Revealing of the Sons of God Part 2 - 1 John 3:1-4

But good morning to each of you. We appreciate you so very, very much, and are always delighted to have you tune in to the broadcast. Now, we have been talking from 1 John chapter 3, and the reason we are covering these passages is because we have those who want to object to the nature of the resurrection that we teach, to the fulfillment of all Bible prophecy. And they look for various passages that they believe support this futurist view that they have. And 1 John, of course, is one of them. And the reason I wanted to deal with it is to discuss the passage in its context, from the perspective of the immediate context, but also the overall Bible context, so that we can understand pretty much what's being said. And looks like Raquel, I hope I pronounced that right. But at any rate, this is what we're looking at. Let me read the text, and then we'll get into a discussion. It says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now are we children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. All right, so as we began our lesson on last week, we talked about how to become a son of God in the beginning. I mean, if the Bible says, Behold, what manner of love that we should be called the sons of God, it's important for us to know how to become a son of God so that we understand what we are dealing with when this topic is mentioned in the scripture. And we started out establishing that from John chapter one and verses 12 and 13. This is where John introduces the topic, basically saying the Lord came into his own, but his own did not receive him. But as many as received him to them, he gave the power or the authority to become the sons of God who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. So we're talking about sons that are born not through human means. So they're not born of blood. They're not born of the flesh, nor of the will of man. And of course, we discussed also John three, where in John three, Nicodemus went to Jesus, had a discussion with him during the night. And Jesus told him that except the man is born again, or a new, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He could not see the kingdom of God, which just supports the fact that the kingdom of God is not something that is visible to the natural eye. It is a spiritual kingdom and it does not come with observation. So that should tell you a lot about the nature of its king, as well as about the people who are citizens of the kingdom. Now, when Jesus was before Pilate, and Pilate asked him if he were a king because he had been charged with insurrection that he had come to overthrow the government of Caesar, which was the Zionist agenda and mission. They were looking for a king, a natural king in the flesh that was going to overthrow the Roman empire. And therefore that he was a threat to Caesar. And he said to them, or to Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world, or if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not. And so Pilate, after hearing that said, look, I find no fault in this man. He's no threat to Rome and wanted to release him and let him go. But the Jews cried out, crucify him, crucify him. And of course he was crucified. They said, let his blood be on us and upon our children. They should have learned from the Old Testament in the situation with Samuel, when the people came to Samuel and said, you know, your sons don't follow in your ways. And so make us a king like all the nations round about. And the Bible says, the thing displeased Samuel. And the Lord said, well, Samuel, look, don't mind them for now. They haven't rejected you. They have rejected me that I should not be king over them. Now I want you to think about that for just a moment because God was their king. They couldn't see him. He was invisible. No man has ever seen God at any time. And yet he was ruling over them from his throne in the heavens. And there was no problem. They didn't have to see the king in order to know that they had a king. And then later on, God says, look, Israel, I am your king in the book of Hosea chapter 13. And he says, and there is no other. He says, I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath. And God was never really up for Israel having these human kings because he was their king. And so to have a human king, to have a king on earth, a natural king like they were claiming or like the Jews were expecting was an anger or angered God. And of course, this is what some of the dispensationalists, the premillennialists, a lot of people who are focused on a literal rapture, this is what they're looking for. They're looking for Christ to come and set up a kingdom in Jerusalem and reign on earth. And the Bible has already told us that that is not something the Lord desired. As a matter of fact, it was after they tried to make Jesus a king on earth, John chapter six and verse 15, that he rejected them. He refused to allow them to make him a king. And that's when they rejected him. So his mission and purpose was not the same mission and purpose of the Pharisees and of those who were seeking these Zionist ideals. And yet we have those who call themselves Christian Zionists advocating the very thing that Christ did not want that he has condemned. So it's important for us to understand. We'll be talking a little bit more about this aspect of it as we move forward. Good to see Demetrius and Tim, Bill, Johnny, and also Timothy. Great to see you all. All right. So from that perspective, we have Christ establishing a kingdom that was not of this world and that's the same thing we should be understanding about him as well. Now, I know I stopped last week in Colossians. So I'm just kind of working my way back to Colossians chapter three, where we can pick up and discuss that a little bit further. But we also talked in Galatians chapter three, as far as becoming a son of God, where the Bible says you're all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Now look at that contrast between what the scripture said in John 1, when it talked about they were born not of blood nor of the flesh, or will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Now that's a distinction. That's a total 180-degree change from the way that people, particularly Israel, became sons of God in the old covenant. You see, they were born into the old covenant by blood, by the will of the flesh, and by the will of man. That is precisely how they were born into the old covenant. And that was the only paradigm, the only framework that Nicodemus had, which is why when Jesus talked about being born again or being born anew, he said, how can a man be born when he is old? How can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Now, one of the things that we want to point out relative to the gospel of John, if you want to misunderstand Jesus, good morning, Elvin and Antonia, if you want to misunderstand Jesus, especially in the gospel of John and throughout the New Testament, try to interpret him from a very physical and materialistic point of view, and you will go wrong every single time, especially when he is talking about the heavenly things, the world above. You can start in John chapter 1 and move all the way through to his teachings, to his primary teachings, and every single time you're going to find where they were thinking about something physical or material, and he was thinking about something spiritual. What about the living water in John chapter 4? The woman at Samaria, she wanted to get a cup, scoop some up out of the well, and drink. But he was talking about living water. In chapter 6, when he was talking about life, they went back and said, well, Moses gave those in the wilderness bread from heaven to eat. You see, they went back to the realm of the natural, and he was trying to take them into the realm of the spiritual. When he said in John 8, 51, if a man keep my word, he will never see death. The first thing the Pharisees said was that they said, well, now we know you've got a devil because Abraham is dead and the prophets. What was their argument? Their argument was, here are some of the most faithful men that have ever lived. And they died. They kept the word of God, but they died. So how do you say, if a man keep my word, he shall never see death? You see, Jesus wasn't talking about the kind of death that they had in their mind. And that's why we can't understand the subject of resurrection, because we have one kind of death. And when I say we, I'm talking about the futurists, the people who want to talk about bodies coming up out of the ground, which is the mindset that they carry into 1 John 3. And that is why they don't understand it, because they don't get what Jesus was saying. In John 11, in verse 25 and 26, one of the most profound statements in all the scripture related to the resurrection, he says, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. He didn't say coming up out of the ground was, he said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, see there's faith again, just like Galatians 3 says, he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. Now, he could not have been talking about physical death, because everyone who is not breathing today and who was a member of the body of Christ, who was a faithful believer, every one of them have died. If you're not living today, you're gone. And from the perspective of your physicality, of that natural birth that Nicodemus was talking about, but Jesus said they would be talking about a different kind of death. And unless we're willing to step into that realm, we are never going to understand Christ. So in Galatians, when he says, well, you're all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, that's the being born of water and the spirit. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You have clothed yourselves with Christ. And then he says, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you're all one in Christ Jesus. Now, he'd already talked about Christ being the one seed of Abraham, Galatians chapter three, and the verse is 16. And then he tells them that when they enter Christ, they become a part of the one seed with him. And becoming a son of God entitled them to privileges. And the privilege of being a son of God is that you have a right to an inheritance. Now, when you look at the old covenant of Israel, a slave did not have an inheritance. A Greek did not have an inheritance and neither did a female. Now they did make an exception. The daughters of the law had, but that was a special case. And we have to go back and read. I believe it's numbers 34 to understand what that special case was all about. But the point was they didn't inherit under the old covenant. And I think it was the code of Hammurabi. But back during the time of Abraham, there was a law that said, if you refer to a slave as your son, then that slave could then inherit because you have publicly declared him as your son, but otherwise they did not have an inheritance. So by entering into Christ, not by human blood, not by the will of the flesh, not by the will of man, all of those distinctions are nullified so that everyone has the right to inherit. And so this is what we're talking about. And therefore he says, and if you are Christ, then are you Abraham's seed? Notice, not by blood. See, John the Baptist told him in Matthew chapter three, when the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to his baptism, when he was baptizing in the region round about the Jordan. And he asked him, he says, oh, I called them venomous snakes. Who has warned you to flee the wrath about to come? And then he said, and do not think to call yourselves sons of Abraham. Now, wait a minute. They were fleshly or biological descendants of Abraham. However, John said, don't even think about it. For God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. So he wasn't going to allow their claim to be physically or genetically descended to give them the right enter the kingdom of God. He says, no, you got to bring forth fruits of repentance. And then Jesus carried that topic on and told them they had to be born again. And that is what was necessary. And that's what Galatians is all about from that perspective. Now in Colossians, the third chapter, we have a bit more. This is where we're working back up to where we were last week. I hope you don't mind the repeat, but I don't ever say it the same way every time. So you got something that you didn't get last week if you were here. All right. And if you weren't here, then you haven't missed anything. I'll put it that way. All right. In Colossians chapter two, and the verse is 11. We are also looking at the same context of becoming sons of God. And that's because we're dealing with the same topic. He says in verse 11, in him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision. Now watch this made without hands. You know, the first time you see the phrase made without hands is in Daniel chapter two. Around verse 34 or 35, when he's describing the metallic image, he talks about this stone that was cut out of the mountain made without hands. And that is an indication of the divine origin of the kingdom of God. It's not made with man's hands. And not only do we have a kingdom not made with hands, which is also the temple of God. That's why in Acts chapter seven, when the Bible talks about, but Solomon made him a house. The Bible says, but the most high does not dwell in temples made with hands. So if you're trying to go to Jerusalem, so and wait on them to build a temple over there. And then to what purpose is it? Jesus has already told us in John chapter four. With the woman at Samaria, when she said, well, our fathers worshiped on this mountain, referring to Mount Gerizim. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place to worship. And Jesus looked at the woman. He says, look, ladies, he says, woman, the time is coming. And now is when you will neither worship the father in this mountain, referring to Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem. So he has totally discredited a geophysical location for a temple. And yet you have people clamoring for it. And they are totally excited because, you know, sometime back, they announced that Jerusalem was now going to, you know, they were going to move the capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And everybody's really excited because they think a temple is going to be built there for what purpose. And by the way, since I'm on the temple aspect of it, you know, that would never fulfill the scriptures because the Bible in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4 talked about the man of sin or the man of lawlessness who was already in the temple in the first century. And the scripture says the mystery of iniquity was already at work. And Christ was going to come, which was his second appearing, to destroy the man of sin who was in that temple. So you can't remake the history. It's already done. And that was a sign for them to know the fact that he was in the temple. So they don't have a temple, so I guess they don't have a man of sin. I guess they'll manufacture him too. Wonder where they'll get him from or who will he be? Of course, they've named just about everyone to be that. But nevertheless, let me go on because I digress just a bit. All right. So in Colossians 2, he says, In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. And as I mentioned before, some translation will say by putting off the body of flesh. Now, the Bible has told us in the second chapter of Romans again, so that we understand that we don't get this twisted and make it all physical, which is what some people are doing. So they're walking around, they're changing their garments, and they are doing all these things and claiming that they are physical descendants. Well, the Bible says in Romans 2 and verse 28, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, the letter referring to the law of Moses, whose praise is not from men, but from God. And so we need to understand that, and that's what Colossians is talking about. There's a circumcision that is not made with hands. This is something that's spiritual going on. Why? Because it applies to people who were not born of human blood, of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man. Verse 12, Buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. So here was their death. Here was their burial and their resurrection. Now, having done that, he tells them in verse 20 of Colossians 2, Therefore, if you die, so the people to whom he's writing have died. Important for us to understand that as well. Did Paul stand in the graveyard and write to people? Good to see you, Dr. Tatar. Much of a pleasure and enjoyed our conversation on yesterday. Some others are here. There's Jamie and Myron and David. Good to see you, Marita. Look, man, you have to call me and tell me how to pronounce that name. Ivy, run. We appreciate you being here. At any rate, so in Colossians 2 in verse 20, he said, You die. Now he's talking to some people in Colossi, telling the church there that they died. Is he talking about physical death? Absolutely not. Morning angel. All right. And so in verse three, now watch what he says. If I'm sorry, chapter three and the verse is one. If then you were raised with Christ. See, they had died. They were buried with him in baptism, wherein also they were risen with him. So we're talking about a resurrection here. But it's not a resurrection of people who died physically, were buried in the ground and then came up out of the ground. And so he says, if then you were raised with Christ, and we've got to say more about that because people have problems understanding this. And you'll see more when I get to first John three. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Now, what he's doing now is telling them that, look, you are on a whole different level. You see, becoming a child of God was not just about turning around, you know, as we say, repent and turn. It was not about turning around from the same or in the same sphere in which you were already living. It was about moving to a total different plane of life. I don't have time to cover that. I'm going to cover it in this morning's lesson at the congregation. But we're going to talk about that to show you what Paul was saying. You see, when Paul talked about Christ in first Corinthians chapter two, and I think it's verse two, he says, brethren, when I came to you, he says, I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. You see, there's something that occurred at the crucifixion of Christ that changed the whole world. And I'm trying to help people get into that world that began at his crucifixion, in other words, and his resurrection, instead of trying to stay into the world prior to that. And sometimes people just don't get it. But he says, if you then were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Remember when Jesus was talking to Nebuchadnezzar, he said, look, if I've told you about earthly things, you can't grasp those. What are you going to do when I talk about the heavenly things? And so seek those things which are above. Now, you had a world above and you had a world beneath. The world beneath was the world of Israel, out of which Jesus had come. It involved the land that God gave them, the law of Moses, etc. This was the land of Canaan and everything that was, if you please, Hebraic, as far as their culture was concerned, that was their world. That's what the woman in John 4 was talking about. Or at least she was talking about Mount Gerizim. But when Jesus referred to Jerusalem, that's what he was talking about. You know, these two mountains, etc., where the temple sat. And so when he said, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the land, which is how you should understand that term, earth. From the word, gay, or G, however you want to pronounce it, the term from which we get geography. So it's the land. So he's telling them, don't focus on the land. And yet that's exactly what these Christian Zionists do, what these premillennial dispensationalists do. And these rapture people, that's what they're doing. They focus on the land. And here is Paul telling those who have been born again, do not focus on the land, focus on what is above. It's the same teaching that Christ gave in John chapter 4. So set your mind on things above. Now look at why he told them to do that. Very, very important. The reason he said focus on what is above and not on the land is because they died. Death separates you from earthly things. If you die physically, I can assure you that you will not be watching television on tomorrow. You will not have to worry about wearing a face mask. You will not have to worry about paying taxes. It'll all be over. He tells them, for you died. So when they died, that was the end, or at least the beginning of it. It was a process. I have to get that in, but at least you'll get the initiation or the inaugural aspect of that concept. It was because they died that they were no longer to be focused on the land. Now, this is not telling you as an individual that you should not own land. That's not what this is telling you. You can't have your personal possessions. You should. See, part of the problem with the futurist eschatology is they've been telling people you get your eyes off of everything earthly and just focus on going to heaven and walk around poor and don't have anything in this world. Look, that's for the birds. You can't make it in this world without some material possessions. And don't think that just having material possessions is a material thing. No, that's a spiritual stewardship as well. The Bible says those who are rich in this world use those things for good. 1 Timothy 6, that you may be rich in good works. Someone said the best way to help the poor is not to be one of them. I'm not preaching health and wellness as far as telling you that you gotta bring all your money down to the altar. It would be nice if you help support this program with a little bit, you know, $5 or $10 there. But I'm not soliciting that. You know, you have to do things like that until you gotta go sell your house and do this. But there are others out there who will do it and people do it. No, but the point that I'm making is that when he says on the land, he was talking about a specific land and the reason they weren't to focus on it was because things had changed and they had died to it from that perspective. And so you died and your life. Now watch this. This is very important. This is where I stopped last week. That's why I had to check my watch to see how much time I had to at least get beyond this point. And I have just a few minutes to do so. All right. So he said, for you died and watch this and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Now, wait a minute. Look at yourselves, hold up your mirror, look at it and see if you see anything. And tell me if there's anything that is hidden. You died and your life is hidden. What life was hidden? That's the life that they received when they were raised. So we're not talking about your physical life. We're not talking about the physical bodies that you're in. As far as that is concerned, you already have that life. You got that life when you came out of your mother's womb. And as long as you're breathing, you still have it. And so did the Colossians. But there was a life that they received when they died in baptism because they were dying. And what they put off, they put off a body. It's important to see that as well. They put off a body of sin. And remember in Galatians, they put on another body. That was the body of Christ. Because the Bible says as many of you as were baptized into Christ have done what? Have put on Christ. So and notice something else here. See, it says they put off the body of the flesh. You've got two opposing states there. One is the body of Christ putting on Christ. That's a corporate man. And they were putting off the body of sin. That's a corporate man as well. Let me not get too deep in that. I just want to throw it out there. At any rate, let's go on. Then he says, when Christ. Now this is getting into the first John aspect. Good morning, Brother Hanuk and Dave. Elvin, did I call your name earlier? And Don and Bill, I think I did. At any rate, good morning to all of you. So in verse four, watch the statement. When Christ put our light. Now, did you get that? When Christ, who is our life, appears. Then shall you appear. Now, wait a minute. You've got something that's hidden here that could not be seen. So he's not talking about your physical body. He's not talking about your physicality. Because your physicality is not hidden. If I were sitting next to you, I'd pinch you and ask you, could you feel that? But you get the point. But there was something that was hidden. It was a life that they received in Christ. And the Bible says, when Christ, who is our life. Now, this is very important. If Christ was their life, then it's the Christ that's hidden. Now, if Christ is in a physical body, how could he be inside of you and be hidden? Particularly as a grown man. You know, go back to what Nicodemus said. And I don't know how men are going to handle that. We can at least think about it for the females. But for the men, that's really going to be a feat. But if Christ was their life, and if Christ in this text represents physicality, which is what people believe about him as far as his coming, how are you going to get a physical Christ inside of you? When Christ, who is our life, appears. Now watch, then you also shall appear. Now, how does an invisible person appear? That's the point. How do they appear? Good morning, Leroy and Philip. How does that which is invisible appear? See, this is what we have to think about when we're looking at the text. Now, this has a direct bearing on 1 John chapter 3. So what we're talking about that's hidden in view or hidden from view that was not seen was not something visible to the physical eye. It was invisible. And yet we're going to make what is invisible appear. I know, you know, many of you probably remember watching The Invisible Man when you were a kid, telling your age now, where you just see this coat and these shades and this hat walk around and no one inside of it, all right? But the only way you could tell The Invisible Man was there is you had to see the coat. You have to see the shades and you have to see the hat, which means that you needed something physical to manifest that which was invisible or spiritual. This is so very, very important when we talk about the coming of the Lord. You must have something physical in order to manifest what is invisible because you can't see what is invisible. When Christ who is our life appears, then you who are hidden will also appear. How are they going to appear? They weren't going to become visible. They were already physically visible. That's not what he meant. He meant they would be manifested in some way that they had not been manifested before, but he was going to take some physical act in order to do that. And so, very important for us to grasp what is meant. Now, let's note something here. Look in Romans chapter eight, or note that text down. In Romans, the eighth chapter, Paul writes to the church at Rome and he says this. Well, I consider that the sufferings of this present time. Now, that's an eschatological timeframe. That is not talking about sufferings we're going through today. I'm not denying that people suffer today. That's not the point. I'm talking about particular sufferings that were taking place in the first century that are not to be repeated. These are what we call the birth pangs. That's the present distress has to do with the tribulation, et cetera. This is what they were going through. They were being persecuted for their faith, which is what Jesus had promised them from the beginning. And so, he says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time. You see, they were in a situation where they were about to be birthed as new sons of God and manifested as sons of God. But in order to do that, the Bible says they had to suffer. Just like before a woman gives birth, even though she has a child inside of her, that child is hidden from view and then has to go through these birth pangs of labor before that child is revealed or birth to the world. Now, so the Bible says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with, which is about to be revealed in us. If you go back and look at the original, it has the word mellow there or form of it. And it's translated literally, the glory that was about to be revealed. So this is not something that was going to be postponed for thousands of years. This is something that was going to come about within a relatively short period of time. All right. And then now watch what was going to happen in verse 19. For the earnest expectation, something they were eagerly looking forward to, of the creation waits for what? The revealing of the sons of God. Do you see that? Good morning, Kristen, all the way from Brazil. Good morning to you. All right. For the earnest expectation, I think we had, I think Dr. Tata is from China, maybe listening from China. That ought to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, how far reached this broadcast is. For the earnest expectation, this is what they were looking for. They were undergoing sufferings at that present time. And the Bible says, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for what? For the revealing of the sons of God. Now, what kind of sons? Sons that were not born by blood, that were not born of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. Sons that were hidden so that people didn't even know who they were. Because you couldn't look at them from the outside and determine what they were. As far as just your natural eyesight was concerned. And for that reason, good morning, Tiffany. For that reason, they had to be revealed or manifested. Now, you know, there's a whole different subject right here talking about the creation. Listen to these preachers today. When they start to talk about the creation, they will tell you that the trees and the snails and the roaches and the mosquitoes and the rats and all of these are going to be delivered into the kingdom of God. Just absolutely ridiculous. Because they don't understand what the creation is and what sons are all about. When Jesus used the same word, Ctesus, in Mark chapter 16, and said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature or to all the creation. He didn't say go preach to roaches and rats and trees and bugs and snails, etc. I tell you what, tell these preachers to go preach to them and then pass the collection plate to the roaches. Ah, that would be a deal, wouldn't it? You see, they don't know they're going to go preach to some humans with jobs and businesses and assets. They're not going to preach to these inanimate objects, but yet they want to bring these inanimate objects because they won't study the scripture into watching from Liberia. All right, Edmund, Africa in the house this morning, ladies and gentlemen. Look, I determined I wasn't wearing a suit today. Straight out of Africa. Let me give kudos to my tailor over there. Crazy. All right. Give him a message, Solomon. For the earnest expectation of the creed really waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Now, look, we're getting to the end of the time, not the end of the lesson, because I got lots more to talk about relative to this. But now let's just take this little bit that we have and move over to 1 John 3. Because 1 John 3 is a parallel context to Colossians 3. And I want you to just take the information that you've heard thus far. And let's read that text again and see if it doesn't make just a bit more sense. And then next, we're going to add more to this foundation. We're even going to get into talking about Christ and his second birth. But in 1 John chapter 3, the Bible says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God or sons of God. Good morning, Ben. Therefore, the world does not know us. Look, if they couldn't see them, if they were hidden from the perspective of their relationship, how could the world know you? I'll have to develop that more fully on next week. And that's where I'll start. Developing why the world did not know the sons of God. The world did not know us. Why? Because it did not know him. Let me just tease you a little bit. Didn't they know Jesus's name? Yeah. Didn't they know his alleged father, Joseph the carpenter? Yes. Didn't they know that Mary was his mother? Yes. Didn't they know that he was from Nazareth? Yes. Didn't they know that he had other brothers and sisters? Yes. They knew all this stuff about Christ, but they didn't know him. And the question is, how and why did they not know him? What was it about Christ that they did not know? And the very thing that they did not know about Christ is what they didn't know about the sons of God. And it's so very important. Good morning, James, for us to grasp that. Then we will begin to understand a bit more about resurrection of sons of God, about the revealing of sons of God, and about that to which they have been called and what area and what sphere of life they live their lives on. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's about all the time that I have. And I hope that you have been able to follow what we've said up to this point. But one other thing, look at verse two. He says, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed. You know what? That's saying the same thing it said in Colossians, they were hidden. The very same thing. And we're going to explore that further in next week's broadcast. We want you to visit our website at allthingsfeel.com. Also, our YouTube channel at All Things Feel. We've got over 600 videos there, and we continue to add them. If you are in the Memphis area, come by to the Rains Road Church of Christ, located at 33 East Rains Road, and worship with us. 10 a.m. for the Bible study, 11 a.m. for the morning worship. And then for Wednesday Bible class, join us on Zoom with the Zoom ID of 934-861-2970 every Wednesday. And we're back here on next week on the Mighty 990 for another edition of All Things Fulfilled. God bless you all. May God keep you, and may you continue to grow in his word. This is William Bales saying have a very pleasant good morning.