Gospel—Bob Thonney
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I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
To everyone that believeth, to the Jew 1St, and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed.
From heaven, from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness.
Ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness.
Let's pray. Let's sing number.
23 on our hymn sheet.
Behold.
Behold the Lamb of God.
Behold. Behold.
On the cross. On the cross.
For God's peace time is crushed by.
On the cross.
On the ground.
Being honestly in hindsight.
On the cross.
On the cross.
The last time.
I go. It's just I'd love.
On the cross. On the cross.
Heavy dreams for you.
I'll get your car.
On Wednesday, world Jesus our present for, I said.
On the cross.
On the cross.
I'd like to speak this evening the Gospel from the book of Romans.
Where we already quoted from the first chapter.
I want to say thank you, Bruce, for preaching the Gospel this morning.
He gave us the truth of.
The fact that Christ died for God.
And Christ died for our sins, the two aspects of the work of Christ that are so important to understand.
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Many of you may realize I think it was this last Tuesday. It was the beginning.
Of Yom Kippur.
The great day of atonement for the Jewish people. It was probably one of the most solemn festivals in the Jewish calendar. It's the 6th of the seven feasts of Jehovah, and I'd like to go back there and show from that scripture how God.
Can save and yet righteous be? Let's go back to Leviticus chapter 16.
Where you have the great Day of Atonement.
And it's a long chapter and we cannot speak about it in all its detail.
But I want to read part of it to you because I think it helps to see the complete sufficiency of the work of the Lord Jesus.
Leviticus chapter 16 and verse five. It's speaking about Aaron the priest. He shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a bird offering. And Aaron shall offer his Bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself and for his house.
It's interesting in the case of Aaron.
Who sinned in his life? He had to have a sin offering for himself. The Lord Jesus, in contrast to His our great High Priest, was sinless. There was no need if a sin offering for himself. He was the perfect spotless Lamb of God.
And so Aaron offered the sin, offering for himself and for his house.
But notice verse seven. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. We want to speak about these two goats on the great Day of Atonement. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell.
And offer him for a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat.
Shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him.
And to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
Now let's drop down to verse 15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is, for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with the blood as he did with the blood of the Bullock, and shall sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat, and he shall make.
An atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness.
Of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions and all their sins. And so shall he do for the Tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the Tabernacle of the congregation, when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place.
Until he come out and have made an atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it.
And shall take of the blood of the Bullock and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger 7 times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
And when he has made an end of reconciling the holy Place and the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the altar, he shall bring the Life Goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the Life Goat and confess.
Over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel.
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And all their transgressions, in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited, And he shall let go the goat into the wilderness.
Well, it's kind of complicated and we don't want to make it complicated. We might want to make it clear.
But it's clear that there were two goats in the great Day of Atonement. One was for the Lord and the other was for the scapegoat upon which Aaron put his his hands and confessed all the sins of the children of Israel. Again, I say the two aspects of the work of Christ are figured in this.
First of all, Christ died for God.
All God's holy claims had to be met for God to be able to.
Reach forth and forgive the guilty Sinner God had to be.
Propitiated his holy character had to be vindicated. God was in question because of man's sins. Satan could say look at this creation all.
Your creation, all these human beings are rebellious. It's your creation. So God, there was a question on God's character.
But when the Lord Jesus came into this world, he took up that question. He went into that very place of sin.
And he died not only for us, that's substitution, but he died as a propitiation. He died to vindicate God's holy character in the whole question of sin. And God has not only been satisfied in the work of Christ, he has been glorified by the person of our Lord Jesus. So that's the Lord Jesus.
The propitiation for our sins. Our brother mentioned that this.
In first John chapter 2 and verse one, he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. And it's a beautiful thing to be able to proclaim in this world that God has been propitiated as to the sins of the whole world. So the offer of salvation goes out to.
Whosoever will believe we don't go out and just preach to those who might.
Think that they are the elect. We don't know which ones are, but we go out and preach to all. The command to preach the gospel was going to the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, and he who believes not shall be damned.
Two parts. Where do you stand in that?
So Christ died for God. Wonderful.
Wonderful truth to understand.
That's that first goat that was killed and his blood was caught, and with that blood Aaron entered into the holiest of all, the very presence of God. He could only do it once a year, and nobody else had to be in the whole Tabernacle at the time that he went in, because it was a question of God's holy character that had to be.
Satisfied with the shedding of blood.
So he took that blood in and he sprinkles it on the mercy seat.
You know, in the Holy Place there were three pieces of furniture, but in the holiest of all there was only one piece. It was the Ark of the Covenant, and in that Ark were, amongst other two things, were the tables of the law.
And on top of that ark was a plate.
Of pure gold that speaks of God's righteousness.
Pure gold God is completely righteous. No one can call in question our God.
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He is righteous in his holy character.
And so on top of that mercy seat were two cherubims. Figurative.
Of those angelic beings which executes God's judgment on man and his sin. And as those cherubims, they were made so that their faces were towards the mercy seat, and there they could see as Aaron sprinkle that blood, the blood of a victim has been shed. God's holy character has.
Been vindicated.
Wonderful to realize that the Lord Jesus when he came.
He accomplished eternal redemption for us. That's the work of Christ for us. But then Aaron came out and here was this live goat, and he put his hands on the head of that live goat, and he confessed the sins.
Of the children of Israel.
And this is a figure of Christ, our substitute first goat is Christ, the propitiation for our sins, and the second Christ our substitute. Propitiation and substitution go together. Propitiation is Christ died for God. Substitution is Christ died for our sins. And it's so important.
That he put his hands on the head of that goat, because in doing that he was identifying with that animal that was going to bear away the sins of the children of Israel, and he confessed those sins. So it is necessary for you and me, now that God has been satisfied with the work of Christ, for you to identify with the Lord Jesus as a guilty Sinner.
And to confess your sins and to accept him as your Savior.
So that goat was taken out by the hands of a man into the wilderness, and let go. He bore away the sins of the children of Israel.
You know the word atonement is mentioned the number of times in these chapters.
Atonement is a word that means a covering that blood covered the sins of the children of Israel so that God would his holy character could be satisfied.
But you know, you don't find the word atonement in the New Testament, I should say.
That it's found in.
Romans chapter 5 and it uses the word atonement, but if you look in the margin of your Bible, that is not the proper translation of that word. It's really reconciliation there because in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus and taking up the question of sins did not merely cover sin. No, He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
It's completely gone from the eye of God. Oh, the wonder of the precious blood of Christ that cleanses from all sin. So that was what took place on that great day of atonement. Now let's go to the book of Romans and speak from there a bit because it's so amazingly wonderful to get these truths into our souls. I know that most here are believers in the Lord.
Jesus, I don't know about everybody, but I think when you understand the completeness of the work of Christ, what it does is give you a peace and a security in your soul that is priceless.
So here we have in verse 16 of chapter one. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew. 1St and.
Also to the Greek, for therein in the Gospel.
Is the righteousness of God revealed? Is God a righteous God?
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Yes, he is. How do you know? Because the Lord Jesus went to that cross to respond to God for our sins. What a amazingly wonderful thing revealed from faith to faith as it is written.
The just shall live by faith.
Verse 18 says the wrath of God is also revealed. You know what if you do not accept, if you do not identify with the Lord Jesus as the one to take away your sins, you will have to meet up with the Lord Jesus and experience the wrath of God.
You know there's two words in the English.
Language. One is we are going to have it in our reading meetings, but one is anger and another is wrath. And it's interesting to think about the difference between those two words. Anger is an emotion that may be righteous, but wrath includes more than just a feeling of emotion. It includes.
Retribution.
And the great day of God's wrath is coming on this world, and nobody is going to escape God's righteousness. So the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. They hold the truth, yes, but how do they do it?
In unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto him.
Unto them, For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Interesting to me.
To see in our American culture here in the United States.
How man has made himself the reference point of his life.
And I have to say about many who judge from themselves as a reference point, they are lost. They don't have a clue of where they stand because they've lost sight of God.
God is supreme, and here it speaks about His eternal power in Godhead.
And it says that man will be in his presence without excuse.
You know, people you hear about say I'm going to tell God a thing or two when I get to His throne in the final judgment. You know what? Nobody is going to tell him a thing or two. It will be so evident, their guilt at that time that their mouths will be shut.
His eternal power in Godhead. And so it speaks about those things which are made. God has given a testimony in the creation in which we live.
It's amazing to think of the complexity of the creation of which we are part of. I know I've spoken of it before, but I find it so amazingly wonderful to talk about the universe in which we live. We are part of the Milky Way Galaxy.
I don't know if I mentioned it here, but.
Some time ago, I was speaking to a young people's group out in California and I mentioned that the scientists think that there are approximately 100 billion stars in the Milky Way universe Galaxy.
And a young man came up to me afterwards and he said, did you know that they really think it's closer to 200 billion?
Wow, I said. That's amazingly wonderful.
You know, last year I was out in California and a friend of mine showed me a video of an astronomer and he said.
It's closer to 300 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, only our Galaxy 300 billion stars.
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And some of the books I've read say that they know that there are probably about 250 billion more galaxies in the known universe. It just is numbers that increase all the time the farther they can look and observe. They find out it's greater than they ever imagined.
Who made it all? It's the God we're talking about.
And I want to say to you, if you think you have something to say to God.
You are without excuse before our God.
Oh, the power that is is in speaking all those mighty stars and galaxies into existence.
And then He made man in his own image and likeness and set him in this world. And then after 4000 years of man's history, the very creator of it all came into this world with a purpose of saving lost mankind.
Oh what a story it is. Brother mentioned it this morning, but it must have been a marvel.
To those angels, those angelic hosts, those spirit beings who are so tremendously powerful, that here was the Creator coming into the world.
And almost nobody.
Recognized his entrance into the world.
When his poor mother came to the inn, there was no room for him.
He had she had to go out into the where the animals are fed and there she gave birth to the creator of the universe. And the angels didn't know, I'm sure what to think. And so they go out into the countryside and there's some shepherds out there in the countryside.
And they say to the shepherds, unto you is born a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And the shepherds came in, and they saw the Lord Jesus.
In swaddling clothes, laying in a Manger.
The Creator of the universe had entered his own creation.
Oh, what a tremendously marvelous thing. So he was virtually unknown on the way to MAS. Those two said to him, art thou a stranger in Jerusalem? And that's not heard the things that have taken place there these days. Yes, he was a stranger here in this world.
He was recognized by some.
Beautiful to see those that recognized him.
John the Baptist's parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, of course.
Mary, his mother she was, had been told that the one that was to be born of her was to be called the Son of God. Incredible to think about it. And her husband Joseph, I'm sure knew. And there were others, Simeon, who had been told that he would see.
The Lord's Christ. And of course there was Anna who also recognized him. And there were others because Anna spoke of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. So there were a few that recognized him and that accepted him, but he was virtually unknown in this world, the creator of the universe passing through this world.
He said foxes have holes.
The birds of the air have nests. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
Oh, what a story of the Lord Jesus. At 38 years of age he came to John the Baptist to his baptizing with the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins in the wilderness.
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And he presented himself to John the Baptist to be baptized.
But John the Baptist recognized.
You come to me, I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me.
Of course, he didn't need to be baptized with the baptism of repentance because he had never sinned. Why should he be baptized with the baptism of repentance?
Jesus said suffer it for the time, for so it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. And so badge on the Baptist baptized him. Some people have a difficulty why was he baptized with that baptism? I like to put it this way because it helps to understand why.
On one side of the group that was there at John the Baptist.
Baptism worthy.
Were the Scribes and the Pharisees and all those that thought.
We're good enough. We don't need to repent. We don't need any baptism. On the other side were the Republicans, the sinners, the prostitutes, all those that were the scum of society, but that recognized their sin and came to John the Baptist to be baptized because they knew they needed to repent for their sins.
Which of those two groups did the Lord Jesus identify with? You know he didn't identify with the.
Scribes and the Pharisees, he had identified with those who knew they were sinners and had repented and that's why he baptized. He was baptized to identify with those. But immediately as he comes out of the water, the heavens open and God wants everybody to know who this person is that was just baptized and the voice comes from heaven. This is.
My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
And the Spirit of God comes a descending upon him in the form of a dove.
A dove is a figure of peace.
There is nothing contrary to God in that person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so he enters into his public ministry and shows on every side the love of God.
Feeding the hungry.
Healing the sick. Preaching the gospel to the poor.
Raising the dead It must have been amazingly wonderful the to witness what the Lord Jesus was doing.
But at the end of his 33 1/2 years in this world.
Those religious people didn't want him any longer and they took him outside the city of Jerusalem and they nailed him to a cross. The hands and the feet nailed to that cross. He was lifted up and for three hours, from 9:00 in the morning till 12 noon.
They passed in front of him and spit on him and insulted him.
They said if he's the Son of God, let God deliver him.
Did God deliver him?
No, why not?
You know why not?
Because he wanted to deliver you from your sins and there was number other way.
And so at 12 noon, something happened that never happens. It got dark, and for three hours there was darkness over the whole land.
In those three hours nobody could see the awfulness of what transpired, but it was in those three hours that God laid on him the iniquity of us all.
God's holy judgment that had to be satisfied that there was going to be forgiveness for lost sinners like ourselves.
That holy judgment fell in all its fury on the head.
Of our Lord Jesus.
There were no complaints from that center cross in those three hours. He bore it all in silence. The waves and pillows of God's judgment roll over him. We'll never understand the awfulness of the judgment that He bore for our sakes. To satisfy God's holy claims, His holy character, and also to put away.
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Our sins.
But at the end of those three hours of darkness, there's an awful cry. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
God forsook his only son.
He forsook the only one who did always his will.
Why did he forsake him? Because he didn't want to forsake you and me in the lost eternity forever.
That's why he firstook his only son.
There was number other way of blessing for lost sinners like us.
No other way.
And then he cried.
It is finished. And he bowed his head.
And gave up his spirit.
And a soldier came up.
With his spear and pierced his side and outflowed blood and water.
Our redemption was paid not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Oh, the awfulness of the cost of our redemption. We don't grasp it properly.
But it's a full and free redemption.
And now God has shown that he's completely satisfied.
How in that he raised him from the dead.
Three days after he was placed in the tomb.
An Angel came down to the tomb where he was and pushed the stone to one side, not to let the Lord Jesus out, but simply to show that he was no longer there. He had risen from the dead. God raised him from the dead, and God did not quit raising the Lord Jesus until.
He is there in the glory of God.
Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, in every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come.
Oh, what a wonderful story it is too.
Realize there's a man in the glory of God now.
So I'd like to go over to chapter 3 now and speak a little bit about.
This way that God has shown that he is righteous.
Been going through the book of Romans with the men and the Lawrence Correctional Center.
In our County Down in Lawrenceville area and it's been beautiful to see how the men listening.
Have responded to this teaching we have in chapter one, two and three quite a bit said about.
Man's guilty condition before God why does he take so much time in emphasizing that it's because you don't recognize your own completely lost condition before God you will have no appreciation for what God has done for you in the work of Christ so it's important to come to the.
Conclusion that he does in verse 10 of chapter 3 it says.
As it is written, there is none. Righteous. No, not one.
There is none that understand that. There is none that seeketh after God. That's God's judgment as to the sin question. They are all gone out of the way. They are together becoming profitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre. You know how an open sepulchre stinks. When they open their mouths to say something that stinks, their throat is an open sepulchre. Their tongue, They have used deceit. The poison of ASP is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
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Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, in the way of peace.
Have they not known there is No Fear of God before their eyes?
Now we know that what those things so ever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law.
That every math may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. There is the sentence, guilty before God, the whole world. There is no exception to this.
Verse 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the laws of the knowledge of sin. Verse 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith.
Of Jesus Christ.
Unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
No difference. Oh yeah, we like to make differences. I know some people that are pretty good.
And so we make our differences, but we don't know that much about other people.
God who knows, said the whole world guilty. It's important that you come to that place. If you don't, if you think there's something good that I can do to please God. And I find that so embedded in the thinking of so many people. Yeah, I know I've sinned, but man, I think I've got a good chance for heaven.
And if it depends on you, you have no chance.
For heaven? Absolutely not.
But notice now verse 24 and here is a wonderful verse.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Justified freely by His grace. You know what justified means. It means to be declared righteous according to God's standards.
Wonderful. It's not only being forgiven. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, and that's a wonderful thing. But it's one thing to be a forgiving Sinner. It's another thing that is even more wonderful to realize that that same God that has forgiven my sins has now declared me to be righteous. On what grounds? I said that to the men in the prison. I say, what grounds can he do that?
Said Oh, because we reprinted of our sins.
Say, well, repentance is important, but that's not the grounds on which you can do it. Think again.
Finally, one man said, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, because of that precious blood that was shed on the cross, God's holy character has been satisfied, has been vindicated, and now there is forgiveness of sins and justification.
For the person who simply believes in the Lord Jesus. So it's through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. And her brother spoke of that this morning. That word could be put a mercy seat.
Because the mercy seat on top of that Ark of the Covenant that played a pure gold which signifies God's holy character.
That was the place where propitiation was made, the mercy seat and so it's related, but it's a little bit different, but it's you set forth to be a mercy seat through faith in his blood to declare notice this, his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.
In other words, he's talking about the sins that are past the people of the Old Testament times.
For example, David the King committed an awful sin.
In committing adultery with the wife of one of his most faithful.
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Soldiers and then he ordered him to be put into the thick of the battle so he would be killed so he could take his wife for himself. It was an awful sin before God. Really, David should have died for his own sin.
But when he recognized his sin and confessed it, I have sinned, he said. The prophet said God has remitted your sins or forgiven your sin. How could God be righteous and forgive such an awful sin because of what Jesus was going to do on the cross?
That's what it means in verse 25 to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins.
That are passed through the forbearance of God. But now notice verse 26 to declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
I said to the men in the prison supposing in Lawrence County there's a judge and every time they bring a criminal before him for sentencing, he says, OK, we're going to just forgive you. Here comes the guy that's in for rape. We're going to just forgive you. Here's a guy that come in for murder.
We're just going to forgive you. Is that a good judge?
And of course, all those guys, even though they're in prison fulfilling their sentences, said no, that's a bad judge. He's going to be put out of his position of being a judge. Why? I say because he's not righteous. And that's true. Then when God Forgives you and not only forgives you, but declares you to be righteous.
How can that be? How can God be righteous and still?
Justify the guilty Sinner. It's because of the work.
Of the Lord Jesus. It's because of what He did on that cross for you and me.
So that God is righteous and he is just, and he is the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Oh, the wonder of it all. God has been satisfied in the work of the Lord Jesus, so much so that now the Lord Jesus, the one who died for our sins, is at God's right hand. Can there be any question in the.
Heart of a believer in the Lord Jesus about his position before God. I say if you put a question mark on it, then you have to put a question mark on that man in the glory of God. I can't do that. That's my position before God.
Oh, what a wonderful redemption we have in the Lord Jesus. So God is just and the justifier of him that Lee believes in Jesus.
But what about the person who does not want to accept the Lord Jesus?
Who does not identify, does not put his hands on the head of that goat, that substitutionary goat.
Which is figurative of the Lord Jesus. You have not identified with Him, the only Savior of sinners.
What about you?
You're going to have to face God in the day of his wrath.
When I think of what's coming on this world.
You know something of the confusion that is going on in this world, wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, plagues throughout this world, and it's only going to get worse.
This nation that is known such prosperity is going to wake up one day in an awful time of great tribulation after the Lord is taking out his people. And the Lord Jesus says about that time of great tribulation, there was no time before, nor there will there be any time after.
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The to compare with the awfulness of the time that is just ahead.
For this world, and you will face that.
I don't think the majority of the population of the world are going to last through the great tribulation. There's going to be such slaughter, such death on every side. But if you do come to the end of that period, that's called great tribulation. The Lord Jesus at the end comes back in power and glory with his Saints, and he sets the throne of his glory in this world.
We have it spoken of in Matthew chapter 25.
And there he sits on the throne of his glory in all nations, all those that are living. This is the judgment of the living. They're going to be gathered before him, and he's going to separate them as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats and the goats on the left hand he says, depart from me, curse it into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
He does not want you going there.
He did not prepare everlasting fire for mankind, He prepared it for the devil and his angels. But if you reject His offer of salvation, that's where you will end up.
And the sheep are those that here during the great Tribulation period.
The gospel of the Kingdom and accept that message and he's going to say to them, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. That's not we're not included in that part. We're already in the glory, but there will be blessing for people here in this world that have believed the message of the gospel of the Kingdom.
Oh, the wonderful ways of our God.
And we just plead with you, if you have not yet settled accounts, if there is any question, even if those of you who are real believers but have serious doubts at times or questions, there's any way we can help clarify things by opening the scriptures. Don't be afraid to come and talk to me or others too. That can help you with the most.
Glad to help you.
Let's just close our meeting with prayer.