[Doug Wendt] Well, brethren, I would like to mention, first of all, to the youth here, I've heard we've had quite a number this year. How many children and teens, 19 and under? Wave your hands. Nineteen. There's quite a few. There are more towards the back. Well, I want to speak to you today. Of course, your parents can listen in, but whether we're elderly, whether we're teens, whether we're young adults, we know that God has invited all of us here. He wants us to learn, and to grow, and to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God. There's a lot involved with that and yet so very few understand what we're here to observe. As you flew here or drove here from different places around the country or different States, the majority of people weren't heading to keep the Feast, where are they? But God has privileged us with being able to know of His truth, to understand it, to come here and learn more about it.

I want us to start out here with the mindset at the beginning of the Millennium, the individuals that have gone through the Great Tribulation, they've seen and experienced so much and now all of a sudden, the government of God is here. Jesus Christ is reigning as King. They were just experiencing war, and hunger disease, deception, and now there's peace. Now there's abundance. Of course, those might take a number of years, but this is what they will look forward to. And you think about all the individuals that live on into the Millennium and they will ask questions like what is coming next? I mean, they just experienced the worst times in all of history and they will be thinking, "How do I move forward? Who's in charge here?" And so forth. And yet we're here to celebrate Jesus Christ reigning. We know who will be in charge.

And one of the major changes is that all people will be taught of God's way. Everyone, all through history, they will be so wonderful to think about those that during the White Throne Judgment also that are raised up to hear that. But the Millennium will begin that process and they will be taught of God's majesty, of His strength, His honor, and His glory. I appreciated that song, "God O, Glorious," and to think about how much that pleases Him.

Let's begin today in Psalm 96. Psalm 96:2. Brethren, it's exciting to think about a time coming when all the will be taught to worship God. And we understand now that the majority of people don't know of that way. They've never lived that way. And so, here we have a song of thanksgiving that is offered by King David after the ark was brought into the tabernacle. And I want to read his words because it shows us an attitude that we should have. Psalm 96:2, "Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day." Brethren, that good news is coming. That's what Jesus Christ spoke in prophecies saying that He will bring it forward and set up His government. And everyone will come to understand that God is truly worthy of worship. We are in preparation for that Kingdom. And I think every one of us could improve in how we worship God, how we thank Him and praise Him.

Verse 3, "Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples." Do we do this in our daily lives? The Hebrew word here for glory refers to splendor and honor. And here we're commanded to give God glory, to talk about His majesty, His greatness, His honor. Verse 4, "For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.” If we think about the history of mankind, we've fallen short in this down through the ages. So many have not taken the time to praise God. And yet we're reminded here how important it is. So we should ask ourselves, how well do we do in praising God? Do we show Him the respect that is due His name?

Verse 5, "For all the gods of the people are idols, but the Lord made the heavens." Brethren, if you think about it a minute when God created us, He put in us that ability to worship. You see it throughout history. It's just that man worships the wrong things. Throughout the times, people have worshiped the sun, the moon, the stars. They've worshiped their leaders, the pharaohs, and the kings of various ages. Today many people worship or idolize famous sports figures, movie stars, music legends. We were designed to worship, but to worship our great God and mankind has got away from that. We were designed to put our trust in the Lord, to bow before Him, to praise Him, to respect Him, to obey Him, and to thank Him, to recognize His splendor.

Verse 6, "Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength." Brethren, there's a time coming when everyone will have a chance to apply these words, a time when we can help train those who have never known, and they will be able to do this together as one. And we realize this is a command here that God desires for all of mankind to worship Him.

Verse 8, "Give the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts." That reminds us of today, doesn't it? We gave an offering. We came to assemble before God. We're right here in His presence. And He wants us to give Him glory and honor. Have we thought about this command? Is it an area that we can grow in? Can we do more of it than we have? As we consider what this Feast of Tabernacles pictures, the coming government of God, the reign of Jesus Christ, and people being taught the knowledge of God's ways, how excellent it will be. If you would like a title today, it's “To God Be the Glory.”

During this Feast, let's improve and giving God the glory due His name. And we can do that through our fellowship, our activities. We can increase in our prayers. We can talk about it during our meals. We can all do better in that. Now is the time to prepare for our future because as God says, He's reminding us, warning us to redeem the time, to make the most of every day and to grow in that. Brethren, how can we teach those in the future if we haven't mastered giving glory to the Almighty?

Today, my purpose is to encourage all of us to improve in how we give God that honor. Whether we think about it, the way we talk about it, and the way we live our lives, God wants us to be lights. He wants us to imitate His Son. And the benefit of doing that is the more we declare God's glory, the more we come to understand God's greatness. Brethren, we have no idea how great God is. We get a little taste of it, but it's so much greater than we can imagine. And if we don't improve during this Feast of Tabernacles, then I'm thinking we probably won't do any better during the year, because this is the most ideal environment for it. To be assembled together during these Feast days, to be with brethren of like-mind, to discuss these ways, to sing songs of praise to God, and all of the many things that God has called us here to do. As children of God, we're in training to help teach the world who to give glory to, why to give glory, how to give glory, and when to give glory.

So I would like to share four points today in discussing this topic. And the first point is the meaning of glory. In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words that are translated as glory. The one is kavod and the other is halal. And the first one, kavod, it refers to weighing out the splendor and honor of something. So like putting it in the scales, you weigh it out. And so, it's referring to the abundance of it. You apply this to God and we realize there's nothing comparable. I mean, His glory has such quantity that we won't be able to take it all in until we become the very children of God.

We know that God's glory is plentiful in every way. And so, this word translated, glory here, occurs over 200 times in the King James Version. The second word, halal means to shine, to commend, to give light, to sing praise, or be worthy of praise. Truly God is described by this when we talk about giving Him glory. You know, if you think about the moon shining last night and how bright it was, and I think of that as similar to us. The moon doesn't give off any light, it's reflecting the sun. And so, we're to reflect the very sun of God and to reflect His light so that others see that light in us. It's to His glory. And as we think about the beginning of the Millennium and the many changes that will take place, we are here to celebrate that, glorious things that God has planned out for all of mankind. Items that will make people so happy, so amazed, like how can it be this way after they have lived the ways they have during the Great Tribulation or those that lived throughout history. Everyone will then see the splendor and majesty of God. And we will notice a restoration that takes place that rain in due season, the nature of the animals changing in abundance that will take place as never before. And people will then begin to worship the Creator of the universe, the Almighty God, they will begin to worship them as they've always been worthy of. Right now, we haven't shown respect as a people on this earth.

And so, the dictionaries offer several meanings for the word glory. Let me just mention three of those definitions. The first one is “praise, worship, and thanksgiving offered to a deity.” So I think about our song service and the songs we sang today, how beautiful they are and we're singing them to God, not to one another. I mean, we enjoy singing as a group, but they're all for God's glory. When we sang “Worthy of Praise” earlier, how beautiful that is, we're talking to God about how He is worthy in that way. A second definition, “a state of great splendor or magnificence.” When you think about God's greatness, I don't think we can fully imagine just how awesome He is, how bright He is, how beautiful, how majestic.

A third definition, “to exalt with triumph, to rejoice proudly.” Won't that be wonderful? A time in the future when every single human being will be able to join together as one and to rejoice proudly to the One who gave them life, the One who will resurrect them, the One who wants them to join His family, how beautiful that will be. Verse 9, "Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth." Brethren, truly our God is worthy of worship. He gave us life. He provides for us. He protects us. He heals us. He sustains us. He gave us His laws. And the list goes on. We have life because of Him and He has the power to bring forth everything He has spoken. So as we read the words, the Scriptures, how beautiful they are, oh, they sound nice, but no, our great God can bring them forth. He can do them. And there's no doubt.

Verse 13, "For He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth." And the Feast of Tabernacles picture this time when all peoples of all nations that are alive during that time, they will hear the truth. As the waters cover the sea, it will continue to spread around this earth. Brethren, we have this promise of our Savior returning to set up an everlasting Kingdom, a Kingdom that will one day be to the one who deserves the glory. Today the kingdom is not of God, but of Satan. He's allowed Him to be here for a while and we're looking forward to His removal and the Son of God reigning on earth for that 1,000 years. Our eyes must be upon God continually in everything we do.

Let's turn back to Deuteronomy 16:13. Deuteronomy 16:13. We just read here in this chapter regarding the offering, but we'll look at a few verses prior to giving that offering. And you think about the definition of to proudly one of those definitions of glory, and it has a strong connection to the Feast of Tabernacles. We have several commands that are given here which guides us on how to keep the Feast properly. Let's read a few of those starting in verse 13 of Deuteronomy 16, "You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days." So there we have the timeframe. “When you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in your feast,” did you notice that command right there? We're told to rejoice. We're invited to rejoice. “You and your son and your daughter, your male servant, and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. “Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.”

That is important to God. He has been rejoicing throughout time and he's inviting us to do the same. And so, as we reflect on verse 15, it says, "Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast." Today is the Holy Day, but every day is sacred. It's special to God. We need to think about that as we observe it. Are we willing to rejoice proudly? To appreciate every opportunity that we have just to even be here, to be invited by God to come, and attend, and to have our minds opened up to the future and all of that will come about.

Now, many of you are here with family. You have friends, you're meeting new acquaintances. And so, it's a wonderful time to rejoice before God, to think about all that He's blessed us with. Let me mention a few synonyms here for the word glory. Words like adoration, honor, reverence, exaltation, praise, worship, thanksgiving, blessing, magnification. This is what God is asking us to do for Him, for the Father, and for Jesus Christ. And this is the frame of mind that He's looking for, someone that's humble, respectful, individuals that are devoted to the Almighty God. And this is what we're all working towards, isn't it? To come to that knowledge and understanding of how we're to act in the presence of the One who gave us life.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10:31. The apostle Paul was inspired to write here that should be continually on our minds. 1 Corinthians 10:31. It says, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do…" Brethren, think about that. Whatever you do, in other words, everything in life. It says, "Do all to the glory of God." Why is it critical to understand the meaning of glorifying God? Because it should be a part of our everyday life. If we don't comprehend how to do it, we're not going to fulfill it to the manner that God has asked us to. Now, the New Testament word for glory here is the word doxa, and it means dignity. It means honor, praise, and worship. And that word is mentioned almost 170 times in the New Testament. God wanted that to be there for us to be reminded continually as we read through His scriptures, to think about how we should act before our great King.

And so, therefore, we see from this scripture that everything we set our hand to, not just our prayer, not just our Bible study, not just our meditation, but everything He said. When you're sitting at a meal, when you're going on vacation, the entertainment you watch, everything. While you're at your job, going to school, whether you're exercising, cleaning your house, raising your children, everything. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Brethren, to understand the meaning of glory is so very important because our creator designed us to worship Him, to glorify Him in everything, every aspect of life.

Let's go on to point number two, expressing God's glory. So we can understand the meaning, but we have to do something about it. And I'm not suggesting that any of us aren't glorifying God, it's just that we can improve. We can grow as we get ready for the Kingdom of God. And so, under point number two, I would like to just mention four specific areas that are mentioned in Scripture. We'll touch on each of those lightly. The first one is meditation.

Turn with me to Psalm 145. Psalm 145:5. Our minds were designed to be used in a positive way. Therefore, meditation is a positive tool that we can use day by day. And God writes of meditation and how important it is. And you think about all the distractions in society so much to take our mind away from God, and yet we must be vigilant to make time to think about God's great plan, to think about His majesty, to think about His forgiveness and His love, everything He does. Psalm 145:5, "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works." Now, the word meditate here means to think deeply or to focus one's mind for a period of time.

And so, as we think of God's great splendor, His magnificence, it's displayed in everything we see, isn't it? I mean, you just walk down to the ocean and you look out there and you see the greatness of God in all His creation. You know, this morning I walked down to the beach and I saw the sun gleaming across the water. I looked at the amount of water and I know that's nothing in comparison to what's out there, but it was so much water. I thought, "Look at what God did. He created this amount of water." And I looked at the sand on the beach there and I picked up one little grain and I thought, "This represents just our planet earth." That's what they've estimated, that all the grains of sand and all the beaches represent the multitude of the planets throughout the universe. And so, like one grain represents this earth and on this earth, we are just like on that little dot of sand, that we're little dots on that little piece of sand and God is wanting to bring us into His Kingdom. And so, we look at His creation and we see His handiwork and it's an excellent way to bring honor to the Most High.

Another way that we can glorify God is through our conversation, when we talk to people, when we talk to God in prayer. How much of our day focuses on God's great Kingdom? Because every time, children, as you walk along and you see a leaf on the ground that fell off the tree and you pick that leaf up and you look at how it's shaped… and all the leaves are different from the different trees and you look at how detailed things are. You look at the birds, you look at the clouds and everything that God created. We know He is so much greater than we can imagine. Even a ladybug. You just see a little ladybug and you look, God created that in such detail. And so, we can appreciate how great He is as we look at these beautiful and amazing things. And children, you can go to your parents and share like, "Look at what God did." This is amazing. And it shows why we should pray to Him and give honor in that way.

Staying in Psalm 145, let's look at verse 11. It says, "They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious of His kingdom." Brethren, how excellent the name of God is. He's showing us, when we read in verse 5, that we can meditate here in these verses, God tells us to talk about it, to make that a part of our life and our thinking, to mention that to others. If we turn over a page or so here to Psalm 148:13, that theme is continued. It says, "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven." Therefore, our words should give God the credit for everything. You know, we look at the physical realm and all the things that we enjoy, but there's a spiritual realm as well. And both spiritual and physical, God created, and we need to give Him glory for that.

I'll just refer to Romans 15:6. Paul says there “that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So that's why we need the unity. So together as one, that we're glorifying God as a Body of believers, preparing for the coming Kingdom. As we study, as we meditate, it provides the topics for us to fellowship on, to discuss the majesty of God in everything.

Turn with me back to the New Testament. We'll look at Luke 19:37. Luke 19:37. So here we are on the first day of a Feast that lasts seven days, every day being sacred, today being holy, and we have the opportunity to use our words to show appreciation for all that God is doing, all that He has done, all that He will do. Notice what is written here, verse 37 of Luke 19. “Then as He,” Jesus Christ, “was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,” and so, here's a large group of people just like today that we should be able to do that in the same way, people giving praise. Do we take that opportunity to show that we adore God, that we esteem Him? We may not see Him, but we can see His handiwork all around us.

Verse 38, here's what the individuals were saying, “'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But Jesus answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’" That statement reveals how important it is for us to give God glory, that if we won't do it, God is saying, "I have the power to make even the stones to cry out." Brethren, this Feast has such great meaning. And it provides an opportunity for us to think about this, to develop it, to improve in it. And that's what we should do during this time.

A third way is singing. In our song service, we can glorify God. I'll just repeat what we read earlier in Psalm 96:2. It says, "Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples." We need to be singing about the good news, the coming Kingdom of God. And you think about the songs we sang today together in unison and how beautiful it is, how pleasing that must be to the One who gave us life, who gave us families, who gave us eyes to see, and we could go on and on.

And brethren, let's look at one fourth way under point number two, that we can express glory, and that is our lifestyle, how we live our lives. Because when we live by God's laws, we automatically show honor and glory. As we attend the festivals, as we save our tithes, every law, every commandment, as we do that, we bring glory to God. Let's look at a few verses that show that. Psalm 64:10. Psalm 64:10. We know that we're to be lights to the world, to be a good example to everyone we meet. We're to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we're to put on the mind of Christ. And we do this by living by God's precious laws. Psalm 64:10, "The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory." So we're commanded to do that, but I think when we're living by those laws, we will be compelled to do it. Nothing will hold us back from saying how great God is, how majestic are His ways.

Brethren, when you think about King Solomon, He started out strong, but He led down in life towards the end of His life. And we can too. We're human. It's easy to step off the path after we've been called to this way. But once we commit, God is asking us to continue to live by His righteous laws. God helps us to walk properly. His words are “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.” And God wants us to be upright. I'll refer to 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” So we should ask ourselves, are we inviting God to dwell in us, to help us to be those lights, to live righteously, as the Scriptures tells us?

This is what Jesus Christ was expressing in the Gospel of John when He wrote, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:8. This is what God is asking all of us to do, to bear fruit, the fruit of God's Spirit, the very power that God gives us to help us to learn and develop those attributes.

Let's go back to the last book in the Bible, Revelation 19:7. Revelation 19:7. In our physical marriages, we're able to learn about oneness, harmony, working together, unity. And that's a beautiful thing, what God gave us. But if you think about the physical marriage, and now we look forward to the spiritual marriage that God is going to give us, He wants us to learn these things on that level as well. Revelation 19:7, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." Brethren, we are that wife. We're preparing to be the very bright of Christ and He's wanting us to make the most of our time.

Verse 8, "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." God wants us to live a righteous life, an upright life as these few scriptures mentioned. Therefore, there's so much to rejoice about, the beauty of God's plan, how detailed it is. And we've been invited to become the very children of God. And so, we've looked at four ways under point number two, to express glory, meditation, conversation, singing, and living righteously. And we can improve in each one of these. We can give God glory when we do that.

Point number three, the importance of giving glory. When we do that, brethren, we're showing our admiration for the almighty to consider that He down upon us and loves us so much so that He gave His life for us. He's offered us these promises. And so, let's look at a few examples here in the Bible of individuals who didn't give God the credit because God wants us to think about that and see what happened to them.

Let's go to Acts 12:21. Acts 12:21. And as you're turning there, let me just read what it says in Romans 1, because it talks about those individuals on earth today that don't give glory. So as you're turning to Acts 12:21, I'll read Romans 1:20. It says, "For, since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen." And so, as we look at the heaven, as we look at the seas, as we look at the trees, we see that. Then it says “being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” God is reminding us that the creation that we see is because of His handiwork, that He designed all that for our enjoyment And He's offered that to us. And sometimes we don't turn back around and thank Him for it. As it mentions here, these individuals were not thankful.

So in Acts 12:21, we'll look at an example, which we're all familiar with here. Verse 21 of verse 12, "So on a set day Herod, arrayed in his royal apparel, sat on his throne, and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man.’ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him." Notice why, “because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died." I mean, that is written and that should just hit us and shock us like I better be giving glory to God. God desires that even if… especially the rulers who were supposed to set a good example for the people that they were serving and helping. Are we careful to be thankful for everything we have? You think about Herod, God gave him his position, his throne, He gave him his life, his very clothes. And so, this is a clear example for us today to really think about, that everything we have is due to God. And yet all of us are prone to thinking highly of ourselves. And when we do, we try to glorify ourselves instead of God, which is where we have to be careful of pride.

Let's look at a second example, Daniel 4:30. Daniel 4, and we'll begin in verse 30. Here's another king who forgot to give God the credit, and yet God had put Nebuchadnezzar in office. He had made him that head of gold of the Babylonian empire, and yet his words were eventually revealed by his heart, what he said. Daniel 4:30, "The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’" You see how He got things twisted around. And we tend to do that. We can look at that and say, "How could He do that?" But we've all done this, talking about ourselves, and promoting ourselves, and so forth. And that's why God is inviting us to be humble and then He will exalt us. And so, we have to recognize that pride. And there are plenty of reminders in the Bible that show us that we should not have a lofty attitude, but to be abased.

And so, God took Nebuchadnezzar's position away. He lost His understanding. He dwelled with the beasts of the earth for a number of years. And let's look down at verse 37 here in Daniel 4:37. Here's what Nebuchadnezzar says after being struck down by God for that amount of time. He says, "Now, I Nebuchadnezzar praise…" Well, let me begin in verse 34, actually. Let's get back up to verse 34. "At the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever." See how his attitude changed? And this is where we need to be doing that when we fall short. He says, "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom and excellent majesty was added to me." But notice his attitude was different. Verse 37. "Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down." Well, he knew, didn't he? And when we raise ourselves up and we fall short, we know too that God can raise us and lower us.

So, brethren, when we think about this, are we considering to put away the pride and to be humble servants and to give God the glory? It's so very important. Let's look at one last point, point number four an everlasting command. You know, this command of giving God glory isn't just for the first 6,000 years as we will see from a few scriptures that everyone throughout the ages were created to worship, to give respect, and to show honor. Turn with me back to Jeremiah 9. Jeremiah 9:23. You know, back in Matthew, Christ said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." And so, when we live lives pleasing to God, it does bring Him that honor and respect that is due. Notice what Jeremiah says here in 9 verse 23, "Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in His wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches.’" And as we look at the world today, we see so much of this happening. People looking to what they think is theirs. They forget that God gave it to them. But here Jeremiah identifies three areas of Judah’s pride. And by extension, he's showing all of us that we need to be careful with how we view things and not to put them before God.

Verse 24, “'But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Eternal, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord." Brethren, as we express more glory for God, we began to understand His greatness. It opens our minds to a level of just even bringing more glory to God because the more we do it, we see the need for it more and it increases. And this is what God wants to happen throughout our lives, to develop that He not only wants us to revere Him, but to understand why He deserves that recognition. That's why we study the Scriptures, to understand more about God. And if we don't take the time to give God glory, we really don't know Him. We really aren't preparing to be a part of His family.

Turn with me back to Psalm 102. Psalm 102:18. You think about the position in the future of teaching the nations and all of you here will have that opportunity. Yes, children, you will have the opportunity, even if you're still children during the Millennium, to be examples to those that won't know this way and they'll come to you and say, "What is this Feast of Tabernacles about?" And so, we must be practicing this now. And the Scriptures support this, that we were created to worship our Father and Jesus Christ forever. Psalm 102:18, "This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord." Isn't that beautiful? For all the future generations that are coming, God is going to train them how to respect Him, how to honor Him, how to think about Him, how to pray to Him. Therefore, people not even born yet will learn about the greatness of God. So many changes are coming. The deserts are going to blossom. So many things. They will be absolutely beautiful and individuals yet to be born will give God the credit.

Verse 15 in Psalm 102, "So the nations shall fear the name of the Eternal, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the Lord shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory… When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.” And so, this Feast pictures a time when everyone will be trained to live by the laws of God and to understand who God is, why we are here, our tremendous purpose, and how loving God is, how wonderful, and kind, and generous, how compassionate. And the list goes on. Our God is truly great.

I'll refer to Isaiah 40:5, "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed." Brethren, this is speaking of a future time. It “shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isn't that beautiful, to read what God has planned out? And a time is coming when the greatness of God will be seen by all. Can you imagine when the eyes of everyone are opened, just like when your eyes, my eyes were opened and we began to see there was something different in what God was planning for us? That same excitement is what everyone will have in the future.

As we increase our praise and honor of God, our minds begin to comprehend His greatness even more. Brethren, I think it's hard to describe God's greatness. If you think about it, it's so immense, which words do you use to talk about a God who has lived forever and has all power and authority and yet His honor, His majesty, His beauty, His splendor, His character, and love, these are all about God's great glory, things that we truly should worship Him for. And it's no wonder that we're commanded to give this to God continually, not just at the Feast, not just at every festival, every Sabbath, no, every day in everything we do.

Paul wrote in Romans 8:18, “…the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." So this is kind of turning on us. We're talking about God's glory and now it's coming back. If we do this properly, if we show honor to God, He will then glorify us. We don't deserve that. And it is so amazing what God has planned. We have the privilege to become the spiritual children of God, to live forever in His presence, in His beauty. Brethren, if we don't put our whole heart into giving God the glory due His name, then we will not be glorified. I think it's that simple. He wants us to learn to do that properly. I'm just referring to Colossians 3:4. Paul states, "When Christ… appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." God is prepared to do something so great in us that none of us deserve. Here we are, physical human beings. We have a short span of life and God wants us to have eternal life and to dwell with Him in His glory.

Let's turn to one last Scripture, Revelation 21:23 If you remember the story when King Solomon built the temple and then he dedicated it with an amazing prayer and at the end of that prayer fire came down from heaven. Can you imagine witnessing that, the power of God to come and burn up the sacrifice and the offering that were there at that time? And so, He consumed that, but then it says the glory of God filled the temple. Well, there's a future time coming when God won't be filling that temple. Let's notice here, Revelation 21:23, "The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” And so, God's glory will go past the Millennium, that 1,000 years, it will go into the White Throne Judgment, that second resurrection period when everyone will be resurrected and see the glory of God, but it will go on and on as we're spiritual sons and daughters in the family of God, it will never stop.

Verse 24, "And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it." This is our future, brethren. God is willing to transform our bodies into spiritual sons and daughters of God to live forever in His Kingdom. I think with these few scriptures today, we would all agree, to God be the glory. He is worthy of all honor. And only the Father and Son are worthy of that worship.

I'll just refer to Psalm 86 in closing. You don't need to turn there. Psalm 86:8-12. But as I read these verses, if you want, just close your eyes and just think about them. You know, meditate on the greatness of God as you hear the words that King David spoke in prayer and picturing God sitting on His throne in all majesty and that many wonderful changes are coming and that the future nations will have the opportunity to learn of God's greatness. Think about that as I read Psalm 86:8-12. "Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name." Isn't that beautiful?

Verse 10, "For You are great, and you do wondrous things; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore." Brethren, that is our future. And so, we need to be practicing that now to show that we know that God is worthy of worship, that we do respect Him because we're getting prepared to do this forever and ever. And so, you think about the beautiful future that is coming, that God has the power and the wisdom to bring it to pass. Are we preparing to glorify God forever, and ever, and ever?

Our future will be awesome. And we don't deserve the blessings that God will give us, not one bit. We can't make up for them. We can't pay our way. God wants to give us all this as a gift. But we can bring Him honor and glory by praising, and worshiping, and thanking Him daily. So, brethren, let's make this our best Feast ever and that we think about this and that we bring God the glory due His name.