Is the Kingdom an Impossible Dream?

We're here to focus on the Millennium and the Kingdom of God upon the earth. It's kind of interesting that today, of course, is the Sabbath, which also pictures the time of the Millennium. So we have a double meaning in the services today about the Millennium, and when God's Kingdom is going to be set up. You know, when we envision the world tomorrow, we often think of a utopian world like the Garden of Eden. And with the perfect human specimens of Adam and Eve sort of frolicking in the Garden with one another. And we kind of assume it might be that way in the Kingdom of God, of enjoying the sights and the sounds and the beauty of the Garden in that same way, but in a broader way. You know, we think of the perfection that is going to be in the Millennium, that it's going to progress throughout the Millennium. It's going to get better and better as Jesus Christ rules upon the earth. We think that it will be perfect, it will be pure, it will be pristine, that it will be a real utopia. But where did the term utopia come from, anyway? Actually, the term utopia was coined by Sir Thomas More of England.

And it's interesting that Thomas More was the prime minister, or like a prime minister, to King Henry VIII of England. It was during a very troubling time in the history of England, as well as for Europe. When King Henry was breaking away from the Catholic Church, and of course the Church of England was being established, well, in 1516, Sir Thomas More wrote a small book called Utopia. And he wrote it of a fictional island society with its own set of idyllic social, religious, and political customs. And of course at that time it was not a good thing to be either a wife of Henry VIII or a descending prime minister for Henry VIII. And he was beheaded, Sir Thomas More was beheaded in 1535 because he denied that Henry VIII was the supreme head of the Church in England. So despite what we might think about the word utopia, Sir Thomas More, though, merely wanted to contrast an imaginary island to a chaotic world that existed in Europe in his own time.

He did not intend to say that this place did exist or that it could even exist. In fact, the word utopia, you might be surprised, comes from the Greek. It is a combination of the Greek ou, which means not, and the word topus, meaning place. And so it literally means no place, that there is no place that is like a utopia that is going to exist in the future necessarily, but it was something merely in the imagination. Well, brethren, is the kingdom of God, is the millennium simply an imaginary concept which can never happen? No, think about it. Every nation or empire has had a dream of being something better, haven't they? But they've all failed, from Alexander the Great to the Caesars to the Holy Roman Empire. They thought that they were going to establish the perfect world, and of course we know it ended in failure. During World War II, in fact, the time leading up to World War II, many Germans viewed Adolf Hitler as a German Messiah, and they viewed that his third Reich was in fact the time of the millennium. He promised them a thousand years of his rule. But what happened? After 12 years, Adolf Hitler died a broken man and a defeated man, and what did he leave behind with his dreams, his ideas? What he left behind, brethren, were shambles with millions of people that were dead, tens of millions who died in World War II. And of course he left behind people that were in concentration camps and many who had died, millions had died in those concentration camps. Brethren, this is what happens when men attempt to build a utopia. It becomes a dystopia, as they call it. You know, not a utopia, but a dystopia. Well, brethren, is the kingdom of God an impossible dream? You know, why will the kingdom of God succeed when so many nations and empires have failed? You know, what is going to be different about the kingdom of God when God's kingdom is set up? Why will the kingdom of God succeed? You know, why will it be, you know, the utopia that we talk about here at the Feast of Tabernacles? Is the utopian world an impossibility? Is it a pipe dream? Something that simply cannot happen? I think we need to think about these things. I think that young people sometimes ask these questions. We might say the unaskable questions of whether or not even is it possible. You know, the last 6,000 years we have proven one thing, and that is that mankind cannot rule himself.

We don't know the way of peace, and we're going to learn more about that as we go along in this Feast about how that we don't know the way of peace. And all we have ever known, in fact, in the world, not only in the United States, but in all nations upon the face of the earth, it is a law between the wars upon the earth. That's all we've ever known. You know, we are always in the, you might say, the cycle of getting over a war, then of course recovering from it and preparing then for another war that is going to come along. That is all we've known on this earth ever since man has been here. And yet God says he's going to end war. He says he's going to get rid of all the ills that are in this society, in this world that is out here that we're living in. You know, every politician, though, promises that they're going to change things in the world today, don't they?

In fact, you know, the most recent politician who was elected to office, one of his slogans was, change we can believe in. And what is interesting to me, brethren, and I don't think he's any different than any other presidents that we've had in the past, is usually when they say something like that, change we can believe in, usually the we is the government, and the change means that money is changed from your hand to their hand.

Usually that's what that means. You know, every politician promises change we can believe in. You know, the word politics describes the process very well. The word politics breaks down to poli, which in Latin means many, and tics, which means blood-sucking creatures. And, brethren, I do not kid you about this. I think that as we are going along in our society in this country, I think that we're going to end up as a country bankrupt, and all of us probably going to be bankrupt before all is said and done when it all comes crashing down.

You know, a London newspaper back in 2008 wrote about a brain drain that was going on in England because they were losing many of their gifted people, their scientists, their physicists, and some of the smartest people were, in fact, moving out of England because of the global economy. Many of them were moving to Canada and the United States of America.

But one English pundit said this, in spite of the smartest people leaving the country, not one politician left in England. I don't know if that's so or not, but that's what was said. You know, why will God's kingdom, brethren, succeed when politicians have told us that they were going to change things? You know, will it go the way of other empires? How is God going to do it?

How is He going to bring it about? Well, He tells us in His Word what He's going to do, what He's going to accomplish, and He's going to do what no physical man has ever done before. We know the story, brethren, about how things are going to begin in this world when prophecy really begins to be fulfilled, when we begin to feel it at home a whole lot more than we do now.

Prophecy indicates in Ezekiel 5. I'm not going to go over there, but it indicates the United States and Britain, Ephraim of Manasseh, are going to suffer the loss of two-thirds of their people. And other prophecies indicate that devastation of the world during the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord will be so great. Some of the prophecies, brethren, indicate that a tenth of the world's population will survive in what is prophesied to occur in the future. Mr. Helge talked about that yesterday in his message. And Jesus Christ warned us of this, brethren, and He was very serious when He gave these words to us in Matthew 24, verses 21 and 22.

And I'll just read them to you. It says, For then there will be great tribulation. And it says, Such as not since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. We have never seen, brethren, what is going to happen in the future. And of course, we will never see it again, the like of it. It has not happened in the past. This is something that will be incredible compared to history. And He goes on to say, And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.

For as it says in the Moffat translation, no flesh would be saved alive. And it says, But for the elect's sake, that's us, brethren, the saints, God is going to cut it short. Those days are going to be shortened. And so man will come right up to the brink of pulling that trigger to wipe out all human life off of this planet. And then Jesus Christ is going to return in the nick of time, and He will come back and He will save mankind from Himself.

And so when Jesus Christ comes back a second time, brethren, it will be a rescue mission for humanity. He's going to come back to save us. He's going to see that we don't destroy all life off of this planet. And after these days, brethren, there will be into the millions of people that will be left, not billions of people, but into the millions of people. Perhaps maybe 500 or 600 million people will inhabit the earth after these things happen and occur.

And at that point, Jesus Christ will start His Kingdom with a greatly reduced population. It's interesting that you hear people talk about some of the scientists of the day, and they say that this planet was engineered for 500 million people.

And, you know, man may very well get his wish. There are some people that actually would like to see us reduce the population of the earth down to about 500 million people. And they are willing to use, some of them are willing to use any means to bring that about. But future events will bring it down to probably around that amount. And people who survive, brethren, will be broken down. They're going to be broken down emotionally, and their minds, of course, are going to be going through a great deal of turmoil after they have experienced the tribulation and the day of the Lord. And people, of course, are going to have a different attitude at that time. And as Mr. Helge was talking about yesterday, we're going to have a part in helping those people. You know, mankind will come up to that point because from the time of the Garden of Eden, as you recall, you know, Adam rejected God. It's like Mr. Armstrong used to say that Adam basically told God, get out of my business. And so God listened to what Adam said. And so God has had a hands-off policy toward this earth for the most part. But when these events begin to occur, then God is going to take a hand in world affairs. And He's going to begin to save those that remain, and He's going to establish His kingdom. Jesus tells us how the kingdom is going to be established. Let's go over to Matthew 13 here and read along here in the Bible, and Matthew 13 and down in verse 31.

And it says in another parable, He put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. And so God is going to sow, brethren, in the field that will exist at that time, He's going to sow His people at that time in that lump of dough. And it's going to take over the entire world. And it says, which indeed is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.

In another parable, He spoke, verse 33, to them, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven. And it says, Which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leaven. And so Jesus Christ is going to begin small, and it's going to grow large. And the world will be slowly leavened with righteousness. We don't think about leavening being righteousness, but in the kingdom of God, brethren, that is the way it's going to be pictured. You know, it will be like a leavening implanted in a big lump of clay or dough, overtaking the whole batch of dough.

You know, the kingdom of God is going to be made up of much the same elements of what makes up a kingdom today. There are four essential elements of any kingdom. There's number one, a body of laws. And the United States, you know, has a man-made constitution as the overall document of law for the nation. And just as man does not want to obey the laws of God, there are a lot of people in our country that do not want to follow the Constitution that we have in the United States of America. There are many, of course, that in fact are on the courts of the land who interpret it far different than others that are judges within the United States of America. And, like I said, some would like to do away with the Constitution altogether. You know, they would like to throw it out the window and start all over again. Then secondly, brethren, there is territorial domain.

And the United States is blessed immensely, brethren, to be in a land that is between the seas. And for a long time, the fact that we were isolated in the world from other nations, it has been a great blessing for us. But, of course, we're moving to the times where that is no longer a barrier to wars as it has been for us in the past. But think about the fact that God gave us this rich land, this beautiful land that we dwell in. And as a result of it, we have all of these resources that are available to us that has allowed us to become the greatest nation upon the face of the earth. But on the other hand, if you look at the world, you look at other nations, they don't have what we have. You know, sometimes they dwell in a place where they're landlocked. They have no ocean around them or near them. You know, sometimes they again have a situation where it's totally different in terms of their terrain. I mean, their land is basically mountains. I was told when I was up in Idaho, in pastoring in Boise, that Idaho would be the largest state in the Union if you could flatten all the mountains. But, you know, some nations are like that. You know, you've got mountains and they're beautiful, but you know, it's kind of hard to plant a crop on Mount Everest.

You know, you can't raise crops and do the things that you need to do. And then the third thing that makes up a kingdom, brethren, is leadership. You know, the highest office is president of the United States. And of course, it goes on down from there to governors to mayors and so on. And they are elected by the people. And the thing about our system of governance, we have people again who have different beliefs. You know, you don't have a consistency. There's no homogeneous mass when it comes to leadership in this country. Everybody has different ideas. And if we go from the United States to another nation, they have a different governance than we have in this country.

And sometimes, of course, they have dictatorships and other things where people are abused. And then the fourth essential element, brethren, of a kingdom is the people. Sometimes people and nations, in fact, in the world today are mismatched. You know, we, of course, consider the United States to be a melting pot. And what has been a success for the United States is the fact that it has been a melting pot. You know, you have the Irish and they blend in. You know, you've had the Italians and they blend in. They become Americans. And you have people that have come into the United States, and for the most part, they've become Americans and they have blended in. That's what has made the United States a great nation, that we could use the talents of people. But in some countries, that is not the case. Like, for instance, in Iraq, you have the Sunnis and the Shiites. They don't blend in with each other. They don't mix with each other. In fact, they want to fight with one another. And, you know, also the other problem that you find in the world, brethren, is you have unnatural borders. And people are always defending these unnatural borders. For instance, India and Pakistan. You know, some of the borders cannot be established and they're always fighting over them. Russia and Japan are fighting over different parcels of land that one thinks that they own and another does not. And, you know, the Middle East is a perfect example of how people are mismatched sometimes. I'm talking about the entire Middle East. And conflict arises in those areas because of that particular problem. So these are four essential elements, brethren, that make up a kingdom and a nation in the world today. But what about the Kingdom of God? What's the Kingdom of God going to be like? How is it going to be different? Well, one thing that is going to be different, brethren, about this when it comes to leadership. We are going to have a leader who was born to be king. He was born to be a king. You know, think about that. The Kingdom of God is going to be established, and the King of God will have been, you might say, an eternity in preparation. How long did God think about His Kingdom that's going to be established in the world tomorrow? I imagine He's been thinking about this for nearly eternity. You know, what figure could you put on it? He's been thinking about it for 14 billion years, we know that, because that's how long the universe has been here. You think God's going to get it right, brethren? After all that thinking, I think that He will not fail. I know He's going to know exactly what to do. You know, if God can bless you when He needs to bless you and do what you need in your life, you know, He can certainly take care of the millions of people that are going to be there with the establishment of the Kingdom of God. And you know, the other thing about Jesus Christ, who's going to be a King over us, a leader over us, the Word was made flesh and He trained among us. He was right here among us. He saw the way we were in our, and He knows all about human life.

And He is an able high priest, as we're told, because of that, brethren. And so Jesus Christ is going to be more than prepared than any leader that was ever put over any nation in this world.

In Isaiah 9, verses 6 through 7, it says, For unto us Christ is born, a child is born, mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and of the increase of His government, and peace there will be no end. And so it's going to go on and on. And how do we know it's going to take place? It says the zeal of the Lord of hosts is going to perform it. He's going to do it. He's going to bring it about. Let's go to John, chapter 18. If you would turn there in John 18, in verse 37. You know, here Jesus Christ was standing before Pilate in John 18, in verse 37.

And of course Pilate was asking him various questions. But in chapter 18 and down in verse 37, notice here where it says, And Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? And Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I've come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. So Christ said to Pilate, He says, Look, I was born to be a king. And he, of course, is going to take that role. He has that purpose, brethren. And I submit to you that you hear in this auditorium, you were born to be a king. God has brought you into His church for that purpose, and He's going to let you rule Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow. You know, as Mr. Armstrong said so many times, we are the kingdom of God in embryo. Remember, the kingdom of God, brethren, is the family of God, the spiritual family of God. So we are the kingdom of God in embryo. And we're going to be born into that family when Jesus Christ returns. But we have to wait for the kingdom so that, brethren, when we, of course, have waited and trained, we'll be ready for that kingdom when it comes. Up in verse 36, and Jesus answered, He said, My kingdom is not of this world. He said, If my kingdom were of this world, my servants will fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from His. It's like Mr. Helge was talking about yesterday as well. You know, when God fights a battle, when Jesus Christ fights a battle, He's going to win that battle. And if He didn't want to suffer from mankind, obviously, He could have called upon the legions of angels to come and to rescue Him from that. And He would not have had to go through that, but He did it again for a purpose. So the kingdom of God, brethren, does not exist until the King arrives. And Christ will accept His position as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And think about this, brethren, that with Satan bowed for a thousand years, think what Jesus Christ and the saints are going to be able to do and to be able to accomplish. In Jeremiah 23 and verse 5, you might just write this down. It says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Eternal, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness. A king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. And so Jesus Christ is going to come and He's going to sit on the throne of David, and He's going to begin to rule from Jerusalem. Let's go over to the book of Micah. Micah chapter 4 over here. Micah chapter 4 and down in verse 3. It speaks again of Jesus Christ and what He's going to do in the kingdom of God. And it says, And He shall judge between many peoples, and He's going 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. So He's going to eradicate war, as we know. In verse 6, and it says, And in that day, says the eternal, I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcasts. These will be, of course, the people of Israel that have survived the terrible ordeal that is going to take place in the future. And those whom I have afflicted, I will make the lame a remnant. And so the remnant of Israel will be left, and of course the remnant of the whole world, in fact, will be left. But a remnant of Israel will be left. And they outcast a strong nation, so that the eternal will reign over them in Mount Zion, and from now on, even forever. So when Christ sets up that government, it will go on forever and ever, as we understand it. And that remnant, again, are the peoples of the United States and Britain and Israel today, and modern times, who will have been decimated by the prophecies that are given to us within the Bible. The ten-nation beast power is going to emerge, you know, and we know we're watching that in Europe, and it's going to make war against Israel. And we know that Jesus Christ is going to come back, and He's going to make war with the beast power as well. But when the beast makes war against Israel, modern Israel today, there will be a remnant of those that will survive. And the beast will be brought down when Jesus Christ returns. Let's go to Daniel chapter 2. I like the terminology that is used over here in the book of Daniel in chapter 2.

It helps us understand the kingdom of God a lot better. But in Daniel chapter 2 and down in verse 44, and talking about, again, things related to prophecy and the end time. Of course, remember that big image that that Debbie Kenezer saw. And he talked about the toes, the ten toes that were on the image. And those ten toes, we know, picture a time where the beast power is going to emerge. And in verse 44, it says, and in the days of these kings, these ten kings represented by the ten toes, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. That means God is going to have us, brethren, take the rulership and reign during that time. God is going to use us because we'll be a part of that spiritual family that will rule in the kingdom of God in the millennial time.

And it says, and it, the kingdom of God, of course, will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. And so the kingdom of God come will be like a big stone that will smash the governments of this world apart. And it shall stand forever, as it mentions. And it says, and in as much as you saw, that stone was cut out from the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces, the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. In other words, that whole idol, that whole Babylonian image is going to come down, and that system is going to come down. The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. And he said, the dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. And so the kingdom of God is going to happen, going to happen whether we want it or not. And it really behooves us to be preparing for that kingdom. And the kingdom is not going to be ruled by other people, but it's going to again be ruled by the saints of the Most High. And so that's why we're training right now, brethren, to prepare for rulership in the kingdom of God throughout our lives. In fact, we have been preparing for that.

You know, you look at the kings of Israel, like with David. David was a king for about 40 years.

You know, I found it interesting recently that I talked to so many people, and I asked them, I said, how long have you been in the church? They say, oh, about 40 years.

So it's kind of interesting that God used David as a king for 40 years. It's interesting that I think that God is training us, you know, to be kings for 40 years.

And so just as David was preparing to be a king in the world tomorrow as a king, we're preparing, brethren, after much experience here, you know, to be kings in the future.

Now think about, brethren, this truth that we just talked about just now. How many churches do you know that talk about this? How many churches do you know in the world that talk about something like this, about ruling in the kingdom of God? Well, as far as I know, only the churches of God talk about this, how we're going to be ruling in the kingdom of God. Well, at the outset, brethren of the millennium, Christ will again raise up Israel, as he did when he brought ancient Israel out of Egypt. And he will reunite all the families of the earth, and he's going to bring Israel together. And he's going to also, brethren, reform nations. There are some nations in the world tomorrow that are going to disappear, that should not exist. And you can read in the Bible about prophecies that talk about how some will cease to exist. And so Jesus Christ is going to be reforming the nations. And he's going to rule with a rod of iron, which means, brethren, he will have absolute power. Now, think about that. We've never had a leader with absolute power in the way that Jesus Christ will have over the entire world. And Christ will use his power, brethren. I don't think he's going to have this rod of iron and be hitting people over the head all the time. I think what Jesus Christ is going to do is he's going to use his power gently at first. And of course, then, if people do not listen, it's like, you know, if you're driving along the freeway and you are, maybe, you've committed an infraction on the freeway, and, you know, the policeman will pull up behind you, and, you know, he will turn those little lights on that all of us hate, right? And then, if you don't pull over, you know, he may hawk his horn or, you know, make a large sound with the horn that they have on their, you know, cars. And then, if you don't pull over, he may pull up beside you and wave you over, you know, to get over. Then, if you don't get over, he might shoot your tires out. Well, this is the way Jesus Christ will rule. He will use his power as he has to use it. And, brethren, that's the way also we will rule with Jesus Christ in the world tomorrow. Now, think about that when there is a governance that comes into being a new one, as we've had, of course, George Bush as president and now Mr. Obama as president, like any president, brethren, assembles his cabinet and the key leaders that are going to be in his government to bring about the change that he has promised in his administration.

Well, Christ is already choosing his staff. You know, he's already lining up the best people for the job in the world tomorrow. You know, he knows where he's going to put Noah. He knows where he's going to put Abraham. He knows where he's going to put David and Moses. And, brethren, he knows where he's going to put us also in his kingdom. And, you know, the book of Daniel tells us in another place, he says, but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom. And we see that reflected in Revelation 20, verse 4 there, that they're sitting upon thrones and judging, you know, at that time, as we see in the book of Revelation. But they're going to receive the kingdom, as Daniel says, and possess the kingdom. And this is the way it expresses it, brethren, forever, even forever and ever. You think God means forever, brethren? When he says it like that, I think he does, don't you? And as it says in Revelation 5, 10, we will be kings and priests ruling upon the earth. And like I said earlier, brethren, we were born to be kings.

Now, God happened to call some of us at different times than at other times, but we were born to have responsibility. You know, maybe God did not know us specifically individually. I guess we'll find out out, you know, when we're in the kingdom of God, but he knew he was going to need people that would assist in the world of moral. And we were born for that purpose, brother. In fact, all man has that potential to be in God's kingdom with different responsibilities. But God is offering us the job of being kings and priests at this time. And he's assembling his cabinet. He's assembling those that are going to rule in a world of moral. And so the king and his staff are being assembled for the kingdom. You know, if the nations of the world knew what was going to happen, they would just be enraged, wouldn't they? As to what's going to happen in the future, because all government and authority is going to be in the hands of Jesus Christ. And you know, the people that are going to be a part of that kingdom, they love the kingdom. And they love the territory. You know, I've never lived in Israel, you know, in my life. You know, I'm an Oklahoma boy.

Grew up in a what they call a plumb and a poke town. You know, you stick your head out the window and you're plumb out of town. You know, we had entering and leaving on the same sign in the town I lived in. But, you know, I'm going to love living in Jerusalem when that begins to happen and when it begins to occur. And so the kingdom, brethren, is going to be established, and we're going to be a part of that ruling family in the world tomorrow. And, you know, the one question I think that probably a lot of our teenagers maybe are thinking right now, but what about me? You know, what am I going to do? My parents, yeah, they're baptized. I'm not baptized. Maybe we have some grandchildren here. I've got some grandchildren here. I think my wife and I want, with more than anything, for those children to be in the kingdom. And we want them to be in the kingdom with their parents as well. But, you know, I think about our twins, by the way, that we have our grandchildren, Seth and Phineas, and our first grandchild, Isaac, you know, ruling in the kingdom of God. That's going to be a wonderful thing. Well, you know, that's what the Bible says is going to happen. Let's go to Psalm 45. Psalm 45. Some of the most beautiful words over here. In Psalm 45 and verse 6, here it says in Psalm 45 and verse 6, it says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. And it says, You love righteousness and hate wickedness. So we love righteousness, brethren, as well. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. And so here, talking about, again, a ruler here that's going to be established forever and ever. And those, again, that are going to rule with Jesus Christ are going to be with this being that it has, in fact, a love for righteousness. Of course, in order to do that, we have to love righteousness as well. And he will rule for the good of the people. And we will rule, brethren, for the good of the people. Down in verse 14, here it's interesting where it says, She shall be brought to the king. Who's going to be brought to the king who returns Jesus Christ in the future? It's going to be the church, isn't it? And it says, And she shall be brought to the king in robes of many colors. And it says, The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you. Notice how the word you is in the capital letter there. And it says, With gladness and rejoicing, they shall be brought. And they shall enter the king's palace. And notice in verse 16, brethren, a beautiful, beautiful verse here. Instead of your father shall be your sons, whom you shall make princes in all the earth. And so this is talking about the offspring, brethren, of the church, our children, our grandchildren, our great, great grandchildren. And it says, And I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the people shall praise you forever and ever. And so, teens, you're going to have the opportunity to rule also. You'll imagine what it's going to be like to have to go from one area to another, maybe representing the crown, if you will.

It was sort of like Princess Di had to do in her role, and Prince Charles has had to do, and the younger, Prince William and others have had to do in the past. So this, again, pictures the church or the future wife of Jesus Christ being brought to the groom, who is Jesus Christ, who is to be married, and those of the church will be nobility in the kingdom of God.

And they will rule as spirit beings. And our children, brethren, will be given the opportunity to be princesses and princes in the world tomorrow. You know, in the United States, we have a thousand times more laws on the books than we really need. And even now, as we maybe are sitting here, there's some congressman somewhere thinking up a new law for us to obey. And they keep cranking these laws out, it seems, every year, every year.

You know, even in cities, they have too many laws that exist. I warn you, by the way, brethren, here in the state of California, there are certain laws on the books I thought I would tell you about.

Here's a law I wasn't aware of. I brought my 30-06 down, but I was all prepared for this.

Here's a law in California. It is a misdemeanor to shoot at any kind of game from a moving vehicle. Unless the target is a whale. Now, I brought my 30-06, and I was looking around for an elk. And I had a whale in my scope, but I forgot about that law, and so I didn't do it.

Here's another law. No vehicle without a driver makes seats 60 miles an hour.

So I'm telling you, brethren, if you send your car out for an errand, make sure you tell it not to go 60 and above.

And also, this is in Baldwin Park. There's a law there. Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool. I know some of you came here. That's what you wanted to do. It's against the law. You can't do that. I guess you have to bring your snorkeling equipment so you can do that.

Here's another one, too. I must admit, I did not know this. I've already done it myself.

In Chico, bowling on the sidewalk is illegal. So, anyway, don't ever go to Chico if you want to bowl. But man has so many laws. Now, what is so amazing to me, brethren, is that God's law is simple and it is brief. I've got one of these slimline Bibles here, and I'm looking through here where the Pentateuch stops. And here it is.

This is the law, basically. See, this part is the law right here, right here, in this whole book. You may think that's a lot of words to read. But, you know, it's a lot simpler, very brief, succinct. It's the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. Well, brethren, think about this. In the world tomorrow, we're going to have the greatest laws ever given, the greatest laws ever given. And in the millennium, God is going to set in motion, brethren, these laws, these perfect laws that He has come up with. And we're going to be keeping the law now. That's why we need to be studying as God's people, and we are going to teach it in the world tomorrow. And God gave His laws to ancient Israel, but as we know, they only sporadically kept them. And what history showed, brethren, is when Israel was keeping the law of God, they were immensely blessed, and they were prospering as a people. And they rejoiced as a result of it. But when they began to break that law is when they began to suffer. You know, if we can only learn that lesson in our personal lives as well, you know, if the nations could learn about this, brethren, and realize as long as you keep God's law, you're going to be blessed. But God told them, remember, He said, Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord, my God, commanded me that you should act according to them in the land which you shall possess, and Deuteronomy 4 verse 6, it says, Therefore be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom.

This is your wisdom and your understanding of the sight of the peoples who will hear these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is wise and understanding people. And so, see, that's what's going to be different in the world tomorrow. We're going to have a perfect law. And one of the things that God, in fact, likes to do is He likes to give us just a few laws to obey, a few laws to utilize in our lives.

And as Mr. Helge was talking about, the law is going to go out from Zion. We're going to have the responsibility of carrying that law. That law reflects the character of God, and at that time it's going to reflect our character, brethren. And we'll have the job of taking God's law to the nations. Think of how that's going to be one law for everybody. That's all you have, one law for everyone. And it's going to have universal justice for all people. I want you to envision this, brethren. Envision going to a city. Maybe you were sent to some city in Russia, or what was formerly Russia, or you were sent somewhere else.

And maybe they were not necessarily coming into the millennium with a full appreciation of what it actually was. Envision going with the law of God into that city. And maybe the first time you go in and you try to start teaching people about the law of God, there may be a gang of people that will come and grab you and beat you up.

Maybe take a club and do it that way, or stone you, or whatever method they might use to punish you for teaching such a thing. And maybe they're going to drag you out of the city and just leave you there. And of course, we will be spirit beings, so you can't kill us, you know. And so what we'll do is we'll get up, dust ourselves off, and go back right in. They may do it again, and we'll go back in, and we'll teach the law of God.

You know, we're not going to be like the two sons of thunder and say, bring down fire and brimstone on these people, but we're going to be able to be a little bit more resilient, aren't we? You know, because, you know, you can do whatever you want to us, but it's not going to harm us, it's not going to kill us. And of course, it's going to be a tremendous witness for a dead man to walk into town, for them to see us.

Amazing what that would be like. I think we can even have some fun with it, don't you? In the kingdom. Well, brethren, wherever God's government expands, what it's going to do is going to bring peace and safety wherever it goes until the entire earth, or like that leavening that is put in that lump of dough, it becomes completely leavened with righteousness until it fills the entire earth with the laws of God.

How about the territory, brethren, in the kingdom of God, in the world tomorrow? The territory will be conducive to the success for every people upon the face of the earth, every nation. Think about why some nations succeed and others fail. Some do not have natural resources, some have too much water, while some have deserts, some have too many mountains, others are too flat.

Under Jesus Christ's leadership, brethren, He will transform the world. He's going to transform the earth. There's going to be the rain that is going to come in due season, and the whole earth will become transformed, and God will create it. In the world tomorrow, He's going to be creating things. Let's go over to Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41, and notice what the prophecy tells us, brethren, about the kingdom of God and what it's going to be like. But in Isaiah 41, in verse 18 through 20, notice it says here, I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys, and I will make the wilderness a pool of water.

So you've got to transform all of this, and the dry land springs of water. And I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree. So we're going to repopulate deserts with trees. And it says, the myrtle and the oil tree, and I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they 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.

So during the millennium, Christ is going to be creating things and doing things that are going to be tremendous, brethren. You know, scientists talk about going to other planets and to terraform these planets. You know, it's interesting to me that we're going to terraform the earth in the world tomorrow. We're going to put that into practice in the world tomorrow, but we're going to change everything, you know, that's upon this earth, including the topography that is upon this earth.

And we know we're going to be productive in the world tomorrow with in terms of of props that are going to be able to supply the needs of the world, the entire world. I think the world can handle more than 500 million people, and it, of course, is destined to do so. But when we, of course, have prepared for it, when we have changed land to become productive, that was not a place where you could raise crops, then we're going to see, brethren, how this earth is going to be taking care of it.

Perhaps into the billions, tens of billions of people in the future. And people will be glad wherever they are, because God will give them a terrain that they can be proud of, and that they can reside in. There's going to be a place that is going to be very productive.

People also, in the world tomorrow, brethren, a fourth thing that is going to change in the world tomorrow is people. And, of course, people make up a kingdom, don't they? People will have a change of heart than what they have today. People will have the covering of blindness taken away.

You know, my younger brother Keith is blind. He's around 47 years of age, I'm just guessing.

He's been blind since he was five. One time when we were, he was a teenager, he was around 18 at the time, I think, and I was several years older than he was, but this was when he was in high school, he was a cashier at a snack bar in Oklahoma City, in a government building, by the way.

And he told me, he said, I have sighted people come in here to order things from this snack bar, and he operated the cashier by the register. He said, I have sighted people who come in here to try to trick me with their money. And, you know, they will maybe hand him a one and say they handed him a five, or they'll hand him a five and say they handed him a 20. But, you know, my little brother is pretty sharp, even as a blind man now, and he was always able to catch them. But, you know, I use this example, brethren, to show you the difference between physical blindness and spiritual blindness. I think it's a perfect example. The people who came to cheat and to steal are spiritually blind. Well, God is going to take away that spiritual blindness off of people. And, you know, God is going to set this world free, brethren. However, simply freeing someone doesn't make them free. When Israel was free of Egypt, they were not truly free because they were still slaves in their minds. They had that Egyptian way in their minds. You know, one of the fundamental reasons that nations don't succeed for very long upon the earth is a little thing called human nature.

And people lust for and covet what others have. You know, the apostle James says, you ask and you don't receive because you asked for the wrong reasons just to consume it upon your lust. And since the dawn of man, brethren, since Adam told God to get out of his business, this has been the problem. And the strife between nations is essentially lusting to have what is not yours or theirs. And God has come up with a solution that will genuinely address this problem.

You know, we all know 2 Corinthians 4, 4, you know, where it says that Satan is the God of this world.

And it says in those verses there, it says that if our gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who are perishing, that is of this world and society out here, whose minds the God of this world is blinded, lest they come to see and believe the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. And so what God is going to do, he's going to take away that covering. He's going to take away that covering and people are going to finally see. You know, I tried to convert my dad, you know, probably the first 5 or 6 years that I was in the church. And so I learned what a covering was, in people's eyes. It was as plain as could be to me. You know, we have, I have 6 brothers and 3 sisters. I tried to convert all of them. The only, I think, only one that I was able to convert was my dog. I found he liked me no matter what I said.

And so, brethren, you know, we of course know that man is going to have an opportunity to change the way he is, the way his heart is. And so, brethren, God is going to change that.

And he's going to teach us to have character. He's going to teach the whole world to have character.

And, brethren, it is important for us to be there when it comes about. I'm not going to go to the verse, but you might read Psalm 15, verses 1 through 5 sometime during this feast. But let's go over to Isaiah 25. In verse 6, Isaiah 25 and down in verse 6. To me, these are beautiful words right here, brethren. It says, in this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all people, everyone, upon the face of the earth, a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wine on the leaves.

No, a feast is a feast when you have good wine, isn't it? And it says, a fat thing's full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the leaves. And he will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the vine that is spread over all nations. And so he's going to take that away, brethren. And finally, your fellows are going to believe you. Finally, they're going to be ready to listen to you. And when he does that, people around the world are going to be more inclined to want to listen to us, brethren. So is the King of God going to be something imaginary, kind of a pipe dream, brethren? Is it an impossible dream? No, not at all, brethren. Under these conditions, and frankly, under these conditions only, will we have a thousand years of peace under Jesus Christ? It's not something that is imaginary, that is just a possibility, brethren, but something that is absolutely that you can bank on that is going to happen. And it's coming again whether we like it or not. It will come, brethren, in the future. And we're a lot closer to it than we ever have been as God's people. Let's make sure, brethren, that we are there because it is worth it. Because, brethren, it's going to be the most fantastic opportunity that we have ever had in our lives. Let's pray for it, let's work for it, and let's make sure that we're there when it happens.