Kingdom of Priests

Aloha! Good to see all of you. And I have to say, that was just wonderful special music.

Just sitting over here brought tears to my eyes. In fact, I got the feeling that in the soloist was singing as though God was speaking to us, that He is our God, He is our Father. And then the choir followed up. So, you know, I think we can recognize that fact, that God is a good God in every sense of the word. You know, we have certainly enjoyed, my wife and I, Joan and I have enjoyed the feast here. Here we are, third day of the feast. We have our son, Jonathan, with us, but our two other sons and their wives and children are at other feast sites. We're hoping we can Skype our children in Italy sometime today or tomorrow and see what is going on over there. So, they, I'm sure, are having a wonderful, wonderful feast. I hope that you are, too, here, because we're trying to do our best to make sure that you do that.

You know, God has blessed the United States with many gorgeous and scenic places, but people from around the world do not come here just for the scenery. No, they come to see that. Of course, there's beautiful scenery around the world as well that many of you have probably traveled and seen. But, you know, it has been estimated of the whole world, if the whole world was allowed to immigrate to the United States of America, about 1.5 billion people would come to the United States. Now, sometimes it makes you wonder if we're all here, you know, in the States. It seems awful crowded. I think that many would want to immigrate not only to the United States, but frankly, I think it would probably be true of most of the Israelites nations of Israelite descent here upon the earth. Interestingly, in the United States, we have one of the largest immigrations in the world. We let more people immigrate to this country than any other nation upon the face of the earth. I think it's also interesting that of Mexico, it's been estimated that 20% of the population has moved to the United States. You know, that is amazing, isn't it? You know, of course, many of those are not here legally. And it seems like that Americans have gotten to the point where they've gotten used to this labor that comes in from Mexico. And I saw, in fact, on a news report yesterday how many of the farmers in the South even were complaining because they were not being able to harvest their tomatoes and other crops that need to be harvested because the jobs are going left undone.

And so, you know, they want to come to this nation because of the great opportunity that it is to come to this nation. It's a land of freedom. It's a land of justice. It's a place where most can have a decent way of life if you work hard and you really apply yourself. And, of course, we know our laws are not perfect. But, brethren, you know, in terms of the kinds of governments that are existing in the world by comparison, this is a pretty good place to live. You know, the United States has served as a beacon for freedom throughout its history to the entire world. You think about it going back to 1776, you know, when this nation started. You know, we have been a beacon for freedom in the entire world. And I don't think that this was accidental. I think that there was a purpose behind it. And maybe a type of what is going to happen in the future in a greater way. It's interesting, this land that we know is so bountiful here that we enjoy the fruits of it. It is a gorgeous and productive land. But when God brought ancient Israel out of Egypt, He gave them also a great land. And He said it was a land that was flowing with milk and honey.

And then He gave His tremendous laws, His commandments, and His statutes. Mr. Sexton pointed out in Deuteronomy 4 about what God said about His law. But I want to quote a little bit about that to sort of set the stage with what I'm going to talk about in this sermon here today.

God said to Israel in Deuteronomy 4 in verse 6 and 8, He says, Therefore, be careful to observe them, talking about the laws of God. And He said, For this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, Surely, this great nation is wise, a wise and understanding people.

And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law that I set before you this day? And so the law of God that was given to them was their wisdom. It was what made them stand out among the nations if they had, of course, applied those laws. And so God intended Israel of old, ancient Israel, to be a beacon to all nations upon the earth. And they were to be a beacon of what a nation should be. Let's go over to Exodus 19. Exodus 19, if you will turn with me to this in verse 5 down here and what God said to ancient Israel and what he says to us by extension in verse 5 of chapter 19 of Exodus, it says, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey me, obey my voice, it says, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And so God says you're going to be a special treasure to me. You know, if you will do this, you're going to be like a special son to me if you carry through and follow the instructions of your father. And it says, And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. You're going to be a kingdom of priests, as he mentions here. Now, they were to be a holy nation. They were to be a kingdom of priests. But you know, that has never fully happened. It has, I think, partially happened in one sense.

But Israel was to be a light, you know, to the world. And what has turned out, basically, that Israel has been a physical light to the world in terms of prosperity, in terms of freedom, in terms of being a giving people. You know, the Israelites people tend to be a very giving people, outgoing people, willing to share, willing to contribute, pitch in and help people, and different disasters and difficulties that come along. But not when it comes to the spiritual, when it comes to the spiritual, we have been done abysmally bad at that, because Israel rejected God. You know, both ancient and modern Israel became a curse to the world from a moral standpoint.

However, brethren, let me tell you this, that if you believe that God means what he says, God is never mocked, and his plan is going to be accomplished exactly as he intends. If God says something in his word, brethren, you can bank on it. It is going to happen.

It may not happen now, but it will happen. It will occur. You know, and if we, brethren, do not carry through and do what we're supposed to do as God's people, you know, that same thing is going to happen. What God has said is going to be accomplished. If it's not accomplished through us, brethren, it's going to be accomplished in the future by somebody else who will take up the gauntlet and do what they are supposed to do. So God will bring about, brethren, his intended plan to make Israel the kingdom of priests to the nations. You know, what we've become as a nation, quite frankly, is a sort of an information nation, haven't we? We provide a lot of information, to the world, but that's not what God intended. You know, he intended, of course, that we be a nation that was technical in the sense of being able to do these kinds of things, but he wanted it mostly for the purpose of the spiritual aspects. And, of course, the physical would come along with that. But what does it mean, brethren, to be a kingdom of priests? Ever thought about that? What does that mean, exactly? You know, does that mean all of us, or all of ancient Israel would be walking around in, you know, the black suits, and, you know, curlicues on the side of the ears, and so forth, as you might see the Jews, the orthodox Jews of the day? Is that what it was going to be? And so, if you were to land, say, in Tel Aviv, everybody would look like that. You know, we'd all look sort of like those orthodox Jews. Is that what it means?

Is that what the Bible means? But what does it mean to us today? That it talks about being a kingdom of priests? Well, let me tell you what it means, brethren. It means that we are making ourselves ready to become that kingdom of priests as the spiritual Israel of God. We're going to do what physical Israel did not do. We are the spiritual Israel of God. Now, I know, I know, most of us feel that we could not handle the role of a priest. You know, I know what it's like, by the way, to feel that way, very much so in terms of being a minister. I don't know about some of the other pastors, but very often I feel quite inadequate to the task of even being a pastor, you know, let alone being a priest. I'm sure that that is a little bit more intricate and more involved. I've told our congregations in the Oakland Bay area, I've said, you know, when I first started attending church, I walked into a little school in Arkansas called Jenny Lynn High School there. It was just a broken down old school. And the first time, I'm saying the very first time, I walked through the door of the building. I looked over and the pastor was standing with somebody next to the piano, and I said in my heart and my head, and I said, I never want to be one of those. And then God wrote it down. So, if you ever tell God you don't want to do something, let me tell you, you may end up doing it before it's all said and done.

But I know how it is, brethren, we feel like that we are not ready to be that kind of thing, a priest. And the reason for that, the major reason for those feelings of inadequacy, brethren, is we don't know what a priest does. And the same is true with what a pastor does as well. And frankly, none can really lift up to the role and responsibility that God has given.

And that, of course, is very humbling. And we're going to be very humbled when we find out what we're going to have to do in the world tomorrow. The spiritual Israel of God is also the future betrothed wife of Jesus Christ. My wife is half of my ministry. I would say more than half of my ministry. And I bounce everything off of my wife. She hears everything. And I feel sorry for her, frankly, sometimes, for that reason, because she has to hear everything. But I need her input. And Jesus Christ is going to be working with us in the same way as his wife in the world tomorrow.

The Apostle John, the last surviving Apostle, tells us in Revelation 19, verse 7, that the marriage of the Lamb has come. You get that, brethren? What it says there in Revelation, the marriage of the Lamb has come. It is near. You know, it is very close.

It's like the mouse who got his tail cut off. What he said. You know what he said?

It won't be long now. In other words, the marriage of the Lamb has come. It's very shortly going to be upon us. And we notice here, and his wife has made herself ready.

So we're making ourselves ready for that time. It's not far off, brethren. And of course, we heard messages about prophecy and how we are running up to the end of the age when things are beginning to culminate out there. And of course, we don't know how long we have, brethren, but when it comes, it will make our head swim. This means, brethren, that if we are making ourselves ready, that it means we're purposely readying ourselves as a church to fulfill this job as a kingdom of priests. And this is what we will do. This will be our job when we marry Jesus Christ. We'll be a royal priesthood because we'll have kingly jobs as well, but we will be a priesthood. And the prophet Daniel foretold in the last days when God's kingdom is set up—I love his wording over here in Daniel 2.44. You don't have to turn there—but he said, set up a kingdom, that there would be a kingdom that would be set up, which would never be destroyed, and that the kingdom shall not be left to other people. Not going to be left to the peoples of this world. It's going to be governed by the very family of God, and if you will, the very wife of Jesus Christ. And it says it will break in peace and consume all these kingdoms and shall stand forever. And so that kingdom is never going to pass away. You know, the average length of a nation is basically around 200 years throughout history, but this one is going to last a thousand years, and when this thousand years is over, then we're going to go on. And it's going to be a whole new ballgame, because we don't know, but it'll probably be on out into the universe. But let me tell you, brethren, what it's going to be at that time, those who will be the driving force of this kingdom will be Jesus Christ's wife who will rule with him for a thousand years as kings and priests. So what is a priest, and what does a priest do? Well, the only way we can know what a priest does is to look at the priesthood that was in ancient Israel. You know, in the times of ancient Israel, let's go over to Leviticus chapter 14 over here, Leviticus 14, and notice over here, in times of ancient Israel, God expected the priest to be the guiding force for good in the community. He wanted them to be there, write smack dab among the people, and teaching the people, guiding the people, and helping the people of Israel. But let's notice here in Leviticus chapter 14 and verse 1 through 3 to begin with, here he talks about some of the things. Moses talks about some of the things that a priest does. And it says, and it says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, This will be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him, and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper. And then the priest shall command to take for him, who is to be cleansed to living, and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.

So there were priestly things that had to be done if there was leprosy that was found.

You can go down and read all of this chapter if you want to, but there were different instructions that were given to the priest. Now let's go down to the end of the chapter in chapter 14 here, down in verse 54 here. And it says, And this is the law of any leprosaur and scale, for the leprosy of a garment and of a house, if there was leprosy in a house, for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean, this is the law of leprosy. So here in dealing with the subject of quarantine, the priest had the responsibility of teaching those laws that govern a community with regard to this one element. Of course, for you and I, we're going to have to have a course in leprosy 101, aren't we? If we're going to know about how to do these things. But that is going to be a very easy thing, quite frankly.

And probably this particular disease will not be an issue. It might be something else in the future where we'll have to teach about the laws of quarantine. But the people were instructed to listen to what the priests said and to respect them. You know, in cultures, certain cultures, by the way, a teacher is a highly respected person. I traveled to Thailand a number of years ago, and I was struck by how much respect that Buddhist monks receive in Thailand.

No, they are highly respected in Thailand. And the reason for that, I asked about it, was because they are teachers. They're teachers. And there are so many monks, there are so many temples over in Thailand. There's a joke saying, if you throw a beer bottle over your shoulder, you're going to hit a temple or a monk. And so there are so many that are there. And of course, to that pagan religion, in a way, they're not, of course, a nation of monks, but you have many, many monks in that particular situation, in that nation. And they represent, of course, religion we would not agree with and God would not permit. But we can see, again, a type, in a way, of how things are going to change in the world tomorrow. And again, not that we're all going to be wearing turnaround collars at that particular time, but we will have the knowledge, we will have the responsibility to one another in teaching some of these things. Let's go over to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 33. Just to, again, show what the priests did in Deuteronomy chapter 33.

In verse 8, he's speaking here of the Levitical priesthood, here the tribe of Levi. And it says, And of Levi he said, Let your Thummon and your Urim be with your Holy One, whom you tested at Masah, and with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah, who says of his father and his mother, I have not seen them. And let's see, I don't know if I've turned to the correct verse there. I think I have. Oh, I didn't intend to read verse 9 there. That's why I didn't recognize it. But it says, Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, or know his own children, for they have observed your word and kept your covenant. But it says, notice here in verse 10, And they shall teach Jacob your judgments and Israel your law. And so the purpose of the Levitical priesthood was to teach the law of God to Israel, the judgments and the law. And we, of course, are going to have that role in the world tomorrow. That's why we need to have that word of God in our hearts and in our minds as God's people. You know, as time progressed with ancient Israel during the reigns of particularly Rehoboam and Abijah after the death of Solomon, Israel drifted further and further away from God and they lacked teachers. Let's go to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. 2 Chronicles 15 over here. 2 Chronicles 15. So a short few verses over here that tell us about that particular time.

Of Israel where they drifted away from God. But in verse 1, notice, and it says, Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin, the Lord the Eternal is with you while you were with him. And we had this, of course, this concept presented here at this feast this year. If you seek him, he will be found by you. And if you forsake him, he will forsake you. And it says, For a long time, Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest and without law. And so they didn't have a teaching priest, someone that could teach God's way of life, that knew God's way of life.

It's interesting today, even, here in your communities where you live, you may be the only person in your city that knows God's law. Imagine what it's going to be like in the world tomorrow. You know, when you're that person and you can do something about it. You know, you can teach God's law in that city. Let's go to Malachi. We see further again what a priest is supposed to do. Now again, we're not like the priests of the world, of the society, but we're going to be God's priests. In Malachi 2, verse 4, notice this, it says, Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant will leave I, may continue, says the eternal of hosts. And my covenant was with him, one of life and peace. You know, when you have a teaching priest, you have a life that is going to be that of goodness and peace. And it says, And I gave them to him, that he might fear me. So he feared me and was reverent before my name. And notice it says, the law of truth was in his mouth.

And injustice was not found in his lips. And he walked with me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity. And it says, For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge.

That's what we should be doing, brethren. Keep that knowledge. You know, if the whole church left, and you were the only one that was left on the entire face of the earth, would the truth be safe with you? Would you keep that knowledge, brethren? And people should seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the eternal of hosts. And so that is what a priest's job is, brethren. A priest is a messenger of God. As long as Israel had strong leadership, it fared well.

It did well. But often they did not. And people fell into sin, and they were unwilling to repent, much like people are today. People can become so brazen with sin. They sin with impunity.

Ancient Israel went into captivity because of their own sin, because of what they did. It wasn't what God necessarily did to them. It's what they did to themselves. The kind of punishment that they put upon themselves. They became weakened that another nation took them over. And that's what's happening to us today, brethren. And we're going to see, in fact, that man is going to bring himself to the very brink of self-destruction, to destroy himself. And, you know, the reason why God has to intervene, brethren, is that God is going to have to get man's attention. He's going to have to slap him upside the head to get his attention, to wake him up, and to basically to tell him he's sort of like a drug addict. He is addicted to this world and the society and the way that it is, and he refuses to repent. And God is going to shake mankind and say, Wake up! You're destroying yourself! Now, call that the wrath of God, if you wish. And that's what the Bible calls it.

But God is going to vent his wrath to wake man up. And when Jesus Christ returns, brethren, he is going to return to save mankind from himself.

Unless it was cut short, the Bible says that no one would be saved alive. And Jesus is going to return to the nick of time. And you know what, brethren? The good news is that multiple millions of people are going to have a repentant attitude. I can promise you that for the future, because that's what the Bible says. And so Jesus Christ returns as a Savior to this world, a hero, a superman who appears when he's needed. And this is what we're all about, brethren. We're going to be the Saviors, along with Christ, of this world and society. And we're going to rescue man from himself. When all these things begin to happen, and they are going to happen, and happening at a very rapid rate right now, if you're watching news events in this world where prophecy is being fulfilled, brethren, after those days when this world has collapsed, brethren, in those days, God will use priests again. He's going to go back to that system. Now we have the ministry of Jesus Christ, but then it will be the kingdom of priests that will be answering to Jesus Christ. It's going to be a kingdom of priests. And so that is going to change in that regard right now, again, that the ministry we see in Ephesians 4 is going to be changed in that time in the world tomorrow. Let's go to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23. And notice what the Bible says over here.

You know, the nations of the world have just been going in the wrong direction, as we know, since Adam, since there was a nation. And man is bringing himself to his own destruction.

And the leaders have not really been leading in the right way. They lead people down the primrose path to destruction, as the Bible indicates. And people, quite frankly, this is what they want.

You know, sometimes God actually gives people what they want.

And then when they get it, they don't want it. You know, they want something else. And people seem to always want to blame someone else when, in fact, it's their problem. They're the reason they made the choices. Well, Israel is going to have to live with their choices. You know, sometimes you may wonder why somebody gets elected to office. It's because of what the people want. It's what they desire. And, you know, interestingly, oftentimes what people desire actually speeds up the process of prophecy being fulfilled and things happening. But Jeremiah 23, let's notice over here and down in verse 3, it says, But I will gather the remnant of my flock. This is after, again, the tribulation of the future. Out of all the countries where I've driven them, and I'll bring them back to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase.

And I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. I'm going to take care of the people. And they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says the Eternal.

You know, as priests, brethren, we're going to have the job in the world of moral when the world of moral begins of assuring the remnant of humanity that survives. And we've guesstimated it's going to be about a tenth of the population of the earth at that time. But we're going to have the responsibility of assuring the remnant of this world, the safety of the God's kingdom, and how wonderful it is going to be. You know, this is why you have the vision of the wolf lying down with a lion. You know, the little child putting his hand on the whole of the ass. You know, the vipers, the snakes. You know, it's going to be a place where no one is going to hurt or destroy. And we're going to comfort people. It's okay, we're going to tell people. You know, we're going to have peace now. It is real. It is going to happen. And so we'll have that job, brethren, of telling people that. And God is going to set up shepherds that are going to care for the people.

Jeremiah 33. Let's notice here, Jeremiah 33 and down in verse 6.

Here it says, Behold, I will bring it health. I'm going to bring it health.

You know, what is it going to be like to be in the tribulation and come out of a time where there's going to be famine and disease and it's rampant, where people are not going to have the amenities of life that they have today. You know, they're going to come, of course, out of that time, quite beaten down. But he says, I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. That word peace is going to mean a lot, by the way, to people who come out of war that is going to be so devastating according to what the prophecies say to us. And so he says, he's going to heal. He's going to get peace, and he's going to give truth to people who have lived with lies and people who have deceived them.

You know, that won't be there in the world tomorrow. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and we will rebuild those places as at the first.

And so God is going to see that that is happening. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against me. And we have, brethren, as a people, sinned bountifully. God has blessed us bountifully with so much, and we have taken it for granted, and we have not appreciated. And it says, And then it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them. And they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I will provide for them. Thus says the Eternal, Again there shall be heard in this place of which you say it is desolate without man and without beast in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man and without inhabitant and without beasts the voice of joy and the voice of gladness and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride and the voice of those who will save praise the eternal of hosts for the Lord is good for his mercy endures forever. We're going to have songs like that were sung on this stage here sung in Jerusalem in that time and people are going to be happy and they're going to be joyous at that time, brethren, after the time of the tribulation, of course, and wanting to see those things happen again and they won't want war anymore. They won't want the diseases and Christ is going to take those away and we're going to be a part of that, brethren. You know, we're going to bring an end to the insanities of war. People, though, when they come back, they'll be gun-shy. They'll be shell-shocked, like soldiers coming out of war. But, brethren, we will comfort them and steady them. Let's go to chapter 50 in Jeremiah. Chapter 50 in Jeremiah. Chapter 50 in verse 4, it says, in those days, when you see in the Bible, it says, in those days, that means the last days.

In those days and in that time, says the eternal, the children of Israel shall come, and they and the children of Israel together with continual weeping they shall come.

And seek the eternal, their God. And so they're going to come seeking God, as it says here. And they shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten. And it says, My people have been lost sheep. Now, get this what he's saying here. He says, and their shepherds have led them astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. Frankly, probably what will happen when things really begin opening up in terms of the tribulation, we're going to find a lot of the leaders are going to disappear.

You know, they're going to take care of themselves.

Now, I am sure that there are those that are sincere people that will not be that way, but there are going to be many. The Bible talks about where leaders are going to hide themselves in the holes of the rocks and so forth and cover themselves up against the day of the Lord.

They're going to run away. In other words, when things really begin to break open and really begin to happen. But what's going to happen is that Israel is going to have a turnabout in their attitude. Right now, people don't have a desire to really listen to the truth.

We find that to be the case. There's a reason for that. It's because right now, their eyes are blinded. God's allowed it. We shouldn't be surprised by it, but it seems like we always are, aren't we? No matter how many times we go to the world and we talk to the world and we say, well, you know, it's just amazing that no one seems to want to listen. Well, it's because their eyes are blinded. They've got a covering over their faces and they can't see. But at that time, their mentality is going to be different. It's going to be a different world in that way.

And the proud and defiant attitudes are going to be gone and they're going to listen. Now, and they're going to be willing to listen to the priests. They're going to listen to the priests. Today, people don't want to listen to the priests. A lot of times, in fact, ministers today, in terms of career, probably if there was a list of a thousand careers, the ministry would probably be on the very last. It would be the last one. But in the world of moral, it's going to be quite different. People are going to have a different attitude all together. They're going to be willing to listen. Well, what will we teach, brother? What will we teach? Are you and I going to be only preaching repentance? You know, we're going to get up like and have a crowd of people, you know, that are going to gather and we're going to stand up and shout and, you know, try to convince people to repent. In other words, that's going to be the main function we're going to do. Repent, we'll talk about grace and so forth. Well, brethren, certainly we're going to be talking about those things, but that is not going to be the only area of responsibility that we're going to have.

Now, keep in mind, brethren, at the outset of the millennium, the world will be a broken down place, like many of the cities of Germany after World War II, when all of the bombings took place in Germany. Cities like Dresden in World War II that were so beaten down. All of us have, of course, that stark image even of the World Trade Center, you know, what was left of it is those the metal works that sort of jutted up, sticking out of the debris that was the pile of rubbish after the Trade Center there in New York collapsed the Twin Towers. It was totally demolished. Well, this will be the way that cities will be in that time. And the comforts that we enjoy now are going to be gone for the most part. And God is going to allow man to come down very low and the purpose, of course, is to cause him to be humble and then he's going to have a different attitude. But those cities are going to be rebuilt. I think when it says that they're rebuilt, I think it indicates that some things that will have been built in the past were not so bad. Other words, maybe some foundations will be kept and will build up from there.

You know, everything in the world is not evil, by the way.

Because man remember eight from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But the evil overshadows certainly the good that is there. But everything is not evil.

You know, all music is not evil. You know, if we call everything pagan, of course, and ignore everything pagan, we probably couldn't even get out of this auditorium. Because doorknobs are probably pagan. So, you know, a pagan doorknob I'll take if it allows me to get out of the door.

But, you know, so everything in the world is not bad, but we're going to build, rebuild, as the Bible talks about, waste places, raise them back up. However, we won't build the way this world has built, but we're going to be building as Jesus Christ mandates and as He directs us to do. And one of the first things that we learn when we come into the church, brethren, is that Christianity is a way of life. It's a way of life. And God's way of life is multifaceted. And priests are going to oversee teaching that way of life from top to bottom.

And we're going to be, as the Bible says, that voice behind them that says, this is the way. Walk you in it. If someone happens to get off track, we're going to be there to give them the direction. I want you to think of all the things that are terribly wrong in the world today, and you have some idea of what we have to teach in the world tomorrow.

And it's a lot. It is a lot that we're going to have to teach. We're going to teach repentance.

We're going to teach grace. We're going to teach justification. But the priests of God are going to be responsibility for many facets of life. And our jobs, brethren, are going to be versatile, and they are going to be exciting. They are going to be exciting.

Now, how can we teach, brethren, all facets of life? What is necessary for you and me to do that, to teach all facets of life? There are two things that are necessary for you. So we make this very, very simple, brethren. Number one, what is necessary for us to teach all facets of life is conversion.

Conversion in us. We have to be converted, brethren. God's Spirit has to have had its impact upon us.

Don't think, brethren, if we're not converted, that we're going to be allowed to teach people in the world tomorrow to convert. So we have to be converted as God's people. And quite frankly, sometimes we have problems when people don't conduct themselves as converted people.

Number two, number two thing that we need, brethren, to teach all facets of life is gaining wisdom, knowledge, in living God's way of life right now. You know, and I know, how to live God's way of life right now here in this 21st century. We know how to get up in the morning, and we know how to execute the day amidst this world and society in living God's way of life and applying the laws of God in our day-to-day lives. And so, brethren, we need those two things alone.

If you have these two things, brethren, you can learn anything else. You can learn anything else.

You know, I know some are going to say, well, I can't remember anything. I can't remember anything. Well, brethren, if you put it in your mind, God can draw it out. God can do it. It's like Mr. Dean was talking about Mr. Armstrong, you know, not having the strength and being able to go up and speak there in Nepal, and how God provided that strength to him and inspired him. And when he got up there and he began to get behind that microphone to talk to the group that was there, it's like something else was there that he didn't have before. I don't know how other pastors feel, but I can go through a week and sometimes just feel haggard and worn out. And like I, man, I don't know if I can even make it through the day on the Sabbath to preach two sermons and, you know, counsel and to maybe in some cases do Bible studies and do other things on a particular day.

But it seems like for me, inevitably, if I just get in the car, go to services and give that message afterwards, I'm energized and I just keep going. I feel good afterwards. I wonder why I ever felt bad to begin with at the end of the time. But God does that. He will strengthen us, brethren.

He will give us vitality. And we have to keep in mind, brethren, that in the world of tomorrow, as spirit beings, we're going to be given super minds. We'll have the spirit minds.

They're not going to be like our minds today. You know, we forget so easily, don't we? All of us certainly can learn things. The problem is not learning things and putting them inside of the mind. The problem is getting them out. And, you know, the older you get, the harder it will be for us. I know that it seems like I could used to remember things. I used to not carry even a schedule book with me because I knew what it was going to do all week. You know, I always thought, why don't I want to write it in a schedule book? I know. I know what I'm going to do all week. You know, there was a woman that was visiting another lady who had been married for 70 years.

And anyway, she was watching this lady as she interacted with her husband. And, you know, this lady who had been married seven years called her husband Honey and Deer and Sweetheart and Sweetie Pie. And, you know, here after 70 years of marriage, the woman was so impressed.

And so, anyway, she decided she was going to ask this lady, you know, about this and compliment her on her relationship with her husband of 70 years. And anyway, she says, I've got to say, you know, here you've been married 70 years. And it's so wonderful to see a couple referring to each other in such a daring terms. Here you call him Honey and Deer and so forth.

And she said, well, Sweetheart, I'm really sorry to say that I forgot his name 10 years ago.

So our memories are not so good, are they? But in the world tomorrow, we will be able to remember everything. It's like some of you young people here that your minds are so clear. You know, you can remember things. You can draw it. And unfortunately, the older you get, some of that goes. I like to call my brain the lockbox. And I don't have the key to it always.

So can't get what's in there. Well, brethren, in the world tomorrow, let's go through some of the things we're going to teach. You know, we're going to teach a lot of things. Number one, we're going to teach in the world tomorrow people about good nutrition and health. No, the world needs to be taught about this, doesn't it? One clear problem with the world is that we need to be re-educated on the basics of food consumption. And we're going to teach. Leviticus 11, where it talks about cleaning on clean meats. We're going to instruct the kinds of meats that can be eaten. You know, when I was in Thailand, I went through the markets and I saw all the things that people in Thailand eat. And I was just amazed. Some of the things that in the fact they ate, I was scared of. You know, something that if I'm afraid of something, I'm not going to eat it. You know, if it scares me. Looks like Frankenstein, you know, I'm not going to eat it. You know, people today, of course, eat anything. If you've ever watched Andrew Zimmer on Bizarre Foods, on the Travel Channel, he proves that. I think his motto is, if it looks good, eat it. And he eats spiders, bats, river rats, and anything disgusting. His motto should be, if it moves, eat it.

Because that's what he eats, it seems. But God's word, brethren, is loaded with basic nutritional instruction that God intended for Israel to keep Israel healthy. And we have a lot of health problems in this country, quite frankly, because of just those reasons, the physical reasons.

Number two, we're going to instruct in basic sanitation. I'm not going to go to these chapters in the book of Leviticus, but you can go to them later and read them yourself. But in Leviticus 13, it talks about that. We're going to teach proper quarantine, which we've already discussed earlier. That way we can limit the sickness that is in the world tomorrow.

We're going to teach about what to do with waste. You know, God instructed Israel about taking things outside the camp that were contaminated. He gave them instruction about how to clean pots and utensils and apparel and all of this. If something unclean, we're to touch it. And so we will instruct about some of these basic things in the world tomorrow. We're going to talk about all of these types of things that are problems in the world today. I traveled to Zambia this summer with three others. See Mark Eddington sitting up here. He was one of the young people that went on that particular trip, and we had a very enjoyable time. And I'll tell you, after traveling to a country like Zambia, you know, there's just a lot of poverty there and a lot of needs in terms of those basic instructions. Number three, we will teach the world right family and marriage relationships. We're going to have our job cut out for us there. You know, by the way, I have been so impressed with our young adults and our teams. You know, we have such a fine cadre of young people, and young people, as was brought out by Mr. Davis yesterday, you know, you are our future, and I hope that you realize that we really appreciate you. And you know, we recognize the fact that you are striving to live God's way of life. And anything else, quite frankly, young people is beneath you and the caliber that you have and what you have to offer not only the church but the world in the future. So you are appreciated, and we are going to, of course, see right family and marriage relationships that are going to be taught. I'm not going to go to Leviticus 18, but just write down that chapter and you'll find it talks about, you know, marital relationships and the kinds of marital relationships that are right. Of course, in the world today, we have pornography that has become so readily available. Recently, Steve Jobs died. He was certainly a high-profile technical person and executive in the Bay Area. And, you know, I think from the standpoint of a man, from the standpoint of physical knowledge, the man contributed a great deal to communication in this world. You know, he, along with others, have given to us things that have been tremendous gadgets that can be used in very positive ways. But, unfortunately, man always finds a way to take those gadgets and misuse them in the wrong way. And in a way, he was responsible for connecting the world even more. Like I said, man does himself in, in the sense of what we allow ourselves to do, where we're involved, of course, in going the wrong way usually. But the things that he did invent can be used for very good things and helping to preach the gospel to the world. And, of course, others like Bill Gates and others who have contributed in this time where the gospel can be readily available through the internet and through computers that all of us have with us. When Israel came into the land, they displaced people who committed incest. They, there was homosexuality, there was adultery, there was bestiality, and besides that, they practiced human sacrifice. They sacrificed their children to Moloch. You may have seen the image of the Moloch in some of our publications of having the arms out there so the baby could be put in the arms and the baby was sacrificed. Burn up on that altar. Well, brethren, we've got to be careful that we do not sacrifice our children to the falsehoods of this world and the pagan holidays of this world, as oftentimes people do in this society, to the perverseness of this society.

Our job, brethren, will be to teach right family in marriage relationships.

In chapter 19, in verse 2 and 3, it says that every one of you shall revere his mother and his father. So we're going to teach that young people, that all of us, in fact, because all of us, of course, have parents, should respect our parents and show that respect to the parents.

We're going to teach that age and experience shall be prized. It talks about rising up before the hoary head and that person that has that experience to show that respect to them.

Today, oftentimes people look down on somebody that has experience. We, of course, call people that now, senior citizens or seniors, as we refer to them lovingly.

I've got to be careful how I say that because I'm actually a senior citizen myself.

Now, I don't know. I feel like I've been a senior citizen since I was 25, because I've been going to the dinners in the luncheons since that time, as have many of them, the men who have been here, Mr. Buchanan and many of the others that are here keeping the feast. They're pastors and elders. It seems like we get introduced quite early to that, but finally, I am one. My wife, by the way, she is not, but I'm going to drag her along today with me to the dinner. Of course, not that I have to do that. She always comes anyway.

But anyway, we should show respect. And, of course, we will teach that parents have the responsibility of rearing children God's way. As the Bible says, train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Those principles, in other words, they may not necessarily stay in the church, but there will be principles that will hang with them for the rest of their lives, and hopefully many of them will stick with the church and go on and inherit the things that are ahead. And we pray that even for those who may not be with us right now, that God will somehow get through to them in their minds to see what they need to do and what they need to apply. Satan's world has been geared to tear down the family. There's been a conspiracy to do that, but Christ will set the world on the exact opposite path to build up the family.

The fourth thing that we're going to teach, brethren, is we will instruct in agriculture that will increase production for the millennium. We're going to see that happen. We're going to see, again, where God is going to abundantly bless Israel because of keeping the land Sabbaths, as is going to be done. In Leviticus 25, we see that taught within the Bible.

So that is going to be done at that particular time. And we're going to see that when we begin to do things, God's way, and try to use the natural ways as much as possible in dealing with some of these things, that we're going to see the production of the earth that is going to be just overflowing with crops. That we're going to be able to do much more than we even dream possible.

That it will make the green revolution of the United States with the advent of fertilizers and so forth look silly, by comparison. Because you're going to have to have people planting as soon as the harvest is over. And that will be a time of great productivity that is pictured according to the Bible about the time of the world tomorrow. Number five, we're going to teach right employee and employer relationships and business practices.

No longer is it going to be the dog-eat-dog kind of world that we live in today. No longer will it be the deceptive practices of advertising and packaging. You know, I get tired of when I buy, say, a bag of chips or something like that, that it's half full.

And, you know, sometimes too they perform the magical act and things get smaller.

You notice that? Things get smaller, but you're paying the same thing or a little more. So this is, again, packaging for marketing purposes. So it's not going to be that kind of world at that time. Number six, we're going to instruct about conversion or conservation, I'm sorry, and building in the world tomorrow. So we're going to talk about conservation.

In Deuteronomy 22, you can write it down, but I'm not going to go to it. In verses 6 and 7, it talks about God told Israel, he says, look, if you come upon, say, a nest, a quail, he says, you shall not kill the mother. You know, you can have the little ones, but you shall not kill the mother. And the reason was is so that you could preserve life in Israel.

In other words, wildlife was to be preserved so you don't make a species extinct. So God's way is to, in fact, to apply conservation. In Isaiah 35, it talks about how the deserts are going to blossom like a rose. How do you think, brother, that's going to happen?

You think God's going to pull out his magic wand and make it happen that way?

I don't think so. I think it's going to take a little sweat. I think it's going to take a little toil on the part of physical human beings at that time, and we'll probably be right down there amongst them. Helping that to happen, bringing that to pass. We're going to give guidelines for building and all of that. I know somebody's going to say, well, I don't know anything about building. But realize, brother, you're going to have a spirit mind. Christ is probably going to say, look, if you meet over here, we're going to talk about this for about 30 minutes. Then you'll know all you need to know about it. So you see, learning will be nothing.

We'll be able to learn so quickly and so easily at that particular time.

Let's go to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61.

So we're going to see this happen, brethren. It's going to be able to be accomplished. What a time it's going to be, brethren, that we're talking about here at this Feast of Tabernacles.

The time ahead, God's wonderful world tomorrow, is going to be so fantastic. But in Isaiah 61, in verse 1, it says, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor, He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. And so this is what's going to happen in the future, brethren. The liberty that's going to come. And we're going to be a And it says, We're going to design things so that it can be something from an ecological standpoint that will be sustainable and that will be something that will help rather than hurt.

And, brethren, we're going to be right there as priests teaching and guiding along the way. And besides all these things, brethren, we're going to be teaching God's incredible plan. This plan that we're hearing about now will be also important in the world tomorrow. It's going to be important for people to know what is going to come, what's going to occur. We'll talk about the plan as outlined in Leviticus 23, where all the Holy Days are. Now, how, brethren, can we make ourselves ready? Like I said, number one, the Holy Spirit and conversion needs to be in us, brethren.

And number two, we need to learn God's law. We need to put it into our minds. I think I would add to that to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, because He left that as an example to us about how to apply God's law. So we must be practicing the Word of God. Now is the time, brethren, to be training, to be priests.

And that job, our job, begins when Jesus Christ returns. God will see that His Word is fulfilled, and that Israel will become a kingdom of priests. What is going to occur is the family of God, or the wife of Jesus Christ, will begin to again expand out further in Israel. And the kingdom will expand forever and ever, as was read in Isaiah 9 by Mr. Sexton. And so the government is going to continue to expand and come under that umbrella of that family. And so God's kingdom is going to become eventually a kingdom of priests.

You'll want to seek knowledge, you'll want to seek understanding, come to Israel. And eventually we know that God's way of life is going to cover the entire earth, as was brought out yesterday, as the oceans cover the seabeds. We're going to see that happen. In the world tomorrow, people are going to hear about the greatness of Jesus Christ and Israel, and they're going to want to come and see. I don't know if you've read the example of how in the time of Solomon, when the Queen of Sheba journeyed to Jerusalem to see Solomon, she found, you read the account, she found that he was much wiser and his kingdom was much greater than she had ever heard.

And Solomon's time was a golden time for Israel. It was a time when, in fact, gold was like stones, as the description goes, because God made Israel so wealthy during that particular time. Let's go to Isaiah 25. Isaiah 25 and final verse to read here. But in Isaiah 25 and verse 6, notice it says that, "...in this mountain the eternal of hosts will make for all people a feast of choicethings or choicepices, a feast of wine on the leaves, of fat things full of marrow." And it says, "...of well-refined wines on the leaves." It's going to be a time of prosperity unlike anything the world has ever known.

The kingdom to come is going to pale into insignificance the time of Solomon. Solomon's was only a type of what's going to be like in the world tomorrow when Jesus Christ and the kingdom of priests is established at that time. And notice in verse 7, "...and he will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that has spread over all nations. And he will swallow at depth forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces." And so this is what is going to happen at that time in the kingdom of God, brethren.

He's going to destroy that face of covering from people that they're going to be wanting to know, and they're going to come to Jerusalem to begin with, and they're going to come to the nation of Israel to find the truth, going to find the way of life that is the right way of life, and we're going to have a prosperity that this world, quite frankly, has never known.

It's going to be a golden time to pale into significance the time of Solomon. Well, brethren, knowing that this is God's intent for us today, our lives now should take on more importance if we know this and really believe it with a lot of our heart. You know, the Apostle Peter really meant what he said nearly 2,000 years ago. He said this, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, and in the future, brethren, a kingdom of priests.