Sometime in the fall, bears start increasing their food intake and really add on the bulk as they get ready to hibernate through the winter. In the spring, they come out of hibernation a little lighter than when they went in and begin to put on weight again. Adding on those extra pounds sustains them physically through the cold winter.

We have just recently come back to our homes from the Feast of Tabernacles where we have been spiritually fed for eight days when some of us only see each other once a year at that time. This spiritual food, added to the weekly spiritual food, should sustain us till the next Holy Day in the spring, since it is the longest period of lapsed time till the next Holy Day. That is from the Last Great Day till Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

We may have a tendency of getting into winter doldrums; especially in the northern hemisphere where the days get shorter, the temperature drops below zero, and that at times for months. We get snow falls which curtail our outside physical activities, and we may have a tendency to let down a bit in our spiritual responsibilities.

Mr. Norbert Link indicated in a recent sermon that we are unique. We really are, namely because of our resistance against compromise and boldly getting the gospel and warning message out to this dying world. We are not trying to add to the membership by watering down the Word of God.

Individually, we cannot let down in our relationship with God, nor get discouraged if our Church organizations in countries such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia do not grow in leaps and bounds. Christ is the Head of the Church, and He will add to the Church when He sees fit. We, on the other hand, must continue to support the Work even if our responsibility is reduced to financial support and prayer for the Work.

The glue that keeps us together is God’s Spirit in us which we have to maintain by using the tools God has given us; namely, prayer, Bible study, meditation and occasional fasting.

The time is short which is really a relative term in that it could be very short for us, individually, if God determines we have accomplished what He wants from us and we die, as some faithful servants have in the past.

The one sure thing is our eternal reward if we remain true to the end, so let us not allow the winter doldrums to get us down, but let us look to the future, regardless of when God decides to end this world’s madness. Christ has no pleasure in us when we put our hand to the plow and look back, desiring to hold on or regain to what we are to give up. Our hopes, desires and rewards are not in the past which we left behind, but our potential is to enter into God’s glory as His sons and daughters. So, let us focus on that.

When addressing the question as to who is qualified to rule others, we need to consider three types of beings or kinds in existence today.

There are physical beings—plants and animals and of course human beings or mankind. Since Adam, the number of human beings has been estimated somewhat over twenty billion.

Man is mortal, temporary and subject to die. From the time of Adam, man was given dominion over the earth and the animals and to take care, tend and keep the Garden of Eden and with it the plants.

In addition to the physical realm, there are spirit beings—of the spirit kind—which include the angels created by God by fiat; that is, they were willed into existence and had no pre-existence. Their numbers are in the hundreds of millions as revealed in the Book of Revelation.  Revelation 5:11 states: “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”

That figure of “ten thousand times ten thousand” amounts to one hundred million, plus it says “thousands of thousands,” so there could be billions of angels. Angels cannot die.

Then there are God Beings—Beings of the God kind, of which there are currently two: the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. They are immortal, eternal, incorruptible and all-powerful. They rule over the spirit and the physical creation in a loving, compassionate and just manner.

Who then is most qualified to rule over the physical and within the spirit world?

Mankind has failed miserably in his efforts to rule over himself and over others. Mankind has tried every possible form of government which have all failed and descended to the degree that we are headed for total destruction if God were not to intervene to end the madness, caused by human beings, by sending His Son to rule over the earth in the near future.

Human government leaders are proven liars and corrupt individuals. How can civil servants elected by the people over the course of decades accumulate a personal fortune of over one hundred million on the stock market, outperforming professional investors like Warren Buffet?  It is many times through insider trading information and corruption. Man, in his physical state, is obviously unqualified to rule over the earth and the universe.

When considering angels, composed of spirit, we note that Lucifer, the seal of perfection and the most powerful and beautiful cherub, whom God created by fiat, sinned against God.  Lucifer had been given the responsibility of administrating the government of God on the earth. He rebelled against God, taken down by his own pride, and became known as Satan the Devil—the adversary and enemy of God. One-third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion and became known as demons or evil spirits. So we see that even the most righteous and perfect angels could and did rebel since they had been created by God with free moral agency and are not forced by God to do what is right and good.

Satan is the current ruler and god of this world, but he is an evil and terribly destructive ruler. Matthew 4:8-9 says: “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me’” (Compare Luke 4:5-7).

Christ did not dispute that Satan was the current world ruler and that he had the authority to give rulership to whomever he would choose. We also read in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that the god of this age has blinded the minds of men, “who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

Inasmuch as there is no guarantee that other angels who have not followed Satan will never sin, that leaves us with God. ONLY God—the God Family—CANNOT sin, because God has decided never to sin, and His decision is perfect and not subject to change. That is why God decided that He wants to reproduce Himself through humans to bring them into His Family, as God Beings, so that they, too, would be incapable of sinning. The God Family will grow to include billions of humans made immortal in the future.

God Beings cannot be corrupted, bribed, coerced or threatened. They will have the mind of God the Father and of Jesus Christ. As God Beings, they cannot be tempted to sin, and they never will. God the Father and Jesus Christ will not have to be concerned whether anyone in the God Family will in the future be plotting to rebel and sin, since they will be immortal members of the God Family and God Beings.

1 Corinthians 15:52-53 explains that the growth within the immortal God Family will begin at the time of the first resurrection, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

Becoming God Beings was never offered to the angels, but it is offered to those who are being called since Adam and Eve, to overcome sin, their human nature and Satan and the pulls of this world. As immortal and incorruptible God Beings, they will be totally qualified, under God’s direction, to rule over the universe and have authority over angels. They will be ruling forever and ever over the physical and the spiritual creation.

That is what the future holds for those of us who stay the course and remain faithful to our calling.

The apostles had a unique advantage in that for 3 ½ years, they were able to observe and learn from the interactions Christ had with those who were trying to trip Him up and how He always responded in a manner that left them no comeback. They also observed His love and mercy toward young children and how He picked them up and blessed them while His disciples wanted to shoo them away (compare Matthew 19:13-14).  They also experienced how He had compassion for the sick and was ready to heal people (compare Matthew 7:16-17), and even raised the dead as He did for His friend Lazarus (compare John 11:38-44).

Some of what they experienced is recorded for us even though we were not there to witness it at the time. But we can read about His life, His experiences and even His death for mankind.

We are admonished to walk in His footsteps as mentioned in Psalms 85:13: “Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway. “

We are further admonished in Philippians 2:5 to be like minded: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”

One of our goals is to develop the mind of Christ. This is something we cannot do unless we are willing to take the time to read and study our Bibles for admonition, learning, education and instruction. In that regard, we have an advantage over those in the distant past since we have the whole Bible to study, including how Christ, the God of the Old Testament, dealt with individuals and the nation of Israel.

We should not leave a stone unturned to accomplish our task given to us, and furthermore, to show gratitude for what has been written in the Word of God and the gems we can find there. The book of Proverbs and of the Psalms are full of wisdom on how to live a true Christian life. We have the history of the New Testament Church laid out for us in the book of Acts and also in the first chapters in the book of Revelation where historical and prophetic events are reported, pointing out the good things about each era and the admonition to repent and change when required.

We sometimes talk about the gold standard. We have our gold standard in the written Word of God, and it is our responsibility to dig out the words written for our continued growth in grace and knowledge which can only come from our study and thinking about the Holy Scriptures which have been preserved for us. How are we doing?

We are described by the apostle Paul as good soldiers for Christ, stating in 2 Timothy 2:3: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”  That means, we have a fight on our hands. This is not referring to fighting in a physical war, but rather to a spiritual fight against spiritual forces. Ephesians 6:12 tells us:  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Paul uses the armory of a soldier at that time and compares it to what we need in order to overcome the spiritual battle we are in.

No Roman or Greek soldier at the time of Paul would go to war without checking out his equipment to ensure it was not compromised in any manner. He would check his helmet for any deficiencies, knowing how important a helmet was. The breastplate which protected all his vital organs would be examined for any cracks or deficiencies and also his shoes to ensure the leather was supple and not cracked in any way. His belt would be inspected to ensure it was in good shape to hold the scabbard in which his sword was kept when it was not used in battle, and his shield would be examined to ensure that it hadn’t been weakened by previous battles and could withstand another onslaught of arrows and sword blows from the enemy.

It was also most important that his sword would be polished for maximum efficiency, and that it was sharp and free of any defects since he would not want it to fail in the heat of battle. All his equipment was for defensive purposes and protection with the exception of his sword which was his only offensive weapon.

Paul compared the human soldier’s armory with the spiritual qualifications that a Christian must have, emphasizing that we need the whole armor of God.

 In Ephesians 6:14, we read that our waist must be girded with truth. We know that the commandments of God are truth. Psalm 119:151 says: “You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth.” We must have the commandments internalized in our hearts and minds when we want to obtain spiritual protection.

Ephesians 6:14 also tells us that we must put on the breastplate of righteousness. Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end or goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. We must believe that Christ, living in us, will enable us to keep the law so that the righteous requirements of the law can be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4). It is not our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ in us, which helps us to keep God’s laws and be obedient to them.

Ephesians 6:15 continues that we must have shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We must have the gospel of peace internally in our hearts, and we must be involved in the work of getting that gospel out to the world.

Ephesians 6:16 speaks of the shield of faith which we must possess.  We have to have faith, which is the hope for things not seen. Our hope is in the resurrection which we have not seen yet, but we have the faith that God will resurrect us to enter the kingdom of God.

We also need the helmet of salvation, as Ephesians 6:17 states. Salvation is a free gift from God which we cannot earn but we can lose it if we do not endure to the end, but instead become negligent and ultimately commit the unpardonable sin.

As mentioned, the only offensive weapon of the Roman or Greek soldier at the time of Paul was the sword, and Ephesians 6:17 compares it, spiritually, to the word of God which is the Bible. We have to have the word of God firmly entrenched in our hearts to be able to fight this spiritual battle we are in, and we are in it to win.

So, the big question is: How does our spiritual armor look, and will it carry us through to the end?

I think we all have at one time or another sat down and pondered some of the choices we have made. Some were good and turned out well; others were not so good and brought us close to a disaster.

When opportunities arise, we have to use wisdom in our decision-making process; especially in regard to those opportunities where we can supposedly make a lot of money quickly. If something is too good to be true, it usually is. If we are being pressured to purchase something—for instance a vehicle which has been only driven allegedly by a little old lady from Pasadena— then we ought to be on guard. This is also true when buying shares in a company when we are told that it is guaranteed that we will double our investment in a short period of time. The higher the financial commitment, the more we should take time to decide on what to do, including perhaps walking away from a supposed deal. We would not buy a house, no matter how good the deal sounds, without seeing it, having it checked out by a professional inspector and ascertaining whether there were any liens against the title. God assures us that there is wisdom in seeking proper counsel.

God gave the nation of Israel a choice—receiving blessings through obedience or curses from not obeying. His laws were given to express their love for God, as summarized in the first four of the Ten Commandments, and their love for man, as explained in the last six commandments. They had to follow these rules, which are further expounded in many statutes and judgments, in order to obtain physical blessings and protection from God.

The motivation for keeping the commandments should be the demonstration of our love for God and man; knowing of course that our disobedience would bring about punishment and retribution for sinning. But fear of punishment should not be our primary motivation for obeying God; rather, it should be our love for God and man and for the Truth that convicts us to obey.The nation of Israel frustrated God by their disobedience, and how quickly they turned away from God! One of their problems was that they did not totally cleanse the territory they occupied of the existing inhabitants who in time corrupted their worship of God, and they turned to Baal worship and even went as far as sacrificing their children on the altar of pagan gods which surprised God who stated that such evil conduct had not even entered His mind.

In Jeremiah 32:35, He says: “And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”

That’s a pretty astonishing statement that it did not even enter God’s mind that His people would engage in such abominable and detestable conduct.

God’s relationship with the nation of Israel was, figuratively speaking, one of husband and wife, but they broke their “marriage” covenant on a continual basis, and thus, God had to divorce them.

Jeremiah 31:32 explains that God made a covenant “‘with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,’ says the LORD.”

Consequently, we read in Jeremiah 3:8: “Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.”

Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament, will marry converted Israelites at the time of His return. He betrothed the New Testament church to Him which was established in 31 AD. It is described as the bride of Christ, consisting of all converted Church members who are obligated to follow the same rules of obedience, but they have been promised a much greater reward than physical Israel and Judah in Old Testament times had been offered.

Revelation 21:9 says: “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’”

Ephesians 5:24-27, 32 adds: “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish… This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

The great mystery is that Christ is betrothed to His Church, figuratively speaking, whom He will marry as His bride at His return.

So, we are faced with a choice. Will we be obedient to God by keeping His laws and statutes, which are still in force today, and receive a much greater reward than what the nation of Israel was offered? Theirs was a physical reward while ours is eternal rulership in the Kingdom of God. While eternal life as God beings is a gift, our reward is based on our works and includes ruling with and under Christ in the Millennium and down through eternity. Or, will we fall short by rebelling and refusing to repent of our sins and thus disqualify ourselves from the great gift of eternal life as God beings and from the reward of eternal rulership Christ is anxious to give us?

Life is full of choices, but the most important one we face is either one of glory or one of shame.

Let’s bring joy to our Husband (Jesus Christ) by making the right choice. Either way, it’s for eternity.