We Are Being Prepared for a Special Job

I think we all realize that there were a number of years that the overall vision of why we're alive, where we're going, the plan of God deteriorated within the church and was not covered.

And that vision for many became a lost vision.

To know why God is calling us now into the church, for years, it seemed that people knew.

Every year we'd go to the Feast of Tabernacles, would we not?

And we would hear messages about the world tomorrow, the millennium, the future, the Great White Throne Judgment.

Somewhere down the line, people have lost that knowledge, lost that information, and they no longer have it.

You and I must never lose sight of what our reward is going to be, of the calling that God has given to us, and why we're here.

I think one of the greatest contributions that Mr. Herbert Armstrong gave to the church, outside of the fact that he passed on, obviously, fundamental truths, basic doctrines and teachings, that he was always able to inspire us and articulate the vision of our calling.

How often did we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, and we would hear, Why are you here? And we'd hear that question every year. And he would tell us why we were there.

And I think after a while, a lot of people began to maybe just sort of, Oh no, here we go again. Why are we here? And maybe we tune out and not really listen.

And yet, many of those people are not here with us, because somewhere the vision became tarnished, became blurred, and they no longer are focused on it.

Proverbs 29 verse 18 tells us very clearly that without vision, the people perish.

Let's notice how it's translated in the New King James Version. Proverbs 29 verse 18, Where there is no revelation, or as the margin says here, prophetic vision, the people cast off restraints, and happy is he who keeps the law.

You and I, when we grasp the future, and that's what a prophetic revelation does for us.

When you open up the Bible, and you read about the millennium, the white throne judgment, you read about perhaps a few scriptures that are written that even gives us a little glimpse into eternity, and you begin to think about that, then you're inspired. You have a goal. You have a purpose.

And that gives us motivation, but when people forget about that, there's not much that they have that inspires them.

Let me read a few other translations of this verse that put a little different slant on it, but say it's basically the same thing.

The Darby says, Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraints.

What does it mean to cast off restraints?

Well, when people begin to fail to understand why they were born and where they're going, then there are no longer restraints. They go off and do what they want to do.

You and I still are observing the Sabbath. We still observe the Holy Days. We keep God's commandments. We tithe. We do what God has called us and commanded us to do.

But those who no longer believe in God's law cast off restraints. They're no longer restrained by those things. They do whatever they want to do.

The CEV translation says, Without guidance from God, law and order disappear.

The ESV translation says, Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraints.

But blessed is he who keeps the law.

And another one, A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order.

Isn't that what we're seeing in this country? We see the breakdown of the culture, the breakdown of the nation, and those who no longer have God's guidance, God directing us.

Then there's no order.

Then the last one, Without revelation, people run wild.

But one who keeps the law will be happy, will be blessed. In other words, Rather than we are blessed, we are inspired because we know that God is personally revealed to each one of us, his plan and his purpose.

When you begin to think about it, you're sitting here, out of all the billions on the face of the earth, because God wanted you to be here.

God called you. He's giving you the opportunity right now to understand.

He has to reveal spiritual knowledge. It's not something that we concoct ourselves. Spiritual knowledge is revealed knowledge.

So God has revealed to us his plan, his purpose. God has allowed us to see the future.

We know with certainty what our destiny will be, what our calling is.

We don't have to guess. We don't have to wonder. We don't have to muse. We don't have to wonder, Well, will we be like a puppy dog sitting below the throne of God? Will we see the beatific vision?

Will we float around heaven all day or have a cabin in the corner of glory land?

Exactly what's going to happen to us? No, we can have the conviction that God has made certain promises. And those promises are going to be kept.

When people forget God's calling, God's purpose, God's goal, God's law, they lack motivation.

They're no longer motivated. They're no longer focused.

And without God's word, people abandon themselves through their own sinful lusts, through their own sinful desires, to do whatever they want to do.

I've seen people who maybe were in the church for years and finally decide because they want to have a cabin somewhere on a lake or an extra car or something.

And they feel that tithing interferes with what they're doing.

That they're willing to give up the tremendous calling that God has set forth for a car or for bricks or a piece of wood shaped in a certain direction.

As Proverbs 29 says, they throw off restraints.

And the Hebrew means to be let loose, to be loosened of restraint.

People begin to do what they want, what they desire. They follow their lusts and their own motives.

And many of us have seen this happen to our friends and even to family members who have turned their backs against God.

Many have lost the vision, don't have the insight or foresight of why we've been called now and where we're going.

Herbert Armstrong used to instruct the ministry.

To cover with those being baptized about their calling.

He used to say, you need to explain to people why God has called us now, not later.

See, billions will be called later, won't they? The Great White Throne Judgment and those who live into the millennium.

And they will have their chance and Satan will not be around.

And the world will not be Satan's world. So it will be easier. It's harder now.

But why is God called us now and not later?

God has called us now to be prepared as kings, rulers, to assist Him, and also to do our work.

That was also something that he wanted to emphasize. That we've been called to do our work.

And each one of us here has the wonderful opportunity to be a part of God's gang, God's group, God's people.

To take the gospel to the world. It may just be through prayer.

It may be through prayer and offerings. It may be through prayer, offerings, and tithing.

It may be through prayer, offerings, tithing, and example. There are many other ways that we're able to help.

But in whatever way it is, we are a part of the group preaching the gospel to the world.

We not only have the opportunity of doing that, but to help save this world.

If we have one new person who comes in this door and sits here, or we have new people begin to attend as a result of hearing the radio broadcasts, or reading the Good News magazine, or reading articles, or seeing our example, whatever it might be.

Those individuals are converted and receive God's Spirit and have the opportunity to proceed on toward His kingdom.

What can you put on that? To have thousands.

There are thousands who are beginning to respond in that way.

There can be no greater calling than this that God gives us.

And yet, that vision has been undermined for so many people.

I'd like for us to take a look today at what God has in store for us and for our children in the future.

We go to the feast to get a foretaste of the world tomorrow.

Today's sermon is a foretaste of the foretaste of the world tomorrow.

We need to regain the vision, sharpen our focus, have our minds clearly focused on why we're here.

We need to prepare for the Feast of Tabernacles and be totally aware of why we're going there, so that we go for the right reasons, right purposes to attend the feast.

Let's go back to Matthew 19, verse 27 to begin with.

Matthew 19 and verse 27.

It says, Peter answered and said to him, He said, See, we have left all and followed you, talking here about the twelve.

Therefore, what shall we have?

We've given everything up to follow you. What will we have?

Jesus said to them, Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now, I want you to notice that the apostles' job had been picked out ahead of time for them. Christ didn't say, Well, it's going to depend here.

Peter, if you're a little more zealous than Matthew over here, I'm going to have you in charge of this region.

He said, Look, each one of you has got a tribe you're going to rule over.

We don't know which tribe, anything of that nature.

But that's God's doing.

In the last six thousand years, the Father has personally called and prepared people for specific jobs.

Abraham was called for a specific job.

Moses was. Job was. You have been. I have been. We've all been called.

And we've been called by God the Father.

The most important being in the whole universe. God the Father handpicked you.

He said, I want you.

If Uncle Sam comes along and says, Uncle Sam wants you, you shuttered.

But when God comes along and says, I want you, then think what an awesome calling that is.

Because very few are called in this age.

We are being prepared for specific jobs.

You cannot have Abraham's responsibility.

You can't have David's. David's going to rule over all Israel.

You can cry, throw fits, throw a tantrum, jump up and down.

You'll never rule over all Israel. That's David's job.

Or what Isaac will do, or Jacob.

In chapter 20, verse 20-21, we notice here that the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down, asking something from him.

And he said to her, What do you wish?

And she said to him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in the kingdom.

Well, I mean, that's a pretty high order.

You're right and left. Just be right there with you.

Well, Christ, in verse 23, you'll notice he said to them, You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.

But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give.

It's not Christ who's preparing us for those positions, in the sense of giving them to us, I mean.

But it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father.

So he said, My Father is preparing someone to sit on my right hand and on my left hand.

Well, you and I, we don't know. That's not us. That's not us. I'll guarantee you. I'm sure there are others who have been prepared for those positions.

But, brethren, because of the unique times that we live in, we have been called and we are being trained and prepared for some of the highest responsibilities and jobs in the kingdom. We are being given the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

You know when Bill Gates first started, Microsoft first got off the ground, there was a cadre, there was a handful of men around him.

Guess what? They're all billionaires. I mean, they're all rich.

At least they're worth a few hundred million dollars at this time. Anyone who had gotten in at that time, at that level, would have had fantastic opportunities. Well, God is calling us for some of the most wonderful, awesome jobs that the mind can phantom. And our children, potentially, have opportunities also when we think about them.

Our children may be in the first resurrection depending on how much time we have left.

Or they could be among that first generation in the millennium and walk over into that period of time and live, have families.

They can be given some of the most helpful responsibilities in the world tomorrow if they're permitted to live into that time.

You see, we live at a time of great transition. We will have lived in two worlds.

Stop and think. There was a time when something like this occurred before. Noah, his wife, and his three sons and their wives lived in two worlds.

The pre-Flood world, the Flood came, and then after the Flood, they were the only ones left alive. And they lived in the present world, after the Flood. And so there was a time of great transition that took place. Well, brethren, we are living at a time of great transition. We are going to transition from this present evil world, as it's called, to the wonderful world tomorrow, to the thousand years of Christ's reign. We just happen to live in the age when it's most likely that Jesus Christ will return to this earth and set up His kingdom. We will make the transition, and if it occurs within a reasonable period of time, our children will have an opportunity to be and to live into that time. Now, we're being trained for certain jobs, certain responsibilities, and no one else is going to be given those responsibilities. You and I are being trained for them. We're being prepared. We will have the opportunity to educate, teach, upwards to 600, 700 million people, even if only one tenth of humanity is left alive when Christ returns. That's 600, 700 million people. We're going to have the opportunity to help start the world tomorrow, to jumpstart it, to get it rolling, get the ball rolling. Because when Christ said, okay, guys or gals, team, family, let's go, he's going to expect us to go. We will be the only generation that will fully understand the generation that lives into the world tomorrow. We will have lived in this age. We will know what computers are. We will know what an iPod is. We will know what Bluetooth is. We will know about men being put on the moon or walking on the moon. We will know about space ships and rockets and cars and submarines. You can think of it. Abraham will come up, and he won't have the foggiest of what we're talking about. He'll catch on very quickly, but he will not have lived in this age. Now, when his age comes up in the resurrection, he'll have a head start on us. He will know what went on during that age. That's why God's calling people during all ages, to help deal with the generations in the white throne judgment. As we realize in the world tomorrow, when the government of God is set up, it will start in Jerusalem first. It will then expand to Israel, then to the Gentile nations, ultimately to the billions of people in the great white throne judgment, and then the billions in the family of God forever. Now, I'll let you in on a little secret. You and I are going to have an opportunity to deal with the family of God forever, and God has called us to an awesome future. Turn over here to chapter 25 of the book of Matthew, verse 21. Matthew 25, verse 21.

His Lord said to him... This is talking, if you remember the parable of the talents, and those who use their talents to serve and to help others. The Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things, enter into the joy of your Lord. Now, isn't that what all of us want to hear? We don't want Christ to return and say, Bad job. Sometimes our puppy doesn't do what we want it to do. We say, Bad dog. Well, we don't want Christ coming back and saying, Bad Christian.

Now, we want him to say, Well done, good and faithful servant. I mean, those are the words that you're looking for. If you're looking for something in the future, you're looking for encouragement. That's encouragement. Well done. But notice it says, Faithful.

You and I are to be faithful.

And, brethren, again, I'd like to commend all of you for being faithful. I mean, we're here. We didn't jump the boat 12 years ago. We stayed the course. We're still here. We're still keeping God's Sabbath. We're planning to go to the feast. We're trying to obey God to the best of our ability. So we have to remain faithful. Now, the problem is, in many cases, many times we don't feel like we're capable of ruling.

And when I stop and think about Christ says, Okay, here's your five cities or your ten cities, and I say, Okay, what do I do? I've never ruled over a city before. You know, I have trouble taking care of myself. But to rule over five cities, ten cities, many of us think, well, you know, I don't think I can rule. And I've had people say, I don't want to be a ruler, because they begin to think about what all a ruler does. And, you know, they don't want to do that. You know what a ruler is? A ruler is a servant. A ruler is a servant. You and I are supposed to be servants, are we not? Notice what Christ said again, Well done, good and faithful dictator.

No. Desperate servant. You and I are to be servant. This is where servant leadership comes in. This is where we have to take on a humble attitude and be willing to serve one another, to help one another, to become encouragers. The greater your reward in the kingdom, the more opportunity you have to help. Now, stop and think about it.

Jesus Christ will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will be ruler over all the earth. So, therefore, He will be able to help everybody. This is the earth. He will be able to serve everybody on the earth. Now, Abraham, undoubtedly, I'd say Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are going to have very high positions. Maybe one of them will be on the right, one on the left, and one somewhere else around. I don't know. But if Abraham is the father of the faithful and we find what some of the faithful receive as a reward, I would assume that Abraham is going to have a little higher position out there.

It just stands to reason. David will be able to rule over all Israel, over the twelve tribes. So, his sphere of influence will be much greater. He'll be able to affect all twelve of these tribes. Along come the twelve apostles, and they, each one, will be over a tribe. So, each one of them will rule over multiple millions of people within a particular tribe of Israel. They are called the foundation, are they not? Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Then come the saints, and we read in Revelation 3.12 that the saints, those of us, hopefully, who have a Philadelphia attitude and approach, are going to be pillars in God's kingdom.

A pillar outside of the foundation is one of the strongest parts of a building. You build on the foundation, the pillars go up, and everything else hangs on that and rests on the foundation. So, you and I must be putting into practice today the basic approach to leadership. What is that? It's being a servant. It's helping other people. It's encouraging. Sometimes we can't imagine ourselves ruling over cities or educating people.

And yet, the Bible says we will do it. Now, how are we going to do it? Well, I think our abilities will be multiplied a little bit. I sure hope so. Because I'd hate to do it with the little ability I have right now. I think once you are a spirit being, your abilities will be greatly multiplied. Think about the fact that you will never forget. You'll remember what you want to. Forget anything you don't want to remember.

But you'll begin to put principles together. And you won't forget. And if you learn a principle, you won't forget it. And you'll be able to synergize it with something else. And so you begin to build knowledge and wisdom and understanding that will go on forever. But let's notice in Ezekiel 38 first. I'll come back to that. But Ezekiel 38, beginning in verse 8, let me give you the setting for this. Jesus Christ has returned to the earth.

The nations of Israel have been gathered out of captivity. They've been brought back to Jerusalem. There are still nations on the periphery of the world, like Gog and Magog, Meshach and Tubal, Rosh, all of these nations that have not yet come under God's government.

They're still experiencing drought, famine, plagues. But their spies tell them that down in Jerusalem and Palestine, things are flourishing. They've got crops growing. They're not having problems. They seem to get a lot of rain down there. And guess what? They don't have any weapons. These people down there, they don't have an army.

They don't have tanks. They don't have rockets. They don't have an air force. They don't have anything. So all we've got to do is go down and they're ripe for the pickings. So verse 8 describes this. Ezekiel 38, After many days you will be visited in the latter years. You will come into a land of those brought back from the sword. That means they've been brought out of captivity. Gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which have long been desolate. And they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

Well, that's certainly not talking about Israel today, is it? They're surrounded by enemies. It's not talking about the tribulation because they're going to be in captivity. But it's going to be talking about the future when Christ will have brought them back out of captivity. Now verse 11, You will say, I will go up against the land of unwalled villages.

I'll go to a peaceful people who dwell safely. All of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates. See, back then, they had walls around the city to protect them from invading armies, to keep wild animals out and keep plunderers out. Any time they wanted protection, just shut the gate, and people couldn't get through. So that's a picture of no armies, no air force, no marines, you know, nothing, no protection that they can see.

They're going to come down wide. Verse 12, To take plunder, to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited against the people gathered from the nations who have acquired livestock and goods and who dwell in the midst of the land. So they think they can come down and just grab it. Now look at the principle. The millennium, the moment Christ's foot steps on the Mount of Olives, every nation is not automatically under God's government. Every nation everywhere on earth doesn't belly up and say, RULES.

No, there are going to be many nations out there who are not going to be totally aware of what's going on. It will take time for all the world to come under God's government. Maybe a decade or two. I don't know how long, but it's not going to happen overnight. And you and I, during this period of time, the God's government begins in Jerusalem and Palestine, why just begin small, so to speak? Why not hit the ground and boom, you cover the whole earth?

Well, we need a little training. We will be able to see, personally, how Christ will rule, how the apostles handle things, and we will be able to start then. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if we started small in ruling? What if you only started with six families?

Husband, mother, three children, five people. Six families, six times five is thirty people. You can manage six families and look after their needs and teach them and guide them on the Sabbath and deal with them. But the second generation, what if they're thirty? Now, I know this is not statistically accurate, but I overlooked that. If you have thirty and you multiply five times that, that's one hundred and fifty. So second generation, now you've got one hundred and fifty people you're looking after. That's just that generation. Maybe the other generation hasn't died off, so there could be one hundred and eighty of them there.

Third generation, five times one hundred and fifty, that's seven hundred and fifty. You'll buy that generation. Multiply fourth generation, five times seven hundred and fifty. You've got three thousand seven hundred and fifty. Now, by the time you get down to the fifth generation multiplying five, you've got eighteen thousand seven hundred and fifty. You think by five generations you might be capable of handling that many people after doing it for a hundred, couple hundred years.

Sixth generation, multiply eighteen thousand seven hundred and fifty by five, you've got ninety three thousand seven hundred and fifty. Now we're talking numbers. Now you keep going to about ten generations and guess what? You've got millions of people that you could be ruling over if it goes that way.

I just illustrate that to show that we don't have to start by having hundreds of thousands of people that we're ruling over. There will be those who will be capable of doing that. David is an example. But we may start very small and learn and get our feet wet and then grow with the job and as time progresses, we will be able to tackle more and more.

At the end of the millennium, we will be capable of ruling over millions because we are then going to go into the great white throne judgment with billions of people resurrected. We're going to have to begin to look after these people. Now notice again, back here in Matthew 25, and verses 21 and 23, the last sentence of each verse. We are told that if we've been faithful over a few things, we'll rule over many.

Enter into the joy of your Lord. You and I, once we enter into God's kingdom, we'll enter into the joy of God's kingdom, God's way of life, the joy of your Lord. Do we think when we get into the kingdom of God, it's just going to be straight-waste? We're going to be unhappy? That's going to be the most joyful time of our lives. Psalm 16, Psalm 16, verse 11, David talked about this when he said, You will show me the path of life.

Psalm 16, 11. In your presence is fullness of joy. None of us today experience joy to its fullness, to its apex, to its height. If you could compare joy to water and a glass, we have joy. We may have this much water in the glass. Compare that to joy. Or we may have a little more. But how many of us have joy coming out the top of the glass and just continually bubbling over? That's why it's going to be in God's kingdom.

We will have joy and have fullness of joy. You see, God is a joyful God. He lives a happy life. He knows how to live, how to live an abundant life, and how to be happy. Actually, the word here for joy means joy, gladness, mirth, glad results, happy. You and I will have happiness and joy oozing from us. We will have God's Spirit, and we will be Spirit, and we will have the very nature of God.

And the joy in some of these things that we have will be greatly intensified and multiplied. It will be fun to be in the family of God. It will be a lot of fun. We will have joy, we'll have hope, instead of suffering, pain, the mental, emotional, physical agony that people go through at that time. Oh, that's past! We have joy.

We will have the joy of seeing people be gotten by God's Spirit. Perhaps our children. What if your children live in the millennium? Would God allow you to be there, to help them, to see them be gotten, and to see them receive God's Spirit?

What about the joy of seeing people healed? You all of us, when someone is sick, like Ken was, we prayed. I prayed and never thought that he wouldn't be healed.

But when it became obvious that perhaps God had something else, in store for him, you pray that God would comfort and take the pain and the suffering away, and that he could die in peace. But the joy of seeing people healed, when the millennium begins, God says that the crippled, the lame, will leap like the deer. The blind will see. The deaf will hear. The lame will walk. And so we'll see people healed. Maybe we'll have a hand in that. See, this is part of the vision that God is trying to hold out in front of us, for us to be motivated by, to realize we look around us.

We look at ourselves. We look at our families. We look at our church family, humanity. And we think, boy, if I could only look at people in the hospitals, if I could only walk in there and these people could be healed, well, better than there's going to come a time, and we are being prepared, not just to be able to help a handful of people, but the family of God is being prepared to help millions and ultimately billions of people out of the misery and the suffering, the chaos that they have lived in.

And you are being called now and trained in how to do that. You might say, well, I don't know how to do that. Well, if you're keeping the Sabbath, you know how to tell people to keep the Sabbath. If you keep the Holy Days, you know how to tell people how to keep the Holy Days.

If you're tithing, you can tell people the benefits of tithing. If you're applying the laws of marriage, you can teach people about marriage. If you're applying the laws of child rearing, you can apply the laws of child rearing at that time. And so we will have the opportunity to be able to teach. I think another joy with those who have younger children, if they live in the Millennium, will be dealing with your own offspring. You would say, well, I don't have time. Well, you'll be awake 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And I think as a spirit being, you might be able to accomplish more than one thing at a time.

And you might be able to look after your child over here, and boom, be somewhere else. And if they have a need, you're back. And you'll be able to take care of those that God gives you. Notice Psalm 45 and verse 13. The opportunity, potentially, that the offspring of the servants of God have. Psalm 45, the title here in my Bible says, The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride. Who is the Messiah?

That's Jesus Christ. Who is His Bride? That's the church. Notice, The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace. Her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the king in robes of many colors. The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you. With gladness and rejoicing, they shall be brought.

They shall enter the king's palace. Obviously symbolic, or seems to be symbolic, of the bride. But notice verse 16. Instead of your fathers shall be your sons, whom you shall make princes in all the earth. So our children, our physical descendants, who live until that time, we will make rulers in the earth.

And I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. So, this could be the name of Penny. They go down in the annals of history. The cowens, you know, whoever, you look around in our names, especially if we have offspring who live until that time. May go, will be remembered in all generations. See, no other age has been offered that type of blessing and that type of promise.

Do our young people realize the significance of this? They have the potential, if they grow, and Christ doesn't come back too soon, to grow up, be converted, be a part of God's kingdom, and be able to experience the joys of the family of God, or to be potentially a physical leader in the world tomorrow. It all depends on the timing of Christ and His return to the earth.

So, what we find is that God is the one who is going to be responsible for this. Let's notice back here in Psalm 16 again, I didn't read all of this scripture. Psalm 11, Psalm 16, verse 11, says, In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures for evermore. So, there are going to be pleasures in the kingdom of God that our minds cannot even phantom.

The word pleasure means pleasant, delightful, sweet, lovely, agreeable, singing, sweet-sounding, musical, all of those. Have we ever stopped to think? I know I've had sometimes young people tell me, I don't want to be in God's kingdom because I want to enjoy marriage and have all of the blessings and experiences and enjoyment that comes through a husband-wife relationship. That's fine. But I'm here to tell you that the pleasures of God's kingdom will exceed that as far as the sun and the energy it puts out and little match. I mean, there will be no comparison between what God offers us. God is offering us pleasures that our minds have no comprehension of. Do we think that God lives in a dull world, never enjoys things, never appreciates things? Well, that's certainly not true because in Psalm 36, Psalm 36, verses 8 and 9, you'll find that Psalms have a lot to say about this. Psalm 36, verses 8 and 9, we find that they are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house and you give them drink from the river of your pleasures. So pleasures flow from God's way of life. We know that one of the fruit of God's Spirit is joy, the joy and the happiness. But that's a fruit that we have now. When we are in the family of God and we can experience life on the Spirit level and our emotions and our feelings and everything else have been expanded, we will be able to experience fullness of pleasure. It says, For with you is the fountain of life. In your light we see light. Now there's a lot in this verse we don't have time to go into here today, but in God's light we will be able to see light. We will come to understanding and things that the mind has trouble comprehending. People today are always searching for pleasure. Too often people's lives are empty. They lack pleasure. So they turn to drugs. They turn to alcohol. They turn to escapism. They watch television. It's one thrill. They go to one thing after another. They're seeking thrills. Spirit beings will be able to do things that human beings do. They won't need to do them. But you find in the kingdom that we can eat, we can drink, we can laugh, we can go to a concert, we can learn, we can grow. I'd love to hear a million-voice angelic choir singing and be able to hear them. And you'll be able to finally be able to understand music a little bit. And you'll be able to comprehend it. But if you have certain talents, certain abilities, certain skills in certain areas, such as music, think about when you're in the kingdom. And your ability to be able to use those things. So what you find is life in God's kingdom is not going to be boring at all. There will be pleasures beyond what we can imagine.

In Psalm 149, verses 4 through 5, Psalm 149, verses 4 through 5, we find here a description of God's kingdom and the opportunities that you and I will have at that time. Let's notice, verse 4, the Lord takes pleasure in His people, and He will beautify the humble with salvation. So it's talking about those who will be given salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory. So you and I, once we are glorified in glory, will be joyful. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. So we will sing, we will have offices, we will have a place to relax, we will be able to sing. So God is going to take society, if you want to call it that, elevate it to His realm or His plane, so that you have music, but you have good music.

That you have pleasures, that we have no idea of what we're talking about, that we will have in joy. We will be able to take over the kingdoms of this world, as verse 8 says. One of the things we'll do is to bind the kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the written judgment. This honor have all of His saints.

So you and I will be able to take over the rule of this world. And Chavez, down in Venezuela, will not be there anymore. Many of these men may not be there when finally it's all said and done. But it doesn't matter what despot, what ruler, what dictator, where he lives, we will kick them out and God's troops will come.

We will come as servants. We will come as the servants of God to serve those people. We will also have the inside dope on God's kingdom. If you ever thought, wouldn't it be nice if Christ could sit down with me and just personally tell me what it's going to be like? None of us have ever had a spirit being sit down and say, this is what the kingdom is all about. Let me explain it to you. Well, you and I will have the job of doing that in the future. Psalm 145, verses 10 and 11. Psalm 145, verse 10. All your work shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom. See, we will have made a transition. We know what it's like to be human. We've lived in the flesh, just like Christ did. But now we have lived in the kingdom. And wouldn't it be a powerful sermon at a feast of tabernacles if you materialized and gave the opening night sermon? And you described what Jesus Christ was like, his personality, what it's like to work with him, what it's like to be a spirit being. Not in theoretical terms, like I'm doing, but in terms literal, because you are one, and you can explain what it's like and what they have to look forward to. And people come away absolutely, totally motivated because they've heard of you speak of the glory of your kingdoms and to talk of your power.

Verse 12, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. And your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. So you and I will speak of the glories of the kingdom, the power of Christ, the mighty acts of Christ, the majesty of God.

And we will be able to teach them. This will be a wonderful opportunity. And people will have an opportunity at that time that you and I don't know. Now in Isaiah 30, verses 20 and 21, Scripture we normally hear each year at the feast. We will have the opportunity of teaching God's way. In verse 20 it says, Though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. And you shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way. Walk in it when you turn to the right hand or when you turn to the left. So we will teach. And brethren, it will not be like it is for the last 2,000 years since Christ came. What you find is, what has generally happened is that a generation comes along and it seems like they rediscover God's word, and 50, 60, 100 years go by, they lose it. Look at how many lost it after 60 years. Mr. Armstrong first came on the scene, and people lose it. And then there has to be another revival or another raising up. And then, you know, it seems like we can't stay faithful for more than maybe 3 generations and things begin to disintegrate. Well, think about a time, instead of that taking place, where each generation in the millennium will build on the knowledge of the preceding generation. So generation 1 gets taught, and boy, their understanding is greatly multiplied, much more than what we have, because the whole world is converted at that time. And then they pass on to their children the knowledge they have, and then they live their lifetime studying God's work. And each generation builds on and passes on knowledge to the next generation. As resurrected saints, we will also continue to learn. Are we just going to reach a point? We just stop? We don't know any more? No, we will continue to learn. And you'll find, as a picture of the family of God, we will continue to learn and grow forever and ever. There will be no end to the opportunities that God has given us. In Revelation 21, beginning in verses 1-4, we find out about the Bride of Christ. That's us. It says, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there shall be no more deaths. This isn't talking about human beings. This is talking about a time when there are no human beings left alive as human. But we've either made it into God's kingdom or we've ceased to exist. Because there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. The former means the first things, as we know them today. Those things will pass away. Instead of the first order, the physical, we will now be in a spiritual dimension. We will take society and elevate it to a higher plane. There will be no kickbacks. We'll work. We'll learn. We'll sing. We'll have social life, diversity, and God will. We don't know exactly what He's going to do with this whole universe. But it's created for some purpose. Verse 7 says, He who overcomes shall inherit all things. So everything that our Father has, we will inherit all things. And I'll be His God and He shall be my sons. In verse 9, In one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came to me and talked with me, saying, Come, and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. So the New Jerusalem is described as the Bride. Apparently, the New Jerusalem will be the dwelling place of the Bride forever.

It is God's gift to the Bride where we will reside. This will be our home with God the Father and with Christ. Verse 16 indicates that it's 12,000 furloughins in length, breadth, and height. They're all equal. At 1,600 miles square, that's a huge place. You can say, well, it would be out into the Mediterranean Sea. There is no more sea. No more oceans. Not as we know. So it will be in the area. It will be set up where Jerusalem is today.

And the construction of its walls was a jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass.

As part of the Bride, brethren, you and I will have a suite of offices, home, whatever you want to call it there. We'll have gold and so much gold that will come out our ears. We won't even think about it because we'll be living on it and with it. People today will die. They've killed each other for gold and precious stones and so on. And God is going to give it to us.

And then verse 22 says, I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city had no need of the sun, or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. So that's how bright the glory of God is. You don't need the sun around. The Lamb is its light.

Then verse 24, The nations of those who are saved, Now notice, those who have been saved, they've been born into God's family, shall walk in its light. Where are they? They're not in the city. They're walking in the light of the city. And the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and their honor into it. So the indication there is that the bride and the bridegroom, along with the father, will live in the New Jerusalem. The other nations and peoples who are converted later on, will reside in other cities. And they will come up to Jerusalem. And as it says here, they will come up and bring their glory and honor into it. And they will come up to worship God at that time. Revelation 3, verse 12, I'll just refer to that, says that we will be pillars, and that we will go no more out. That means that as a pillar, we will be given our responsibilities, and we're not going to go anywhere out, as far as no longer having those jobs. We will have them. We'll be at the headquarters. We'll help to direct, educate, carry out the will of God for the family of God forever. Whatever that will is that God is working out. So, brethren, truly, we live in an age that is blessed above all other ages.

We have a chance to be in on the foundation or the pillars. God has specific jobs that He is selecting. He's picked out for us. And the training that you are going through is helping you prepare for that job. David was given rule over all Israel in the physical realm, and his job prepared him to rule in the world tomorrow. The apostles, what they went through, is preparing them, or prepared them, to rule over each one of the tribes. You and I are being prepared for specific jobs, responsibilities, and duties. This age is blessed when it comes to rewards, responsibilities, opportunities that we will have. We need to realize, brethren, how blessed we are. And we need to keep this vision, this goal, constantly in front of us. And never let anything tarnish why God has called us now.