We are now in the church life, the growing Sabbath that is leading us into the harvest Sabbath of the millennial kingdom. But not even the harvest Sabbath will be the ultimate Sabbath. The ultimate Sabbath rest will be the New Jerusalem. At the time of the New Jerusalem, there will be no more sea, satanic work, or corrupted and polluted world. All of that will be in the lake of fire. There will be a new earth, and upon that new earth there will be a city built up with transformed people as the living materials. That living composition, the New Jerusalem, will be God’s complete expression in eternity future. There, in the New Jerusalem, we shall see God’s expression and dominion. In the New Jerusalem will be God’s throne and authority for His kingdom. The New Jerusalem will be the ultimate and eternal Sabbath because there God will be fully expressed and represented. That will be the ultimate consummation of God’s work of grace, and we all shall be there.
Whether we are diligent or sloppy, our wise Father has a way to perfect us and make us mature. If we do not cooperate with Him, He is patient and will wait for tomorrow, next month, next year, or even for the next age. Before the age of the New Jerusalem, there are two ages, this age and the coming age. During both of these ages our patient Father will deal with His naughty children. If we are naughty and do not participate in the growing Sabbath today, we may miss the harvest Sabbath in the coming age. To miss the coming harvest Sabbath does not mean that we shall be lost. Since we are children of the Father, we can never be lost. But if we do not behave ourselves in His grace today, making it difficult for our Father to deal with us, we may miss the coming harvest Sabbath. However, our Father is much wiser than we are and has a way to bring us to maturity. Eventually we all shall be in the New Jerusalem, the ultimate Sabbath.
There will be a total of three real Sabbaths: the church, the millennial kingdom, and the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth. Although all these are Sabbaths to God, the second will be better than the first, and third will be fuller than the second. I have the complete assurance that we all shall share in the third and fullest Sabbath, for that Sabbath is wholly a matter of grace, not of reward. It is not a prize but our Father’s eternal portion for all of His children. As long as you are a child of the Father, He has a way to make you mature so that eventually you will participate in that third Sabbath.
When you hear that we all shall be in the New Jerusalem, you may say, “Hallelujah, now I am at peace. I’ll be there in the New Jerusalem.” But before we come to the New Jerusalem, we first must pass through the church and then through the millennium. Our wise Father uses the church age and the coming age of the millennial kingdom to cause us to mature. Although He has been sown into us, what about the maturity? His intention is to have all of us matured, and He will accomplish this. Nothing can stop Him. Our sloppiness and failures do not mean anything. Nothing, including Satan, can stop our Father from accomplishing His desire. When He chose us, He was not foolish in doing so, but was very careful. God will never repent of His choice; it is irrevocable and it will stand for eternity. He has saved us, and we shall be there in the New Jerusalem. All of this is a work of grace. God has brought us into His salvation, put Himself into us, and is now charging us to grow. But the way we grow is up to us. If we are obedient, we shall save Him a little time. If we are disobedient, we shall cause Him some difficulty. But He still has a way to cause us to grow. However, if we do not cooperate with Him, we shall suffer the loss of the enjoyment of the church life in this age and the prize in the coming age. Our wise Father deals with us so that we may mature. Do not think that you can escape His dealing. God even has a way to deal with all the Christians who have been saved but are now wandering. We cannot see this today, but one day we shall see it.
How merciful it is that our Father has brought us from wandering in the streets into His church life. Now we are no longer wandering; we are enjoying the church life which helps us to mature. I have the full assurance that the church people will mature earlier and become the firstfruits. How good it is to enjoy the present church and the coming kingdom! The present church is the Sabbath of enjoyment, and the coming kingdom is the Sabbath of prize. If we enjoy the church well today, we shall receive the kingdom as a prize in the coming age. If we do not enjoy the church well today, we shall suffer the loss of the kingdom as a prize in the coming age. It is very foolish not to enjoy Christ well in the church today. We do not have to pay anything for this enjoyment; it is free. Our Father even encourages us to enjoy Christ well. The more we enjoy Christ, the more the Father is happy and satisfied. If we continue to enjoy Christ, one day the Father will say, “Child, since you have enjoyed My Son so much, I shall give you a prize in the harvest Sabbath. You will be one of My Son’s co-kings.” At that time, we shall be Christ’s real partners sharing in His kingship in the harvest Sabbath.
Some say that as long as we have been regenerated and are children of God, we shall be in the millennial kingdom. But the Bible does not say this. Rather, it tells us that we must enjoy Christ, grow, mature, suffer, and overcome for Christ. Then in the coming age we shall receive the prize. This prize is not the eternal portion of the saints but a reward to the overcomers during the millennium. If you behave yourself in the Father’s house, the church, the Father will say, “Since you have satisfied Me in My house, I will give you a prize in My kingdom.” But if we do not satisfy Him today in His house, we shall miss the prize and suffer loss during the next age in His kingdom. The choice is up to us. How gracious, righteous, and wise our Father is! He has prepared a feast and He encourages us all to eat well. The better we eat, the happier He will be. It is foolish not to eat well in the feast. Oh, how we all need to enjoy the church life!