Is The Kingdom on Earth an Imaginary Dream

Aloha! So good to see everyone, and what a wonderful piece. I love that number. I really enjoyed the choir, and it's very obvious to me that God is moving here through His Holy Spirit at the feast, and it's just exciting. I've just been excited by all the messages that we've heard so far. And, you know, I especially like what Mr. Larson said. You know, that we, God, of course, gives us simple instructions. Remember the old, you know, K-I-S-S acronym? Keep it simple, stupid?

You know, you don't have to be brilliant to be in God's church. And thankfully, you don't have to be brilliant to be in the Kingdom. God does make it simple for us, and all we have to do is simply obey Him to walk in His ways. You know, if in fact you had to be rocket scientists to be in the Kingdom of God, you and I are in trouble. Big, big trouble, because, you know, I know that, of course, you are not one of the weak of the world, but I know I am.

And, you know, of course, we sometimes this feeling, I guess, sometimes some can have that they're, well, you know, it talks about the weak of the world and the base things and all that, but I'm not that. Yes, we are, brethren. We are not the intelligentsia of this world and of this society.

But we are indeed the weak of the world, but God's not going to keep us weak as we understand. He's going to give us unfathomable opportunities for the future. What a beautiful place, though, to be here in Hawaii. You know, we've been able to be here for the last three years, and I think one of the most beautiful places to have the Feast of Tabernacles, you know, we could complain that we'd be mighty selfish, wouldn't we, to do it?

So I don't want to hear any complaints at the Feast, because you're in one of the greatest spots in the world, and you're keeping God's wonderful feasts. And of course, we're here to focus on the Kingdom of God upon the earth, which ultimately, as we know, at the end of a thousand years, is going to be an Eden. It's compared to an Eden within the Scriptures, a utopian world. And, of course, when we think of a utopia, our minds go to the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve sort of frolicking, you know, amidst the trees of the Garden, and enjoying life. And, of course, we connect the Garden of Eden with the monial reign of Christ and the way it's going to be at that particular time. And we know that after maybe a generation or two, we're going to see that perfection in the Kingdom of God begin to come to pass. Where did the word utopia even come from? You may be surprised to know that it came from a fellow by the name of Sir Thomas More of England, who coined the word utopia.

In 1516, he wrote a small book called Utopia. And in it, he described a fictional island society. And, as you know, More was a counselor to King Henry VIII during a very difficult and troublesome time. You know, sometimes Henry VIII did not like heads on his wives. So, anyway, he, of course, was married to many different women and had them beheaded for various reasons. And, you know, in the end, the result, Thomas More himself was beheaded because he denied that Henry VIII was the head of the Church of England.

He would not accept that. Some of you may have seen this story about Sir Thomas More. But despite what we think about the word utopia, actually, Thomas More was not describing, you know, a perfect society. He wasn't describing that at all in his own mind. What he was merely trying to do is contrast what it was like in England at the time to sort of this imaginary island where things could be a lot better than they were at that time in England. And that's all he intended by it. And, of course, from that time we've come to think that the word utopia means this perfect society.

Well, the question I have for you here this morning, brethren, it is an earthly kingdom that we envision simply an imaginary idea like More's imaginary island, which will never happen, will never occur.

You know, every generation, if you look back again through history, and I'm sure we could go back to the first first nation, the first society, first tribe that existed, every generation has had a dream of a perfect society since man existed, since there were tribes and nations. And we know during World War III, many Germans viewed Hitler to be a messiah, sort of a messiah. And they viewed the Third Reich would establish this super-Aryan race. You can probably look up on the internet, by the way, you'll see these posters of the Aryans. You know, they were, of course, the blonde, handsome, sort of muscular kind of people, you know, with no flaws on them at all.

And they were going to be the master race that was going to rule the world. Of course, he set out to exterminate all else. And he promised, back in World War II period, prior to World War II, a thousand years of peace was going to ensue under the Third Reich.

But you know what happened? After 12 short years, he left the world in utter chaos and death. You know, there were, you know, of course, so many that died into the millions of many nations around the world who suffered during World War II. It was, Deutschland-Uber-Aulis was the idea. And, of course, it failed utterly. Some of you might be old enough to remember that Lyndon Johnson declared the Great Society. There were posters of Lyndon Johnson, by the way, in a Superman suit, kind of looking down upon the world. And he was pointing to the United States that was illuminated. And he says, that can be a great society. Sort of like Superman coming on the scene and rescuing everyone. Remember, Lyndon Johnson became president aboard the Air Force I on the way back from Dallas after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, as he was headed to, to, you know, DC on the Air Force I. Lyndon Johnson was made president. He was sworn into office.

And, of course, his imaginary Great Society that he hoped to make a reality, frankly, all I remember about the Great Society is that Lady Bird planted flowers on the side of the highway. You know, you see a lot of these wild flowers growing besides freeways and so forth. That was Lady Bird, the wife of Lyndon Johnson, who did that. But that's about all I remember, about the so-called Great Society. And when he left office, he left office with protests in the streets over the Vietnam War that was still going on. And, of course, after that, Richard Nixon came into office and he ended up, you know, resigning and utter disgrace. I was in the university, by the way, at that time during the late 60s. And I remember seeing students marching around the campus where I was going to school at Northeastern State University. And, you know, it was a time that was a very violent time, as I remember. People throwing rocks. I remember there was a security man out in front of my dormitory. A student threw a brick in it and hit him in the face. And, you know, a fellow was practically killed him. But I think it did brain damage for this individual. And, of course, he was terribly disfigured by it. He had to have plastic surgery and so forth. But it was a very violent time among the students. And, of course, it was a time of LSD, pot smoking, and peace movements. It was the age of Aquarius, as they called it. This is the age of the Aquarius. And, of course, the mamas and the papas were singing, you know, this. And they said that peace was going to break out all over. We're going to have peace everywhere. And the students, and there was the SDS, remember, students for a democratic society. And, actually, what they wanted was students for a socialistic society. In fact, some of the same people are in office today, you know, in the United States, or are architects of what is going on right now in this country. And if you don't believe it, you can, again, research into it if you want to.

You know, but, of course, we know that what happens is the students wanted peace, or at least that's what they said they wanted. But what happened was violence, and they resorted to violence. Some bombed, you know, and some also shot a policeman and did many, many things, a violent axe. In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy, remember, was assassinated. And then, you know, Martin Luther King was assassinated. Terrible things had happened in that period. I think 69, you know, is when we went to the moon. A lot of things were happening at that time, you know, in this world, but it was a very terrible time. And that's what came, again, of that great society movement. And it seems to be the way that things go. Now, brethren, even so, the United States is a very special place. It really is. It's a wonderful place to be in. You know, I've traveled far and wide. I remember going as a student to Israel, and we got off the plane in New York, and I practically kissed the ground. You know, I was thankful to be back in the United States. I enjoyed traveling and seeing Israel and Europe and that sort of thing in my junior year of Ambassador College. But the United States is still a very special place, even today, to come home to. It is a land of liberty. It's a land of opportunity. It is a land of prosperity, where a man basically can still make a good living. In this society, it's a place of wide-open spaces. You know, you can spread your wings. People are not squeezed in together, for the most part. At least you don't have to be squeezed in together in a major metropolis or city and go out to Montana. They call it the Big Sky Country. There's good land, fertile land here. There's regional leadership that we have, for the most part. Of course, times might change in the future. And in a lot of ways, the United States has had all the right ingredients to make a successful nation. And I think, for the most part, we have been a light to the world in many respects as a country. And I think that if you go back and look at the history of the founding of the United States, whether you're talking about, you know, Monroe or Adams or Jefferson, these were young men with young ideas, and they wanted to establish a country that was different. They wanted to establish a country that was a light on the hill, a beacon to the world.

And it has been a beacon to the world of freedom for a long, long time. But, of course, we know it's also a beacon to the world of many bad things as well. You know, when you consider the longevity of nations, we wonder how long the United States is going to be around. How long will it survive? Some empires flourish for hundreds of years. The Roman Empire did last into the hundreds of years. You know, you, of course, have done any rudimentary study of the Roman Empire. You know that to be so. But every generation spawns another group of young-minded revolutionaries who believe their leadership is different, somehow different. You know, I remember when Barack Obama became president, or prior to his becoming president, you know, he gave speeches. And one particular speech that he gave, you know, here people were, they had tears coming down their eyes, streaming down their eyes, because they had this great hope about the future. And, of course, many of the, you know, African Americans in the United States were very thankful that here an African American had become a president in the United States of America. They had hopes, hopes of change in the right direction, in the right way.

And, you know, of course, no one can discount that desire to have that.

But, you know, brethren, there is no great white hope in this world. There really is. There's no great African American hope. There's no yellow man, I don't know what we would call them, Oriental hope that's going to come on the scene. There's no Native American hope that's going to come on the scene that is going to give man what he wants. It just simply is not going to happen. Again, usually a nation that comes up and does well, you know, usually the nation doesn't last very long. And the United States is now 200 years old, and you could do the arithmetic, we're 17 trillion dollars in debt and claiming, and they're wanting to raise the ceiling debt still. Want to increase the ceiling debt, and, you know, they're going to go on spending. The attitude, I think, basically of one party when they get in is, you know, we'll spend what we want, and the next party can pick up the problems. They can pick up the headache. I remember I used to to drive along when I was younger, and of course I'm still young now, but I've got to be careful I speak there, because I, you know, I'm 40 right now, so, but, so anyway, if you'll believe that, okay, 42. But anyway, I remember when I was, you know, in my 20s, you know, you'd see these people with this sign in the back, you know, on these travel trailers that we're spending our kids in inheritance. Well, they're doing that in Washington right now. They're spending the inheritance of the future for our young people, and young people are going to have to pay the debt. But some empires come on the scene for some time and eventually lose whatever vision which catapulted them to the preeminence that they have, and they simply disappear. You know, where is Babylon today? Where is the Persian Empire? Now, where is Assyria? Only vestiges in history that we read about. And, brethren, it's the story of mankind. It's the story of us, the story of homo sapiens, that we are short-lived and ephemeral as a people, as nations. Well, brethren, we're here at the feast, and we are on a spiritual high, thankful to be here, and we're reflecting on the great Kingdom of God. We're thrilled with the vision of the utopian world that is going to come. No more war, you know, no more problems of locks in the time that is going to come and so forth. You know, who wouldn't be, brethren, knowing that there's a wonderful utopian world that is going to come? However, who is to say the Kingdom that we've been talking about will be any different than the nations that I've been describing leading up to that statement? You know, who's to say it's going to be different?

Why will the Kingdom of God succeed, brethren, when history shows all governments have failed? All nations eventually have come to their demise. Is the Kingdom we seek an imaginary hope or dream that we have? You know, could somebody out there sort of, you know, throw their hands and say, oh yeah, just poo-poo the idea that you have of this Kingdom of God business? You know, this Messiah that's going to come back and He's going to set up this world you call a utopia? Ah, you're just dreaming, just an imaginary dream. Well, in this world, brethren, it certainly would be because that's what man has proven. But why will the Kingdom be abundantly successful? What's going to be different about it? Well, brethren, it's going to succeed in every possible way. If we were to consider what makes a people happy, what makes a people productive in their lives, those elements are going to be there in the Kingdom. The element of freedom is going to be there like it has been in some nations, like the United States today. But even more, you know, if you can imagine, even more than today, there's going to be more freedom in the Kingdom of God. And peace is going to be the hallmark of what the Kingdom is going to be about. You know, you can have all the freedom that you want, brethren. You know, if you don't feel safe, wherever you go, then what good is it? What good is it, brethren, in this world today? We say we're free in the United States. I'll tell you, there's some places in Oakland you can't go to.

There are places that if you go into, you're taking your life in your own hands. In fact, there are places in Europe that their policemen won't even go into. You know, you'd have to have, I guess, a military operation to go in some of these places and some of these cities here upon the earth. Again, even if you're in a free society in the world today, if you don't feel safe, what good is your freedom that you have? Well, God's government, brethren, will make it safe to go anywhere and everywhere in the time ahead. You won't fear to be robbed or beaten. There won't be any bars on the doors, on the windows. You'd ride through some cities and the doors and the windows, you know, have these bars. It looks like jails. People are in jail when they go home. You know, we've read this verse, by the way, in Isaiah many times. It says, of the increase of his government in peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David, upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even forever. Let's go to Luke chapter 1, if you're able to see out there. Luke chapter 1 in verse 30. I'd like to read to you what it says. You know, here, this is before, in fact, Jesus was born, but it says, and the angel said to her, said to Mary, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great, and will be called the Son of the highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. What an exciting thing! You know, this must have been, you know, for Mary when she finally, you know, came to afterwards. You know, can imagine what that was like to hear that, where she had not known a man, but Christ was going to be conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Father would conceive him, through that means, by overshadowing Mary, and she would bring forth the one who became Jesus, who would be the Messiah. And so Jesus was going to be this leader of the future of the kingdom that was going to be born, and that it would be a kingdom that would last forever. Wouldn't be a mere footnote in history. In Matthew 13, in verse 33, you don't need to turn there, it talks about Jesus comparing the kingdom of God to a woman who has leaven, and she hides it in, you know, flower, until it multiplies and it overtakes the whole lump. You know, every bit of the flower, in other words. And so God will bring about his kingdom systematically and lawfully. It's going to be like leaven that is put in a lump of dough, and it's going to completely, you know, actually overtake the entire lump. It's going to start small, it's going to expand, and again, eventually overtake the entire lump. It will overtake the entire world. Like leavening again, implanted in that dough, you know, overtakes the whole lump. The kingdom starts very small in Jerusalem, and then it fans out from there and fills the whole world. Now, brother, what are the essential elements of any government and nation? You know, some of the things I think that we think about in the United States, what makes up the United States? You know, Mr. Buchanan talked about this, you know, about government. Of course, there's the executive branch, there's the legislative branch, and then there's the judicial branch that makes up the United States, at least the governmental part of the United States. But that's not what makes up a nation altogether.

What are the essential elements of a nation? Well, number one, you have to have the governing body, which we just talked about with the United States. You know, they have that governing body. And so, in the world tomorrow, to make the kingdom successful, we have to have a governing body.

You have to have a governing body of laws. In the United States, of course, that is the different parts of the government, the Constitution, the laws, and the overall document of laws that we have. Then second to that, you have to have a territorial domain.

And in the United States, of course, we're from sea to shining sea. And I think that's been a great advantage for the United States, that we are not, you know, a nation that is easily accessible. You know, of course, Canada is in the same situation, North America. You know, but in the United States, we have that territorial domain. Then thirdly, brethren, what's essential to a nation and what will be in the kingdom is leadership and leaders in this country. Of course, we have presidents, we have governors, we have congressmen, we have senators on down through mayors and so forth. In this particular country, it might have provinces and other countries. And then fourthly, brethren, it is the people, the people that are very essential for any successful nation and people. And I submit to you, the United States, one of the reasons why, you know, the United States has been so special is because of the people.

And of course, we know that a lot of that has been founded upon the spiritual principles of the Bible.

You know, a lot of it, what has been a part of the, you might say, the moral fiber of this country comes from that, and it has made a people stronger. But unfortunately, we have found that that has been quite a bit diluted because of the influx of other cultures and peoples, just like happened with ancient Israel. So here you have these four elements, brethren. You have to have governing bodies of law. You have to have territorial domain. You have to have leadership, and you have to have people. Well, what's going to be different about the kingdom of God, brethren?

Much in every way. And we've already said that this, Jesus Christ, brethren, is going to be the king. When you're praying, thy kingdom come, brethren, how much do you tell the Father that we need Jesus Christ? We need Him here upon this earth. I look at what's going on in this country, brethren, and what's going on in the world for that matter. We need Jesus Christ to straighten this mess out here upon this earth. Remember, in the case of Christ, He came before Pilate, and Pilate said to him, Are you a king then? And Jesus answered, You said, I am a king, to this end I was born, and for this cause came I into the world. And he said, My kingdom, though, is not of this world. And if it was, then my servants would fight that I would be delivered, he said. But he said, My kingdom is not of this world. And Christ was born for the purpose, brethren, but His kingdom, for the purpose of being a king, but His kingdom was not then or nor is it now. And, brethren, you were born to be a king. You were born to be a priest in the future, to have that role and that responsibility. It's hard to imagine that, but we were put upon the earth, as we know, God is replicating Himself, and He's going to bring many sons in the glory. Many of them are going to rule Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow. The church, as Mr. Armstrong said many, many times, is the kingdom of God in embryo. And we wait for the king's return.

And then when that king comes, then we're, of course, going to be born into that family, and the kings will be there for the king of kings to coordinate, to begin to rule in this world. And great changes are going to occur at that time, as we have already heard here at this feast. And Christ will then take dominion over this earth as a king, and Satan and his demons are going to be cast out. You know, God's going to cast him out. Ultimately, He's going to be in utter darkness, as the Bible talks about. Of course, that's going to be past the time of the second resurrection. But brethren, just think what it's going to be like when Christ and the saints begin to rule, you know, what we're going to be able to do, brethren, without the influence of Satan and his demons. You know, many of the fiery darts that you and I suffer sometimes come from Satan and his demons. Imagine again when that's blotted out, and people don't have to battle with that, as we've had to battle with it in our lives and overcome. I'm not going to turn over to Jeremiah 23 verse 5, but notice if you would like, over there, "'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, the Eternal, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. The king shall rule, arraign, and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth." You know, why don't the Church of the world read and see this here in Jeremiah 23.5, brethren, for what it says? It's going to be a king that's going to rain upon the earth, not up in heaven, not floating on a cloud up in heaven. You know, they don't see these plain scriptures in the Bible, that the Bible talks about a king raining upon the earth. I would like you to turn to Micah chapter 4. Micah chapter 4, over in the book of Micah, notice what it says over here about that coming kingdom and the coming king that's going to rule over it.

And Micah chapter 4, in verse 3, is speaking of Christ, and he shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. He's going to have the power to do that, if he needs to. But you know, God doesn't want to have to use that power. It's like the, you know, policeman. He only uses the power that's necessary.

You know, if you are going along and you're doing something wrong, you know, the policeman, usually he'll turn those little lights on behind you. And, you know, and then if you don't notice the lights, and some people, of course, are so spaced out, they don't notice the lights, then he might, you know, put on a siren just a little bit, you know, to get your attention.

And then, if you don't listen, then he might turn them on full blast. Then, if you don't listen, he will pull up to the side with the sirens on.

And then, if you don't listen, he might shoot your tires out.

You know, so, you know, Christ is going to, in fact, use whatever force he needs to. And, but God does not want to use force. He doesn't want to do that with us, either. He's very gentle with us in much and every way, but he's going to sometimes have to rebuke strong nations afar off. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

And nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war anymore. What a wonderful thing to think about. You know, that's why I think the choir music is so touching to me, the way it's sung, so mellow, so peaceful, so wonderful. What it's going to be like in the kingdom of God, this wonderful kingdom that is going to come to us. And this is what God is going to do, brethren, for us, and what is coming. And going on here, let's notice on down here, verse 6, in that day I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcasts, it says, and those whom I have afflicted, and I'll make the lame a remnant, and an outcast a strong nation. So the eternal will reign, the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever. That's very interesting. You know, what it says here, you know, it talks about how He's going to make the lame a remnant. Who are the remnant? Who are the remnant that He's talking about here?

Very interesting. Let's go over to Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah chapter 23. Now, after what is prophesied for the future to occur and to happen, brethren, there's going to be a remnant that is going to be left over. But let's notice in Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse 6, it says, in His days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. Again, the day when Jesus Christ is ruling. Now this is His name, which He will be called, the Lord our righteousness. And therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that there shall no longer say, as the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, but as the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country, and from all the countries where I have driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. So we begin to see again the kingdom began to come together. When the mankind who is decimated and the afflicted ones who are brought together, these are the remnants of Israel. They're going to be brought together back into their own land. They're going to be reunited with one another. It's going to be a time when nations are going to be reunited one with another. And it will be such a fabulous time that we'll all forget Charlton Heston and the Ten Commandments. You know, we'll have maybe somebody else at that time that will fill in the gap, besides, of course, Jesus Christ. You know, there's going to be there. Maybe one of us will be there, be among the leaders, you know, that will help the children of Israel, the remnants, be brought back down to their own land. And he's going to reunite families, going to bring them back together from all over. He's going to reform nations.

He's going to do away with some nations, by the way, when the kingdom is set up, because even the scriptures talk about some nations that simply will not exist. But God is going to begin to bring all people back together with one another into families, into nations. And young people, think about the fact that you can get in on the ground floor of this coming new world that is going to be brought from the ground up. You can be, brethren, there. Young people, you can be there, assisting and helping. And the sky is going to be the limit as to what you will be able to do.

You know, we've had Prince William, by the way, come through San Francisco from time to time, and they highlight all the things that that Prince William does. And, of course, they are always talking about the baby now that William and his wife have. But he is an ambassador for England. Of course, he may be the future king over England in the future. But anyway, in the world of moral young people, you're going to be the princes and princes that will go around and will be ambassadors for Israel or for whatever nation it is that God assigns you to be an ambassador for. You'll have that responsibility, and you're going to have very big responsibilities, a lot bigger, I think, than we can even fathom. I like what Mr. McMaster was talking about. He talked about this gentleman who gave blood that helped two and a half million people. And a lot more than that, because when you think about the fact when two and a half million babies grow up, they have babies, don't they? And it's sort of geometric. It increases an incredible amount. I can imagine the time is going to come where you're going to have impact over a whole lot more than two and a half million people. Also, like any president, and we know that Christ is going to be a king, like any president, assembles a cabinet and leaders that are going to be in his administration. No, Christ is already assembling his cabinet. He's already assembling his leaders. And that's why we're here right now. We have a purpose to be here, to learn about these things. And someday, brethren, you're going to be standing up somewhere at some feast site, maybe here, who knows? Maybe some other island in the South Pacific, maybe in some island in the Caribbean, maybe in some other country. And you're going to be standing up and you're going to be explaining many of these same things that we're talking about here at the feast. And all the things you have learned, you're going to have to stand up and talk about. But Christ is already bringing together his leaders. And all of us here are going to be among those who are going to be leaders. And I'll explain a little bit more about that. Christ is choosing his staff and preparing his people, the future kings and priests. They're going to rule in the new world and the future princes and princesses for that kingdom when it's set up. And the saints are going to be willingly accepting of their responsibility. Let's go over to Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2 and verse 44. Over here, I love what it says over here in the book of Daniel, the way it expresses it. You know, in the world today, we know that it is especially in the United States, it's like every kid grows up saying, anybody can be president. Well, I don't really think that's so. I don't believe that's so. Any kid can become a president if he's got enough money behind him today.

And you and I don't have money behind us today. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be president in this country. I wouldn't want to be a leader, a physical leader in this country right now or any other country because you'd be helping preside over, you know, a country that is going to be diminished in the future. I remember when I was at Northeastern, by the way, before I really knew an awful lot about, you know, the truth of God, I was studying to be a doctor, a medical doctor. I was in only my second year pre-med. But, you know, eventually I got to the point where I said, you know, a lot of the things that I'm learning are temporary.

In fact, I had long discussions with some of my professors about their theory, some of the theories that they have. Of course, we all know about the theory of evolution and all of that.

And finally, I just came to that conclusion. And I had an application to Ambassador College. And I said, well, maybe I should go to Ambassador College.

This is really before I was very much connected with the church at all, by the way. And the way I, the deal I made with God is, God, I'm going to fill out this application to Ambassador College.

I want to go somewhere. I said, God, I want to go somewhere with a knowledge I'm going to learn is going to be true today, and it's going to be true 40 years from today, 50 years, 100 years from today. And I said, I'm going to apply for Ambassador College. And if I get accepted, I'll leave, you know, Northeastern, and I will go to Ambassador College. Boy, you got to be careful what you pray. I got accepted, and I felt committed. I, you know, I had vowed to God I would go, so I had to go, and I went, and I'm glad I did. And the things I believe, you know, 45 years ago, I believe today. I haven't changed. You know, of course, we learn, we alter in some way and hopefully hone in the truth a lot more. And so the things that we're talking about, brethren, now are going to be true in a thousand years. Be thankful about that. But let's go to Daniel, chapter 2, and verse 44. Over here, notice what it says. It says, in the days of these kings, he's talked about, of course, this image that depicted the kingdoms of the world.

In the last kingdom, which was the fourth kingdom, we know the Roman Empire, which would come to a conclusion and have its final resurrection. But in the days of these kings, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. I love that phrase. Not going to be left to other people. It's going to be for God's family. It's going to be for God's people. God's people are going to have the responsibility. And what is it going to do? It's going to break in pieces. It's going to consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. It's going to stand forever. What a wonderful time. The government's not going to be left to other people, but it's going to be given to the saints, as Mr. Buchanan and others have talked about. The king and his staff are going to love the people, truly love the people. I remember Mr. Armstrong talking about King Boonapal of Thailand.

You know, how the king and the queen love the people. And that really does show. I've been to Thailand, and I've had the opportunity to talk to people there, and they love the king. And unfortunately, there is a young king that's coming up in the wings that they don't love very much. And frankly, they wonder when King Boonapal is off the scene completely, and he's at that point. In fact, he could very well have died already, for all I know. But last I heard, he was at the point where he just... not going to last that much longer. They think that Thailand's going to come apart, it seems. But let's see what happens. But God's people are going to love the people, to really care for the people. They're going to be serving as pastors, you might say, and shepherds of the people. And they love the people, and care for the people. And Christ is going to have only rulers who are righteous, that are converted. And the saints are going to be given that rulership for the good of everybody, for the good of all mankind. The next thing, brethren, God is going to do is going to give right laws to the world. You know, John Locke and others have written much about law and governance. But for the most part, basically, and I think many of our founding fathers, if you see some of the quotes that they have said about the government, have said that laws and legislation cannot be the fetters and the shackles of men if they cannot learn to control their passions. If you and I cannot control ourselves, if we have no self-control, you can't have enough laws to oversee human beings, to make them obey. But that's what we have in most every country. In the United States, we have 10,000 more laws than anybody even knows.

And of course, most of the laws we have probably are absolutely of no value, no work, worth it all. It's like Mr. Larson was talking about the Talmud, being careful not to spit on the Sabbath. You know, and other things like that, swatting a mosquito on the Sabbath. You know, today, there might be a lot of people in San Francisco that might agree with that. You don't want to kill wildlife, you know, swatting a mosquito. You know, it's okay to kill a baby, but swatting a mosquito, you don't want to do that. That's hurting the creation. That's hurting the, of course, they wouldn't, they just call it mother nature. But in the world tomorrow, brethren, God's going to give these right laws. And the Bible says, I won't go over to Isaiah 2, but over there it talks about how the law is going to go forth from Zion. And guess who's going to take that law, brethren? You and me. We're going to take the law out of Jerusalem to all nations.

And you know, we might not have a very good reception. I can imagine what it's going to be like. Some of these hard-headed nations, you know, God's, Christ has you and I come in before his, in his office. He said, okay, I've got you, I want you to go up here to Timbuktu. These are pretty hard-headed people. And anyway, they may not be receptive to my law. And so you and I may go up there, or a couple of people might go up there, spirit beings, of course. And you go in to talk to the president or the dictator or whatever would be there and just say, we're here representatives of Jesus Christ. And you know, the first thing he might do is take us out and put us before the firing squad or, you know, the stoners or whatever they might do. And then dump us outside the gate. And then you and I will get up, brush ourselves off, you know, pick the bullets out, and throw them on the ground, walk back in and say, we're here from Jerusalem again. And let's go through this again. Jesus Christ has said, you shall obey the law of God. And they may very well do the same thing to us. They may behead us. Then we'll just pick our head up and put it on and walk back in and say, okay, let's go through this again. The Lord has sent me here to tell you that if you do not obey, you won't get any rain for a year. How about that? Of course, we probably won't be so boisterous in terms of what we'll do because we'll be infinitely more patient at that time, even though we may have been stoned, we may have been shocked, we may have been beheaded for that as far as that goes. But particularly some of these Muslim nations, but eventually they'll get the point. Like Egypt will get the point. How about the territory, brethren, in the world tomorrow? What's that going to be like? You have to have a good territorial domain. Well, brethren, the territory of the kingdom of God is going to be conducive for everybody.

Think about, brethren, why nations succeed and fail. Some do not have the natural resources because of location. Some have so much water that they don't know what to do with it. If you're in Bangladesh, by the way, it can be a terrible time when the monsoons come in. Some live in the parched deserts. Saudi Arabia and some of these places, you have land that is totally useless. All it's useful for is pumping billions and billions of dollars of oil out of it.

Some are mountainous. Some, again, are flat. Well, under Christ's leadership, brethren, earth is going to be made perfect. In the world tomorrow, apparently there's going to be a way to grind down mountains. We'll be able to mine the oceans. We'll be able to do all kinds of things. Climbing is going to be moderated all over the earth. Rain is going to come where you need it. Not going to rain in one city and flood like down in Colorado right now and be a drought in another area. I know in the southeast, they were complaining about drought. A couple of years ago, now, they got too much water. But wait until the waters of Colorado get to some of these states downstream. Imagine, though, brethren, what's going to be like for the Sahara Desert to be forested with big redwoods and pines and with grasses and streams, land with rows and rows of vegetation. God's going to allow those things to happen. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 35 over here. We all know, of course, Isaiah is a millennial book. But in Isaiah 35 verse 1, it says, "...in the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose, and it will blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to the excellence of Carmel and Sharon, and they shall see the glory of the eternal, the excellency of our God." And it says, strengthen the weak hands. And we ought to be buoyed up by that, you know, here, as the Bible says. So, at that time, brethren, the deserts are going to sing. My wife and I lived in Phoenix area for 10 years, by the way, and, you know, the desert does sing. It really does. If you ever go to the desert and it rains, it's like it comes to life. It's like, you know, you hear the birds are chattering. They're just happy the rain has come. And we love, by the way, seeing the cacti with the flowers blooming. Very beautiful. But, of course, there's going to be a better rainfall than that in the world tomorrow. What we're going to do is we're going to terraform the earth. The world's going to be terraformed. You know, scientists want to terraform Mars. You know, we need to terraform the world. And we're going to do that in the world tomorrow. Isaiah 41, Isaiah 41, in verse 18, notice here, and it says, I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys, and I'll make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. Again, this is going to happen. I'll plant in the wilderness the cedar in the acacia tree and the myrtle in the oil. I'll set in the desert the cypress and the pine and the box tree together that you may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the eternal has done this, the holy one of Israel has created it. And so God is going to do this, brethren, and He's going to give this world the kind of territory that every person really could dream of. The United States has been the breadbasket of the world. Well, brethren, every place will be a breadbasket, and the United States is going to be much better than it is even today to make it a productive territory. It used to be in this country people were whistling as they worked.

They were happy. They were singing. But we know that's not happening now. You know, that's not happening now. People are not doing that. They're not that happy, even though the affluence may have increased, their lives have become miserable.

The Bible tells us, though, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, and that's what people will do. But when the evil, when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn. That's what people are doing today. How about the people and the subjects of the coming Kingdom of God? What's going to be different about them? Well, Mr. McMaster talked about the transformation of human nature yesterday. And man's human nature is going to be changed. The problem with mankind is he lusts for things he cannot have. He wars for those things that he cannot have. In the Kingdom of God, that's all going to be changed, brethren. What God's going to do is he's going to give the only genuinely real solution to the problem that nations have. He's going to transform the hearts of human beings, rather than just like your heart, hopefully, has been softened so that you're teachable, so that you will listen to what God has to say.

I think the fact you're here is a proof of that, that you listen to what God says, but God's going to do that for everyone. No, I'm not going to go to Ezekiel 36, but over there, it talks about how God is going to allow us to transform this world into a Garden of Eden. It actually uses that terminology, that we're going to turn this world into a Garden of Eden. Let's go to Isaiah 60, though. Isaiah 60. Isaiah 60 over here. I would like you to read the scriptures that are so encouraging over here.

In Isaiah chapter 60, we'll spend the remainder of the time here, but in Isaiah 60 and down in verse 15, God says this, and he's talking to Israel and frankly the ones that he's afflicted, as the scriptures even say, he's going to begin to mollify those wounds that people will have, but he says, whereas you have been forsaken and hated so that no one went through you, I will make you in eternal excellence a joy of many generations. And you shall drink the milk of the Gentiles and the milk of the breast of kings, and you shall know that I am the eternal, or I the eternal, am your savior and your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.

But notice what he goes on to say here. Instead of bronze, I'll bring gold. Instead of iron, I will bring silver. Instead of wood bronze, instead of stones iron. I will also make your officers peace and your magistrates righteousness. So that's what he's going to do. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, he says, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders, and you shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise. Your walls, you know, there won't be any walls. Your walls will be salvation. In a way, brethren, our walls right now, in this world, are our salvation. Your protection comes from, in fact, God. And quite frankly, walls really can't protect us, ultimately. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't have, you know, walls where they're needed around us, but ultimately God is our protector. But it says in your gates praise, you know, when you walk through a gate, it shouldn't say, boy, they've really got this thing bolted down so nobody can get in here. No, it will be a gate of praise. It will say something.

It will signify something. You know, in the New Jerusalem, it's going to come out of heaven. There are going to be 12 gates, as we know, and it's going to, they're going to be fantastic gates that will say something, will have meaning to them. And your gates will be praised. In verse 19, and the sun will no longer be your light by day, nor brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light in your God, your glory.

And going on, it says, and your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your morning shall be ended, and your people shall all be righteous, and they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of life planting, the work of my hands that I may be glorified. But notice this, brethren, right here. It's what it says in verse 22, a little one shall become a thousand. Young people, parents, your kids are sitting right next to you. A little one's going to become a thousand. It's hard to imagine your little one having a thousand offspring, children, family members. But that's what's going to happen. A small one, a strong nation. Again, this is like we were talking about earlier, about an impact. I don't think we can even fathom what it's going to be like, brethren, the impact that we're going to have when the kingdom of God is set up. And it says, I the Eternal will hasten it in its time. So, brethren, we're going to have a thousand years under this kind of government, with this kind of people, with this kind of territorial domain for everyone, with this kind of law, and with this kind of leadership, brethren, we can be a part of something guaranteed to succeed, which is not imaginary like Locke was imagining, but it is in a coming world that is absolutely sure that will be abundantly successful and real. And this is God's plan, brethren, and you are right here, now part of that plan in the making of a fabulous Utopian project that's going on right now that God is preparing that's going to be set up, that's going to fill this whole earth, and it will never pass away. And it will go on forever and ever and ever.