The Golden Age

Thank you, choir, for that beautiful music on this high holy day. And again, welcome, brethren, this afternoon, and welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles 2022. I don't think anybody here can ignore the fact that we're living in fast-moving times. I mean very fast-moving times, and I think we all know that they're only going to get faster, aren't they? You know, I speculate, not wonder at times, how many more years we have left before Jesus Christ returns. How many more years in this age? One thing we know for sure is the kingdom of God is drawing closer. You know, this is my 62nd Feast of Tabernacles, and some of you could say the same, and some of us have been here 50 times, 50-something, 40, 30, whatever. But it has been noted that for those of us who've been around a long time that we have heard prophecies preached all of our lives. They were out yonder. Now they're not out yonder. They're close. We're now living at a time when prophecies are coming to pass. That's not what my sermon's about, and I'm going to get into it here in just about 30 seconds or so. But I will say this, may this Feast of Tabernacles be your best and most meaningful yet, and may it be spiritually rich with God. It was known as the Golden Age of Israel.

No other period like it ever in Israel's history. It was the time of Solomon's reign. David had handed over to his son Solomon a kingdom that was absolutely secured. Israel's enemies had been subdued, her boundaries and influence established, and it was a time of peace and prosperity. If you'll join me in 1 Chronicles, 1 Chronicles 22 and verse 9. 1 Chronicles 22 and verse 9.

David had been told, and he relates this to Solomon. He's relating this to Solomon, that which God had told David at a previous time.

He said, you know, God told me, Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about. Keep your finger here. I'm coming back. But notice 1 Kings 5 and verse 4. 1 Kings 5 and verse 4.

1 Kings 5 and verse 4. But now the Lord, my God, has given me. Solomon is talking to Harim, King of Tyre, and he's relating what David had told him. But now the Lord, my God, has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil a current. David related to me what is the current condition, that I have rest on every side, I don't have an adversary, and there are no calamities going on. Now, if you look here at verse 3, 1 Kings 5 and verse 3.

David was a man of war. You know how, Harim? You know how that David, my father, could not build a house to the name of the Lord his God? Because the wars which were about him on every side until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. David was a man of war. Now, if you go back to 1 Chronicles 22 and verse 8, backing it up one verse there, and again, David relating to Solomon, verse 8, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, you have shed blood abundantly, and you have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. David was a man of war. He had spent a lifetime battling and subduing Israel's enemies. He had been used of God to guarantee a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Again, like none other that was about to come upon, come to hand, so to speak, with Solomon. So here came Solomon. He inherited a kingdom, a kingdom that would enjoy her greatest expansion both in territory and influence. Now, you think about it. David had spent a lifetime, a lifetime as a man of war. Solomon would spend a lifetime as a man of peace. David had spent a lifetime guaranteeing an opportunity for peace and prosperity. Solomon would spend a lifetime making sure that it got used. It was truly Israel's golden age, and there was none other like it in all of her history, and it was golden in more ways than one. In 1 Kings or back, I should say, 1 Kings 10, this time, chapter 10, 1 Kings chapter 10, and verse 7.

1 Kings 10 and verse 7. And this is in regards to the queen of Sheba, who came to see with her own eyes what she had heard. Okay, verse 7. The queen of Sheba is telling Solomon, how be it, I believe not the words until I came, and my eyes have seen it, and behold, the half. Half of what I, I mean, I wasn't told half of it. I didn't really believe it. It was too much to believe almost, and I came, and I wasn't told the half of it. Behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard. And then if you look at verse 14 here, verse 14, now the weight of gold, just gold alone, that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold. 666 talents of gold. Verse 21, verse 21, and all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver. That's a little bit inferior to gold. No, we're going to use gold. Didn't mean they didn't have silver, and he didn't use silver, but it's just making the point of how much gold he had. None were of silver. It was something accounted of. It was nothing almost accounted of in the days of Solomon. I mean, it was so common. The gold was so common. I'll come back here, but I'm going to go to 2 Chronicles 1 and verse 15 and read this verse and then come back. 2 Chronicles chapter 1 and verse 15.

In regards to it was counted as nothing, there's so much gold, it says, and we say, okay, well, it's a bit of hyperbole and a bit of exaggeration, and maybe it is in one sense, but it's to make the point, and it does make the point. It says in 2 Chronicles 1 and verse 15, and the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenty as stones. Now, anybody that's been to Jerusalem knows there are a lot of stones. They use that as the analogy to make the point of how much gold and silver there was, so it was tremendous. Now back in 1 Kings, again, chapter 10, this time verses 22 and 23. For the king had at sea, and look at the time frame on this, for the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram. Once in every three years, they did such extensive sea-going travels and gatherings, they only made it back to home port once every three years. Once in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks. Verse 23, so King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And again, Solomon's wisdom equaled his gold, as the queen of Sheba had said, the half of it wasn't told me of your wisdom and prosperity there in verse 7 of chapter 10. And again, 666 talents. But verse 24, verse 24, And all the earth sought to Solomon to hear his wisdom, all the earth to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. In 1 Kings 3, verses 12 and 13, verse 13. Now, here's where the Lord had appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream. And in verse 12 and 13, God says, Behold, I have done according to your words. I have given you a wise and an understanding heart so that there was none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like unto you. And to this day, Solomon and wisdom is used synonymously so many times. And I've also given you that which you have not asked for. It's interesting, he didn't ask for riches. God says, I've given you that which you did not ask for, riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you all your days. And so again, as a result, it was Israel's golden age. It was their golden age culturally. It was their golden age economically. It was a time of unparalleled peace, prosperity, and productivity given by God. I remind us of again what I read in 1 Corinthians 22 and verse 9.

There in the mess at Corinthians Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 22 and verse 9, Behold, a son shall be born to you. You shall, who shall be a man of rest? And I will give him rest from all his enemies round about, for his name shall be Solomon. Solomon means peaceable. It's interesting how God names things what they are. Israel means one who has power with man and God, a prince who has power with man and God. He changed Jacob's name to Israel. He gives David a son whose name, and God had to have been involved in inspiring that name. Solomon, peaceable. God names things what they are. This was to be a golden time of peace and prosperity from God, and he typified it by and through the king, the son of David, whose name would actually mean peaceable. It was like a, you might say, kind of like a type of mini millennium. Kind of like a microcosm of sorts of the millennium. 1 Kings 4, 25, when we read how that time was described, it rings the bell. Let's read it. 1 Kings 4 and verse 25.

1 Kings 4 verse 25, and I can just about guarantee that what this brings to mind will be read in one or more of the messages during this feast. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely.

They dwelt confidently, as the Hebrew could be rendered, every man under his vine and his fig tree from Dan even to Beersheba. When you say Dan to Beersheba, it's like saying Portland, Maine, or Bangor, Maine, to Los Angeles, California. It's from one end of the nation to the next. It's from the top part of Israel all the way down to the bottom. It's the entire nation. But that phrase, every man dwelling safely under his vine and under his fig tree, which is a specific statement of the kingdom of God when it is set up upon this earth. So it's quite interesting, isn't it? And if you want the parallel, it's in Micah 4-4. Not going to turn there, but it's in Micah 4-4. Now, during such a time of peace and prosperity, there is an optimum level of material opportunity and achievement and success, isn't there? Safety, peace, prosperity, no enemies around, all been secured. So you have an optimum level of material opportunity and achievement and success. And that is illustrated or typified by what is expressed in Ecclesiastes 2 verses 4-10. Ecclesiastes 2 verses 4-10.

Picking it up in verse 4 here, Solomon says, I made me great works. Now, again, the stimulation of the economy, gold and silver like stones, everybody benefiting.

I made me great works. I built me houses. I planted vineyards. I made gardens, orchards. I planted trees of all kinds of fruit. I made pools of water to water there with the wood that brings forth trees, the forest. I got servants. I had servants. I had maidens. I had servants born in my house. Also, I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all, above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got men singers, women singers, and the delights of the sons of men and musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me, and whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion of all my labor. Again, a time of unprecedented material opportunity, success, and achievement. Got it made. Had it all. Have it all. Been there. Done that.

And yet, something is missing. Something is missing. Here, he goes on to save verse 11. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labor to do, and behold, all was vanity, empty, meaningless, and frustration. So anytime you see in the old King James the vexation of spirit, it just means frustration. Frustration. And there was no prophet under the sun.

I saw no real prophet under the sun. And verse 17. I mean, think about this. Verse 17, therefore I hated life because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous to me. All that that I've achieved, that I've done, and have been doing, it's just grievous. Because it's all vanity. It's just temporary. It's empty. It's meaningless. And it's frustrating. That's what he was saying. Verse 20, therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the sun.

Verse 22, for what has man of all his labor and of the vexation or frustration of his heart wherein he has labored under the sun, for all of his days are sorrows, his travail grief. Yes, his heart takes not rest in the night. This is also vanity or empty or temporary or meaningless. There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor.

This also I saw that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat or else hasten to do whatever more than I? That's what Solomon is saying. For God gives to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge and joy, but to the center he gives travail together and to heap up that he may give to him that is good before God. And this also is kind of frustrating and meaningless to me. But peace, prosperity, productivity, and yet something is missing. What is it? What is it that makes the peace, the prosperity, and the productivity lasting and worthwhile?

Or is there anything that can keep it from becoming empty and meaningless after a while? Well, folks, we'd better hope so. We're in big trouble in so many more years, aren't we? Because the greatest time of peace, prosperity, productivity for all mankind is just around the corner, just down around the bend, as they say. You know, the golden age of man, the golden age of God when God sets up his kingdom. And again, there will be messages that will touch upon the scriptures that show what an unprecedented time of unprecedented peace that's ahead of us. And we look forward to that.

Unprecedented prosperity and productivity, a time when there'll be no more boom or bust. We've got folks sitting in here right now who are very concerned about the economy, the stock market, because your livelihood is tied up. Your own pensions and retirements, inflation is going up, stock market's going down, you know, all the uncertainties.

Boom or bust? That's man's way. But think about a time ahead which is coming of just boom. No bust because God has a perfect system to put into place even economically.

If you like a title for the sermon, I've waited to this point to give a title. I think maybe you know what I would title it, and you probably already titled it, but just simply title it the Golden Age. Now that's not the prime point of the message, but just title the sermon the Golden Age because we have a golden age ahead of us, and what's going to guarantee that golden age is God.

God is going to guarantee that the age is golden. He's the one that's going to guarantee that it will remain golden, that it will stay golden. Think about it. A full, not one year short, a full one thousand years. That's why we call it the millennium because millennium is just a Latin word that means a thousand, like century means a hundred, decade means ten. So, you know, you say a thousand year reign of Christ or the millennial reign of Christ, God is going to guarantee a full one thousand year millennium of golden opportunity.

It's going to be golden opportunity physically, and it's going to be golden opportunity spiritually, both.

But let's drop it down to the individual. For the individual in that golden age, what keeps it golden?

You ever thought about that? In that golden age that overshadows everything, what keeps it golden for the individual? What burnishes the gold for the individual, and what tarnishes it with dimmer and dimmer glow? You know, regarding each individual, what is more important than peace? What is more important than prosperity? What is more important than productivity? That is, what is it that guarantees the peace? What is it that guarantees prosperity? What is it that guarantees productivity? What is it that guarantees a person not to come to the state of mind that Solomon came to after having all that peace and that prosperity and that productivity? What is it that keeps it lasting and meaningful, and it doesn't become empty, and it doesn't become frustration? What keeps it rich and fulfilling? Whether we're talking about the golden age of Israel back then, or the golden age that God is going to produce for man in the future, what is it that preserves and protects the peace, the prosperity, the productivity for each individual? What keeps the gold in it for that person? What keeps, makes and keeps the age an individual, personal, golden age for the individual? For each individual, what is the most important thing of all? You probably have figured out where I'm going. I'll certainly vocalize it. A personal relationship with God. And I do emphasize personal. A personal relationship with God. There is nothing that I have, there's nothing that you have, there's nothing that any one of us has that we must give attention to.

Never let fade. Always give attention to, always deepen. That is more important. It's the most important thing you have. It's the most crucial area of your life. It's the most necessary activity that you can participate in 24-7, 365, and in the leap years 366. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is as important as having and maintaining a personal relationship with God. Forever. Don't you think about that? Forever. Eternity. Forever. That's the reality. On the list of all time important things, this is and will be the very top. A personal relationship with God. And that is what is missing in Ecclesiastes with Solomon. You might say, how could that be?

It's not hard to figure out when you look at the record. But a personal relationship with God, that is what is missing in Ecclesiastes there with Solomon when he expresses as he did. And when you read those sections, you can almost feel, you can just almost feel the emptiness and the longing and the uselessness and the frustration and the restlessness.

And here was Solomon, not only sitting right smack in the middle of Israel's golden age, but he was being used to help produce that. But this is what is missing. This is what is left out in Ecclesiastes 1 and 2. There's a scripture in Isaiah. It's Isaiah 26 verse 3. Isaiah 26 and verse 3.

It actually speaks to relationship. It speaks to the deep personal relationship with God. God inspired Isaiah to write, You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you.

You think about it. Be kept in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you. That is a relationship statement with the fruit that comes from that relationship statement.

Solomon started off well. He got off on the right foot, the right basis, the right foundation.

Go with me back to 1 Kings. 1 Kings 3 and verse 3.

1 Kings 3 and verse 3. He got off on the right foot. And Solomon loved the Lord. Solomon loved the Lord. Walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and burned incense in high places. And the way that was back then, it wasn't that they were sacrificing each other. Well, some were, yes. But the main place was at Gibeon. That was the main high place. They didn't have the temple. They had the tabernacle, of course. And then Solomon would build the temple. But they did their sacrificing in high places rather than at specified locations. And the main specified location, at that time, was at Gibeon, where they did the main high place. But still, it says he loved the Lord, walking in his statutes. And verse 4. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. A thousand burnt offerings that Solomon offered upon that altar. And, of course, obviously, in verse, and I'll just read through this fairly quickly, beginning in verse 5. And Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, What shall I give you? And Solomon said, You have showed your servant, David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before you in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart with you. And you have kept for him this great kindness that you have given a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. And now, O Lord, my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. And I'm just a little child. I don't know how to go out or come in. I don't know how to really conduct the affairs, especially on my own. I need help. And your servant is in the midst of your people, which you have chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude. Give, therefore, your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge or rule this, you are so great a people. And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said to him, because you have asked this thing and you have not asked for yourself long life, neither have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies. But you've asked for yourself understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to your words, have given you a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like to you. And I've also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto you all your days. And if you will walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments as your father, David, did walk, then I will lengthen your days. And Solomon woke and behold it was a dream, and he came to Jerusalem and he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and offered peace offerings and made a feast to all his servants. He was well aware of the importance of this, of a relationship with God. First Kings 2, verses 2 through 4, he was well aware of the importance of a relationship with God.

Pick it up in verse 9, Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth. Be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man.

Keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his judgments, his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and whithersoever you turn yourself. Verse 4, that the Lord may continue his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth, notice this phrase, With all their heart, and with all their soul, there shall not fail you, said he a man on the throne of Israel. He was well aware of the importance of a relationship with God.

What do we read? We don't have to turn there, but what do we read in Matthew 22 in verse 37? What's the great commandment the lawyer asked in Christ in hesitate to love the Lord your God?

With all your heart, your soul, your mind.

And that was not something brand new. That was something that was mentioned in the Old Testament, specifically in Deuteronomy 6 verse 5. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, your might, your soul, your being. And Solomon knew that. He knew that because it's right there in the Old Testament from the book of the law. And if you'll turn with me back to Deuteronomy chapter 17, we will read how he knew that, even above and beyond what his father David would have taught him. And Deuteronomy 17, let's pick it up in verse 18. And it shall be when he, the king, sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he, not somebody else, he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book. The king was supposed to, it didn't mean they all did it, but they were supposed to go get the scrolls of the first five books of the Bible. They were to make themselves, they were to put quill in hand, wasn't paper maybe, sheepskin, whatever, but they were to take quill in hand, they were to go through those first five books and personally write themselves out a copy of those first five books. By doing that, they would not only have their own copy, but they could not plead ignorance that they did not know what was in those five books about what they were supposed to do as a king. So assuming that he followed what he was supposed to do in that regard, he had his own copy and he would have read, obviously, he would have handwritten Deuteronomy 6 and verse 5. Now he had read that, I'm sure, many a time. He had heard preached many a time and had even written himself, I'm sure, a copy for himself. And notice verse 19, and it shall be with him, it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. But he ignored the first part, verse 17.

He ignored that, verse 17, neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. And thus trouble was brewing, even at the beginning. First Kings 3 and verse 1. First Kings 3 and verse 1. And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David. Even at the beginning, seeds were being sown that would sprout and eat into his relationship with God, and that would eventually eat it away. They were sown at the very beginning of his reign. And if you look at First Kings 11, First Kings 11, beginning in verse 1. But King Solomon loved many strange women, along with, together with, the daughter of Pharaoh. Women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Thedonians, Hittites, of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel, You shall not go into them, neither shall they come into you. For surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon claved to them in love, and says he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass when Solomon was old. And this is the oldest record we have of Solomon. There is no record of him that is older than this. When Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect but the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Astorath, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milchim, and by the way, you might have Morgin that shows that Milchim is Molech. Molech was the God that required you burn your children, some of your children, in the fire to him, the abomination of Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully after the Lord as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, and there it translates it as Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives which burnt incense and sacrificed to their guides, and the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods. But he kept not that which the Lord commanded. By the end of Solomon's life, by the end of the Golden Age, Solomon had lost whatever measure of personal relationship he had with God. You know, the Golden Age of Israel under Solomon does bear a certain millennial lesson for me, for you, for us, for any and all of God's people. You know Solomon said it best earlier on in his reign, early on in the Golden Age at the dedication of the temple, and I turned back to 1 Kings 8 and verse 23 for this. He said it best early on, early on in his reign, before he turned away from God, for his wives turned him away at the dedication of the temple. Verse 23, chapter 8, and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or earth beneath who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants that walk before you with all their heart.

Love the Lord your God with all your might, your mind, your body, your being.

See, this is what won't be left out in the world tomorrow. This is what will be emphasized first and foremost throughout that thousand years in that millennial reign in the Golden Age of man, the Golden Age of God, the Golden Age of Jesus Christ with man, a relationship with God, a personal relationship with God. This will be the prime emphasis. You know, you come to the feast, it's a wonderful time. It's supposed to be a wonderful time. It's supposed to be a wonderful time of seeing and doing and going and being together first and foremost with God.

The assemblies, the services, and have you ever experienced, and I hope you haven't, but have you ever experienced such a wonderful week of coming and going and all and doing?

And at the end of it, you feel a little kind of empty because you really didn't put God first.

You know, a personal relationship with God, that's going to be the prime emphasis. Think about it. Flesh and blood human beings, they will still have the Bible, won't they? They'll have the Bible. Flesh and blood human beings during that time will have access to God's spirit, won't they? They'll have to repent, they'll have to give, submit to Christ, etc., to God, be baptized into Christ, have hands laid on them, be cleansed through His covering blood, and they'll receive God's Holy Spirit. The same process we go through in that sense, it's just the devil's not going to be around, though. They're not going to have to fight a wrong society. They're not going to have to fight Satan. They're not going to have to fight self as magnified by Satan because he won't be around, but they'll still have self to fight, just won't be magnified the same way. But flesh and blood human beings will still pray to the Father who is in heaven, who is not here yet and will not be here present with us for some time later on beyond the millennium and beyond the eighth day when the complete plan of salvation is totally finished. And then there's truly a permanent, a permanent, I won't get into that, but just simply a permanent heavens and earth when there is a new earth and a new heavens in the truest sense of the word. And the Father eventually will be down here with us. But Jesus Christ and his resurrected saints, we will be guaranteeing a golden age that will be umbrella over everything. A golden age that will be umbrella over the whole globe for a thousand years. But the individual, each individual within that golden age will have to personally and responsibly seek a personal relationship with God. He or she will have to personally desire it, seek it, and sustain it. And such efforts, guess what? As we know, will have God's full support. Because those are the efforts He wants. He wants to see us desire it. He wants to see us seek it. He wants to see us sustain it. So therefore, He will bless those efforts. A spiritual reality, a spiritual reality is this. No one can attend to my personal relationship with God but me.

No one can attend to your personal relationship with God but you.

Whether in this age or the age to come. One's personal relationship with God cannot stand in for another. That's just simply a spiritual reality. And in the millennium, the golden age of God, people can be forced to comply. Remember, this is the way to walk. Walk you in it. Start to go to the left the wrong way, to the right the wrong way. Hear a voice behind you and say, oh, nope, you know better. Can't do that. Certain things will never be allowed to get off the ground again like they did in this age. People can be forced to comply but conversion of the heart and the mind cannot be forced. Cannot be. No way to force conversion of the heart and mind. Now, compliance is compliance, not conversion. Let me be clear. Conversion includes compliance. You're compliant. I'm compliant. Your conversion does include compliance. But it is much deeper than just compliance, isn't it? Deep, true conversion of heart and mind comes only through a vibrant, active, personal relationship with God. And that is something that the individual has to want. They have to desire it. They have to seek it. And they have to sustain it. They have to practice it. A relationship with God will be the prime emphasis during the golden age of the world tomorrow. And again, with double emphasis put on personal. Personal. Meaningful. Fulfilling. Flesh and blood in the world tomorrow. Flesh and blood. Not as the spirit beings. Flesh and blood in the world tomorrow. Guess what will be their prime focus and goal in the world tomorrow? It's the same as yours and mine is now. It's Matthew 6.33. Think about that just a moment. Seek you first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That is our prime focus, isn't it? We're flesh and blood right now. That's our prime focus. And that will be their prime focus and the world tomorrow. Read with me something that I think sometimes we read right across and don't stop to think about. We need to pause on it sometimes and really think about what it is saying. And this is 1 Corinthians 15 in the resurrection chapter. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 50. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 50. Paul was very clear. There's no wiggle room here.

There's no mistaking what he said. He said, now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We have to be changed to spirit, which is what will occur at the resurrection, which is what will occur when Jesus Christ returns. We will be changed to spirit and we will literally enter into the kingdom of God.

Flesh and blood of the millennium is not in the kingdom. Key word, in. They are not in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the family of God, administering the government of God. In the millennium, the kingdom of God is Jesus Christ and the resurrected saints, obviously under the authority of the Father. That's the kingdom. We are the kingdom of God. When we're resurrected with Christ, you know, be with him, they're not. They are under, they're under the government of the kingdom. They're ruled by the kingdom. They're under the rulership of Jesus Christ and his resurrected saints. The kingdom of God is on this earth, sat up to rule over flesh and blood, who also, in due time, through proper process, may also be added through change to spirit into that kingdom. They can attain to the kingdom and join us in due time, whatever that due time would be. See, a relationship with God, honoring him and doing it his way, will be the center of all things, of all activities. That's what will be promoted. A relationship with God, a personal relationship with God, has to become the center of our being. The center of all we do, it has to become the focal point of our total being. And the more that God is at the center of our life, the more of a relationship we have with him, and the more that God is the center of our life, the more personal our relationship is with him.

You know, there are certain things about us as human beings that just tend to be automatic, natural. And it's automatic or natural for humans to revolve or to, that is, orient themselves, their lives around something central to them. Now, again, we know what it should be. Again, Matthew 22, 37, when it talks about to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your being, your soul, your being, all of that, well then obviously that is central. And when that is applied, guess what? God is the center. He is the center of our life around which everything orients or revolves. For an interesting note, I'm going to read Genesis 2 in verse 9. Genesis 2 and verse 9. As far as something being central that you orient around.

Genesis 2 and verse 9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to sight and good for food, the tree of life also where in the midst of the garden. Basically, the center of the garden. It's like the garden oriented around it and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which kind of indicates, and you know we can't be totally sure of that, but it indicates that maybe those two trees were side by side. Maybe. Because it talks about the tree of life in the midst of the garden and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So maybe they were there side by side in the center of the garden. Central. In other words, an orientation matter. And of course, God's way is to orient around the tree of life, you know, God's spirit, God, His ways. What does man orient around? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We've been orienting around, revolving around that tree for just about 6,000 years. But it's interesting that it's an orientation matter and take the tree of life. A healthy, fulfilling of God's framework, God's design, that proper setup is a relationship with God. And again, that's what makes all things work. That is what makes things worthwhile. That's what makes life worth it. A relationship with God, a personal relationship with Him. And when life revolves around this, with God as the center of one's being, life stays good, life stays rich, life stays fulfilling. It's meaningful. It doesn't fade. And you know, in a golden age of peace and prosperity and productivity, there's obviously going to be a lot. You talk about being maximized. It's going to be maximized a lot of material opportunity and achievement. That is not materialism. The abundance of things is not materialism because in a time of peace and prosperity and productivity, you will have an abundance of things. A material world that revolves around a relationship with God at its center is a healthy world. It is a happy world. Only when the material things find their way to and become the center is it materialism and life revolves around that instead of God. Then you do have what's called a tyranny of things because the relationship with God is no longer central. The relationship with God will fade, diminish, and die.

Sadly, and it is sad, whenever I read about it, I feel a certain twinge of sadness. But I think I understand it. Sadly, that's going to happen to some in the millennium, at the end of the golden age. If you read with me in Revelation 20, Revelation 20 verses 7 through 9, I'm not going to spend much time with this, but I do want to notate it because it does bear out that in such an optimum time of peace and prosperity, not everyone's going to orient around God. Now, they'll have to comply to certain things, but let's just read this. Revelation 20 verses 7 through 9, verse 7, When the thousand years are expired, they're finished. It's not at 995, it's not 999. When a thousand have been completed, when they have expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And after a thousand years of the golden millennial rule of Jesus Christ, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. Now, it doesn't number them, and who knows how many billions will be on earth at that time. But they went up on the breadth of the earth and encompassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And you say, how can that happen? How can that happen? Some simply will not care about having or maintaining a relationship with God. They will not have a personal relationship with God. Oh, they'll comply because they have to comply. This situation here, again, could be more fully explored, but I just want to touch upon it in light of the subject that I'm covering. And I would ask this, think about it. When Satan is loosed and he goes out, where he finds kinship, where he finds room for his influence, if they had a, those individuals, if they had had, if they had a deep, personal, vibrant, active relationship with God, could they fall prey to Satan when he's released? The simple answer is no. Because there would not be sufficient room in their hearts and minds for him and his influence. They would actively be living what James said when he said, draw nigh to God, live nigh to God, live close to God. He'll be close to you and the devil will flee from you.

No. If there was a deep, personal relationship, there wouldn't be room for him. Nothing is more important in life or in the millennium, the golden age of God, than having and maintaining a personal relationship with God. As I wrap this up and as I close, I want to reiterate and I want to turn to a scripture or two in Deuteronomy. To whatever degree Solomon had a personal relationship with God, he lost it. It's extremely sad. It was either not strong enough or it was not valued enough, whatever. In either case, it certainly became non-existent. You know, folks, we have a golden week ahead of us, which pictures the golden age of Christ on this earth, the wonderful time of the millennium. Central to the goldenness of this week is the same as the coming golden age of God, and that is a personal relationship with our Father and our elder brother, Jesus Christ. A personal relationship with God is what we develop in this life that will last and deepen for eternity. This is at the motivational heart and core of Deuteronomy 14 in verse 23. Let's read it. Deuteronomy 14 in verse 23. And you shall eat before the Lord your God. That's why we're here. I mean, this is talking about this very period of time. The Feast of Tabernacles and the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of your corn, your wine, your oil, the firstlings of your hearse, and your flocks. Why? What's the prime purpose of it? You say, well, it's very enjoyable to do that. Yes, it's very enjoyable to do that. But what's heart and core to it that's prime? That you may learn to fear the Lord your God always, not just for a time, but a deep respect and reverence, the basis of a personal relationship with God. Deep respect and reverence, which is the basis, part of the basis of a personal relationship with God. Notice verse 26. And you shall bestow that money for whatsoever your soul less after desires it should be, for oxen, for sheep, wine, for strong drink, or whatsoever your soul desires. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice. You shall rejoice. You and your household, actively joyful with gladness of heart. That really means something to God. I mean, that really does mean something to God.

Read in what is known as the blessings and cursings chapter, one of them. Deuteronomy 28, the other one is Leviticus 26, but in Deuteronomy 28, to rejoice before God with gladness of heart and thankfulness. It's an indictment not to. Verse 47, Deuteronomy 28, verse 47, because you serve not the Lord your God, what are you failing in? With joyfulness and with gladness of heart, it's wonderful to be joyful. It's wonderful to be glad, for the abundance of the things God gives us, to enjoy a good stake, to enjoy whatever material blessings we've been given, to count our blessings, that we have our sight, we have our hearing, we have our mobility, we have our mind, we have our loved ones, we have opportunity, we have a future, we have a good memory lane to travel down, whatever. Just the tremendous blessings we have with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things.

Those who fall prey to Satan at the end of the millennium come under that indictment.

They fail to exercise the basis of a personal relationship with God.

There is nothing, my brothers and sisters in Christ. You're all my spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ. And I've got some here who are following my spiritual sisters and brothers in Christ, but are blood brethren, physical brothers, physical cousins. My brethren, there is nothing more important in life now or in the millennium. The golden age of God than having and maintaining a personal relationship with God.

A personal relationship with God is a golden one.