us. Now let's let me talk about just a second about the right and the ability and I use this illustration Sunday morning. Let's say you want to be a doctor.

Okay? You go to college for seven years. At the end of that time you get a certificate. It says you are licensed to practice medicine in the state of California.

Okay? That license tells us two things. It tells us one that the state gives you the right to practice medicine. Okay? It gives you the right the legal right but it says something else and what is that? It says you have the ability.

It should be no good. You could have the right to practice medicine if you didn't know a thing about it you know, you'd be a great doctor. And you could know all about it because you were trained somewhere in Yugoslavia somebody came here there's a lot of scientists, chemists, doctors and everything from third world countries that cannot practice their profession in this country because our standards are so much higher.

So maybe they're a teacher in Belize and they come over here and they can't teach in the public schools because they have the ability but they don't have the right. So to practice a profession you have to have the rights the legal right and you also have to have what? The ability. So, what the rewards to the overcomer the rewards all these rewards are steps to the first resurrection the first one the one of the priesthood that's what these are they're steps to the first resurrection.

They are steps that give you authority and they also give you the ability. So if you wish to participate in the resurrection when the Lord comes it has to be more than accepting Christ and being baptized in water. You have to do that to be saved.

But to become a king and a priest with God you have to live a victorious life. Now if you are called if you are called to be part of this first resurrection to be a ruler many things are going to come against you. Things came against you today things came against me today and God is aware of every single problem that he brings into your life every single problem if you're a Christian and you love God there is nothing that happens to you by chance.

If you're a Christian and you love God and you're serving Him nothing happens to you by chance nothing happens to you by chance. If God knows the number of hairs on your head and you don't then He's more interested in you than you are. So nothing happened to you today if you love the Lord and are doing His will nothing happened to you by chance.

The devil didn't get in a lick. Nature just didn't rise against you by chance. Random, probability it doesn't happen that way.

Everything was by design. And it was in terms if you're a Christian and you love God and you're following Him then everything that happened to you today is with a view to your rulership thousands of years from now. Just like when you go to medical school and you're studying bones you're studying cancer you're studying communicable diseases or whatever you're studying all of that is in terms of people that you're going to be working with maybe 50 years from the time you were in school is that correct? Alright, God's kings are being prepared to serve Him for eternity.

So everything that happened to you today was part of a curriculum designed to meet needs that are going to occur thousands and who knows how long eternity is. You say, will everybody be perfect by then? No, they will not. People are people and they're people and there's going to be a lot of them.

And maybe they'll multiply somehow. I don't know. My opinion of God is He'll be growing forever and we'll be growing forever with Him.

That's how I view things. But nonetheless what I'm telling you is the truth. God said to Abraham look up in the sky your seed will be as the stars of heaven and the sand of the seashore.

Well, how could that guy he was 4,000 years ago that was said to Abraham and his seed is Christ and everybody who accepts Christ and they're still accepting Christ today all over the world. I got a letter from a men's colony in another part of this state a chaplain wrote from a men's colony said, can you please send me some books up here? And evidently people are getting saved up in this men's colony. And I thought, you know people are getting saved all the time.

And every person that gets saved is Abraham's seed. And that was spoken to Abraham 4,000 years ago. So we're working with a big canvas here.

Okay? So let's think for a minute about the things that happened to you today. They vexed you. They frustrated you.

They caused you to worry. And you thought this can go this way and that can go that way. And maybe something came up that was a temptation.

You were tempted to do something that you knew was wrong. And it just, oh boy, I want to do that and I want to do it so bad. Oh man, I want to do that so bad.

You know, surely God must... It must be God. I want to do this thing so bad. It must be God.

Did you ever feel like that? Huh? And yet, you know better. You know better than to move on a passion like that. You've learned to say, Jesus! And that puts the chill on the grapefruit right there.

And these passions, boom, they're gone. You say, wow, that wasn't God at all. That was just my flesh.

But it deceived me. That's particularly true of lust. It's a very deceptive thing and it works on your mind and your personality so that you're thinking all kinds of things and when you're all boiled all down, it's what C.S. Lewis called the little brown girls.

But you don't realize it because it's so camouflaged. It's so camouflaged. You can't think and you think, oh, this wonderful thing is happening.

That wonderful thing is happening. You're boiled all down with the little brown girls. And the only way you can get past them little brown girls is with a lot of prayer.

That's just an expression he used in a story that he wrote called A Pilgrim's Regress. He was talking about, had no reflection on anybody's race. It was talking about lust.

It was a figure, a metaphor that he used for lust. And he went to different things. He went into a church and the minister tried to get him interested in his daughter.

And the minister was singing this wonderful song to him and he was up in heaven and the girl was available and all this was going on. And all of a sudden in him, you know, this is the little brown girls in another form. It happens in churches, in box socials, in symphony concerts and other high level things.

It happens in the gutter. It happens all over the place. Satan is very crafty and he moves on your personality and your personality is related in such a way you can't tell where it's coming from.

But Jesus knows. And the Christian warrior learns to overcome. We're talking about overcoming.

He says, no, I won't have it. Jesus, help me. Take this thing from me.

I don't want this. Take it from me. Because it could cost me my crown.

It could cost me my right to the first resurrection. And so, what God is calling for today in His churches all over the world, God is saying, he that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. This is wrong with the churches.

That is wrong with the churches. They left their first love. They're following the deeds of the Nicolaeans.

They're saying Jesus did it all. They've got people teaching that are teaching adultery and every other thing. They've got all this stuff going, people teaching they should be rich and whatever else is going on.

But I'm saying to you, and Jesus always speaks to the individual, he who overcomes all of this, if you can hear what the Spirit is saying, then come out of this mess in your heart and your mind, because the standard today is way below anything God ever expected of Christianity. You've got to find Jesus for yourself in this church mess. And you live for Him.

And it's a fight because then you're coming against Satan who wants to rule this world. And it's future ruler against the present ruler. And that's why he's throwing up these roadblocks all the time.

He doesn't want us mudballs ruling. He wants to rule. And God is saying, you follow Me.

Don't blame people for your problems. Don't blame the government. Don't blame anything.

Maybe the doctor did a wrong thing on you. Don't blame the doctor. Don't blame anybody.

Pray! Pray! Pray! Seek the Lord. Pray! And if you will, you will overcome. You come into this church and you go out of this church in Jesus, by His strength.

You'll run through a troop and leap over a wall. And let me tell you something, no human being can take that from you. If any person takes your glory and your joy from you, that was your doing.

You permitted it. No one can take your joy from you. No one can take your glory from you.

No person can take your victory from you unless you permit it. Satan himself cannot do it. The world can't do it.

Nothing can do it. Because when you say Jesus and you call on Him, you're calling on the greatest power in the universe. And you and Jesus are a majority.

Now these are fighters that are coming through. And God's going to have a raft of them. Fighters.

People that will not quit until they stand before Jesus. And the Lord says to them, well done, well done. You did it.

You stayed with it. You won. The prize is unbelievable.

But how many people care enough to go for it? Shall we stand?