How Does God Judge Nations?

I might mention that I received this publication. It is called Bible Review Journal, and it's put out by The International Association of Bible Collectors. We have advertised in them several times, and we have a good write-up about the Bible. So, this turned out real good.

We have an advertisement for the Bible and for A Harmony of the Gospels. Now A Harmony of the Gospels. In this issue is the a really good review of the Bible. So, we're very thankful for that.

This Harmony of the Gospels is really the only Harmony of the Gospels that is based on the calendar of God and the Holy Days of God—A Harmony of the Gospels in Modern English: The Life of Jesus Christ. Now this is very important, especially for when you want to review the Gospels and you want to review the things that Jesus did and all of the important things.

It also points out very clearly how God uses His Holy Days. It's quite a pattern that God has with that. First of all, we come to the Passover. That's the beginning of everything because that is the sacrifice of God for the sins of the world and also for the Savior of the world.

Then we have next; notice we have one day to begin, and then we have at the end, as James pointed out, the Last Great Day is one day to end. With the three festivals that we have:

• the Passover and Unleavened Bread
• Pentecost
• the Feast at the end of the year in the fall

Now we're about ready to enter into the second one of this world of Satan the devil. The first one is Halloween. We're ready to enter into the second one, which is called Christmas, which has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. That's why it's so important that we really stay close to God with His:

• Sabbath
• Holy Days
• Passover and Unleavened Bread

Even the Jews, though they have the Old Testament, don't keep the Passover and the Feast of Pentecost on the right days. Isn't it interesting that those days are the days that relate to Christians in overcoming and then the resurrection? Now, the Jews have correct the last days beginning with:

• Trumpets
• Atonement
• Tabernacles
• Last Great Day

So, all of these things become very important!

We'll talk about it after the break, we'll talk about the election and the things that are there, But let's go ahead and see what God wants us to do, because everything that we do must be patterned after what God has us to do. God has given us the free choice—independent free moral agency—we must choose!

• Was Jesus perfect? Yes He was!
• What made Him perfect and kept Him perfect?

Choice, He had to choose loving God the Father and obeying Him! He said that He did nothing on His own. Now think about that!

The one who created the heavens and the earth came here and humbled Himself and became a human being, and He said of Himself, He does nothing of Himself.

John 12—after they said, well we heard that the Christ is coming and so forth, and in the Law that He lives forever!  Now that's the true statement. But it doesn't mean that He could not have died, which He did, and was resurrected, which was so.

Yet, by commending His spirit to God with His last breath before He died, God held that spirit for three days and three nights and then resurrected Him. So, it is still true that He lived forever, even though He died and was resurrected.

John 12:35: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Yet, a little while the Light is with you. Walk while you have the Light, so that the darkness will not overtake you….'"—much like we have now.

We're back from the Feast of Tabernacles and we have the Light in the darkness of the world, and we don't want that to overtake us.

"…For the one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going" (v 35).

• Isn't that true?
• Do they know anything about life?
• Do they know anything about the purpose of God?
• Do they know anything?

Look at all of the intelligent people in the world!

I think of it this way. In our generation, Elon Musk is one of the most intelligent and wealthy men in the world. I thought in my mind, the day is going to come when God is going to say, 'Elon, come here. Let Me show you what I have made! God shows him the vastness of the universe. So, whatever Elon did was virtually nothing. So. walk in the Light.

Verse 36: "While you have the Light, believe in the Light…"—you walk in it, you believe it! What is the Light?

• the Holy Spirit
• the Word of God

So we are

• to believe
• to walk

Verse 36: "'While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become the children of Light.' Jesus spoke these things and then departed from them and was in hiding. Although He had done so many miracles in their presence, they did not believe in Him" (vs 36-37). All that He did, they hated Him. They killed Him!

Verse 38: "So that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled who said, 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' For this very reason they could not believe because again Isaiah said, 'He [God] has blinded their eyes…" (vs 38-40).

There are three blindings:

• your own, because you refuse to believe
• the blinding that comes from false teaching
• the blinding that comes from Satan the devil

Verse 40: "'He [God] has blinded their eyes…"—and that's how God does it! He leaves it up to their choices what they're going to do.

"'…and hardened their hearts so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts, and be converted, and I would heal them.' Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory and spoke concerning Him. But even so, many among the rulers believed in Him…" (vs 40-42).

Here is a problem of politics. In this review that we got of The Faithful Version, the only drawback he has is that because we're not part of 'Orthodox Christianity,' we are 'sectarians.'

That's a political thing. That's what they had here, a political thing. They wanted to believe in Jesus, but wouldn't dare admit it. So, it makes you wonder how many people in the world are that way today; who knows?

Verse 42: "But even so, many among the rulers believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees… [now, they were the religious leaders] …they did not confess Him so that they would not be put out of the synagogue."

They were afraid to believe Christ and stand on their own two feet and choose God's way by their own free will!

Verse 43: "For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. Then Jesus called out and said, 'The one who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him Who sent Me. And the one who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me. I have come as a Light into the world so that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. But if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world'" (vs 43-47).

• Who judges us? God does!
• What judges us? Our own words and our own thoughts!

Verse 48: "The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has One Who judges him; the Word, which I have spoken…"

Now, isn't that interesting? Because the Bible is the only book in the world that knows the thoughts and the intents of the heart and the mind.

"…that shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken from Myself; but the Father, Who sent Me, gave Me commandment Himself, what I should say and what I should speak" (vs 48-49). Think about that!

In order to stay righteous, Jesus had to do everything in the way that God the Father wanted Him to do. This sets the pattern for us"

• How do we live our lives?
• How do we think?
• What do we do?

All of those are our choices every day!

All the words that Jesus spoke, plus everything that's inspired in the Old Testament that applies to us, that judges us! The key is this:

• we do the same as Christ did
• we believe God the Father
• we believe Jesus Christ
• we believe His words
• we believe the Word of God, and we let the Word of God judge us

Then, with Godly-led self-control, we choose the way of God every day, in everything. So, that is called the process of conversion!

Verse 50: "And I know that His commandment is eternal life…. [He's telling us that's how we attain eternal life] …Therefore, whatever I speak, I speak exactly as the Father has told Me."

If all the so-called evangelists and pastors of the Christianity of this world would read that and understand it and truly preach the Word of God, the whole world will be an entirely different place.

• How does God deal with leaders of nations?
• How does He judge them?
• How does He judge nations today?
• How does that tie in with the election that we just recently had?

Donald Trump was able to win the election and had an overwhelming mandate, as it were, and he has no political dues to repay. He says that he wants to serve the American people and hopefully make America great again.

• Will that happen?
• Is that what's going to take place?

Let's look at some of the statements that Donald Trump himself has made concerning himself and God. When he came to the National Republican Convention, that was one week after he was shot in the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania. It's true that the hand of an angel probably moved his head so that it had just pierced his ear instead of blowing off his head.

So, the first thing he said when he spoke to the convention was, 'I stand before you here tonight by the grace of Almighty God!'

That tells us an awful lot, and that tells us that he's thought a lot about God. There have been a lot of so-called Christian leaders of this world who have prayed for him, either in groups or directly, and asking God to guide and direct him for the sake of the nation. So here's something else that he said:

 'My faith has taken on a new meaning since the July 13th incident in Butler. As I look at my life's journey and events, I now realize that it has been the hand of God leading me to where I am today.

There were some other things that that he has said along those lines. It's very interesting, because God does deal with the leaders of the nations; He does deal with kings.

The whole book of Daniel is dedicated to kings, empires, and God dealing with them. We know with the incident with Nebuchadnezzar, that Daniel came and told him that 'there's a God in heaven who rules in the nations of men, and He sets up kings and He takes them down!'

Then Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and what the image was. This image was a head of gold and then silver and then brass all the way down to clay and iron. What did Daniel tell Nebuchadnezzar about this image?  That he was the head of gold!

Now then, let's see how that worked out. Let's come see what happened to Nebuchadnezzar and what he wrote. I've mentioned this before, but since we've had the election, it's very good for us to read it so that we know that:

• God is dealing in the world
• He's dealing with leaders
• He's dealing with His Church
• He's dealing with people
• He's dealing in every way

Dan. 4—when you read this carefully, you understand that Nebuchadnezzar himself wrote Chapter 4. Then it was edited by Daniel and put into the book of Daniel.

• Was Nebuchadnezzar converted? No!
• Did God deal with him? Yes!
• Did he learn some lessons from God? Yes!
• Has that happened to Donald Trump? More than any other President of the United States in recent times acknowledging God!

That doesn't mean he's converted, but it means that he recognizes that he's not the all-important person in the world.

We'll look at some things here and compare Donald Trump's experience with King Nebuchadnezzar's experience.

Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. Everything else comes all the way down to the ten toes, and the ten toes expand out into Rev. 13 & 17 of Babylon the Great.

So the whole system of the world, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar down to the return of Christ, is Babylon the Great with variations to it. Remember this as I read this.

Daniel said that 'there's a God in heaven who sets up kings and takes them down.' Then the image shows there's a God in heaven who sets up empires and nations and takes them down.

The whole thing in the book of Daniel is for God's Plan through the nations all the way down to the resurrection in Dan. 12. An amazing thing in one book! The only other book that carries as much of that is the book of Revelation.

When you study the Bible, Daniel is the lock and Revelation is the key. You can't fully understand Daniel without Revelation, and you can't understand Revelation without Daniel. These all deal with the nations of the world.

Daniel 4:1: "Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all people…"

So, this is not only just the king speaking, it is a prophetic announcement for all people.

"…all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth…"

So Nebuchadnezzar is going to let them know what happened to him when he got all lifted up in his vanity, thinking how great he was and then what God did to him! Now, think about that as to what happened to Donald Trump. After these incidents that happened to him.

• Was he more humble?
• Was he more wanting to serve the people instead of himself?
• In the end-time, is God going to raise up certain ones to do certain things? Yes, he is!

Daniel 4:1: "Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: 'Peace be multiplied to you. It seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me'" (vs 1-2).

Doesn't that sound a little bit like the statement where Trump said, 'My faith took on new meaning on July 13th in Butler.' It has helped him to deeply consider:

As I look at my life's journey and events, I now realize that it has been the hand of God leading me to where I am today.

Interesting! Very similar to this, isn't it?

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 Nebuchadnezzar tells what happened. So, that's quite a thing here! We won't get into it, but he just showed that God was preparing him and took him down. So, when Nebuchadnezzar got up and looked out over Babylon and saw the great city that he had made, he got all lifted up in vanity and said, 'look at this great city that I have made.'

BANG! God struck him down! And he lost his mind. They led him out into a pasture with a cattle, eating grass for seven years! Now that's something!

So, it says here, then Daniel came and told him what was going to happen:

Verse 31: "While the word was yet in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven, saying, 'O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you.'"

How sure is the leader of any nation, of anything, if God wants to deal with him?

Verse 32: "And you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you… [seven years] …until you know…" That's the whole lesson!

Does Donald Trump now know that he's here as President, not because he's so great, but because God spared his life and God is dealing with the nation through him? Yes!

"…until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills" (v 32).

Yes, there was an election. Millions of people voted for Donald Trump, but it was God who put him in there!All the people had to make a choice.

• Did they want to go into more lawlessness and satanism?

or

• Did they want to go for law and order and some common sense and do things decently?

God has to figure how much more time do we need in preaching the Gospel? God has a timetable of what's going to happen in the Middle East, and we'll talk about that a little bit later.

Even though we're in the Church and even though we're looking for the Kingdom of God to come and we're preparing for it as James said in his opening message, 'God deals with the whole world.' God deals with the leaders of the nations to fulfill His will His way, in His time! And some of them He deals directly with, like He did with Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 32: "…and seven times shall pass over you… [seven years] …until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills.' The same hour the thing was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and ate grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the heavens until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws" (vs 32-33). So, he didn't even have his nails clipped for seven years!

• Can you imagine what that was like? And his hair?
• Can you imagine the humiliation of that kind of appearance for a king who's pampered on everything?

You talk about humility!

Now, Donald Trump had a very same thing: very close to losing his head!

Verse 34: "And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, 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. And all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing…" (vs 34-35).

• you don't look at land
• you don't look at people
• you don't look at buildings

And who's built more buildings in New York City than Donald Trump? He can't look at those and say, 'Look what I built,' because he knows God spared his life!

• What is he going to do for America?
• What has to happen from America? The most important thing, the preaching of the Gospel to the world!

America is the only place in the world that the Gospel is going to be preached from:

• in any way
• in any amount of power
• in any amount of understanding

"…and I praised and honored Him Who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth….(vs 34-35).

That's what's happening here. We are moving toward a place where there are going to be some spectacular fulfillments of prophecy occur.

"…And none can stay His hand…" (v 35).

No one's going to stop God. Who's going to stop God, Who created the heavens and the earth and everything that there is? Nobody!

"…or say to Him, 'What are You doing?' At that time my reason returned to me…." (vs 35-36). Is that not something?

The first thing Nebuchadnezzar did when his mental faculties came back to Him was to realize what God had done and to pray to God.

• Is there one word of complaint here? No!
• Is there one word of accusation against God? Nothing like:

'Oh, God, you don't know what it was like to suffer seven years like I suffered. Why did You do this to me?' No! He was humbled!

"…my reason returned to me. And the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. And my advisers and my lords sought me out, and I was established in my kingdom, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now, I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven…" (vs 36-37).

Sound a little bit like what Trump has said here? Yes!

"…for all His works are Truth and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase" (v 37). Thank you, Kamala!

How does God judge nations? Jer. 18—let's see something here because God has judged America, and the judgment is this: It's apparent that because you don't want all of this satanic stuff, I'm going to give you a reprieve because I have a work for Donald Trump to do that he's going to do for Me! Now, we'll talk about that a little bit later here.

Now, remember, here we have Nebuchadnezzar over here a little later on or maybe approximately the same time with Daniel, because Daniel was taken with the first wave of invasion of the Babylonians back to Babylon.

Here is God talking to Jeremiah and telling him what he's going to do to the children of Israel and the Jews. Then we'll see in Jer. 19, He tells them why He's going to do it.

Jeremiah 18:1: "The Word, which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.' Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was working at his wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it" (vs 1-4).

That's parallel to what God does. What does God want to do with us? We are the clay and He is the Potter. He is going to mold us and guide us.

Verse 5: "Then the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'O house of Israel…'" (vs 5-6).

Now think about this for a minute. The two most important people in the world today are Donald Trump and Netanyahu; the Jews and Israel.

Do you think God has something to do with both of them? We'll see!

Verse 6: "'O house of Israel, can I not do with you even as this potter?' says the LORD. 'Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.'"

God has set before everyone life and death, bless and cursing. We covered that last week in the message that I brought there in Deut. 30.

Verse 7: "If at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it down, and to destroy it."

Was America, and now Britain's going through it? Britain is having a terrible time! The government is going more insane than they were here in America.

Verse 8: "If that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil…"

Look at all the things that have been done by the American people in the various states to turn back the hand of evil, especially this transgender thing. Now they haven't succeeded on the abortion thing, so God is probably going to hold that for a later time. But nevertheless, all of those things count.

"…I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them" (v 8).

Now then, let's see what He does with those who are doing good, but turn and do evil.

Verse 9: "And if at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it; if it does evil in My sight, that it not obey My voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good" (vs 9-10)

It's the same choice. This choice goes clear back to Gen. 3—I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing! Don't eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Verse 11: "Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the people of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good."'"

Now, that's what has happened in America. The people were also involved in the choice. God:

• for the sake of the Church
• for the sake of the Gospel

has given some time that we need to really get busy and do what God wants us to do!

Now, let's see what he says in Jer. 19. Because this is yet to come. We know it will come because of Deut. 28.

Jeremiah 19:1: "Thus says the LORD, 'Go and get a potter's earthen jar, and assemble some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests. And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom by the entry of Potsherd Gate. And there declare the words that I shall tell you. And say, "Hear the Word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and people of Jerusalem…."'" (vs 1-3).

That means that we have to today, we have to cry out to the people in America, and however far it can go into the world, as well. We need a message:

• of repentance to them
• of turning to God
• to them to evaluate all of the lies that they have been living and doing
• of all of the sins that they have been performing
• of all of the abortions that they have been committing

"…Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which shall cause the ears of him who hears it to tingle. Because they have forsaken Me…'" (vs 3-4).

Yet, they have the Bible in their hands! Think about it. Today the Gospel has been published in all the world. So, we have an obligation to preach it, to reach out to them, to do the things that we can.

We all need to pray that God will open the door for all the Churches of God and that all the leaders of the Churches of God, including every one of us here in me as well, that we all repent of anything we need to repent of and stand and preach the Gospel and the Truth the way it should be taught. Not be out there politically inclined to be soft.

Verse 4: "Because they have forsaken Meand have profaned this place and have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents"—62 million abortions!

That punishment will fall and come upon us; and it won't be pleasant! So, we need to warn them.

Verse 5: "They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded nor spoke, nor did it come into My mind."

Now then you look at it today. What temple do they have to bail to Moloch today? Planned parenthood! You look at the two 'ps'; they're little diamonds shaped over like this. Unbeknownst to them or maybe totally known to them that is actually a symbol of a broken womb. Because that's what they do with the abortion!

Verse 6: "'Therefore, behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The Valley of Slaughter'"—when they slaughter the innocent in the womb!

Lev. 19—This shows you that the Word of God operates always, all of the time.

• doesn't matter in what age
• doesn't matter in what civilization
• doesn't matter in what state or province or community or family

Leviticus 19:29: "You shall not prostitute your daughter to cause her to be a whore… [Why?] …lest the land fall to whoredom…"

Do we have that today? Yes, we do! That penalty and punishment is going to come. God may be holding back his hand of correction for the time being, but we will see.

"…and the land become full of wickedness. You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am the LORD" (vs 29-30).

Tie in Jer. 19: 'You shall keep my Sabbath and revere My sanctuary, I am the Lord.'

What's the first thing they need to do? Stop their Sunday-keeping and keep the Sabbath Day!  Jesus said, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God. That also tells us that every Word of God is going to judge us!

Jeremiah 19:6: "Therefore, behold, the days come,' says the LORD, 'that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The Valley of Slaughter. And I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city a waste…" (vs 6-8).

• Have we had a foretaste of that?
• In San Francisco?
• In Seattle?
• In Portland?
• In Los Angeles?
• In Chicago?
• In New York City?
• How do you like that?
• You want more of that?

Well, God says, IF you don't change!

Verse 10: "'Then you shall break the jar before the eyes of the men who go with you, and shall say to them, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury them in Tophet until there is no place left to bury'"'" (vs 10-11).

That's what happened. Then he says in Jer. 20 to keep the Sabbath! So, that's the message that has to go out.

Now, let's come here to the New Testament. Let's see what God is going to do, because we have things we need to do.

• we have to get right with God
• we have to stay right with God
• we have to do the things that God wants us to do

James 2:8: "If you are truly keeping the Royal Law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well."

We need to. All of the divisions that have been made with the Churches of God… I look back on it, and they keep telling people, 'We disfellowshipped Fred Coulter a long time ago.' No, they didn't!

If you go up to your boss and say, 'I quit,' and he turns around and says, 'You're fired.' He can't fire you, because you quit. Same way with me. I resigned because of sins in high places in Worldwide Church of God, and no one would tell him to stop. If you don't believe it, go to the website {truthofGod.org} and look up my resignation sermon of October 1, 1979[transcriber's correction], Day of Atonement.

They didn't disfellowship me. I left to keep the Truth! So, it's about time that the different Churches of God quit fighting among themselves. Now then, we have got to all:

• preach the Gospel
• preach repentance
• have no respect of persons

Verse 9: "But if you have respect of persons, you are practicing sin, being convicted by the Law as transgressors; for if anyone keeps the whole Law, but sins in one aspect, he becomes guilty of all" (vs 9-10). So then he explains in what that is:

1-Peter 4:10: "Let each one, according as he has received a gift from God, be using it to serve the others as good stewards of the grace of God, which manifests itself in various ways. If anyone speaks, let it be as the words of God…" (vs 10-11).

That goes for all of the elders, we better speak the words of God—the Truth of God—nothing but that.

"…if anyone serves, let it be as from the strength which God supplies; so that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to Whom is the glory and the power into the ages of eternity. Amen" (v 11).

Then he talks about some of the trials that we will be going through. Now, we saw how God judges the nations. God also is judging His Church,  and God is also judging each one of us.

• Do we love God?
• Do we believe God?
• Do we strive to serve Him?
• Do we have our lives aligned with what He wants?

Remember the IF-clause there in Jer. 18.

• IF the nation
• IF the person
• IF the Church

Verse 17: "For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God…"

It's always going on because God is judging everyone all of the time, everywhere, whether they're in the Church, out of the Church, whether they're converted or they're unconverted. It's all based on law and sin, Truth and error:

• whether we know God or not
• whether we are converted or not

IF we're converted and have the Word of God, then we have the responsibility we need to apply ourselves and:

• study
• grow in grace and knowledge
• live the way that God wants us to live

That's what God wants!

"…and if it first begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God? And if the righteous are saved with much difficulty…" (vs 17-18).

We can say that of all the troubles that we have, and we've all had them:

• Have you faced starvation? No!
• Have you faced living naked with no place to live? No!
• Have you been like some of those in the Waldensians that had to have secret hiding places in their houses?

Lest the authorities would come in and arrest them, and take them down and be martyred by the Catholic authorities, because:

• they didn't believe in the pope
• they didn't believe in the Trinity
• they didn't believe in Sunday

No! We have had it quite smooth, compared to that?

So, what is God going to do with us if we don't do what God wants us to do?

"…what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? For this reason also, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in well doing, as to a faithful Creator" (vs 18-19). So this is what it is!

This election was important, and we hope that Donald Trump will stay humble like he has in his statements. We don't know what's going to happen, but I'll talk about the Temple and the Ark next week, That becomes very important, because when they start building the Temple, know for sure there are just a few years left!

So everyone go to the templeinstitute.org  and look at what they have done. Look at the Ark of the Covenant that they have made. Why would they make the Ark of the Covenant? Well, I'll answer that question next week!

Will Donald Trump help pave the way for that to happen? We'll have to wait and see! But God has dealt with him in such a way that he better do what God leads him to do in a way that God wants done.

• we've seen the examples
• we've seen what God will do

• let's continue to pray for each other
• let's continue to pray for the brethren
• let's continue that God will open the doors and do the things that He wants us to do
  • that we preach the Truth
  • that we reach out and be a witness to the world

The way that we should be, not only in our private lives, but in the things that we say and do and preach and publish!

Scriptural References:

• John 12:34-50
• Daniel 4:1-3, 32-37
• Jeremiah 18:1-10
• Jeremiah 19:1-6
• Leviticus 19:29-30
• Jeremiah 19:6-8, 10-11
• James 2:8-10
• 1 Peter 4:10-11. 17-19

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 13; 17
• Daniel 12
• Deuteronomy 30
• Genesis 3
• Deuteronomy 28
• Jeremiah 20

Also referenced:

• Book: A Harmony of the Gospels in Modern English: The Life of Jesus Christ
• Message: Repentance & Resignation October 1, 1979, Day of Atonement.

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 11/13/24

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