Responsible Leadership

Well, brethren, I have good news and I have bad news. Now, the good news, of course, is this feast and what it pictures. The bad news is what is going on in the world today, because all is not calm on the western front. Now, we live in a world that is a very troubled world, and more and more we're just seeing situations that are arising. I think this Ebola situation in Africa and West Africa, and it's sort of been on the front burner of my mind, because my wife and I just got back from Africa about a month ago.

And, you know, thankfully we were not over there when it hit in a very big way. But, of course, recently we, all of them, I'm sure, have been paying attention to the news about the young man who came from Liberia to Dallas and recently died. And I think now there is a police officer that possibly has Ebola, and they are concerned about him, and not only him, but others.

They're involved in that whole situation with Ebola, which, frankly, threatens to be a problem here in this country, as it could very well be that many of the third world countries that are in Africa will be lost. In fact, I've read articles about that, that basically some of those nations are gone. I mean, Liberia is gone, Sierra Leone is gone, and who knows, again, what other nations over there are going to be so severely impacted by what is going to happen in the near future?

We may be, of course, impacted by it as well. But as we heard this morning, you know, we don't have to fear if we are following God's way of life. God is going to protect us. He's going to watch after us. And even if something were to happen to us, you know, we don't fear what can happen to this physical human flesh, because we have the hope of the future. Of course, we just celebrated that, didn't we, with a feast of trumpets, and we know what is going to happen for us.

But, you know, today, sabers are being rattled around the world. And, frankly, people, many people in this world, are afraid for the future of what is going to happen. I don't know if you've been following the situation as they fight. Ice is over there. A lot of the drones that they're utilizing to do that. One of the aircraft that they're using over there, and it's being tested for the first time, is the modern F-22 Raptor, which is a powerful fighter jet. It's an advanced stealth fighter that travels at Mach 1.5, and it has incredible maneuverability.

It has incredible fire power, and advanced avionics, and it is a formidable aircraft on the field of battle. And, again, it was first tested, actually, in Syria recently in the fight against ISIS. But in the hands of an able pilot, you know, an F-22 Raptor jet is a powerful piece of equipment that can even intimidate an enemy to not even enter into the field of battle. It might not necessarily happen, by the way, with regard to some of these fanatics that are over there in Iraq and Syria.

But, typically, it would, because it's so powerful. A Raptor F-22 jet, flown by a madman, of course, could do incredible destruction. And that's why pilots, when they're selected, they're selected on the basis of psychology, you know, being of a right mind, sound-mindedness, and highly skillful.

You know, you don't want to give that kind of power to someone who's not in control of their emotions and who would be apt to do something wrong with that power. Because it is a big responsibility to put that kind of a piece of equipment in somebody's hand. We're talking about multiple millions of dollars for these Raptor jets that they're building. So, it's a great big responsibility.

No, I remember when I was about 15 years of age, one of the greatest things I wanted to do was drive. Now, I don't know how many teenagers felt the same way and feel the same way, but I would guess that it's the same today. You know, teenagers want to drive, don't they? And my dad, of course, was himself, he was very much trained as a driver because he was a professional truck driver for many years early in his life. But I remember my dad talking to me about driving a car, you know, and he'd say, son, he says, son, he says a car is like a loaded gun.

I probably heard him say that a million times to me. It's like a loaded gun, and it's destructive if you point it in the wrong direction, he would tell me. And, you know, you think about it, leadership is like a loaded gun, too. It's a powerful thing. Even in democracy, leadership is a very powerful thing. And by leadership, a nation can be guided down one path or another. It can be guided in a path where it improves, where there's a different attitude in the nation, there's a different approach to life.

I think, frankly, in our time, probably Ronald Reagan had some of those qualities as a leader. He was called a great communicator, and he steered the country, I believe, in a better direction, maybe not totally in a right direction. But I think through his example, we can see that a leader can do good.

A leader can do good. Of course, then again, we had peanut farmers that were as well presidents. And, you know, their reputation, and of course I'm talking about Jimmy Carter, did not have a very good reputation as far as a leader. But again, even in a democracy, you know, this responsibility of leadership, a leader points the nation in the right direction.

It's like the leader of any group, in fact, does the same thing. And the more powerful the leader is, the more important he is in terms of setting direction of a country. I don't know if you've looked around in the world today and the way it is in the world today, but gone are the days of people like George Washington. You know, gone are the days, of course, of Churchill, Winston Churchill, you know, who bolstered the attitude of the British people to fight on and on and to not give up.

Never surrender, you know, as Churchill would say in his style. Gone are the days of people like Truman and others that have been there in the past. I'd like to go over to Isaiah 3. Let's turn over to Isaiah chapter 3 over here. God told Israel when they began to go down a certain path, He says, this is what's going to happen to you.

In verse 1 through 4, it says, it says, "...for behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah." Of course, Judah was the last, remember, there in the environs of Israel. That was to turn away from God, but God says, the day's going to come, and I'm going to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah. Israel, of course, went into captivity. He said, I'm going to take away the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water, and the mighty man, and the man of war, and the judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder, and the captain of 50, and the honorable man, the counselor, and the skillful artisan, and the expert enchanter.

But notice verse 4 here, rather than what it says. And you tell me if the prophecies are coming to pass, and I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

And so this is what God says is going to happen to you. You're going to have babes ruling over you. And, of course, it's just another way of God saying, you're going to have immature leaders that are going to be directing you, that are going to have responsibility over the nation, and they're going to be the ones that are going to be directing you. And over in verse 12, let's notice what it again says over here.

There would come a time, in fact, when there would be no men who would have the backbone to stand up and lead the country in the right way. But in verse 12, notice it says, As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. And, O my people, those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths. They lead you down, in other words, the primrose path to destruction. And, of course, here we're seeing this happen not only in the United States today, but we see it happening in Britain. I know it's hard for us, brethren, to imagine that in this dear land that we live in, that that is the state of the leadership today. That we no longer have the mature leaders to guide modern-day Israel. No, there's never been a greater need, brethren, for leadership than right now. You know, in this country and in Britain and the world. In fact, the world, it's very survival, depends on it. But we know that's not going to happen, at least from among men. There is a great leader, though, and these days picture that time a great leader that's coming.

I'm not going to go to Isaiah 9 over in verse 6 through 7, but I'd like to read to you what it says over here, because it says, For unto us a child is born. We know that's Jesus Christ who would come on the scene. Unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder.

And in his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. And upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it, to establish it, and judgment and justice, it says from that time forward onward, even forever. So it would go on forever. This is a prophecy, brother, not only about the coming of Jesus Christ, but a government that would be going on forever. We know this feast of Tabernacles pictures of a thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. But within that reign, you know, Christ is going to have many that are going to be assisting him and will be helping him as he rules that kingdom as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And when Christ came back the first time, he did not come to judge the nations.

At that time, he came as a lowly lamb prepared for the slaughter. He came that so through his sacrifice that it would make possible our entrance into the kingdom and the entrance of everybody that God would open their minds to call in this age and all those who will be called during the millennium and and the great white throne judgment. He came to prepare the way for that, and that's why he came. The Jews didn't understand that. They thought he came to establish his kingdom right away. But Christ came to prepare the way to the kingdom of God, and that way has been prepared by his great sacrifice as we understand. Let's go over to John 18. John 18. In John 18, here he was coming before Pilate. All of us are familiar with this particular passage. But let's notice here, John 18 verse 33, it says, Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Of course, this was a big issue with Pilate.

And Jesus answered him, Are you speaking for yourself about this? Or did others tell you this concerning me? Some were wondering if somebody put those words in his mouth. And Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation, the chief priest, had delivered you to me. What have you done? And Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. No, this world out here is not Christ's kingdom. He says, If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. He says, But now my kingdom is not from here. And Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Are you a king? And Jesus answered, You say rightly, for I am a king. For this cause I was born. I was born. And for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. You know, they understand, in other words, what Christ is talking about. Again, we grasp what he's talking about here. That we are a part of a heavenly kingdom. We are citizens of heaven. But God is going to establish his kingdom on this earth right now. But what Jesus said here is that he was born to be a king. That's the title of the message I'm giving today. Born to be king.

And brethren, as shocking as it sounds to us, and every time I think of about this brethren in this way, it shocks me, is that you and I were born to be kings. Now, that is an amazing truth. You were born to be a king. And you know what, brethren? It was prophesied a long time ago. Just like it was prophesied that Jesus was going to be born, and that he was born to that end, and to that purpose. No, it's hard to believe I'm here speaking to a group of people who were born with a silver spoon on their in their mouth.

You just didn't know it. You know, you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You've had blessings in your life that you probably can't even explain. You don't know why you got them, why you have them. And if you're like me, you wonder how the world you end up here in God's church. How did that happen? Like I said, you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth, and you just did not know it. You were aware of it. God has destined you, brethren, to be called now, and he has destined you to rule with Jesus Christ, his Son. And you know what? Your rise to power has been prophesied since ancient times, since ancient times. Now, that's hard to imagine, isn't it? That your rise to power has been talked about, in fact, by the men and women of God down through history. So that's, again, awesome to think about when you really, really understand that.

Those called to this awesome future, brethren, of course today, feel nothing special about themselves. You know, when I came in today, I didn't have a solitary photog of a person trying to follow me, take pictures of me. I don't know if you've been following Prince William and Kate. You know, they have a little boy now. In everything he does, I mean, they have to take a picture of it. You know, I assume that they've got to be careful when he has to go, you know, to a little potty. They'd be taking a picture of that, and they would put that on, you know, the telegraph or something, and plaster it all over the world.

You know, Prince William knows he's going to be the King of Britain in a time ahead. He knows that. He's been tutored from the time he was born to do the job of a king.

He's been given the very best education possible. He attended Eaton College, and you know, Eaton College is of interest in college, if you've ever read about it. 19 of the Prime Ministers of England were educated at Eaton. So this is where they they received their education. Eaton is called the Chief Nurse of England's Statesmen.

And after he left the military, I wasn't aware of this, by the way, but after he left the military in 2009, he was given an intense two-year training program that was specifically designed by the Queen of England and his father, Prince Charles. And he had lessons on the art of kingship. And he worked also in different departments of the state.

So he'd have an idea of how government works. And he was instructed about the Constitution, you know, of England. And he was briefed by high government counselors. And so I guess what I'm trying to say to you is that he was groomed for the job of the time he was born. They've been thinking about, again, William being the next king over England. It's amazing to really think about that. Now this ties in to what I'm going to talk about with regard to you.

Well, over in Genesis chapter 3, let's go over to Genesis chapter 3. The story of your rise to power, brethren. You know, sometimes I joke with people, you know, that I am over my vast empire, my great dominion. You know, you have a vast empire, don't you? What is your vast empire? You know, my vast empire is very small. It doesn't have very much at all in it. So I talk about rise to power of you and all of us, brethren, here. We don't feel very special, do we, about that kind of future, right now, at least. Again, we don't have anybody taking photographs of us and putting it on the newspapers. Future king over Israel is here in, you know, Kauai, you know, and people following you ever move about what you're doing.

But in Genesis chapter 3, in verse 14, over here, remember, after Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And it says, so the Lord God said to the serpent, because the serpent, of course, was the culprit here in deception. This, of course, was Satan, as we see pointed out in the book of Revelation chapter 12. But in verse 14, continuing, because you have done this, you were cursed more than all cattle and more than any beast of the field, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And he said to Satan, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed, and he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

This is an ancient prophecy, brethren, given from the very beginning, that the descendants of this woman, the seed of this woman, was going to bruise the head of the serpent. Of course, the serpent was going to bruise the seed's head, or heel, as it says here. Now, being bruised in the heel is not deadly, by the way.

You get bruised in your foot. You're going to live. You may think you're going to die, but you're going to live. You get bruised in the head, though. There's not a great likelihood that you're going to live very well, at least, you know, if you do live. But in this case, it meant that the seed of the woman was going to destroy the work of the seed of the serpent. And this is talking, brethren, not only about when Christ was going to come on the scene, and he would destroy the impact, the work of the devil, and make possible for us the entrance into the kingdom.

And he would qualify as the king of kings and lord of lords, but it would then make sense that it made the way possible for you and I to be kings in the coming kingdom. That we'd be part of that kingdom. If he's the king of kings, then that means there are other kings, doesn't it? If he's the lord of lords, that means there are other lords in his kingdom. And, brethren, we are those kings and those lords that are, in fact, being trained, given opportunity to be trained right now.

Let's go over to Genesis 17. We come all the way to the time of Abraham over here.

Abraham was 99. God said to him, I want you to walk before me and be blameless, be perfect.

But let's notice down in verse 15, it says, Then God said to Abraham, Ask for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her, and also give you a son by her, and then I will bless her, and she shall be the mother of nations. Kings of people shall be from her. Kings of people. And, of course, as far as the seed of Abraham, we know that God multiplied his seed exceedingly. In fact, as he said, it would be like the grains of sand on the seashore. And, indeed, from even a physical standpoint, kings proceeded from Sarah, as God promised it would. And, you know, just the modern-day peoples of Israel, you do a little math on it. Today, if we just count Israel, modern-day Israel, around the world, there are probably 500 million that are a part of modern-day Israel today. Because that doesn't include all of the other people that were descendants, you know, from Abraham. That's just Israel through Jacob, as we understand.

But, you know, one of the things here that is involved with this promise of kings, brethren, it involves you and me today. That we are those kings that are going to proceed from Sarah, and we'll rule with Christ in the millennium, you know, for a thousand years and beyond that, forever and ever. Because the church is going to be the bride of Christ. We're going to be right there, working with Jesus Christ, and we will rule as kings with Jesus Christ. Over in Matthew chapter 19, Matthew chapter 19, again, I don't feel much like a king.

I'm sure you don't feel much like a king, either. I think all of us go through the period in our lives, and at various times we ask God, why me? Now, when I came into the church, by the way, I don't know who was telling me that the last thing they wanted to do was be a minister. But I remember when I walked into the church, distinctly, I remember this, and I looked over and I didn't really never met the pastor. A friend of mine who was invited me to church, in fact, he had met him, but I hadn't met him. But somehow, instinctively, I knew he was the pastor. I knew he was the minister. But I remember thinking, at that time, I was by the way 17 years old, and I walked in the door. And my parents were not in the church. I was the only one in my family in the church, and I came to church and I looked over and I said, in my mind, I never want to be one of those.

And you know, what I've learned is when you say that, God writes it down in a book.

And he says, we'll see about that. We'll see about that. And my wife and I, by the way, this past June celebrated our 40th anniversary in the ministry. So, you know, it's been a long while for the guy who said, I never want to be one of those. But I never thought in those terms. And frankly, being a king, either, you know, that's just too grand for me. That's too awesome for me to think about. But, brother, you have to, when you read the truth in the Bible, you have to come to see the realization. Why have we been called? Why God has allowed us to be born? How many times have you asked yourself, why why was I born? Now, if we're in the church, we understand why we were born. God has a great purpose for us. We don't have to have the fear and the trepidation that oftentimes people do, because we know God will make up what we cannot do.

But God has an awesome future for us. Let's go to Matthew 19 again over here in verse 28.

You know, Peter said, you know, we've left everything, and, Lord, we followed you. What's going to come of this? In verse 28, and so Jesus said to them, Assurely I say to you that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who will follow Me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

So they were going to be sitting on 12 thrones, and we know they would rule over the 12 tribes of Israel as the future kings of those tribes. Now, we understand what a tribe is. Today, it's not by the way 20 or 30 people. The United States is one of those tribes, Manasseh. Britain is another of those tribes made up of a multitude, a commonwealth of nations. And, you know, then you can begin to add the numbers. We're not talking about, you know, small responsibility, but they're going to be kings, of course, assisting Christ in the future time ahead. We're going to be lesser kings, and we're going to be given that great opportunity. But the apostles are going to rule over the tribes of Israel. And even when we see New Jerusalem come down, by the way, from heaven, you know, after the the great white throne judgment, we see that in fact the 12 tribes of Israel are represented on the the gates of that beautiful city that's going to descend and be New Jerusalem out of heaven. So Israel is going to exist, you know, past the millennium and on pass into eternity. Remember, Jesus Christ spoke a parable. He talked about a nobleman who went into a far country, and he gave to each of his servants a mina, and he said, basically, you know, you take this and you do with it what you will. And he came back and he took account of his servants. One had multiplied his by 10, another 5, and on down the line. But each was given a reward of ruling over cities. The one multiplied at 10 was given a rulership over 10 cities and so forth all the way down the line. Now there was one who didn't do anything with what was given to him, and Christ said, well, you take that one away from him and give it to the one who multiplied his by 10, because you want to give the investment to someone who is going to multiply it the most. You know, God doesn't seem to look at things the way we do in the world today. You know, the world today, basically, the idea is, well, if you've got too much, I'm going to take away from you, you know, and give to somebody else. You know, the world that we live in today, of course, in fact teaches people not to work. We have the people who have this mentality, entitlement mentality in the world today. Now, don't misquote me. I believe that we all should be giving to help other people, but, you know, I don't think we should take from people. I think we should allow them to give, you know, and in the society, at least, and give other own volition. We shouldn't tax them, you know, to make them give. In other words, as we do in the world today. But it is what happens in the United States, and happens in other countries of this world. But God is going to allow those who are productive and fruitful to rule cities in the world tomorrow. One of the messages today, in the morning, we had a message about, you know, the feast days here of really learning, you know, here. You know, and Mr. Weckerley talked about how this is a classroom for us to learn. In other words, to gather and to gain from these classes the information, the instruction that we need as God's people.

You know, when Jesus Christ returns, God is going to set up His government upon this earth, and the apostles are going to rule in it. And you know, the apostle Paul himself addresses this topic many years after the time of the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians chapter 4, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, you know, the Corinthians, by the way, had a real problem with Paul. First of all, their problem is they had money on the brain, and they accused Paul of not being an apostle. And you know, the story of Corinthians, of how that Paul had to write them the the sting letter of 1 Corinthians. And of all things, they repented and changed, and Paul commended them in the second letter of Corinthians. But in chastening them, he wrote to them in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 8, he said to them, because they were so critical of him, you know, you're already full. In other words, you're full spiritually. You don't need anybody to tell you anything about God's way of life. He said, you are already rich.

Sounds like a latest sin attitude, doesn't it? You're already already rich. And then he says, you have reigned as kings without us. You know, Paul says, amazing! He says, somehow I looked away and and already you're ruling. You know, how did I miss out on that?

So he says here, you're ruling as kings already. And he said, indeed, I could wish you did reign. I wish you did. That we also so might reign with you. See, the church understood that they were going to rule as kings in the future. In Revelation chapter 20, Revelation chapter 20, over here, John writes about, and of course people think that John was mad, but with God's Spirit, brethren, we can see the the book of Revelation is not a book from a madman, but is a blueprint for the future, which the world, quite frankly, for the most part, wants to deny. Revelation chapter 20 in verse 5. Here he's talking about the time after the millennium is over, after the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, in fact, is coming, basically, probably to an end here. I guess, though, it really could be at the beginning, as well, because it talks about the Satan being bound in verse 3. But notice it says, I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for their witness to Jesus and the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or the image, and had not received his mark, as if on their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. But notice verse 6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign. Reign, by the way, has to do with being a king. Reign with him a thousand years. So this is a concept the church understood. And again, this is many years. John was probably 90 years old, or older, when he died. And of course, Christ was resurrected in 31 AD. We're talking about 60-plus years later. They're still talking again about the time when God's saints are going to rule. So, of course, all of us know Revelation 5-10. It talks about that we're going to be kings and priests there. You know, in the millennium, the Bible talks about the law is going to go forth from Zion. How do we think that law is going to go out, brethren? Well, it's going to go out by us. And we're the ones that are learning about these things now. So I said at the beginning, you were born to be a king. Yes, you were, brethren, born to be a king. But wait a minute, wait a minute. How many of you were trained at eating? Did you raise your hand? I don't see anybody here that has that kind of an education. How many of you have had king training?

Like Prince William? I don't think any of us, right? I know I didn't. I grew up in a plum in a poke town. You know what a plum in a poke town is?

Well, you stick your head, or you poke your head out the window, and you're a plum out of town. Roll in Oklahoma, by the way. While I believe it was the culture capital of the world, I seem to be the only one to think, thought that way. I went to Rollin High School.

I did get a chance to go to Ambassador College, by the way, and before that I went to Northeastern State University in Talaquah, Oklahoma. I had that background, but I didn't go to eating. And I had nobody to tell me about what it was like to be a king. And when I came to the church, I heard a man say, he said many times, if he, you know, he said it once, he's probably said it, you know, a thousand times, you're trained, you're called for two reasons. Number one, to help to get the work done, and number two, to train to be a teacher. Well, Mr. Weckerly, by the way, and he's talking about how we're part of God's classroom. But you ever notice something? God always trains the teachers before he calls in the class.

But right now, brethren, we are a classroom of teachers. And right now, you know, we're being trained to be kings and priests for the future.

And I think you can show, we can show very clearly that that is how, in fact, the apostles were trained. They were trained in the same way that you and I are trained. Except they had firsthand tutelage from the greatest master of all, Jesus Christ. But, you know, Jesus Christ did not go to eat neither. Jesus Christ was not taught by the greatest teachers of His day. In fact, we have no record of who even taught Jesus Christ.

But He apparently did not have, you know, that special of instruction. Now Paul, by the way, the apostle Paul did. He was taught by Gamaliel, one of the great teachers, the Jewish teachers, of his time. But Jesus Christ grew up in a big family. His dad was likely a carpenter, and Jesus Christ was trained as a carpenter. And again, that's beyond that. That's all we know about Jesus Christ's educational background. You know, when they looked at Christ and things that He said, they were amazed by what He said. And they asked the question. People asked, you know, the question, who is this man that He's got this kind of understanding? You know, we know His dad, Joseph. We know His mother, Mary. You know, we know His four brothers, and we know His sisters. You know, but where did He get this education that He's got? And yet people looked at Him, and they said He spoke as one that had authority. Now, when you look at the example of the apostles, brethren, I mean, what was their special training? Well, we know that Peter, James, and John were fishermen. I've known a lot of fishermen in my life. I have cousins back in Oklahoma, Arkansas, that were fishermen.

They fished the Arkansas River.

Now, they were pretty salty guys, as I have sadly say. I come from a family by a long line of horse thieves. I'm just joking about that, but I'm sure there must be a horse thief somewhere in my past, but I haven't stole any horses recently. But, you know, the apostles, though, were common-day fishermen.

And, you know, when they were called, the experience that they had, they could draw from. Jesus Christ told Peter, you know, look, follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men. So, whatever their experience was, God used that to prepare them for the jobs that they had today. They're going to have in the world tomorrow, I should say.

In the kingdom of God, brethren, the same is going to be true for us. Our experiences will have trained us. God doesn't want us to go to Eaton. God doesn't want us to go to the finest schools of this world and of this society, at least from the standpoint of trying to train to be a king or a priest. He's doing that through your experiences, and He will give you what you need. And again, I'm not saying we should not seek the highest education we can, brethren, but we don't see necessarily that pattern as a prerequisite, a required prerequisite, for being a king and a priest in the kingdom. We just don't see that, you know, in the Bible. But we're going to have a job, brethren, with a dual role. We'll be a king and we'll be a priest. And the kings will serve over the governing part of the job and the priest over the educational part of the responsibility that we will have. And our training has already been given to us and is being given to us in our lives. Now, what is the job of a priest? What's his job going to be? Well, the job of a priest is to teach and guide. In ancient Israel, I'm not going to go to Deuteronomy 24 and verse 8, but there, if you want to write that down, it talks about how the priests were to teach and guide the people.

Interestingly, during times when there was leprosy and so forth, who did you go to?

You know, the priest, and he would determine whether something should be quarantined or what should be done. We don't seem to know that approach to dealing with disease as much as we once did as a nation of quarantined people. I think a lot of that began in the time of the AIDS crisis, you know, that we just did not do with some of those things. And look at what happened with AIDS in this country, because we did not practice the basic laws of quarantine. But the priests was to guide and teach the people. I'm not going to go to 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3, but it's talking about how Israel, when Israel turned away from God, and they did it early on, remember, and they they chose Jeroboam as the king, as their king, and he misled the people, and forever labeled the future leaders of Israel to the north as those that sinned in the the sins of Jeroboam, because he turned the people away from God. But it says in 2 Chronicles 15, verse 3, that Israel, for a long time, was without the true God, and without a teaching priest. They were without the law of God. In other words, they were doing their own ways. There came a time where basically Israel did what was right in her own eyes, basically, that every man did what was right in his own eyes. We see over in Nehemiah chapter 8, and by the way, this period of time is the fall time, beginning with trumpets that's being described in Nehemiah 8. But it talks about how that Ezra taught the people, and he would instruct from the law of God and give them the gist of it, and give them an understanding of it. And it talked about how the people came, and they listened intently so that they could understand, because they would, you know, of course, be of a willing heart, a willing mind. Hopefully we're that way as well, that we want to hear. We want to listen. In Malachi 2 and verse 7, speaking about the priest, by the way, there it says, in the peoples you'll seek the law from his mouth. So the ministers of that time, the priests, were to teach the law of God. It says, for he is a messenger of the Lord of Hosts.

And of course, the priests, many of them, became very, very corrupt. We, of course, see what happened during the days of when Jesus Christ was crucified, that they were very, you know, self-righteous. You know, when they fasted, they basically, you know, there's not really much of a fast when they fasted. But, you know, they were not obeying God. They were not walking in God's way of life, and as a result of it, there was no justice. They weren't practicing the weightier matters of law, of justice, and mercy, and faith. And so they had departed from God. But, you know, the time ahead tells us that God is going to clean up the Levitical priesthood again, and He's going to use them in the world tomorrow. Now, there will be, of course, also those who are spirit beings who will rule under Jesus Christ. That will be a different responsibility, but there will be a physical Levitical priesthood who will serve, you know, in the temple in the world tomorrow.

But, you know, God is going to have to clean them up. A good deal. He's going to have to make them white and purify them. Let's go to Jeremiah 23. I do want to turn to this particular verse over here.

In Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 23 and verse 3, but it says, But I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I've driven them.

Of course, this is the time when God is going to gather, you know, people from the North Country, and He's going to bring them back down into the environs of Israel. And they're going to occupy that whole territory, by the way, that Abraham was promised. Clear back in the book of Genesis. Remember that God said, He walked it off, and I'm going to give this land to you, as far as you can see. And He walked it off. He saw the land that God was going to give to Him. Didn't belong to Him then, primarily because there were Canaanites there that had to be driven out. But it says, I'm going to gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries where they're driven them. Now bring them back to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I'll set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking, says the Lord. So God is not going to allow them to be lacking. God's going to bring them prosperity. You know, the time ahead, it's going to be very tough for this nation of the United States of America and Britain and the other Israelites modern nations today of Jacob's descendants, Abraham's descendants. It's going to be a terrible time ahead. And only, brethren, if we are looking to God are we going to be delivered ourselves. But God says, the time's going to come after that occurs. I'm going to bring them back from these countries where they've been driven.

And I'm going to set leadership over them. It's going to calm them from their fears. You know, the future, those leaders are going to tell them is secure. And they're going to really mean it, by the way. Today, it's just a political statement, isn't it? With people, they're going to really mean it. And it's going to happen. It's going to occur. And we're going to assure them of the peace of the King of God. We're going to tell the masses, you know, God is going to give us that responsibility when we take His law out from Jerusalem. We're going to tell the masses about the prosperity that is going to come. We're going to look out, of course, over the ruins that have occurred as a result of the events that lead up to the time when Jesus Christ is going to return. You know, and when we take that role, that responsibility, as kings and priests, brethren, in the world tomorrow, are we just going to teach people about Jesus and about His sacrifice, about grace and repentance? No, brethren, we're going to teach Israel about many, many things. We're going to teach them, of course, about the laws of God. We're going to teach them about the right use of money. We're going to teach them about health. This is what the priests of the Old Testament did, and this is what we will do. We'll teach people about all of these things. We're going to teach them about marriage and about family. We're going to teach them about how to basically live your life. Christian living. We're going to teach them how to live. We, of all people, will know that as God's people, because we lived in a world that we were swimming against the current the whole time. And we will teach them, brethren, that, look, now everybody's going to be swimming in the right direction. So, this should be a piece of cake for you. It's going to be easier for you to do this. But, you see, the priests and the kings are going to teach people about multiple facets of society. One of the greatest prophecies came in ancient times during the time of Daniel the prophet. He talked about this great stone, you know, falling from heaven during the days of 10 kings that were going to be ruling. And it says in Daniel 2 in verse 44, it says, in the days of those kings, that this great stone is going to fall and smash all the governments of the world. And that great stone is going to rule forever and ever. And there's a statement that really stands out in verse 44 to me. It says, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people. Now, it's going to be left to the children of God. It's going to be left to those who are training now in this life to be kings and to be priests.

You know, in the days of Exodus and the time of Israel, God desired in Israel, He desired, He said, I want to make you a kingdom, a kingdom. And what that is a word for is a nation, a whole nation of kings and priests. I want to make you a nation of kings and priests, a kingdom of priests.

And brethren, God is going to fulfill that in the church. We are the Israel of God, and God is doing that right now. He's fulfilling that right now. Brethren, you and I are those kings and those priests that are being trained to rule with Jesus Christ.

You know, the kingdom of God, which is another way of saying the family of God, because it's not going to be left to other people, will literally be the kingdom of kings and priests serving all through the millennium under Jesus Christ. Right now, brethren, we're going to school. We're in God's classroom. Don't be afraid of what God has in store for you, brethren. As we've shown this morning, perfect love casts out all fear, and God will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. I mentioned to you that about when I was a teenager, that driving a car, my dad told me the great responsibility, how like a car was like a loaded gun, and you got to point it in the right direction. And I said that leadership was a powerful thing because it set the... it pointed the nation to a path of good or a path to bad. Well, Jesus Christ, brethren, is coming. He's going to take the controls, and He's going to point the world in the direction of success, of happiness, a peace, a place where there'll be no war, whatsoever. He's going to transform this world into a utopia. You know, that impossible thing, utopia, He's going to bring about. And you know what is the most exciting thing? When Jesus Christ comes and all of His glory, you and I are going to have front-row tickets when He comes and He begins to set up His government. We're going to see exactly what He does. We're going to be right there, watching Him. And we're going to be right by His side, all through the millennium, as this world is transformed into a great, wonderful world tomorrow, and a great time of a utopian world.