"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" John 11:21-26

"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His Name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:13-14

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." I Corinthians 2:9

What a wonderful day it is to greet one another, to laugh and shout and sing for joy of heart, because the very Son of God has opened up a Kingdom which operates on earth right here and now for all of His citizens who live as the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ! What joy I have to bring you this marvelously happy news of good things heaped up, shaken together, pressed down and running over! And if you have not as yet come into the realization of that truth, and the joys of that glorious Kingdom for our here and now, it is high time you wake up and start singing at the top of your voice, because it is an actual reality.

If your Bible is convenient, you may look up chapter 35 in the Prophet Isaiah, from which I will quote. His writings are among the most wonderful in the Bible. He must have been very close to God. So let us read Isaiah 35:4-6:

"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert."

I am well aware that Christendom looks forward to the fulfillment of this prophecy in some future day, and so do I. That is, in some future day, and that day is now drawing near when this particular prophecy shall become fulfilled unto His Chosen People in the land of Palestine. But where I differ with Christendom is, that in spirit our Lord is still here: He reigns as King of His spiritual Kingdom, which was superimposed upon this world following His resurrection. God lives in the eternal present, while those of us who have come into an understanding of this glorious truth, can draw upon His goodness and upon His power in this world right now.

Yes, Christendom looks forward to the fulfillment of that prophecy, even as do the believing Jews of our day. May I remind you of the words of Martha, the sister of Lazarus, which she spoke unto Christ, when her brother lay dead in the tomb and the stench had commenced to fill the surrounding air. She, like the rest of the House of JacobIsrael, had been taught and believed, that sometime in the future God would call to the dead bodies (that rested in the grave) whose dust had moldered away centuries previously, and that that dust would swirl to the vibration of God's Voice, and again become living human flesh in the identical images which had previously walked the earth. They believed in that resurrection of the dead, and it is quite clearly stated in the scrolls of their ancient Prophets. What is more, the Lord Jesus underscored the truth of that teaching.

Here, I am correctly drawing a parallel between that teaching of the hope of a future resurrection of the dead and of that which I have just read to you from the Prophet Isaiah – that there is a future day coming when the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, when the lame man shall leap as an hart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing: for, in the wilderness shall water spread out and streams in the desert. The Jews, as well as Christendom, are looking forward to that future and soon-coming day. But in that moment when great sadness had filled the heart of Martha, the sister of Lazarus, she replied to the Lord, "I know that my brother will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (Jn. 11:24). Martha looked forward: she hoped, she dared to believe that such a day would dawn, when the Voice of Almighty God would reverberate the very earth, and His dead people would again stand up on their feet. But now, hear the words of the Son of God as He looked deep into the soul of Martha and spoke with emphasis, "I am the resurrection, and the life!" (Jn. 11:25).

You see, beloved, the point I am so desperately trying to put across to you, is this glorious truth: that with God there is no tomorrow – there is only the eternal now. Christ our Lord knew very well when He was talking to Martha, that sometime in the future that day on earth would dawn when the dead in the graves should hear the voice of the Son of God, and they would rise up. But because there is absolutely no tomorrow in the life of the ever-living God, but the eternal now, our Lord answered Martha in the words I have quoted to you, "I am the resurrection and the life." In other words, there is no waiting, there is no need of hoping, there is no occasion to yearn and keep one's fingers crossed: God is now, and His power as great today as it ever will be.

When it comes to human beings, the only reason for tomorrow, and our prayers for a better tomorrow, and our hopes for the power of God to manifest to us tomorrow, is because of the sad fact that we have eaten of the tare-seed which Lucifer the enemy planted (Matt. 13:24-25); we have become sick and blind to the glorious truth of Jesus Christ in the eternal present. Because our eyes as yet are blinded, and our minds as of now not able to receive the staggering truths of God's eternal Presence, and the absolutely completed work on Calvary's Cross, we therefore look forward to a brighter tomorrow. But unto every citizen in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, who lives as a son or daughter of the Son of God, the grace and the goodness and the power of God are available for the present moment, that we may leap and shout for joy of heart, and rejoice in the unstinted goodness of Almighty God!

Even of this glorious truth and grace of God did the inspired Apostle speak of in saying, "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (I Cor. 2:9). Unfortunately, that has remained a sad truth up into this very day. Christendom has hoped for pie-in-the-sky, keeping fingers crossed, with a long face trying to endure the hardships of the grim ratrace. But the Apostle lamented the sad fact that as yet had not entered into the heart of man the understanding of this glorious truth: that God has prepared these wonders for man. Observe, the Apostle didn't speak of that which had been, or would be prepared for the soul of man sometime in the future, but rather that which God has prepared for those that love Him: of necessity that means right here and now.

Some of you might like to retort: but what of the Apostle himself – was he not shipwrecked time and again, was he not repeatedly beaten with many stripes and even stoned, did he not suffer persecution and endure cold, want, and hardships almost as great as any human ever endured? Yes, indeed! But this is where you err in your perspective: we must draw a sharp line of separation between the average Christian of today and that of Paul the Apostle. You are not a Jew living under the Law in Palestine in the days of our Lord, and shortly following. Unto Paul had the wondrous grace of Almighty God been poured out with unstinted measure. Paul looked back upon the blackness and horror of his own life, in that he had persecuted without mercy those who had accepted their blessed Messiah. He looked out upon the horror of that great darkness which blinded his own people, and he was also aware of the appalling ignorance which was common to Gentile lands. So, in that spirit of gratitude which words could not utter, he offered himself to Christ his Lord, to serve Him with all that within him was, to the end that in some little measure he might make restitution for the wrong that he had committed. And he loved his own people also to such extent that for them he was willing to lay down his life. Therefore, to help Paul remain humble, and in the spirit which at first motivated him after his experience on the road to Damascus, Christ permitted the severe testings to come upon Paul in order that he might become fully polished, as it were, to eventually shine forth as the stars forever and ever.

Wherefore, I repeat, we must draw a sharp line of separation between such a Paul and the average Christian of today, who is established in a land of Christendom. The average Christian of today is in a completely different category from the Apostles of the Lord of 19 centuries ago, who went forth to evangelize the nations. Because of the great wonders they had seen, the startling truths they had heard, and because of the great promises unto them to individually sit on twelve thrones in the kingdom of Jesus Christ as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel, God decreed for them severe testings, in order that they might be kept humble and thoroughly polished, trained and fitted for both the glories as well as the responsibilities He had outlined for them.

Today, you and I live in a different age, and the shadows have lengthened. The Apostles and other stalwarts have gone before us: they have borne the heat of the day, and they have hewn the path, and they have prepared us a habitation. The average Christian of today is not laboring among pagan tribes, neither is he persecuted by a people of another religion. Others before us have labored faithfully, and we have entered into the fruits of their labors. Yet the night has been long and dark, and therefore, the ignorance appalling. But now the wondrous rays of the returning DayStar are shooting high over the spiritual horizon of man; we look into the scroll of truth, and we see what bygone princes of this earth looked for, hoped for, and prayed for in vain. Ours is a glorious and doubly blessed lot. We are the children of the King! Those of us who have truly entered into understanding the truth that Christ's atoning work on Calvary wrought out our redemption in an absolute totality, have been born into His Kingdom, and live as sons and daughters of Jesus Christ; wherefore, we enjoy the marvelous good and glories of His Kingdom right here and now.

Hear The Voice of Tomorrow: God is here and now. The eternal present shall never cease to be. "I am the resurrection, and the life," rang the voice of the Son of God. Martha and her friends were dumbfounded; it seemed unbelievable that the events which God had decreed to be thousands of years in the future could possibly manifest at that split moment. Yet they understood the awesomeness of that expression, "I am": they trembled at its power. Have you not read, have you not heard, that God changes not (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8)? God is! To His children who will receive the truth of His present reality, there is no tomorrow, there is no waiting, hoping, worrying, nor suffering; God Almighty is our Shield, and impregnable Defense.

Hear the words of the Nazarene on that last night with His disciples: "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (Jn. 15:11). Again He said to them a few moments later, "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My Name, ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy might be full" (Jn. 16:24). Observe, there was not the slightest hint as to a future life and their "souls"' in an unknown world, but He spoke to men of flesh and their objective consciousness, and concerning that He said that their joy could be full right here and now.

What was the joy which Christ our Lord did have? The unutterable joy of knowing that the Father had not left Him but was ever present; and that the Father always heard His every word. In THAT did His joy rest, as well as in the fact He knew the Father loved Him, and would give Him whatever He might ask for. THAT was the joy of Christ – the Son of man as He lived on earth. And in the clearest of language He told His close followers that He wanted them to possess the selfsame joy, so that whatever they asked for might be granted them to the end that their joy should be full and overflowing – into the filling of countless thousands of other human hearts.

Is your heart ready to receive that portion of His joy which He has prepared for those who love Him? Have you entered into the realization that the Kingdom of Christ is for your here and now? That the work on Calvary was absolutely perfect, establishing peace between man and God? If not, it is high time that you wake up and start singing and shouting the praises of God, as you get an eyeful of the glories and the wonders which Christ our King has prepared for those who love Him.

To help a multitude of fellow Christians, and even those who are as yet not Christians, I have written the Kingdom Keys study. They are available through our Store.

Is it not the privilege of the children to eat at the father's table? Hear the Word of God, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God" (I Jn. 3:1). For your information, those words from I John 3:1, constitute the correct translation. The Authorized Version reads, "the sons of God," but in the Greek originals the word is tekna, which means "children," not "sons." Therefore, since we are the children of Christ our King, we eat at His table.

The banquet is on….

Christ has spoken: "COME!"

I, too, bid you "Come…."