Kingdom Effects

I appreciated Mr. Wilson's message and thoughts that he shared regarding the fact that we are back from the feast, which portrays the thousand-year reign of Christ, the establishment of the kingdom of God on this earth. Yet we're to continue forward still in this thought process and this mindset, keeping the things that we've learned in the forefront of our minds. The feast that we walked through, pictured a time when, you know, it's just going to be a complete change for this world.

When the governments of man are put away and the kingdom of God reigns, there'll be a time when a whole new set of laws and standards for the way of life will be rolled out, and the politics of man will be put aside.

The world-ruling government of the kingdom of God will be completely different than what this world has experienced up to that point. It'll be a kingdom that engenders trust and confidence, as in people will look to the kingdom of God and the rulership as there for their good, for their purpose, and a government that is actually there to help them fulfill the potential for which they were created. And that's such a wonderful thing to consider.

We're grateful for the country we live in here in the United States, and the pursuit of, you know, life and peace and happiness is a wonderful thing. But what government, through the scope of human history, could ever claim to be there to help you achieve the purpose for which you were created? It's just to be sons and daughters in the family of God for eternity. And so what a wonderful change that will be when the world tomorrow comes, when Jesus Christ comes and establishes the kingdom of his father and reigns, and as king of kings and lord of lords.

And we have opportunity as the first fruits to reign alongside for a thousand years as the Bible portrays. All of those things we focused on at the feast. We heard messages about how that government will function, what the earth will be like under the reign of the kingdom of God, the role that we'll get to play. And you know, it's interesting because sometimes we can sit back, we can hear the sermons, we can read the prophecies in the scripture, and we can begin to think, well, maybe I was born at the wrong time because I live today.

Because that world to come yet in the future with the plowmen overtaking the reaper and the blessings that we see during the millennial age, that just looks so fantastic and so wonderful. We can start to draw these comparisons with the world that we live in today and the age we live in today. And we can almost begin to feel like we're missing out because we were born now. And sometimes we can begin to make comparisons.

Brethren, we should never feel like we're missing out on something special today because God has called us to something special today. And it is a life that we could say is comparable and a reflection of the way of life that we see portrayed by the Feast of Tabernacles. When you consider all the blessings of those seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles that they point to, and then the eighth day, the final holy day, that last great day, and all that God has planned, we see the results of many wonderful things that I've labeled as the kingdom effect.

And that's the title for the message today, the kingdom effect. And the kingdom effect, as we can essentially describe it, is the consequences and the blessings that come as a result of living under the reign of the kingdom of God. Again, it's the kingdom effect. It's the consequences and blessings that come as a result of living under the reign of the kingdom of God. It's the influence that that kingdom has on people, in places, in events.

It's the effect of living in the shadow of the kingdom and submitting yourself to that kingdom. As we walked through the Feast of Tabernacles, we looked at, again, all those wonderful prophecies of the thousand years, and they were the kingdom effect. They were the blessings that came as a result of the kingdom of God reigning over this earth, no longer the ways of man, but the ways of God. And again, as we look at those things, we could almost start to draw comparisons.

My brother and I'd like to encourage us not to. The message today, I want to show you from the scriptures that the very same kingdom effect we see portrayed by the Feast of Tabernacles is, in fact, at work in our spiritual lives today. As you and I yield ourselves today to the reign of the kingdom of God.

It's not like the kingdom effect is somewhere far off in the future that we have no access to. Brethren, God has granted us access to the kingdom effect today as we submit our lives to Him. So, as we consider that millennial age, I'm going to run through a number of scriptures that we likely heard read during the Feast of Tabernacles. And I'd like to begin to draw some comparisons for us today. And as we consider that age to come, what is it about that time specifically that makes it so desirable and so wonderful?

Because, again, we've just walked through that seven days and then the final eighth-day feast. And for us, simply the portrayal was exciting. Simply observing the days that look forward to that time was exciting. But just imagine how exciting the actual fulfillment of those events will be. But what makes it so exciting, so fulfilling, and such a wonderful thing to keep in perspective? Well, we can find the answer in a familiar millennial prophecy if you'll follow me to Micah, chapter 4, to begin this afternoon. Micah, chapter 4. Again, I'll be likely repeating scriptures that you heard read during the Feast of Tabernacles this year.

But as Mr. Wilson said, now that we're back, let's carry it forward and let's keep the perspective. Micah, chapter 4 and verse 1, looking for a time following the return of Jesus Christ, it says, In biblical prophecy, where you see mountains and hills is oftentimes a reference to kingdoms and governments, mountains being larger governments, hills being smaller governments. And the government of God, the kingdom of God, is going to reign over all the governments of the earth. That's what this is saying. It shall be established on top of the mountains, shall be exalted above the hills. Again, and people shall flow to it. Verse 2, And so the laws of God and the words of God will flow out over all the earth as the standard for living.

And people will seek after it, not just a few people. It says, many nations will say, let us go up, let us learn. They'll seek after it, they'll find the ways and the truths of God, and they will live them. Verse 3 says, they shall judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords in the plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. And so the millennial age, brethren, at the feast of Tabernacle's pictures will be such a wonderful time, because God's kingdom will reign supreme. Above the mountains, above the hills, it will be the world-ruling government of the kingdom of God, and the peoples of the earth will submit themselves to its rulership in their lives. Let us go up, let us learn, let us live it. It's a matter of cause and effect. If you submit yourselves to the laws and the standards of the kingdom of God, you live according to it.

God the Father is your God, Jesus Christ is your elder brother, and you walk in harmony in that relationship, the blessings come forward.

Again, it's a matter of cause and effect. It's the kingdom effect. And by comparison, you and I should be able to recognize that the way that we'll govern life in the millennium is the way that governs our life today as we submit to God, as we in that spiritual sense go up to the mountain of the Lord to learn of God's ways and to live them. We will have that same cause and effect of come to know your God, live according to his calling, and his blessings flow out. Philippians chapter 3 is written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi, but it applies very much to us today as well. Those who have been called out of this world and come into relationship with God and Christ. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 20. And I want you to notice the comparison with in the millennium those who will go up and learn from God. Let's consider what he's done in our life today that brings us under the rulership of his kingdom. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 20. Paul says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when your citizenship is in heaven, brethren, it means in a nutshell that you've submitted your life to the reign of the kingdom of God. That God's kingdom reigns supreme, and its laws and its standards are what you live by. And your spiritual life today is in willing submission to the reign of God. Yet, Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven. And through that calling, we've all in that sense gone up to the mountain of the Lord. And we have, as well as his people, received the richest of choice blessings in our spiritual lives today. I hope to show you that as we go on. Another writing of Paul, Colossians. This time chapter 1 and verse 13.

Colossians chapter 1 and verse 13.

Establishing the authority and the reign that we've come under.

Colossians 1 verse 13 says, he, speaking of the Father, he has delivered us from the power of darkness, and he's conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. And what God has done for us, brethren, then through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as we come under the blood of that sacrifice, he redeems us from the slavery of the kingdom of darkness. Mr. Wilson made reference to the kingdom of darkness. It's a counterfeit kingdom. It's a kingdom ruled over by Satan the devil, and what God has done as we come under that sacrifice and are reconciled to him, he takes us from that counterfeit kingdom and he establishes us under the authority of his soon-coming kingdom. We know the kingdom of God is not literally here yet in terms of reigning on the earth, but brethren, it is reigning in our lives.

We've submitted ourselves to that. Those who have come in covenant with God have submitted to the reign of the kingdom of God today. It's not something that's so far off, something that we maybe celebrate and say, well, wouldn't that be great someday if we could be a part of that?

No, if you've come in relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, come under the waters of baptism, you've been reconciled to him and to his kingdom.

To the remainder of the message today, what I'd like to do is illustrate three ways in which the same kingdom effect that we can see at work in the world tomorrow, during that millennial age, is at work in our lives today. And we'll draw comparisons and we'll begin to see that it's not a competition or we're not missing out. What we begin to see, brethren, is the way that the kingdom of God works in people's lives and the way it will work in the future. It is the way it is working in our lives today. You and I, right now, are living under the kingdom effect.

The first kingdom effect I'd like for us to consider is that of healing.

Healing. Under the reign of the kingdom of God, there is healing, and we can find the prophecies. We can see the exclamation of what it will be in the millennium at the return of Jesus Christ.

Under the reign of the kingdom of God, there is healing. When Christ returns to this earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He's going to claim the nations of this earth as a part of the kingdom of God. Well, that's just the beginning of the process.

That's what we walked up through to the Feast of Trumpets. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. But that's the beginning of the process. The reality is the whole world will be in shambles. It's come through the Great Tribulation. It's come through the day of the Lord, now God's judgment on the earth. The whole world will be in shambles. It will be a place in desperate need of healing. Ezekiel chapter 47 is a section of prophecy describing the healing that will take place for this planet. Healing that is desperate for this desperately needed at the beginning of the millennium and moving forward.

It's healing that will take place as a result of the living waters of God flowing out from the temple during the millennium. Ezekiel chapter 47 in verse 1.

Here Ezekiel is in the midst of this vision.

In verse 1 it says, Then he brought me back to the door of the temple.

This is the temple in Jerusalem in the millennium. And there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple towards the east. For the front of the temple faced east, the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.

As you read through the passage, we won't go through every verse, but as it goes on, it continues to talk about how those waters as they flow out, they become more prolific, more abundant, wider and deeper. And again, just the farther they flow out from the temple of God, these waters begin to pile up and increase. Verse 8, jumping down, it says, Then he said to me, This water flows towards the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. And when it reaches the sea, its waters are healed.

You recall, brethren, the prophecies that take place by the time Jesus Christ returns to this earth. Basically, all the waters will be poisoned and ruined, all the life within it destroyed, all the fish and the living creatures within the bodies of water are dead.

In fact, much of the earth is decimated. This is the condition of this world at the beginning of the millennium. It simply says, Then when these waters flowing out from the temple, when it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. Verse 9, And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there, for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.

There's a miracle that's going to take place in the presence of these living waters.

The bodies of water are healed. The fish and the other living creatures are restored.

Wherever the living waters of God flow out on the earth and impact, life and vitality spring forth.

It is a restoration. It is a renewal and a transformation that takes place.

We won't turn there, but Zechariah 14, verse 8, describes these living waters as well.

It says, In that day it shall be that living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them towards the Eastern Sea. That's the Dead Sea. It's called the Dead Sea today.

And I just kind of imagine in the world tomorrow, we're going to have to come up for some new names for these places. You know, the Dead Sea will become the live sea. Imagine Death Valley will be named something else as well. But there's healing that takes place.

The flow out from Jerusalem, half towards the Eastern Sea, and half of them towards the Western Sea, which is the Mediterranean Sea, says, In both summer and winter it shall occur.

So this is an incredible miracle that this world will desperately need. Healing, restoration.

But beyond the physical healing, brethren, these waters have spiritual significance as well, because they represent God's Holy Spirit. They're living waters that flow out from from His throne, from His presence, and they go out and they bring healing. They represent God's Holy Spirit. In the world tomorrow, mankind will be given a true knowledge of God their Father and Jesus Christ their brother, and they'll have an opportunity to develop a personal relationship with them. Just as you and I have today, through that calling that God extends.

The greatest miracle of all, when you look at all the prophecies, when you look at all the abundance and the physical blessing and all that is rolled out during those thousand years, the greatest miracle of all is the same as the greatest miracle of all today. And that's conversion. It's the opening of the heart and the mind to receive the Spirit of God and be reconciled in a relationship with Him. In that age to come, God's Holy Spirit will be poured out on all who seek it. The spiritual living waters will flow out from God, and they will be responsible for the healing of the human heart and mind. And it's a physical healing, not only, all right, as we saw by the living waters that flow out from the temple produce physical healing, and it's real, but it's a type. It's a type that points as well to the greater fulfillment, which is the spiritual healing of the heart and minds of those who are touched by the Spirit of God. And in that process, spiritual life springs forth. Vitality comes as people now themselves go up to the mountain of the Lord, and they learn God's way and they're reconciled in relationship to Him. And a transformation takes place. Things that were of their nature, that were apart from God, that were dead in that sense, are now made alive. Let's notice Jesus Christ's own comments linking this concept of living waters with God's Holy Spirit. Let's go to John chapter 7, verse 37. This is actually an account which took place. It would appear at the eighth day. John chapter 7 and verse 37. Jesus Christ says, on that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and he cried out, and he said, if anyone thirst, let him come to me and let him drink. And he who believes in me, as the scripture is said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So clearly what we find is God's living waters, brethren, are not only for the restoration in the millennium, but they restore us and they refresh the people of God today. God is not remodeling the old way of doing things. I gave that as a sermon on the Feast of Trumpets. You know, God's not coming back to this earth just to add some window dressing to the governments of man. God is going to sweep away the system and establish the kingdom of God, which is built upon righteousness and truth. And the same is true in our personal lives as well. When God gives us his Spirit, he's not seeking to just kind of spruce up the old man a little bit, so he looks a little more presentable. God's looking to develop a new creation. It's not a remodeling project. Again, the Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 5, 17, says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Not just kind of polished up and refurbished a little bit, but a new creation. He says, old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. That's what God is doing in our lives today. It is what he's going to do on a global scale in the world tomorrow.

The kingdom of fact, brethren, isn't going to be extended through the old corrupt ways of doing things. It will come through a transformed life. And the future that God has in store is for that of a transformed world. Another scripture showing millennial healing is found in Isaiah chapter 35. Let's go there. Isaiah chapter 35, again, this healing is a kingdom of fact. It's the result of living under the reign of the kingdom of God. Isaiah chapter 35, picking it up in verse 5, it says, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame man shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. And notice why. You know, these things don't just happen on their own or by coincidence. Notice why they happen. It says, for water shall burst forth in the wilderness, in streams, in the desert. Brethren, it's God's spiritual presence. We're talking literal physical, but we're talking spiritual reality as well. It's by God's literal presence and involvement.

This is a beautiful prophecy about the healing of people living in the world tomorrow. Just imagine, if you would, the condition of the people of this world after the Great Tribulation, after the Day of the Lord. When you put a number of prophecies of those times together, it would appear that perhaps just the tithe, the tenth mankind survive over into the beginning of the millennium. Imagine the condition that they will be in, their basic human needs, what it is they've seen, what it is they've been through and endured. I suspect there'll be many traumatic injuries that will have occurred, many people that will need to be physically healed. Imagine what it will be like when someone who was blinded from warfare, how wonderful it'll be when their eyes are open and they can see they've been healed, and they know the source of that healing is their Creator God.

Imagine what it would be like for somebody who is who is lame. They cannot even get up and walk, maybe from some injury, maybe it's a piece of shrapnel embedded in their back, maybe it's even from a birth defect, what it will be like when they are healed, and they stand up and they leap for joy before the Lord. And again, they know the source of that healing. It was their Creator God.

Imagine what that will be like. Imagine what it would be like to be there, you know, to assist in that, even perhaps. To be there to engage with these people, to interact with these people, and to point them to God. Imagine the blessings of that time. In addition to the physical healing that will take place, again, there's a spiritual element to all of this as well, because people who have lived over into the world tomorrow would have lived under the influence of this world, and under the influence of Satan the devil. Again, he's the king, the god, small g of the kingdom of darkness. And the reality is, he's the cause of much of this world's spiritual disabilities. And so there's going to be healing that takes place physically, but even greater than that, there's going to be the need for spiritual healing as well. During the millennium, God's going to bring spiritual healing to those who have been handicapped by sin in Satan the devil. Again, it's a kingdom of fact. Submit yourself to the laws and the ways of the kingdom of God. Worship the god of the kingdom of God. Be reconciled to him, and this effect flows out. And it is healing in the kingdom.

Further, this is a type of healing that's already been realized in the lives of those who live under the reign of the kingdom of God today. We've had spiritual healing in our lives. We've submitted to God, and he has poured this blessing out on us. If you just consider it, before our eyes were open to the truth of God, we were spiritually blind where we could not. Before our ears were unstopped, we could not hear a calling from God. Before our lameness was healed, our legs were strengthened, we could not walk in the paths of the Lord. And before our tongues were loose, we could not proclaim the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. The truth is, you and I, under the reign of the kingdom of God, by his Spirit and blessing, have received this healing in our life today. It's a kingdom effect.

It's the effect of yielding your life to the reign of the kingdom of God.

Second kingdom effect I'd like us to consider is that of peace.

Peace. Under the reign of the kingdom of God, there is peace.

We won't turn back there, but the scripture passage we started in Micah chapter 4 verse 3 says, they shall beat their swords and the plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Rather than the time of the millennial age to come will be a time of peace and harmony of mankind. But it isn't going to be because there aren't any weapons. You know, it isn't going to be just simply because swords are now plowshares and spears are not pruning hooks. That's, you know, now you look around and you can't find up find something to pick up and go to war in. That's not the point. People can still go to war with virtually anything they can put their hand on. Cain was a tiller of the ground and he slew his brother Abel. All right. When I'm over in Nigeria in Ghana, one of their main farming implement is a machete. You know, you and I might look at a machete if, you know, somebody was walking down the street out here. We might kind of wonder what's going on. But, you know, when the person's out there in the field and they're harvesting their crops and they're, you know, processing them, they're chopping weeds, they're doing various things, the machete is just a farm implement for so many people. So the point is, peace will not come simply because of a lack of implements of war. Peace comes through the change of a man's heart and his nature. And it is God who does that. And through that change, they will learn war no more.

Brethren, God's called us to peace as well. For those who live under the kingdom of God today, under the reign of that kingdom, peace is to be an attribute of God's people. Something that we are given over to, not just because, well, I can't go pick up that weapon today. No, it's because it is our nature to be at peace.

Peace is a kingdom effect. Notice Psalm chapter 119 verse 165.

Psalm 119 verse 165 says, Great peace of those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.

It says, Great peace. But there's a requirement. You have to love God's law. You have to embrace this way of life. You have to submit yourself to his dominion in your life and walk accordingly.

Great peace of those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. Or as the original King James says, Nothing shall offend them.

Again, the principle is, if we love the law of God and we live it, then peace will be the result.

Peace will abound. It is a kingdom effect.

Isaiah chapter 11 contains another prophecy of millennial peace.

Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 6.

Again, we read through so many of these during the Feast of Tabernacles this year, and they're encouraging. And they're meant to be encouraging, and they're meant to give us a snapshot of the future, but they're meant to encourage us today and to help us to understand what it is God is doing in our life today. Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 6.

It says, The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

It says, The cow and the bear shall graze, their young one shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play in the cobra's hole. The ween child shall put his hand in the diaper's venn. Yeah, don't put your hand there, either.

In the viper's den. My wife was a child. They lived down in Anatone, south of Lewiston there, and her mother used to tell her not to play under the porch because of the rattlesnakes.

We were in Oceanside for the feast this year, and on the day before the feast started, that Sunday, we had traveled down, and our condo wasn't yet ready for us to check into. We were kind of walking out along the beachfront area there, and people are out in the water and swimming, and there's a helicopter that flies. It makes a pass probably every 20 to 30 minutes. It would go that way, and then we'd come this way. Every day we were out on the beach, we see that helicopter flying overhead, and it would seem they were watching for sharks and other things out there. On that first afternoon, we're out there, and we hear the lifeguard come on the loudspeaker and says, everybody, please come out of the water. There's been a shark sighting. How nice would it be not to have to even worry about that? That got me a little curious. I jumped online that night and googled it, and they had sighted a 12-foot shark just a couple months earlier, a great white right off the dock right there, the pier that goes out. It's got a nice restaurant at the end, and people are fishing and swimming and all along that beach. So to me, we're out in the water. I've kind of got my radar up all the time. I'm watching for a fin darting around out there, but it would be so nice not to even have to worry about such a thing. Nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole. The ween child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. And notice why, because again, this isn't coincidence. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Just as there's no dry place in the midst of the ocean, there will be no dry place on this earth who does not have a knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ and God's purpose and plan for mankind and this way of life. And as people seek those things as they live them, this will be the blessing and the result.

Isaiah chapter 19.24, we won't turn there, but it says, in that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land. Again, peace that will break out, not only among the animals. We like the prophecies of the peace among the animals and, you know, the small child that could have a pet lion or whatever it might would be, skunks that spray potpourri. But, you know, it's a type, it's a reality, it's a fulfillment, but also points to a spiritual type. And in that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land. Brethren, that's never happened before in human history. Egypt and Israel in Assyria and a tight brotherly bond of nations that are not only a blessing to one another, but a blessing to the world, a blessing to the land. And Scripture says it will happen. Again, peace will abound because the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Proverbs 16 and verse 7 says, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. God does that through the softening of the heart, through the spiritual growth that takes place. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. It's the same spiritual peace, brethren, that you and I have been blessed with today because we submit our lives to the kingdom of God. Notice John chapter 14. Again, back to the words of Jesus Christ and that kingdom effect of peace. John chapter 14 and verse 27.

John 14 verse 27, it says, in whoever does not bear his cross and come after me. Am I in the right place? I'm not. I'm in Luke. Pardon me.

You know, I probably could have made that work, but I'll go to the intended scripture. That's much easier. John 14, 27. All right, that looks good. Peace, Christ says, right? Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. He says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The peace of the world and the ways of the world to bring peace is, honestly, is dependent on the conditions on the ground around you. And peace deals are broke, brokered, peace deals are broken, and that peace comes and goes. But the peace that comes from God and Christ, you're sure. And Christ says, I'm at peace, and I'm leaving that peace with you. And the incredible part about this verse is when you consider when he said it. It wasn't long the crucifixion would be coming. Christ knew what lay ahead of him. He'd grown up walking the streets, walking that region. He'd seen the Roman crucifixions. They like to pin people up on the common intersections where others would look and learn and fear, not to cross the Romans. Christ knew what lay ahead. He knew the torture. He knew the agony. And he said, you know what? I'm at peace, and I give that peace to you.

The Bible also calls it the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, as in somebody could look at you and say, how can you be at peace when that's going on in your life?

I really don't understand. But Christ here says, you know what? I am at peace, and I am giving that peace to you. The peace that comes from an understanding of the plan and the purpose of God won't be shaken by the conditions on the ground. It won't be shaken by whatever trials or storms of life that we're going through, because we understand who God is and his purpose and why he has created us in the kingdom that we serve. And so, no matter what trial it is, no matter what we're walking through, and it may be difficult, we can still have peace. My friend Fred Crow gave a sermon on purveyors of God's perfect peace, and it's on one of the sermons that was uploaded. Mr. Iams mentioned it's on the ucg.org website. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a good sermon on peace, thereby Fred Crow, purveyor of God's perfect peace. But again, we live under this kingdom, under the reign of this kingdom, and peace needs to be what it is that we carry inside us as well.

Judy Finnegan died this week, as most of you know, and the family, some of them were able to come and gather around and be there with her. We were leaving Oceanside on our way to the airport, LAX, when her daughter Eileen messaged me and said she's taking a turn for the worst and, you know, they don't expect her to last the night. And as we arrived back in town, then Darla and I went over to the facility where Judy was, and a number of her family members were there, and she was unresponsive at that point, not able really to communicate, and not really sure if she was fully aware of who was there. And it was just kind of interesting because leading up to that time, I would say by actually years, because Judy's been an extended member of our family by marriage, we've spent, you know, decades with Judy as have you all in the church, Judy was a person who was at peace. And I remember for years her talking about just simply life and death and God's purpose, and whatever God had in store for her, she had perfect peace with that. And even after her stroke, about six weeks ago, and visiting her in the hospital, she would talk about just simply the fact that it's what God would allow her to go through. But, you know, there was never unrest about not being at peace with what it was that God would accomplish in her life. And so that night, I stayed at night. Judy's daughter, Ann, was there, and we just sat by her bed, talked to her during the night, and I had one point where I was alone with Judy, and I just, you know, I started talking to her about the kingdom of God, God's purpose, all things that she knew, but it's things that we'd had in common and talked about over the years. I prayed with Judy, and even though she couldn't respond to me, and I don't even know if she knew I was there, all I can say is I have peace knowing the peace that she had, and that she had expressed. And my point is, it's the peace that God gives us. Again, even if you're facing the most difficult trial of your life, I told her this is going to be difficult for a period of time, a short period of time, but then the next waking moment you'll be in the kingdom of God at the return of Jesus Christ. And that truth, brethren, gives us incredible peace despite whatever it is this physical life may put before us.

Peace is a kingdom effect. I encourage you to grab hold, never let go.

The third and final kingdom effect I'd like to touch on today is fruitfulness.

Fruitfulness. After all, under the reign of the kingdom of God, fruitfulness abounds.

Let's look at Amos chapter 9 verse 13. Amos 9 verse 13.

It says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the plowmen shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes, him who sows seed. It says, The mountain shall drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with it. Just great physical abundance. You'll hardly be able to even harvest the crop and get out of the way without getting run over by the person who's plowing the ground up ready to put the next crop in. Again, just abundance and prosperity and blessing. Plowmen overtaking the reaper, mountains dripping with sweet wine. It's a real physical blessing, a time of great abundance. Basically, wherever seed is sown, fruit springs forth, production springs forth. Isaiah 35, 1 and 2.

Isaiah chapter 35 verse 1 and 2. It says, The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them. And the desert shall blossom as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy in singing. It says, The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.

Another beautiful prophecy of the abundance and the blessing and the fruitfulness that'll spring forth during the millennium. We had a direct flight from Spokane to LAX for the feast, and we're up in the air, and the sun had come up, and we're looking out the plain window, and Darla commented just on the vast expanse of land out there. It's a fact that, you know, it's not just one continuous city. I mean, there's vast expanse of the land, and you maybe just see a dot of a house here and a dot of a house there. The only thing was the area we were flying over was largely desert, and it really wasn't good for growing too much. Prophecy here shows us that even the desert will rejoice under the effects of the kingdom of God. Rain in due season will fall, and vegetation in life will spring forth. I don't have it in my notes, but a while back I ran across a scripture that talked about showers of blessing around God's holy mountain, and I got to thinking about that, and it's kind of speculation, but what might showers of blessings be? I thought, well, maybe that's more than even just rain, regular rain. I thought, you know, as the living waters flow out from Jerusalem, as they restore life and healing, and through this earth's natural process of evaporation and recirculating of water, that gets sucked up in the clouds, goes over the desert and rains, and now you have living water pouring out on the desert, and the ground is healed, and life comes forth. It's a possibility, but again, it's the blessing and the abundance that God has purposed for a world ruling under living under his kingdom and under his care. So what about us today? Are we missing out on the abundance, on the fruitfulness, on what it is that God is seeking to produce? Or is the same kingdom effect apparent in our lives as well? Indeed, God has called us to bear abundant fruit today. Matthew chapter 13 verse 23.

This is at the concluding end of a parable of Jesus Christ.

Matthew chapter 13 and verse 23, it's talking about seed being put out, and it falls on various forms of ground, and some of it it starts to sprout up, but is withered and scorched, and we come to verse 23. It says, but he who receives the seed on the good ground, which is ground that is able to receive the seed, and it will have an effect, and it can put down root and grow.

In Matthew 13, 23, he who receives the seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some 100-fold, some 60, and some 30.

And so when the kingdom of God and the seed of that kingdom is spread abroad in our lives, brethren, we aren't just to sit on it, we're to produce. God's called us to produce.

You know, to whom much is given, much is required. And so God desires that we would take that seed, and that we would develop it, and that we would grow it by his living waters, watering it in our lives, that we would be that good ground, and that it would grow up into production. And it's not going to be the same for everybody, but some will produce 100, some 60, some 30. But it's taking what God has given you, and growing it, bringing it to maturity and producing. Additionally, if our lives are yielded in covenant relationship with God, the fruit of his Holy Spirit will be produced abundantly in us as well. The desert areas of our life, the areas that were once dead to the ways of God, will spring forth and live, and will bear fruit. And the fruit of which is the evidence of God's Spirit in us will be clearly evident. Fruits of love and joy and peace and long suffering and kindness and goodness and faithfulness. Fruits of gentleness and self-control. It's the fruits of the Spirit of God. It must be evident among us if we are truly yielding to the reign of that kingdom.

You can find those fruits in Galatians 5, 22, and 23. And so the question for us, brethren, would be, is the plowman overtaking the reaper in your life? You know, is what God is planting in our life and watering by his Spirit producing fruit? Are we responding, drawing near to God that he draws near to us and the cycle of continual fruit production? Is the plowman overtaking the reaper in our life? Are we excited to yield ourselves to God and to produce what it is he's seeking to produce in us? Are we studying his word? Are we spending time in prayer? Are we yielding to his Spirit and growing according to the nature of he and his Son? If so, the plowman will overtake the reaper. Abundance will be, prooffulness will be the result.

Final passage for today, Jeremiah chapter 17.

Jeremiah chapter 17. Again, the kingdom of fact. Fruitfulness abounding. This needs to be evident in our lives today. Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse 7. Let's notice what it takes to be in that condition, to remain in that condition, and to produce what it is that God desires we produce.

Jeremiah 17 verse 7 says, Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord.

So, it's someone who trusts God, who believes that his word is true, that his kingdom is the most important thing in their life. They yield to his Spirit. It's the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. Verse 8, it says, For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes. But its leaf will be green, and it will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.

Brethren, if our lives are invested in relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, we will never see spiritual doubt, drought. We will never cease from producing, from yielding, from bearing that fruit that God would have us to produce. Again, whatever drought may come along the scorching sun of the trials of this life, we will stand as the tree, because you see our roots go down deep.

They reach down, they're planted by the river, the rivers of living water, and it draws on God's Spirit in the strength that he gives us.

We will not be scorched, or will our leaves wither, or our fruit fall in the day of adversity.

That's the blessing of verse 7, the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in him. He will stand.

God's Spirit will be present, and fruit will be produced.

Under the reign of the kingdom of God, fruitfulness abounds. It will abound in the millennium, and it is abounding, hopefully, in each and every one of our lives here today. It is a kingdom of fact.

In conclusion, brethren, the way of life we've been called to live today is a comparable reflection to the way of life that we see portrayed during the Feast of Tabernacles that we walked through and the eighth day, the blessing of living under the reign of the kingdom of God.

God's Port is a spiritual blessing out on us in great abundance, and you can live the millennial life today. You might say, well, you know, I looked in the bank account, or I checked in the garden. Last time I checked the garden, it's all black and withered up and frosted away. But what about our spiritual condition? Hopefully it is not so. We can live the millennial life today in our spiritual lives before God because the kingdom of fact is real, and it is alive and well in the Church of God.

Brethren, as we return from the Feast of Tabernacles and get back to our daily life, let's rejoice in the fact that God has called us into his service now. Let's also rejoice in the fact that we will one day have opportunity to assist Jesus Christ, teaching the same way of life to the rest of humanity, the rest of mankind who will one day themselves experience the abundance and the blessing of living under the reign of the kingdom of God. Brethren, the kingdom of fact is real, and it will be theirs. Let it be ours today as well.