When Christ Returns... What Will He Find?

Well, thank you again, gentlemen. Happy Sabbath to everyone today. That's always wonderful to see you. Well, in just a few short weeks, we are going to be celebrating the Feast of Trumpets. It's coming up fast. And, of course, we know the Feast of Trumpets pictures the return of Jesus Christ to this earth, establishing the kingdom of God beginning in Jerusalem. Time we're all looking forward to. But when Jesus Christ comes, what kind of earth will he find? Judging by his prophecies and judging by the direction this world has been taking recently, what will he find as far as social human customs when he returns?

What will have happened to the human race right before the return of Jesus Christ? Well, I'd like to look at that today as portrayed from the Word of God to help us all to prepare for the Feast of Trumpets this year. We're going to see the kind of world and the kinds of problems that Christ and his saints will discover will need to be confronted when he returns. So let's begin by going to Zechariah chapter 14 beginning in verse 1. Zechariah chapter 14 beginning in verse 1. It'll be our first scripture for the day.

So the prophet Zechariah was inspired to write this, Behold, the day of the Lord is coming. And again, we're going to begin celebrating this fall Holy Day season in just a few weeks with the Festival of Trumpets.

And your spoil will be divided in your midst, and I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem. This is a prophecy to the remnant of Israel at this time. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravaged. In other words, the houses will be looted, women will be raped during this end-time crisis that occurs when the city of Jerusalem is taken over. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against these nations as he fights in the day of battle. And Jesus Christ is returning to earth, and then there is going to be a short time afterward, a momentous battle in a valley that's about 55 miles north of Jerusalem called the Valley of Decision, and there is going to be a titanic battle. The nations of the armies of this world against Jesus Christ and his saints. Verse 4, and in that day his feet will stand in the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half the mountain shall move towards the north and half towards the south. Then you, again these are the physical Jews that are residing in this part of the world at this time, remember those who have God's Holy Spirit have already met Jesus Christ in the air. They are coming down to earth with him. So when it says, then you, this is talking about the physical descendants of Abraham. God still loves his people. He still loves his old covenant people, and he's going to protect many of them during this very terrible time. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Ezell. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah the king. Thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you.

And again, we'll begin celebrating that momentous event in just a few weeks through the Feast of Trumpets. This world's armies will look upon Jesus Christ as an alien invader. Have you ever considered that? As an alien invader who has come to impose his laws, his values upon the world. They'll fight against the coming Christ and his saints in what's known biblically as the Valley of Decision or the Valley of Megiddo. We call it Armageddon in English by kind of squashing those terms together. Armageddon. This has been a valley in which there have been over 200 battles throughout history. Throughout its very long history, 200 battles have been fought there. It's about 56 miles north of Jerusalem, present-day Jerusalem, and again God is going to provide a way of escape for many of his old covenant people. The Jews were trapped in this end time climactic war that's occurring around Jerusalem. The saints will have previously joined Jesus Christ in the air as he was descending to earth, and they will be with him to serve as administrators and leaders and teachers on the earth. But what lit up to this event? What did Jesus himself say the world would be like at this time? Because we're already seeing some of the very things that he spoke about occurring at this time in our history.

So let's review some of those things as we begin to think about the Feast of Trumpets this year. Let's think about the cultures. Let's think about the changes that we're seeing that are preparing the world as it will be when Jesus Christ returns to this earth. Let's go to Matthew chapter 24 and verse 3. I'm in amazing parallel here because we just read Jesus Christ would return to the Mount of Olives, and here in this account is written by Matthew. Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives teaching, teaching his disciples, and he's going to talk about the times leading up to when he literally, the second time, will come back to earth and stand on the Mount of Olives. Matthew chapter 24 verse 3.

Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, again this is where he'll return, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be? What's going to happen in the end time before your return? What kinds of things are going to occur? What's it going to be like? And what will be the sign of your coming? And of the end of the age. And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. So many would come saying, Jesus is the Christ and follow me.

I'm his chosen one. I'm his special servant. Jesus is the Christ, but the Jesus that they teach will not be anything like the Jesus who actually walked in this earth as the Son of God. Verse 16, you will hear wars and rumors of war. See that you are not troubled, for all of these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places. Let's take a look at these last three phrases that he used. Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, just as an example of the events that are leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. Famine? Well, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, known as the FAO, they estimate that about 815 million people out of 7.6 billion people in the world, or over 10%, are suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2016. That's 10% of the human race. This is chronic, so this is an occasionally they have to skip a meal. These folks go to bed every night hungry. Chronic lack of food. And this was reported in 2016. I'm sure due to the pandemic it's probably gotten only worse for many, many people on this earth. How about pestilence? It's a word we don't hear much, and I think a lot of people in the church don't understand the meaning of the word pestilence. Here it is from Merriam Webster's dictionary. Tell me if this sounds maybe something familiar. A contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

End of quote. Sound familiar? COVID-19 is a pestilence. This world faces increasing pestilence, and probably the new normal is, is that COVID-19 is going to continue to have variants, and it will be a reoccurring cycle around the earth.

Usually just enough of a variant that it's a little more contagious, a little less contagious, a little more deadly, a little less deadly, but enough so that people are caught off guard. Much like, frankly, the annual flu that circles the earth has been that way for decades and decades. It mutates a little bit and it comes, circles the earth again, sees on a seasonal basis, and it takes thousands and thousands and thousands of lives. The annual flu has done that for many, many years. How about earthquakes? Do you realize how many earthquakes there are in this world today? I want to give you an example. There's really an interesting site called Volcanodiscovery.com, and they do this every day, and here's what I found out today, just this morning. This is their report for Saturday, August 21st, 2021. Quote, during the past 24 hours, there were seven quakes of magnitude 5.0 or above, 37 quakes between 4.0 and 5.0, 122 quakes between 3.0 and 4.0, and 249 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0. There were also 404 quakes below magnitude 2.0, which people don't normally feel. End of quote. And it happens every day. You can go to that site every day. They're reporting the number of tremors of earthquakes that are going on in the Earth's crust. And much like a scripture, we'll read a little bit later how Jesus says in a time of Noah, people were marrying and giving into marriage, fat, dumb, and happy. Life is good, and he had no idea what was about to befall them. And we are on this Earth, this whole crust. We're clueless to it. We're living our lives. We have no idea that we live on a very fragile veneer that's called the Earth's crust, and we're oblivious to it. This past week, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, I'm sure you've heard that there was a terrible earthquake there, said his country is, quote, on its knees after more than 2,000 people were killed in last Saturday's powerful earthquake. So when Jesus said there's going to be famines and pestilences in earthquakes, he wasn't kidding. He was very serious about what he said. And what's he saying, verse 8? You ain't seen nothing yet. Sorry, that's the Thomas translation. He actually said, all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. It's estimated that about 11 individuals are killed every day in this world due to being labeled a Christian somewhere on Earth. 11 people a day, and that does not include the number of Christians who lose their jobs every day because of their Christian beliefs or because of their standards or their personal values. Jesus said, and many will be offended and betray one another and hate one another. Have you taken a look at social media lately?

Seen the news? I'm offended. Why? I didn't get that promotion I don't deserve. That's a microaggression. I'm offended. You didn't smile at me when you walked by me.

That's a macroaggression. Why, you should never be able to work again because I'm offended. Me and my tribe are hurt because you don't agree with me. I'm offended because I don't get to have my way. That's the culture that we live in today. People are being canceled or losing their jobs virtually every day. So do you think Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said, and many will be offended? We become the offended culture today and will betray one another, will hate one another. Then many false prophets will arise and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound. Lawlessness, like there are no longer any rules, no longer any values, maybe. Lawlessness, like everything that you accepted and believed throughout your life, is suddenly you're told that it's wrong, it's bigoted, it's racist, there's something wrong with it, it's narrow-minded, it's bad, and now you have to accept this, and we're gonna shove it in your face, whether you want to see it or know about it or hear about it or not. Lawlessness will abound and the love of many will grow cold. Do you see a lot of warmth and civility on social media? I don't. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

In spite of all that, I know we roll our eyes and sometimes when my wife says, I'm not sure how much more of this insanity I can take, I don't know either, but we have to take it. We have to live through it. We have to maintain to be the people who we are, because he who endures through all of this craziness to the end and maintains their values shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. And I'm sure there's yet a technology that'll give the small Church of God the opportunity and the power needed to be able to fulfill this statement here in verse 14. One of the statements made is lawlessness will abound. Lawlessness is the Greek word anomia, and it means a violation of law or wickedness. Wickedness will abound. Jesus Christ clearly outlines the words and culture and the events that will be occurring immediately before His return.

He could all look into the tunnel of the future and see our age exactly here in the 21st century as it is. We are now living in a world where every tradition, long-standing value, and accepted principle is being abandoned and challenged and then eventually mocked. And people are being terminated because they believe in those traditional values that they were taught. What was recognized as inappropriate or unacceptable a mere five to ten years ago is now being paraded as right, accepted, subsidized by our governments, promoted as normal, right, good, just like everyone else. That's the world that we live in today. Isaiah said in chapter 5 and verse 20, woe unto them that called evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And that's the age that we live in. We have turned everything upside down in a crazy, convoluted, confused world. This is the world that Jesus will find when that trumpet is blown and he comes back to this earth with his saints with you. Luke chapter 17 and verse 26. Turn there with me. Luke chapter 17 and verse 26. Jesus says, And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be also in the days of the son of man. Verse 27, they ate, they drank, they married wives, and they were given in marriage. Interesting, those two phrases were used. They married wives and they were giving in marriage, as if some were marrying wives and some were marrying someone else. Until the day the Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them likewise as it was in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed when Jesus Christ returns to this earth. Obviously, eating and drinking and marriage are typical human behaviors.

But in these examples, there's obviously an evil abuse of what would be normally typical human behaviors going on while these people think there are no consequences to the culture that they live in. They think it's going to go on forever. And it's not. It's what Jesus is saying. Today, many of us feel like we're trapped inside a modern Sodom as strangers in pilgrims as we await the return of Jesus Christ. Frustrated at the things that we see and the godly principles being challenged and mocked in our media, in our schools, in our own communities. It can be very frustrating. But this world will go on until God says enough. Enough is enough, and he pulls the plug. That's how long this will all go on.

Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5, if you'll turn back there with me, there was a time when God was going to destroy the whole world because of something that was occurring, and he chose not to because of just one individual, one elect person that was very special in God's eyes. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5.

Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, you know what? Sin had been in the earth since the time of Adam and Eve.

Sin had always existed on the earth until this time. But there's something special about this time where the sin had been rationed up to a degree that God said, enough is enough. It says here, the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And the Lord was sorry that he had made man in the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. Humanity broke God's heart. All the potential he saw for the human race, all the gifts and blessings he wanted to give to the human race, and it's come down to this. I'd call them animals, but I'd have to apologize to the animal kingdom if I said that. So the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and bees, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry.

To repent, it's some translations, it repents me. I repent that I made them, as some translations say. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So during this time, virtually every thought was evil. This was a time of great sin, greater than had previously existed. And today, in our time, every dysfunction, perversion, deviancy is now promoted as acceptable and good. We've returned back to the times or the days of Noah and Sodom, and God is not amused. God obviously is not pleased with the situation this world is in today.

And that world was saved from utter complete destruction because God found favor in an individual called Noah. Do you know why God isn't going to destroy this present world? Do you know why God is not going to allow this present world to destroy itself?

Because of one thing. He found favor in Noah, and he finds favor in someone else today. Let's read about that in Matthew chapter 24 verse 21. Matthew 24 and verse 21. There's a direct parallel to the fact that Noah, because God loved him and had grace on him in favor, spared the world from total destruction, total annihilation from the flood, to the world that isn't too far down in history from where we're at.

Matthew chapter 24 and verse 21. For then there will be great tribulation. We can read about the effects of the great tribulation and day of the Lord in the book of Revelation, and it is truly going to be devastating. That's not my purpose to cover those events today, but let's just say that there will, as Isaiah the prophet Isaiah said, there will be few men left.

Out of a world of how many billion exist on the earth today, there will be very few human beings left alive after the world war and the devastating plagues and diseases and pestilence and this earth shaking and the stars in the heaven falling from the sky and the moon turning blood red and all of the many events and curses that fall upon the earth.

There will be few left, and that's what Jesus is talking about here. For there will be great tribulation, such has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. The whole world would be destroyed itself and the whole world would be destroyed. Thankfully, there's the rest of the sentence. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened for your sake because you're his beloved children, because he has a great plan for you individually in your life, because you have a great role to fulfill throughout eternity.

For your sake, his elect, he has found favor. He's given you grace for your sake. He will not allow this world to destroy itself. God has a special role for his end-time elect. The word, Greek word electils, means specially chosen. Other scriptures referred to God's elect as his saints. God spared the world in Noah's age because of his grace on faithful Noah.

In our age, God will spare this world total destruction because of your faithfulness, because of the grace and favor that he has for you. I don't want to put any pressure on you, but the future of the world's counting on us. Verse 30, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds. There's the elect spoken of here again, from one into heaven to the other. Now learn this parable to fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and it puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, pestilences, earthquakes, famine, I'm offended, societal collapse, mocking of every rule and tradition and standard that ever existed, great sin magnified by dysfunctions, deviates, perverts, now considered normal, promoted, special.

When you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors. This is the kind of world that Jesus said would be existing when he would return. What Jesus states here is a parallel statement about the trumpets and gathering elect of what Paul said in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 16. This is for the Lord. Paul said, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord, meeting Christ in the air and returning back to earth with him to fulfill our purpose and the reason that God was training us for all of these years.

Daniel chapter 7 and verse 15. Turn there with me if you would. Take a look at another prophecy by the prophet Daniel chapter 7 and verse 15. He was troubled by a vision that he saw, a vision of four terrible-looking beasts.

Daniel chapter 7 and verse 15. Daniel writes, I Daniel was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all this. He's terrible, vicious, frightening beast. What does all of this mean? Daniel cries out and wants to know.

So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. Verse 17.

Those great beasts which are four are four kings that rise out of the earth.

And sure enough, even after his time fulfilling the prophecy, long after he died, the first was the Babylonian Empire, the second was Medio-Persia, the third was Greco-Macedonia, started by Alexander the Great and his great conquest, and the fourth was Rome. And in part of Daniel's prophecy, the beast in Rome has ten toes and it's two feet and it represents the ten rulers in its final revival on earth.

But here's what I wanted to focus on in verse 18. But the saints of the Most High this is God's elect, the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. You see, the saints or elect of God are those called in their lifetimes to prepare to serve in the kingdom with Jesus Christ. You've been preparing because you are God's saints. You are his elect. You have a very essential and important role in helping to clean up these problems, to rebuild the world from scratch when Jesus Christ returns from what is left of the cultures and the societies that exist in this world today. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 1. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 1. This is the kind of transformation that will take place because of two things. God's law and God offering his Holy Spirit openly and freely to anyone who repents, who desires to seek God and desires to know God. Those two things combined, and it takes both, will provide this kind of a world that Isaiah talks about here in chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, "...Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it." Hills and mountains are biblical symbols for nations. And after Jesus Christ returns, many of the great nations that exist in this world today will continue to exist.

China will continue to exist. India will continue to exist. Egypt will continue to exist. But what's established above all the nations on the earth, on top of the existing nations on the earth, will be the kingdom of God. And all nations will flow to Jerusalem, will flow there to learn of God's way. "...Many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain..." That's the kingdom "...of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways." Not the ways that we were taught were normal, not the ways that we thought was right in our own hearts or in our own minds, but God's ways. He will teach us of his ways, so there will be some learning and there will definitely be some unlearning that will have to take place at that time. "...And we shall walk in his paths..." Not what my previous government said was right and wrong, not what my previous church or previous religion said were the acceptable standards to live by, not what a Supreme Court said was right or wrong, but God's paths will reveal to us what's right and what's wrong. "...For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of God from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people..." As I say, there's going to have to be some unlearning that goes on, especially in the very beginning. A lot of dysfunction will exist in what remains of this world. "...They shall beat their swords in the plowshares and their spears in the pruning hooks." They'll take weapons, implements that were meant for war, and they'll kill, and they'll reshape those in the reaping the abundant crops that'll be continuously growing around this world to feed everyone. No more famine, no more people going to sleep at night hungry, no more pestilence, no more COVID-19s or viruses circling the earth, cancers, heart diseases, none of these things decimating the human race any longer. "...Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." I like that phrase. Because you know what? As we were small children, we were taught to hate other people. We were taught that this person's different from us because of their religion, because of their social economic status, because of their skin color, because of their ethnicity. They're different than we are. Therefore, we shouldn't like them. They're an outsider.

See, children have to be taught that. And that's what the cultures in our world do today. Oh, House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Prophet Isaiah is saying, let's start with you, Jacob. All these wonderful things are going to happen. All nations are going to flow to Jerusalem. Why don't you be the model? Why don't you be the first one to accept this, is what the Prophet is saying to the descendants of Jacob? How about you first? It is an opportunity that they're being given. This will be a time of spiritual awakening for all nations. And what will be central to receiving knowledge and learning and walking in God's path? It will be His law. The great moral laws that provide happiness and health and fulfillment when respected and when obeyed. It includes the Ten Commandments at its core, but it's built on the bedrock principle of doing everything in love towards God and doing everything in love towards your neighbor, which I might add is also love towards God because your neighbor was created by God. Your neighbor is a child of God, and when you love your neighbor, you are loving your God with a law that has, again, the Ten Commandments at its very core. Let's remind ourselves how important this law has been throughout history. It may not be very respected in our culture and in our society today, but let's have a brief overview of how some in Scriptures, some religious people, have viewed the moral law of God. Psalm 19, and we'll begin in verse 7. Psalm 19, beginning in verse 7. Let's see what it says.

I have known religious figures who said to me, the law, God's law, the Ten Commandments have been done away. Really? And what have they been replaced with?

They've been replaced with the law of Christ. I see. Did you ever consider that maybe it was the one who became Christ who gave the Ten Commandments? Maybe the law of Christ is synonymous with the Ten Commandments? Can you tell me one of those commandments that Jesus ever broke? No? Okay. Psalm 19, verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. It reminds us where we fall short. The law is never a problem. It's sin that's a problem. The law reminds us and reveals to us where we fall short of the perfection of God. Converting the soul, the testimony to the Lord, is sure, making wise the simple. You can be a certified simpleton and become wise if you accept God's law and you start living by God's moral law. You'll make very few mistakes in life.

Decisions, like Mr. Mango was talking about today, very important, very good sermonette.

Decisions become a lot simpler in life when you have the rules and values and standards of God's great moral law leading and guiding, directing you in everything that you do and every decision that you make. The statutes of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Tired of being stupid? Try the commandments of the Lord.

It'll give you enlightenment. Enlightenment beats stupid every day of the week.

Verse 9, the fear, the awe of the Lord is clean and deering forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold. Yeah, much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned.

About ready to make a stupid mistake? Spirit says, don't do that. That's a negative thought.

That's jealous. That's a coveting thought. I'm warning you. Flush that out of your mind.

Don't think about doing that. Don't say that. Hold back. Your servant is warned.

And in keeping them, there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from my secret faults. Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins. Some translations say, from proud thoughts, from being proud and arrogant, hold me back from doing that. Let them not have dominion over me. Allow no sin to become an addiction in my life, to control my life, to become an obsession, to become a compulsion. Yes, I'm carnal, I'm human. I'll sin. I'll stumble.

But please, Lord, don't allow me to become addicted to any sin. To allow anything to control and direct and dominate my life. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and my meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

So, brethren, God's moral and ethical law is the standard for Christians to live by.

It will be the standards in that new kingdom when Jesus Christ arrives back on this earth.

These will need to be patiently taught and modeled by God's saints in the kingdom. And how do we model that? We begin by practicing now. Modeling now. When it's even harder, because we're fleshly and we're carnal. We have a society that doesn't support us. We have Satan the devil to resist.

So it's really hard now. And if we get it and learn these things now and are trained now, we'll certainly have no problem in patience. Treating others with kindness and grace and modeling God's standards and law and values in his kingdom. So why do we need God's law?

Well, right now we will need God's law because this world has two concepts of law. One is human law that exists all over the earth. Usually written, some smaller, simpler types of communities have oral laws, but it's a human law. And that differs from country to country depending on national culture or one's heritage. For example, the laws in the United States are different than the laws of China. All human laws, different. And, as of today, the laws in Afghanistan are different than they are in China or in the United States. So you see, these are all human man-made laws depending on the cultures, depending on the society, and they differ. These human laws are inventions of man, and they're confusing as they change from place to place, from regime to regime.

30 days ago, the law was one way in Afghanistan, and today it's something totally different in Afghanistan. That's the way it is in this human world. So that's one reason you need God's law.

It's a universal standard. It's not something that applies in one area of the world and doesn't apply in another area of the world. Everyone, no matter what continent where you live, will be taught all of the spiritual principles of loving God and loving your neighbor. And every sub law and standard that flows from those two is about love and caring for others, caring for your creator, caring for the person down the street or on a farm north of you, or wherever you may happen to be anywhere on earth. Those are universal principles that apply to everyone.

Now, the second type of process that occurs on this earth is lawlessness.

And that's what Jesus said would occur to a greater degree in the end time. It reminds me of the book of Judges 21 and verse 25. It says, in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes, and that's the kind of culture we have today. Everyone, it doesn't take long to survey YouTube or Twitter. And again, there are no values, there are no standards.

You can find every form of deviancy if you're searching for it, every kind of human perversion, some things I could say that would make you blush, but I won't because this is a family sermon.

It's there! Because everyone's doing what's right in their own eyes. There's no longer a value or a standard associated, no longer a sense of propriety or decency. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 18. Turn there with me, if you will. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 18, I said there were two important aspects that will change the world when Jesus Christ and his saints return to earth at the sound of that trumpet. Verse 1 is law, the second one is the transformation in our attitudes, in our hearts, in minds that will occur by receiving God's Holy Spirit, and it will be offered freely to anyone on earth who seeks God and desires to know him and have a relationship with him. There will be no exclusions at that time. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 18. For as shortly I say into you, Jesus said, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass for the law until all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. So is law important to Jesus Christ? He says it's going to outlast heaven and earth. He says that people who break one of the least of these commandments and says to others it's okay to have two wives. It's okay to have same-sex marriage. It's okay to hate someone in your heart. It's okay to commit adultery. It's okay to steal from people because after all your great-great-grandmother was abused. It's okay to do these things. Jesus says that in this case, that this kind of a person will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Continuing, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever observes these commandments, whoever teaches other people that these commandments are God's value system and they are to be respected and observed and lived by, will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Think of all the time wasted in this world by entertainers, politicians, and celebrities who do everything they can so that when they die, the world will consider them great. Hoping that they're put in the hall of shame or hoping that there's some monument built to them. Hoping some building will be named after them. All the efforts to go into people because they want to be great. And it's no more complicated than loving God's law, loving God's commandments, living by them and teaching other people the value of God's commandments.

And you won't be called great just until the physical world ends. You won't be called great until they tear down that statue of you in a hundred years because suddenly what you did that was right is now so wrong. You won't be called great because the record you broke as an athlete was broken 20 times over the last 10 years. You won't be called great because of any of those things. You'll be great for eternity in a kingdom without end. That's what Jesus Christ says here.

You'll be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. And how can our righteousness exceed theirs? Well, when you've received God's Holy Spirit, the righteousness of Christ dwells in you as you share the same spirit that He has, the same spirit that is within Him is now within you, dwelling in you. And therefore, your righteousness exceeds that of scribes, Pharisees of anyone because their self-righteousness was by human works and effort, by their own human achievements. Our righteousness that exceeds theirs is because the righteousness of Jesus Christ is within us through His Holy Spirit.

Let's go to Romans chapter 8 and verse 6. Romans chapter 8 and verse 6.

Remind ourselves why this world today needs the law of God, but more importantly in prophecy and in the history of humanity, why the world tomorrow, why God's kingdom will be founded on the law of God, the moral, ethical law of God, not ceremonies, not rituals. Those were for short periods of time to fulfill different relationships God had with physical peoples.

I'm talking about His moral law. Romans chapter 8 and verse 6. For to be currently minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If we simply have a carnal mind without a spiritual element, this is what Paul is saying, then we are self-centered, we're sinful, we're rebellious, we don't want God or anyone else telling us what to do, and that ultimately leads to death. That's what Paul is reminding us here. The carnal mind is an enemy to God, and it's an enemy that everything that God stands for because it's selfish, it wants to please itself. Where God's law is just the opposite.

It's outgoing. It's giving. God is giving away what He has to His children. That's what love is.

So in the kingdom of God, just teaching God's law and the foundation of God's law will be essential.

But there's another element that has to take place. It's not enough, for God's law can only be effective and can only be respected by one who is spiritually minded. This is just what Paul told us. To be carnally minded is death. To be spiritually minded is life and peace. Without the Spirit of God, our carnal mind is an enemy to God.

So that's really important. Something else has to be given to people because if it were not, if it were not, some of the carnal human survivors in the Great Tribulation may view us as a type of the Taliban. Oh, here they are. They've arrived. They have power. Oh, what do you mean I can't commit adultery? Oppressor? Abusive? What do you mean I can't lie anymore? What do you mean I can't steal anymore? What do you mean I can't cheat anymore? That's oppressive. Why are you clamping down in my lifestyle? That's exactly what people will say with carnal minds. We might appear to some as Nazi stormtroopers arriving to impose laws and control on anyone on earth. And this is why, aside from God's law, he's giving a gift along with his law to humanity to end the human suffering and misery and to finally put an end to all the dysfunction in this world. And what he's going to give to the world at that time, along with his law, is what he has given to his children since Pentecost in 31 A.D. and that is the gift of his Holy Spirit.

God will allow everyone to be called to repent and receive the gift of his Spirit. All they'll have to do is seek him. All they will have to do is desire to know him and he will open up that way the Father will call them. They'll be drawn to the way of God. Joel chapter 2 and verse 28.

Let's read about this time. Joel chapter 2 and verse 28. Part of Joel here in chapter 2 was quoted on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. but we'll read a few verses here from the original prophecy.

Joel writes, and it shall come to pass, another code word for something that occurs at the end time, just immediately before or after the return of Jesus Christ, and so it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, not just on Jewish people, not just on the descendants of Abraham, but I will offer my Spirit freely, abundantly to everyone on this earth.

They just need to humbly seek me, and they have to want to know me, be willing to repent of who and what they are, and I will welcome them and give them the gift of my powerful spirit.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also on my maids, men servants and my maid servants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. It will be abundant and influence so many people. You know, in our age since the time of Jesus, it's only that small handful whom God has chosen to call.

The majority of people who sincerely wanted to learn about God, wanted to know about God, were never called. But this will be a time when He will pour out His Spirit on everyone and anyone who seeks Him, who wants to know Him and wants to have a relationship with Him.

So to make humanity receptive to God's law, God's values, God's principles, He will allow and encourage all people on earth to repent and receive His Holy Spirit. And that will make them more receptive to His law, just like it's made most of us more receptive to His law.

But they will have a distinct advantage over us at that time. There are some parallels. Yep, they're physical. We're physical. They're carnal. We're carnal. They will have God's Holy Spirit when they repent. We have God's Holy Spirit. But there are some differences. The challenge today is that we struggle not only against our own carnality, which is an uphill battle all by itself, but we struggle in a world of rebellion against God. We don't receive positive reinforcement from this world, from God's laws and God's values. We also struggle with the constant influence of Satan the devil on a daily basis. He's the God of this world and the prince of the power of the air.

In contrast, they, yes, will be carnal. They, yes, upon repentance, will receive God's Holy Spirit, but they will be living in a world that has positive reinforcement for them. They will be living in a world in which Satan has been put into a spiritual prison where he can no longer affect them on a daily basis and feed negativity into their minds like he does to us on a constant basis.

So, in contrast to us today, they will live in a world culture that is structured to support them, to love them, to nourish them in God's kingdom, and you will be the teacher who will be leading that effort. Their culture will provide positive reinforcement for everyone to allow each and every person to reach their God-given potential. So, to serve in this way for all of this to happen, it includes your role as one of God's elect, as one of God's saints in the kingdom of God. And it will all begin when Jesus Christ returns to this earth with his saints. That's why the upcoming Feast of Trumpets has so much meaning for us. That's why we value it. That's why we celebrate it as one of God's festivals. So, let us prepare to celebrate a great festival of trumpets this year. As Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, but whoever does and teaches them, he or she shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Keep marching forward. Keep growing. Keep using the power of God's Holy Spirit to develop the character that God wants in each and every one of us.

Have a wonderful Sabbath.