00:00Times and Seasons. The kingdom of God is not a distant promise. It is a present reality,
00:05eternal, unshakable, and ever-advancing. In the New Testament, Jesus declared,
00:11Do not be conformed to the kingdoms of this world, but rather be transformed by the kingdom of God.
00:18The kingdoms of this world shall pass. Empires rise and crumble. Thrones are built and broken.
00:23But the kingdom of God shall be established upon the earth everlasting with no end.
00:29Jesus, while journeying with his disciples, told many stories, parables, windows into eternity.
00:35He gave illustration after illustration of what the kingdom of God would be likened unto.
00:40Each story was a key, each parable a doorway, to tell his disciples what the kingdom of God is
00:46and how to attain it. These are the times and seasons. Most likely they are near.
00:52The Bridegroom Ceremony. In my own life, I have experienced moments that echo this
00:58truth. Walking along a quiet road, I would hear church bells ringing, and yet no church
01:03stood near. I would hear them in my home, distant and clear, though none were within miles.
01:09Once I had a vision of a bell, and immediately after, I heard its resonant chime.
01:14What could it all mean? Jesus told a parable. He said,
01:18The kingdom of heaven shall be like a bridegroom ceremony. Twelve were chosen,
01:23bridesmaids, as was the custom of the time. When the hour of the ceremony arrived, they went to
01:29enter the chamber. This chamber, I witnessed it in a vision, much like a great altar. The Most High
01:36God seated upon his throne, wearing a robe of magnificent splendor. His face was like jasper and
01:42sardius stone in appearance. His throne sat between two immense golden pillars, and the entire chamber
01:48blazed with golden decadence. I can imagine guests filling the room, row upon row, witnesses to the
01:55marriage ceremony of the ages. When the hour arrived, each bridesmaid had been given an alabaster
02:02flask. In Jewish custom, each flask held oil for a candle to be lit at the appointed hour.
02:08But six of the twelve had fallen asleep, and six others had been using their oil, perhaps writing,
02:14perhaps trading, perhaps out among the crowds, celebrating, busy with the affair
02:18of life. When the hour came, the six who had been spending their oil turned to the others.
02:25Can we have some of your oil? Our lamps are going out. But those who had oil replied,
02:31We do not have enough for you and ourselves. Go to those who sell and buy for yourselves.
02:37And while they went, the bridegroom came. The six who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast,
02:43and the door was shut. When the others arrived and knocked, the voice from within said,
02:49I do not know you. They were left to outer darkness. These are the times and seasons.
02:57The talents and servants. In the first epistle of John, the apostle describes a vision of the throne
03:03of God. Before it burned seven spirits of God, like flames of fire. One of these spirits, I believe,
03:10was the Son of God, who later took on flesh as Jesus Christ, our risen King. The other six were
03:15the
03:16direct proceeds of the Spirit of God, used in the creation of the angels. In Genesis, God declared,
03:22Let us make man in our own image. Who was he speaking to? Perhaps the angels. Perhaps the
03:28preexistent Son. Yet the angels, though radiant, were not fully like God. Their rebellion led to a
03:34new plan, the creation of sons of God, beings who would reflect his glory perfectly. Ezekiel saw the
03:41throne of God flanked by seraphim, six wings obscuring the Almighty. Cherubim stood nearby with four
03:48faces. But God's master plan was greater than all of this. Jesus, the Son of God, took on the form
03:53of
03:54man, yet carried the splendor of heaven. And in Revelation, it is promised, We too shall receive
04:00imperishable forms. Our bodies shall become veils of glory. Jesus spoke of a master who, before
04:06departing on a long journey, entrusted his servants with talents, the currency of the time. To one he gave
04:13five talents, to another two, to a third, one. The servant with five traded, and gained five more.
04:20The servant with two did likewise, and doubled his portion. But the servant with one, he dug a hole in
04:26the ground, and hid his master's money. When the master returned, the first two were welcomed with the
04:32same words, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you
04:39over much. Enter into the joy of your master. But the servant with one talent said, Master, I knew you
04:46to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was
04:52afraid, and I hid your talent in the ground. The master replied in anger, You wicked and lazy servant.
05:00You knew this about me, and yet you did not invest. You should have placed my money with the bankers,
05:06and at my coming I would have received it back with interest. He then cast this servant into outer
05:12darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Jewish culture, during harvest season,
05:19wheat was taken to the threshing floor. There it would be sifted and sorted. The sieve with larger
05:25perforations came first, removing the weeds, which were larger and inedible, cast into the furnace.
05:31Then the finer sift removed the chaff, which was used for brewing. The pure wheat remained.
05:38Jesus said, Offenses will come, but woe to the one through whom they come.
05:43The threshing floor is a picture of the last days, the chaff, the first death, the weeds,
05:49the second death, everlasting torment. The servants are wise to keep their oil burning and their talents
05:55invested. For before the Antichrist leads many astray, Lucifer himself will come, like a thief
06:02in the night through another way, seeking to kill and destroy.
06:06The Debtor
06:07In the kingdom of God, every soul stands as a debtor, owing a debt that cannot be settled by human
06:13means, not of silver, not of gold, but of sin. A debt that separates humanity from the divine.
06:19Yet in his infinite mercy, God provided a way to discharge this debt through the sacrifice of his
06:25son, Jesus Christ. Jesus told the story of a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
06:32Among them was a man who owed an unimaginable sum, 10,000 talents, a debt so vast it could never
06:40be
06:40repaid in a lifetime. When the king demanded payment, the debtor fell to his knees, pleading for mercy.
06:46Moved by compassion, the king forgave the entire debt. But this servant, having been shown such
06:53grace, went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a mere hundred denarii, a fraction of what he
06:59himself had been forgiven. Instead of mercy, he seized the man by the throat. Pay what you owe.
07:06The second servant begged for patience, but the forgiven debtor refused and had him thrown into
07:12prison. When the king heard of this, he was enraged. You wicked servant, I forgave you your
07:19entire debt because you pleaded for mercy. Should you not have shown the same compassion to your
07:25fellow servant? In anger, the king handed the unmerciful servant over to the torturers until
07:31every debt was paid in full. Jesus concluded, So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you
07:38if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. This parable reveals the heart of the kingdom.
07:44Grace abounds, but accountability remains. The forgiven debtor was expected to extend mercy to
07:50others. So too are we called to be stewards of God's grace, multiplying it, not hoarding it.
08:09Grace abounds. Congratulations.
08:16Grace abounds, but accountability reasons.
08:16Grace abounds, because faith abounds, as well as one of you are as a Philip, USS
08:16or William of Venus, who has contact the two he is WEA-R-M.
08:17As well Scott, I'm going to have an echoением of satisfaction, this may
08:21be done as far as a word from the start of communicated to Adam gibson and Edarmapoff at
08:28The body is set in that time ofzneap Lesanges and prosperity then as a
08:28It's well a bit exciting.
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