The Everlasting Kingdom

The Everlasting Kingdom
(Day 1—FOT)
Fred R. Coulter—September 30, 2023

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Greetings, brethren, welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles, the Everlasting Kingdom!

We know that the Feast of Tabernacles pictures many, many different things, and we can't cover all of these in one Feast of Tabernacles, or two or three or four, or maybe five or maybe even more because it encompasses the whole Bible! As we know, God has put all the Holy Days in Lev. 23.

When we start out a Holy Day or a Feast, of course, that's where we begin because that's where God gives us the time-setting of when to keep the Feast as well as the Sabbath. You know that the first part of it has to do with the weekly Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath, sanctifies all the other Feast and Sabbaths, as well. So here we are at the Feast of Tabernacle.

Now, just in case there may be someone out there who thinks that these Holy Days and Feasts are for the Jews; that is not true! Also, the children of Israel are not encompassed in the one tribe of Judah; there are 12! You know that through our book: America and Britain In Prophecy—Two Nations that Changed the World—Their Biblical Origin and Their Prophetic Destiny that we are of the 12 tribes of Israel, and probably in America there are remnants of all the 12 tribes as well as most of the nations of the world.

That's because in America is the last place in the world that the Truth of the Bible can be preached and heard. Now it goes out around the world through various digital means that we have available to us; but it originates in America. We know that the Protestants have the name of Jesus, but that's about all they have.

There are other Churches of God who are preaching the Truth and we wish them well and hope that they stay true to the Word of God. So, here we go:

Leviticus 23:33: "And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall bethe Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD"'" (vs 33-34).

It's not maybe; it's not optional, it is shall be because God established it on the first day:

Verse 35: "On the first day shall be a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD…." (vs 35-36). You can read that in Num. 28 & 29!

"…On the eighth day…" (v 36)—so here's another day after the seven! So, we'll get to that a little bit later.

Now then, we're to bring an offering to God whenever we come before Him on His Holy Days:

Verse 38: "Besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD."

God shows that this reflects what He wants from us. In taking up an offering, we also have another place in Deut. 16. So, let's go there and read it into the record so that we have it for the Holy Day.

Let's understand that the whole basis of everything that God wants is based on the first and primary commandment, which is this. You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength!

When one of the doctors of the Law heard Jesus quote that properly, he said, 'You have well spoken Master.' Jesus said, 'You are not far from the Truth.' That's the Truth! That's what it has to be!

Deuteronomy 16:16: "Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose…"

When they had the temple, all that area around there was the greater festival area. But now that we are scattered around the world, the place that He chooses is where God opens up the way for us to have the Feast of Tabernacles at various locations.

Many of us today, because of the way that circumstances are in the world, we're scattered and can't get out and get to the various Feast sites. So, we're very thankful for all the digital means that we have of getting this out to everyone who is scattered. It required all the males because some of the women had to stay back:

• to take care of new infants
• to take care of childbirth
• to take care of those who are aged and infirm

"…all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks… [we've kept those already; there's great meaning to it] …and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, every man shall give as he is able…" (vs 16-17).

Notice the next sentence here, because this helps us understand that God is going to bless us:

• when we love Him
• when we serve Him
• when we keep His commandments
• when we keep His Sabbath and Holy Days

He always will; He will see that we have sufficiency for the things that we need

"…according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you" (v 17).

(pause for the offering)

Thank you very much, brethren, for the offerings that you give and the tithes and offerings that you send in on a regular basis. We always use it:

• to preach the Gospel
• to serve the brethren
• to produce the things that we need

so we can learn of the way of God and grow in grace and knowledge!

We're not out here to have great, wonderful, expensive things. We don't need them because all of the great expensive things are going to be given to us when we're in the Kingdom of God. That will be far greater than anything that we can generate in this world today. And furthermore, we will have eternal life, because we will be in God's Everlasting Kingdom.

Now that's quite a statement, isn't it? If you could give another name to the Bible, you could say the Book of the Everlasting Kingdom, because all the way through it:

• it talks about God
• it talks about His rule
• it talks about His Plan
• it talks about when He is going to do it

So the Everlasting Kingdom; let's see what a tremendous thing that that is.

The whole thing that we have is the Everlasting Kingdom, and the only way we can live there is that we live forever, too. That's why we have the Feast of Pentecost.

Psa. 145 is quite a Psalm when you really get into it, the whole thing.

Psalm 145:8: "The LORD is gracious and full of compassion…. [that certainly is true] …slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

God loves us! He has called us! We have known the purpose and continue to exercise that!

Verse 9: "The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise…" (vs 9-10).

I don't know how some of these things that are not living beings can praise God, so we'll just have to be in the Kingdom to figure out how that's going to be. We know that the energy that comes even from just like a wooden desk like we have here, that's something we don't quite understand, but it's there.

Verse 10: "All Your works shall praise You, O LORD; and Your saints shall bless You"—because:

• we love God
• we serve Him
• we bless Him
• we thank Him for everything that He does

Verse 11: "They shall speak of the glory of Your Kingdom and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His Kingdom" (vs 11-12).

That's preaching the Gospel, and everything about it! Verse 13 establishes it for all time. Now just think of that! God has called us, so we're part of something that is eternal forever!

Verse 13: "Your Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations."

Now that's something, an Everlasting Kingdom, that's quite a thing! God has revealed this in step-by-step ways in the Bible and He is made it known. Let's look at it in the book of Daniel and let's see what we have there. The book of Daniel is very interesting because it contains the major outline of all prophecies in the Bible, and how that God deals with all nations.

So this is quite a thing! We won't get into the details of it, but let's see that after the dream and vision of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel was able to tell him what the dream was and what he saw and the meaning of it and everything concerning it.

Actually that image of Babylon, starting with the head of gold, coming clear down to the feet and legs and toes of iron and clay is the whole history of the world That's quite an amazing prophecy. Let's see that this brings us up to date as to what's just as in the near future ahead of us?

Daniel 2:44: "And in the days of these kings, the God of heaven… [not the god of this earth Satan the devil] …shall set up a Kingdom… [an Everlasting Kingdom] …which shall never be destroyed…. [we're all part of that] …And the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever"—an Everlasting Kingdom!

We know that the One Who is going to be King will be the One we know as Jesus Christ, and we're going to be part of that Kingdom. We are going to rule and reign with Him (Rev. 20), so that everything we are doing now is preparation for that time.

Now let's see something very interesting because the Bible tells us in Jer. 18 that God is always judging the nations.

IF a nation is doing well—that is following along with as many commandments of God as possible—He will bless them. But IF that nation sins and rejects what God has given, then there will be punishment. We're seeing that today, right now, right here in America and in Western Europe, because we're the descendants of the children of Israel in the end-time, and we are abandoning God!

Nebuchadnezzar was ahead of gold. That's what started the whole image all the way down to the feet and toes. Actually when you understand it properly. Dan. 4 is an epistle from King Nebuchadnezzar to all the rest of the world:

Daniel 4:1: "Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth… [and we can add to that down through time because there's always been God's Word] …It seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders that The Most High God has done for me" (vs 1-2).—because of the experience that he went through having lost his kingdom for seven years! He was turned out into the pasture, just a wild beast.

Verse 3: "How great are His signs! And how mighty are His wonders! His Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation."

Then he tells the whole account of what got him into trouble and what got him into trouble was this: his sins and his arrogance of thinking, 'Oh, look at what I have made. Aren't I great? He lost his mind for seven years! So, that's quite a thing!

Now let's see what happened at the end of that seven years:

Verse 34: "And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me."

Notice what he did, and this is what we need to do whenever God delivers us from any trial or difficulty that we are in, and lo, we have plenty of those!

"…and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him Who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom is from generation to generation" (v 34).

Notice how often that is repeated. That should really tell us that God always rules. He's given rulership over to men because men and women—beginning with Adam and Eve—have chosen to go their own way, thinking that they can work out everything themselves!

What does the history of the world show us? Since there's Satan the devil around also, that is never possible! Through the whole history of man, they have never succeeded, except in just a few short periods of time that God has blessed the people of Israel.

Otherwise, it's war, death, famine, uprising, disease, sickness, and everything going wrong! Notice how humble he was here:

Verse 35: "And all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing…"

What does it say in Isa. 40? All the nations of the world are like a drop in a bucket!That tells us how great God is. Then after that, God says, 'Look to the heavens above and look what I've made. I call them all by name and number them. Then He challenges mankind:

• Who has ever been a counselor to Me?
• Who has ever instructed me?
• No one!

Nebuchadnezzar really learned that lesson here!

"…and He does according to His will in the host of heaven… [the whole universe] …and among the inhabitants of the earth…. [all made in the image of God] …And none can stay His hand, or say to Him, 'What are You doing?'" (v 35).

After all of his advisors and all of his subordinates came and made obeisance to him:

Verse 37: "Now, I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are Truth and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase"—regardless of who you are!

Now, that's quite a thing. But the whole thing we want to understand is the Everlasting Kingdom.

Dan. 7—let's see a little bit more about the Kingdom because here Daniel gives us a rundown of, in another form of everything that was in the big idol of a man starting with the head of gold.

It gives it in a little different way to show a little time setting when these things will occur. Let's see the summary of this from God to Daniel. If you want to know about this, you send for our series, the transcript book: Daniel/Revelation, and that's an extended series going through all the Scriptures, putting all of these things together so you have an outline of what's going to happen.

Daniel 7:17: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings that shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of The Most High…" (vs 17-18).

In the New Testament, The Most High is the Father, and saints means those who have been made Holy because they've received the Holy Spirit! They have been perfected with the Word of God through:

• living
• worshiping
• serving
• growing in grace and knowledge

Verse 18: "But the saints of The Most High shall receive the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom forever, even forever and ever."

Here at the Feast of Tabernacles, we're going to learn that it's talking about how we're going to live with God. What it's going to be like, what His Kingdom is going to be. The Bible tells us that, and it tells us how are we going to get into the Kingdom and what's going to happen to those who don't yield to God. Where will they be?

Verse 19: "Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, whose teeth were of iron and his nails of brass; who devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with his feet."

Then he wanted to know about the 10 horns and so forth. All of these things occurred:

Verse 22: "Until the Ancient of Days came…"

That refers to God the Father, and also indirectly to the return of Jesus Christ,

"…and judgment was given to the saints of The Most High…." (v 22).

That's quite a thing! We're going to talk about judgment during this Feast at Tabernacles.

"…And the time came that the saints possessed the Kingdom" (v 22).

Right at the end we're going to have to fight for it. Then he talks about the fourth beast and so forth.

Verse 25: "And he [the beast] shall speak words against the Most High…"

We're living in that time right now! Everything is against God! Everything is against anything to do with God.

Even those who profess to know God, follow part of His words, but are not necessarily the saints. Even against them, there's a lot of trouble and difficulty today, such as we have not seen since the Inquisition days.

Verse 25: "And he shall speak words against the Most High…" [the Beast Power as we know it (Rev. 13)] …and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change the set times and the laws…." 

So, this beast continuing down through time did change the set times and the laws! Look at what Satan has done through the Catholic Church to the Laws of God and what he has done to the Laws of God in every one of the other religions of this world.

We're seeing now at this time that they're all coming together. That's quite a thing! If they have come out with an Artificial Intelligence Bible, it's going to be the greatest fake Bible ever devised! You wait!

"…think to change the set times and the laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one-half time" (v 25).

There are two ways of figuring this time, times, and half a time:

• is the long term
• is the last three and a half years

Verse 26: "But the judgment shall sit, and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and to be destroyed unto the end."

Every last thing of the kingdoms of men are going to come to an end because the Everlasting Kingdom of God is coming on the earth, and we're going to administer it to all people, all nations, everywhere in the world.

God has given us the greatest calling possible to help Him, to assist Him and Christ to bring:

• peace
• love
• order
• God's Laws
• God's ways
• God's blessings

to the whole world!

Verse 27: "And the Kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of The Most High…" Think about that!

We'll look at a Scripture in Romans for just a minute here and see what that entails.

"…Whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom. And all kingdoms shall serve and obey Him" (v 27).

There's that nasty word that people don't like: obey Him! So, the bottom line will be everyone's either going to:

• love God
• obey Him
• want Him
• desire Him

or they won't be! It's that simple! Let's see how this applies to us and how that God is working with us:

• to prepare us
• to educate us
• to train us

so that we can be ready for the return of Jesus Christ!

When we're resurrected and on the Sea of Glass, we have to be there for four months because we have so much to learn, know and do before we can come down with Christ to the earth and start ruling the earth.

So you go back over the things that we did on Pentecost, because in order to take over the world in its most destroyed state, up to that point in history that has ever been, is going to take a lot of understanding and knowledge so that we know what we're going to do and know how we're going to do it.

This is important because having the Holy Spirit of God is the most important thing that we can have at this time, and God gives it to us! We are to ask God to use the Holy Spirit:

• to lead us
• to guide us
• to help us understand His Word
• to worship Him
• to serve Him
• to love the brethren
• to serve the brethren

and everything about our life.

All of that is summed up in that first commandment of loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, being and strength!

Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." Think about that!

How many in the world fall into that category? Today, very few, because it's like Jesus said:

When the Son of man comes, will He find the faith—that is the true faith—on the earth?

It's going to be hard to find!

Verse 15: "Now, you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear…."

That's the spirit of the world! That spirit emanates from Satan, the devil, because he's 'the prince of the power of the air,' and he can emanate those spiritual powers toward people who come after him.

"…but you have received the Spirit of sonship…" (v 15). which comes from God, God the Father!.

Read John 14 about what it says beginning in verse 15 to the end of the chapter.

"…but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father.'" (v 15).

That's the highest sacred name possible that you acknowledge that God is our Father, the God Most High!

Verse 16: "The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God."

God has a great plan for us, which is pictured by all of his Holy Days, but in particularly the Feast of Tabernacles and The Last Great Day.

Verse 17: "Now, if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together with Him."

Notice the next two verses, because this tells us what's going on in the world and why we keep the Feast of Tabernacles as well as all of the other days of God.

Verse 18: "For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

• What is it going to be like to be a son or daughter of God, and have the ability to shine like the sun?
• What is that going to be like?
• Do you see how great the calling of God is?

Verse 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation…."

• How important are you and all of the saints going clear back through history?
• How important are we to the whole Plan of God?
• How important are we to the whole purpose of God?

Verse 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God."

Why? Because we're going to straighten out the world and bring them the Truth and the Way of God!

Verse 20: "Because the creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope."

Then Paul sums up what it's going to be all during the Millennium and the 100-year period and The Last Great Day

Verse 21: "In order that the creation itself might be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." That's us!

Verse 22: "For we know that all the creation is groaning together and travailing together until now. And not only that, but even we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, also groan within ourselves, awaiting the sonship—the redemption of our bodies" (vs 22-23).

So that's quite a thing to an Everlasting Kingdom!

We'll look at some other things, especially the teachings of Jesus Christ, which tell us how do we get into the Kingdom.

(break@39:53)

Let's come to Isa. 9. We have covered this in the past, but this is central to everything else that goes on in the Plan of God and:

• for the redemption of mankind
• for the first coming of Christ
• for His second coming
• for setting up the Kingdom
• for sitting on the throne of David
• for being an everlasting Father

Now, when I asked Michael Heiss, 'How do the Jews understand Isa. 9:6-7? He said:

They don't, because when you reject the first coming of Jesus Christ, how are you going to understand the prophecies concerning His first coming, His birth, and His Gospel?

So let's read it because Isa. 9:6-7 encompasses—in a summary and not in chronological order—the whole work of God through Christ!

Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Whoa! That's an awful lot in just one verse. Let's look at that again:.

• This talks about His first coming: "…unto us a Child is born…" and we find that in Luke 1.
• "…unto us a Son is given; and the government…"

That's what's wrong with the world today. Every single government of man is rotten to the core!.

• that's why the Kingdom of God is coming
• that's why it has to be an Everlasting Kingdom
• that's why it has to be for those who enter into it, that they:
• love God
• serve Him
• are part of God's overall purpose

• "…the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God…"

Think about that. How can a child be born to become the Mighty God? If you don't have the New Testament, there's no way you can understand that. To this day, the Jews are looking for a physical messiah.

•  "…The Everlasting Father…"

There is God to Father. How can Christ be called the Everlasting Father? Because he's going to marry the Church (Rev. 19). And the Church will be all the resurrected saints!

We're going to help bring people to conversion and to receiving eternal life all during the Millennium. Whose children will these be? The children of Christ and a Bride! That's when He becomes an Everlasting Father! He's everlasting because He's eternal!

"…The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end… [it's eternal] …upon the throne of David, and over His Kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this" (vs 6-7).

When God says He's going to do it, guess what? It's going to be done! You can take that statement and you can go through the Bible and apply it to everything in the Bible, because it is the Word of God.

Luke 1—let's see the part of this fulfillment concerning Jesus, that is the Word of God, becoming Jesus the Christ, born of the virgin Mary.

Now we've got a special short series on Church at Home {churchathome.org} which you can download, which is entitled, How Much Did Mary and Elizabeth Know? When you read Luke the first and second chapters, and all that they say about what was going to happen, they were actually inspired by the Holy Spirit to prophesy of these things.

The only reason that we have these words is that they probably wrote them down. To commemorate what was going on because it was a great thing that was happening. Elizabeth, who was beyond childbearing age was pregnant with John the Baptist for six months until Mary received the begettal from God the Father, to bring forth a Son, a Child, and His name will be called Emmanuel, which means God with us!

So here's what happened to Mary. One thing we're not told anything about is this. In what position in the Kingdom of God will Mary obtained? We don't know! So, the best way we're going to find out is be there at the resurrection, because she will be, and be there on the Sea of Glass and be there when Jesus presents all of us to God the Father. We receive our rewards and we are told what we're going to do.

Here's what happened. This is the King who is going to be the heir of the throne of David and of the government of the World.

Luke 1:26: "And in the sixth month of her pregnancy… [that's Elizabeth] …the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the lineage of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And after coming to her, the angel said, 'Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among women'" (vs 26-29).

That means all women, quite a thing! Amazing!

Verse 29: "But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed at his message, and was considering what kind of salutation this might be."

You know that doesn't happen every day. Here she is in her house, and all of a sudden, boom, here's the Angel Gabriel saying, "…'Hail Mary, you who are highly favored!…."—of God.

What does this mean? She was considering what this might be.

Verse 30: "Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God; and behold, you shall conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus" (vs 30-31).

Now listen carefully because this ties in everything in the Old Testament for the beginning of the New Testament, to show that it is a continuation of God's Plan.

Verse 32: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest…"

So the Lord God, the Highest in the Old Testament was the one who became the Father in the New Testament.

"…and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David, His forefather; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob into the ages… [that is into the ages of eternity and of His Kingdom] …and of His Kingdom there shall be no end'" (vs 32-33)—an Everlasting Kingdom!

Verse 34: "But Mary said to the angel, 'How shall this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; and for this reason, the Holy One being begotten…'" (vs 34-35)—present tense participle, right at that moment when he was speaking!

"…being begotten in you shall be called the Son of God" (v 35). The Everlasting Kingdom is going to be quite a thing!

Now then, let's jump ahead. Let's see, let's see what Jesus did when He began preaching. What did He preach?

Mark 1—after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and He was coming back from that:

Mark 1:13: "And He was there in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild animals; and afterwards angels ministered to Him."

He had to defeat Satan, the devil, while he was in the flesh, and after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights He was completely weak and He had to depend wholly on the Spirit of God. That's the humility He had to go through to become King as prophesied in Isa. 9.

Verse 14: "Now, after the imprisonment of John, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God"

Gospel means the Good News of the Kingdom of God. See how the Kingdom of God threads through everything that there is in the Bible?

Verse 15: "And saying, 'The time has been fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is near at hand…'" He was the One at hand!

He was standing right there, God manifested in the flesh, preaching and teaching! What's the first thing He said? Repent and believe the Gospel! To believe the Gospel means not only do you believe it:

• you embrace it
• you keep it
• you live by it

The Gospel is about the Kingdom of God!

Matt. 6:33—let's see how we are to respond to God. Let's see what God wants us to do so that we can be the saints as prophesied of to rule and reign with Christ! Notice how this ties in with what Jesus preached.

The Kingdom of God is in hand now in every generation. That means it's in hand to that generation and every succeeding generation down to Christ's second coming.

Matthew 6:33—He's saying to the disciples: "But as for you, seek…"

• search for
• go after
• find out
• seek first

That's the first thing in our life!

• to love God
• to serve Him
• to keep His commandments

which brings us into qualifying for the Kingdom of God. That's how we qualify!

 "…seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…" (v 33).

What is the righteousness of God?

• His commandments
• we have our sins forgiven
• we have direct contact with God the Father and Jesus Christ
• the Holy Spirit within us

This is to lead us and motivate us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness!

"…and all these things… [all the good things that you desire] …shall be added to you" (v 33).

Matt. 5:48. expands on what it means to seek the Kingdom of God and to seek His righteousness.

• What is it to do for us?
• How are we to live?
• How are all these things going to be put together?

Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect…"

• that perfection can only come through the Holy Spirit of God
• that perfection is a process over time that is called perfecting

In Eph. 4, Paul writes that the whole purpose of the whole ministry is for the perfecting of the saints!

So, we overcome our human nature with repentance every day. We'll see that in just a little bit. That's important if we're seeking the Kingdom of God. It's going to be as we started an Everlasting Kingdom and we will live forever.

Verse 48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect." That's the ultimate goal for every one of us:

• to be in the Kingdom of God
• to serve God
• to rule and reign with Christ

Only God can do that!

Now, top all of this off on what God said He's going to do.

God, Christ and the angels are all visually working, carrying out the prophecies of God and bringing about all the end-time things to happen and develop so that the Family of God can be born at the resurrection. That's the key thing they are looking for right now.

Luke 12:31: "But seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

• don't feel deprived because you have a difficulty
• don't feel God is against you because you're going through a severe trial

He'll see you through it! That's why we're here! Think about this: In some ways, because of all of the ability of our digital world to interfere:

• into our lives
• into our mind
• into our heart

In some ways we have a more difficult time than other people in the past who never had the flick of the switch and the world is invited into your home!

Verse 32: "Do not be afraid…" No! Trust God in everything, regardless of the circumstances!

• God will work it out
• He'll take care of it

He looks at the long haul, and sometimes we get impatient and are demanding of God. Well, we need to repent of that and put ourselves in God's hands!

Verse 32: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father delights…"

• God is pleased
• God is happy
• God is joyful
• God is exuberant

in giving you the Kingdom" (v 32).

Everything we do is figured in on the Kingdom of God.

Let's see how we're to pray. All of these are the teachings of Jesus Christ on how we attain to the Kingdom of God and what God is doing with us.

Matt. 6—Let's look at this prayer, this model prayer, which gives us a general outline on how we are to pray. The general things that we need to have in every prayer.

Matthew 6:6: "But you, when you pray, enter into a private room; and after shutting the door, pray to your Father Who is in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret shall reward you openly."

Not vast long prayers for the public to be heard by someone and someone coming up and say, 'Oh, that was such a wonderful prayer.' We pray not to be seen of men or women. We pray to be heard of God!

Verse 7: "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that by multiplying their words they shall be heard."

That's exactly what the Catholics do. The one they have: 'hail Mary…' and 'our father…' And you just repeat that over and over again. Repetition does not bring anything into your heart, in the way of loving God and serving Him.

When we pray, we're pouring our hearts out to God. We're looking to God to help us and guide us because of the great reward that He has for us.

• that we're going to be in the Kingdom of God in an Everlasting Kingdom
• that we're going to rule and reign with Christ
• that we'll see tomorrow: how we're going to help straighten out this world

Verse 8: "Now then, do not be like them; for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him."

That's quite a statement! God knows! God will be there with us!

God doesn't wanna do anything so we get lifted up in our vanity, because that's all human nature and that gives an opportunity for Satan to work. Then He makes it very clear how we to pray:

Verse 9: "Therefore, you are to pray after this manner: 'Our Father…'"

Remember what we covered concerning sacred names? The most sacred name of all is our Father! That's higher than anything given in the Old Testament, because this is a direct relationship between each one of us and God.

We've received the begettal of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and there are two parts of it:

• the begettal from the Father to be a son or daughter of God
• of Jesus Christ, to develop the mind of Christ

Those are the two parts of the Holy Spirit within us!

"…'Our Father, Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name" (v 9). That's the Holy, Sacred Name of God: our Father!

Notice the first thing we ask for; v 10: "Your Kingdom come…" We're always looking for the coming of the Kingdom of God!

For everyone from the time of Christ up to right now with us all who have been faithful and died. That prayer is yet to be answered for all of us at the same time when Christ returns.

But when we yield to God and we keep His laws and commandments, we are under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of God! We're not in it because the Kingdom of God has not come to the earth, yet; but we are under the Kingdom of God. As Jesus said, the Kingdom has come upon you, not that it is here, but you're yielding to the authority of the Kingdom of God!

Verse 10: "Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven…[that's quite a comparison] …give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors" (vs 10-12).

That means our sins, because when we sin, we've created a debt that needs to be paid, and that debt is called 'the note of the debt' of our sins (Col. 2).

As we forgive others, that's a real key! We need to forgive others. Lots of times people—even within the Church—do not forgive, and therefore, they get themselves all worked up into frenzy and anger and difficulty and things like this that come along. You're not seeking the will of God with a perfect heart! You're seeking God to do your will.

Verse 13: "And lead us not into temptation… [and temptations can come in trial] …but rescue us from the evil one…. [we need that today] …For Yours is the Kingdom… [notice that it starts out, Your Kingdom come; it ends up for Your Kingdom] …and the power and the glory forever. Amen." That's quite a thing, yes, indeed!

Matthew 12:24—this is when Jesus was casting out demons: "But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, 'This Man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, prince of the demons.' But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, , and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom stand?'" (vs 24-26).

• Isn't it interesting that Jesus says that Satan on this earth has a kingdom?
• Does he have his followers? Oh yes!
• Does he have the leaders? Oh, yes!
• Does it look like they're going to succeed? Come very close to it!

That's what the book of Revelation tells us. But it shall not stand, because what's one of the first things that's going to happen when we return to the earth from the Sea of Glass? Satan is locked up! When it talks about Satan being locked up, that means all the demons, as well.

Verse 27: "And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? On account of this, they shall be your judges."

Whenever anything comes with as the power of God from God, notice what that represents:

Verse 28: "But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."

In other words, now you are going to be judged by what the Kingdom of God stands for.

We will see you cannot buy your way into the Kingdom of God. Everyone wants to be in the presence of God with blessings, and everyone wants to have eternal life.

So, Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and how to receive eternal life. We have this account of the' rich man' coming to Jesus.

Matthew 19:16: "Now at that time, one came to Him and said, 'Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?'"

Now that's very interesting. 'I can do this'; sounds a little bit like Job. So, Jesus answered him. Now this is quite an answer, really!

Verse 17: "And He said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good except one—God….'"

Why was that? Because even though He was God in the flesh, He had to have human nature. So, before God He was not perfect and He was not God, because He was in the flesh and had just enough God in Him so that He is God manifested in the flesh. But because of carrying human nature in Him, He could not be called 'good.'

Then Jesus continued; "'…But if you desire to enter into life, keep the commandments'" (v 17).

Now, the Protestants like to say that He didn't say anything about the Sabbath, but they forgot to mention, know or even understand that Sabbath-keeping was the Law of the land at that time.

Verse 18: "Then he said to Him, 'Which?'…."

'Just tell me just which one,' because he was doing a lot of them.

"…And Jesus said, 'You shall not commit murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (vs 18-19).

The young man is sitting there thinking: 'Oh boy, I've done these all my life.'

Verse 20: "The young man said to Him, 'I have kept all these things from my youth. What do I yet lack?'"—Oh, I'm almost there!

Verse 21: "Jesus said to him, 'If you desire to be perfect…'"

We covered that. We're to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, and we are being perfected at this time!

"…go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me" (v 21). Isn't that required of everyone?

• IF we're going to enter into the Kingdom of God
• IF we're going to receive eternal life

We can't have anything at all between us and God! That's what he's saying here, it was the riches that he had.

Verse 22: "But after hearing this word, the young man went away grieving, because he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven'" (vs 22-23).

Why? Because they have so many things that they look to, because that gives them a sense of power and belonging!

God wants us to have the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God, not the physical things in the world!

Verse 23: "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God'" (vs 23-24).

Equating Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God together. The disciples not yet being really converted.

Verse 25: "But after hearing this, the disciples were greatly astonished and said, 'Who then is able to be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible'" (vs 25-26).

That has to do with getting into the Kingdom of God. God has called us to His Everlasting Kingdom, and He has called us to really yield to God so that we are being perfected. Tomorrow we're going to see and answer the questions:

• What are we going to be doing in the Millennium?
• How are we going to straighten out this world?

Thank you for being here for the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and we will see you tomorrow!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:33-36, 38
• Deuteronomy 16:16-17

• Psalm 145:8-13
• Daniel 2:44
• Daniel 4:1-3, 34-35, 37
• Daniel 7:17-19, 22, 25-27
• Romans 8:14-23
• Isaiah 9:6-7
• Luke 1:26-35
• Mark 1:13-15
• Matthew 6:33
• Matthew 5:48
• Luke 12:31-32
• Matthew 6:5-13
• Matthew 12:24-28
• Matthew 19:16-26

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Numbers 28; 29

• Revelation 20
• Jeremiah 18
• Isaiah 40
• Revelation 13
• John 14:15-31
• Revelation 19
• Ephesians 4
• Colossians 2

Also referenced:

• Book: America and Britain: Two Nations that Changed the World by Philip Neal
• Transcript Book: Daniel/Revelation with CDs and Chart
• Short Series on Church at Home {churchathome.org} How Much Did Mary and Elizabeth Know?

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 8/1/23

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