Why I want to be in God’s Kingdom

I want to introduce our special music, but before I do, I'll just mention our sermon today. We're very happy to have Mr. Gary Antion and his wife Barb here throughout the feast here this year in Branson.

Mr. Antion has a number of responsibilities at the home office. He directs the ambassador Bible curriculum or college there. He is on our council of elders. He's actually the deputy chairman for our council of elders. And he is the director of our educational programs here for the United Church of God. And so our our sermon this afternoon is going to be brought to us by Mr. Gary Antion. Well, good afternoon, everyone. It's sure nice to be here with you at the feast here in Branson, Missouri. What a wonderful time the Feast of Tabernacles is. It's sort of like what we look forward to all year long. It's the time that pictures the fulfillment of everything we've ever looked for and hoped for as far as Christians are concerned. The time when God's Kingdom will be here. What an exciting, wonderful time. And we're so glad my wife and I, our son-in-law and daughter, and our two grandchildren, and our son-in-law's father, we're all here to observe the feast with you. We thank you for the kindness you've already extended by meeting us, so many of you. I'm going to comment on the chorale. I want to thank them for the beautiful hymn that they just did, the beautiful song. Thank you for that and how much preparation and time it takes for them to get ready for us. How much behind-the-scenes work that they put into preparing to sing these songs to us. We have no idea, a three-minute song, how long it takes to prepare, and how many man hours is put into it in woman hours. Thank you for that. Thank you to Mr. Dobson and his staff for all the effort and work they've put into getting this ready for us to be able to enjoy. And I hope you're having a wonderful time here at the Feast of Tabernacles. I want to tell you something. Oh, let me tell you about the offering we did. We got up the offering. It was a wonderful offering. Thank you. On behalf of Jesus Christ and Mr. Aaron Dean, who looks after the finances, $40,594.20 was offered by 567 people today. So we thank you very, very much. And I want to thank all the people who helped us today. And I know there are many others who volunteered to help, but we right now have enough. So some of you, if we didn't contact you, we didn't really have your name. If you wanted to help out with the offering, you could see me on Monday, and I'll see whether or not we need any more. But I want to let you know that it came out perfect. So everything totaled perfectly, and we're very grateful for that. So we're thankful to all of you for what a generous offering this was. I have seen the kingdom. In fact, I've been to the kingdom.

Yes, I've been to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.

I can't see the hands out there, but others can see it. How many of you have been to either Disneyland, Disney World, Epcot Center, or one of those places? Put your hands up and wave them. Let everybody see how many of you have been to the kingdom, okay?

Do you know that Walt Disney employs 58,000 employees at Disney World alone? And those are people who bring things in, not direct employees, but direct employees at Walt Disney World in Florida, 20,000. And do you know that they're all told that the goal that they have is to bring joy, inspiration, and knowledge to those who come, also to help them laugh, play, and learn.

I got a quote from him what his plan was, his mission, in creating a Disney World.

In his world, everything is clean. Everyone is happy, and the family is highly valued.

This I received from amarids.blogspot.com 2009 slash 09 slash Walt Disney. Also, another quote from that same internet item, Americans have always dreamt of a utopian society where everyone gets their fair opportunity. That's what Disney World was all about. That's what Walt Disney wanted in any of his places. And in fact, they said everything that takes place there. Every movie that he does, every show turns out happy at the end, because he wanted to give people hope. When you think about it, isn't that what the kingdom is all about?

Isn't the kingdom about people coming together to rejoice? Isn't the kingdom about everybody coming together and being clean, having everything done in a clean and organized way? And did you know, another quote I read, that in Disneyland, if you've been to Disneyland in Southern California, do you wonder why those park benches on Main Street always look so nice? Do you know that two times a month they are stripped and repainted so that everybody gets the feeling and the sense that things are done decently and in order and with cleanliness? In 2009 alone, there were 68 million visitors to all Disney parks. 68 million. If you look up theme parks to see how many people go, Disney World, Disneyland, Epcot Center, and all those, they're like the top four or five of all the theme parks, Knott's Berry Farm and all the others, ahead of all those.

In the whole country, Disneyland or Walt Disney World was sort of like what God wants as the kingdom here. Only a whole lot better. I remember seeing a Disney logo when I was a kid and any time there was a Walt Disney logo, I knew it was going to be good. I knew it was going to be fun. I knew it was going to be filled with joy and happiness for me. God's kingdom is going to be all of this and more. God's kingdom is going to have order. God's kingdom is going to be done according to plan. God's kingdom is going to have a lot of variety and God's kingdom is going to be beautiful.

God's kingdom is going to be about service and care, which Walt Disney stressed among those whom he had serving with him. Let me share with you some comments about why we need to be thinking about God's kingdom. Some scriptures on this. Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10. Hebrews 11, verses 9 and 10. No one in this world could possibly duplicate what God is going to give us as a kingdom. And in fact, he says, I has not seen nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him. We can't even imagine. We could take our happiest day, our greatest day, the greatest happiness we've ever had and multiply it many times over. And we might get an idea of what God's kingdom is like. We might. But he says, I has not seen, neither ear heard. But he said, but with God's Spirit we can begin to understand.

We come to the Feast of Tabernacles every year to picture a time of being strangers and pilgrims in this land. For God tells us He wants us to rejoice with our families as we heard in the sermonette. He wants us to be able to spend time together. He wants us to create an attitude and atmosphere that's like unity and oneness that's clean and decent and good and considerate where we love our fellow man, where we live honestly, where God's laws mean something to us. Not just hearing them as we heard this morning, but doing them too. Hebrews 11 and verses 9 and 10. We read this about those who saw God's kingdom afar off. Hebrews 11 verses 9 and 10. Speaking about Abraham he says, by faith He sojourn in a land of promise as in a strange country. Dwelling in tabernacles or tents. Every time you read tabernacle, it does not always necessarily have to refer to the Feast of Tabernacles. It means tents or a temporary place. But He dwelled in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with Him of the same promise. And notice what He thought of that promise, for He looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is not Walt Disney, whose builder and maker is God. He looked for something that was better than what this world had. And this world has some nice things. This world has some beautiful things. This world has some nice shows. This world has some nice entertainment. This world has some nice places, but nowhere near what God has promised you and me. Verse 13, yet did they actually ever imbibe of those promises? According to the author of Hebrews, which I believe to be the Apostle Paul, verse 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. I hope we see them nearer than they saw them, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Verse 14, for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. They're looking for something better than what this country has to offer. They're looking for a better world. They're looking for a time when all people can live in peace and dwell in peace, when people can understand one God and worship that same God out of the same spirit and with the same language. That isn't here yet. Godspeed that day. Before coming to the feast, I had to ask myself, why do I want to be in God's kingdom anyway? Why do you want to be in God's kingdom?

It's perhaps a good question for each of us to answer, and I'm going to give you seven reasons why I want to be in God's kingdom, and perhaps some of them are the same reasons you would have for wanting to be in God's kingdom. Number one reason I want to be in God's kingdom is there's going to be new leadership, not leaders that stand up and say they want to destroy another country, not leaders that stand up and lie, not leaders that you can't trust, not leaders that make packs and forget about them, make promises, make treaties and don't keep them. I want to see new leadership, caring leadership, giving leadership, unselfish, truthful leadership, able leadership, and those who use authority properly, not use it or abuse it, but use it properly. Isaiah 11, we heard about him as it was sung in the chorale's number in Isaiah chapter 11 verses 1 to 10.

Isaiah chapter 11 in this new leadership area. Isaiah 11 verse 1, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Of course, David came out of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and Jesus Christ came through David. Verse 2, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. So whatever he is, he will help bring that knowledge, he will help bring that counsel, he will help bring a knowledge in a way that gives people the fear of the Lord. And verse 3, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes. How many of us judge too much? We always look to judge. That's judgmental. When you're always looking to put people down or criticize, you're judgmental. We all judge. You should be able to tell the difference between good and bad. You should be able to tell the difference between right and wrong.

But when you're looking at it in others, you become a judge instead of a doer of the law.

So he says he will not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. He doesn't have to, because he can see to the heart, and he can understand what motivates people to be the way they are, and you'll be able to as well. New leadership. I'm looking forward to seeing that new leadership in Jesus Christ and those who serve with him. Verse 4, But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.

Those people who need his intervention, he will be there for them. He shall smite the earth with the rot of his mouth, with the breath of his lips shall slay the wicked. All he has to do is say the word. He could liquefy people. All he has to do is say the word, and he could bring about any number of tornadoes, and you know what that's like here. It was amazing to drive through. I thought, why, that looks like some damage around here. And Mr. Dobson was showing me yesterday all these places around here as we drove through, and I said, that used to be this place, and this place used to be up, but it's been ruined. You know, God can do all that and more. And I don't say God did it to Branson. You know, any more than he did it to any other city. Any more than he did it, you know, is any other place worse than Branson? I don't think so. I think Branson, they're good people here.

You know, good people as far as the world is concerned. I don't think it's because they're so worse, so bad, a sinner, that somebody was overheard telling them, I guess, at the front, at the counter there, they were saying, whatever happened to that place? Who tore that down? They said, well, tornado hit, and they said, well, must be sinners. Must be sinners here. You know what?

Just look at yourself. Look in the mirror. You want to see a sinner? Look in the mirror.

You'll see one. And if you don't, you read 1 John 1, verses 8 and 9.

I mean, if we don't see ourselves, and again, don't judge. But his, he says, in righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness, the girdle of his reigns. In verse 6, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. Even the animals are going to be at peace. Calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. What a wonderful time that's going to be. The cow and the bear shall feed, and the young ones shall be drawn to get, to slide on together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the sucking child shall play on the whole of the asp, and the little, a weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. He'll be able to play around snakes, even poisonous snakes. They won't hurt him. And verse 9, they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. But not just knowledge to have it in your head, but knowledge to do. In verse 10, and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for and ends unto the people, a flag for the people to look to, a banner for the people, and to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest, which is another name for the feast, his rest shall be glorious. So there's going to be new leadership, and it's going to stem from Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah 23 verses 4 to 6, Jeremiah 23 verses 4 to 6, he talks about some false leaders, but then he goes to talks about some good ones. Jeremiah 23 verse 4, he says, and I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I've driven them, because that's the prophecy that before the end our peoples have to be taught some lessons.

And I will bring them again into their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase, and I will set up shepherds, here are the leaders in the world tomorrow, over them which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed. Neither shall they be lacking, says the Lord. You ever been in trouble, ever been in a place where you feel a little bit scared or fearful, and then somebody you know shows up beside you, stands beside you? How good do you feel when you have somebody standing beside you, standing with you? You feel pretty good, and shepherds are going to do that. He said in verse, he said, they'll feed them, they'll take care of them, there'll be no more dismayed, nor will they be lacking. Verse 5 and verse 6, Behold the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice on the earth. So we can be so grateful there's going to be a wonderful time, and in his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell safely. Now they're threatened with destruction, and this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. What leader in America could we call righteous?

What leader in the world can we call righteous? Now we did have Honest Abe, and we did have Winston Churchill, who are some pretty good leaders, but I don't know that you could call them righteous, not in the true sense of the word righteousness, but our Lord, the new leader, is going to be called the Lord our righteousness. David said, those who rule over men must rule in the fear of God, people who have God in their uppermost thought, and realize that they answer to him for everything they do.

And Moses said, in follow... Moses listened to his father-in-law, Jethro, who told him, you should appoint over them able men, those who fear God, those who are men of truth, and not covetous. So we find those words that wonderful world tomorrow will have leaders who care, new leadership. That's why I want to be in God's kingdom. I want to have leaders that I could admire, leaders that I could appreciate, and leaders that I know are truthful, righteous, honest, and caring. The second reason I want to be in God's kingdom is there will be new rules, new rules.

Jeremiah 31 verse 31. There will be new rules. The world has taken the law of God, as we heard this morning. The world's taken the law of God, many, and nailed it to the cross, as was said. But you know, I looked to see what was nailed to the cross, and there were only a couple things nailed to the cross. One was, this is Jesus. This man says he's the king of the Jews. That was that plate over his head.

And secondly was Jesus Christ. You know how they get that the law is done away? Because Jesus came and kept it for you. He never sinned. And so when you nail him to the cross, guess what you all sinned him? According to them. The law. That's the only way you nailed the law of the cross. The law was not nailed to the cross. Jesus was, and that plate over him. The only two things nailed to the cross. They didn't take the Old Testament nailed to the cross. They didn't take the Ten Commandments and nailed them to the cross.

There are going to be new rules in the world tomorrow. And those laws will not be done away. Jeremiah 31 verse 31. Behold, the days come. It's talking about the time which you're here to picture. Behold, the days come, says the Lord. I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. A new agreement. That's what covenant means. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I made with their fathers and the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant day broke.

Was the covenant bad or were the people bad? My covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them. I looked after them. I took care of them. I was faithful to them. And verse 33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall no more have to teach every man. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Do you know the Lord? How many times your people say that? Do you know the Lord, brother? Do you know the Lord, brother? Do you know the Lord, brother?

Well, they all know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more. There will be new rules. God's way of life. The way that you've been learning to try to live now. You're kind of a prototype of the kingdom of God, what it's going to be like.

God's not going to require one thing of you and something of others. And we don't keep the law to be saved. We keep the law because we want to walk with God. And where does God walk? He walks, leads you in the paths of righteousness.

If you hold His hand, and I hope you do every day, and you walk with Him, He leads you in the paths of righteousness. His law for you and me, His law is a way that teaches us love toward Him and love toward our fellow man. And boy, does this world need it. It needs both. It needs to learn how to love God and love their fellow man. We'll talk about that later. What about when man does it his own way? Remember Proverbs 14, 12, an old well-known scripture, there's a way that seems right to a man that the ends thereof are the ways of death. Man goes the way he thinks is right.

But what does that way do? It leads him to death. Proverbs 14, 12. Micah 4, verses 1-4. Let's turn there and read that scripture. Micah 4, verses 1-4. We read this, and in the last days it shall come to pass. See, there are going to be new rules that the mountain of the house of the Lord, God's kingdom, shall be established in the top of all the mountains. It shall be exalted above the hills. It will be above every large nation. It will be above every small nation. It shall be exalted above the hills. And people shall flow to it. Why are people going to flow to the kingdom of God?

In many nations, verse 2, shall come and say, come on, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways. Let's go up and worship God, and we will walk in his paths. For the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. There are going to be new laws. God's going to teach people his way. And the effect of that, verse 4, and they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it. They're not going to learn war anymore, verse 3 tells us that. They're going to be taking their implements of war and beating them into implements of peace. But I can tell you, I was in the ROTC for one year, and they showed us films of our former enemies killing our men, stabbing them to death, to try to get us to hate.

So if you went out to war, you could kill them!

There are going to be new rules, new laws. And don't we need some new laws? Right now, prayer is banned in the schools. When I was in school, they used to open the class with prayer. They used to read a scripture. Now, you can't do that. You can't mention God in the classroom. And you know what? Lying is expected. I have quotes here on cheating in high school.

Do you know among the results, this comes from livescience.com.

89% said, glancing at someone else's answers during a test was cheating. But 87% of that 89% said they had done it at least once. 94% said sharing answers with a classmate during a test was cheating. But 74% said they did it. Now, talk about... let me summarize it. It said the findings... and this comes from that same article, livescience.com. The findings back up previous research that some 80 to 90% of high school students cheat before graduation. 80 to 90%. And that was a 2007 study. Another study by a... anderman, the one who did this study, showed that about 21% of middle school students say cheating is unacceptable, yet still do it. 21% of those say, hey, this isn't right to cheat, but I do it anyway. Now, what about college? 75 to 98% of college students have cheated. In 1940, only 20% of college students admitted to cheating. Today, that number has increased to a range of 75 to 98%. What about adultery? Adultery, one in five mates, one in five mates in a monogamous relationship, have admitted to cheating. According to MSNBC, msn.com. Do we need new rules? Do we need people to subscribe to those rules and those teachings that are good for the family? Yes. And you know what else they're going to do during the millennium? They're going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, Zechariah chapter 8 verse 16. And they're not going to say, what are you doing? Well, that's Zechariah 14-16. Let's look at Zechariah 8-16 first. Zechariah 8-16. These are the things that you shall do. Listen to what's going to be done.

Speak every man the truth to his neighbor. Do you ever watch any criminal court or any court cases? They have the person stand up there, and he doesn't put his hand on a Bible anymore, but he puts his hand up in here, and he swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help him. And then what do they proceed to do afterwards? Question everything he says. What did he just put his hand up and swear to? What good was that? No good. They don't trust him anyway. Jesus Christ said, you know what, if you say yes, a Christian's word should be good.

If you say yes, I'll do it, it should be done. There will be new rules in the world tomorrow. They'll speak the truth, and they'll execute judgment of truth and peace in their gates. And then Zechariah 14, 16, it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem and God, and Jesus Christ, by the way, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. So you are a prototype of what lots of people will be doing when God brings new rules to this world. Number three reason why I want to be in God's kingdom. They're going to be new attitudes. New attitudes.

Do you ever be around people that are negative all the time? That they can't see good in anything?

That everything is downcast? That everything is dour with them?

They're not fun to be around. They're not nice to be around. I was watching Huckabee, and there was a lady on there who apparently did on Fox News program, Fox News Channel, was watching Huckabee, and there was a lady there who wrote a book on something about what you say can affect your life or how you say words of the words that you say and how it affects your life. And she said, if you say negative things, if you say downward things, your life is not going to be good.

It's not only is it going to hurt other people, it's going to hurt you.

She talked about trying to put some positivity into your life by looking for the good in life instead of looking for the evil. And instead of talking negatively, talk positively.

You know, Micah 6, verse 8. Micah 6 and verse 8 is a beautiful scripture, what God expects of us. Micah chapter 6 and verse 8.

Micah 6, verse 8, we read this.

He has showed me, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you?

What does God really want out of His people?

But to do justly, to do that which is right and good, to love mercy, and to walk humbly, with your God. Now those involve action and they involve attitude. They involve attitude.

You know, you get no more negatives from the loser because Satan the devil is a loser. And I'll tell you, if you look at the chart on feelings, you'll find there are a lot more feelings that are negative than are positive in the world. And Satan plays off of those negative feelings in our lives that cause us to feel negative about things when we should be feeling positive. Now that doesn't mean pie in the sky and Pollyanna approach that you never see anything that's wrong. You certainly should be able to tell the difference between right and wrong. It doesn't mean you gloss over wrong, but it does mean you look for good. It does mean you look for good. I'm going to read a couple of comments to you from Past Feasts. This one's from the Honorable Horace Caldwell, Director of Jekyll Island State Park Authority. This was several years back from our parent organization, formerly Worldwide Church of God. I cannot let this day pass, he wrote, without expressing to you personally. See, here's what an attitude will do. And for all the people in the state of Georgia, and especially for those who live on this lovely Jekyll Island, our thanks to you for permitting your delightful group to spend this past week here. It is extremely hard for a layman to tell you in words what it means to the people of Georgia and especially this island.

There was such a good spirit left with all of us who mingled and associated with your charming organization. Without a doubt, I've never seen a more perfectly organized group and no one so well handled by such outstanding people as your organization with whom we worked and who conducted the affairs of the meeting while they were here at Jekyll. He thanked us on behalf of all the people in Georgia. Now listen to the California Highway Patrol across the country. This is from the Commissioner, California Highway Patrol. We have noted with interest that the number of attending your annual event increases each year, which it did at one time. 150,000 people attended the Feast of Tabernacles, which increases every year, unlike almost every similar large-scale annual affair. Our personnel actually look forward to your people's presence. The unfailing courtesy, consideration, excellent demeanor, deportment, and cheerful cooperation is an extraordinary change from the problems we usually face with large groups of people. What a wonderful witness and what makes us different, not because you and I are any better, but God's Spirit is better than man's Spirit. And God's Spirit, united with your Spirit, gives you an attitude.

It gives you an attitude like Jesus Christ. I'll read you a third quote. This one comes from the Rhineland Inn in Mount Pocono. I am sending this letter to you to express how I feel about the festival that occurred here in the in the Pocono's between October 18th and October 26th. Your people exemplified everything one could possibly wish in another human being. Can you imagine, brethren, that because of your actions they have renewed hope in humanity and in the world tomorrow when that same Spirit prevails? Notice what else they said.

Yeah, he goes on to say in here, their patience, thoughtfulness, courtesies, and manners in young and old alike were beyond belief in this day and age.

It certainly restored my faith in humanity, and we can all learn a great deal from them.

And one final one from Arizona. This is when the feast was held in Tucson. Too often in this busy world people do not take time to express appreciation or compliment others for their achievements. But we at Pinnacle Peak in Tucson would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the Worldwide Church of God members for their continued patronage over the years you've held your convention. Your members are a delight to have as guests. They truly exemplify the adage of living your faith by their dignity, kindness, and obvious deep belief in their religion.

They have served as an inspiration to us all, as well as a credit to your organization.

I think those are precious, absolutely precious statements that are said about God's people. But is it because you and I are better than anyone else? Absolutely not. It's because God is better than anyone else. It's because God's Spirit in us is better than anyone else, not because we are.

There will be new attitudes in the world tomorrow. And you and I now have the opportunity to live them and live out that example now before others. Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36, verse 24. Ezekiel 36.

Ezekiel 36 and verse 24. He says, I will take you out from among the heathen and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you into your own land, and there I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, from all your idols, and I will cleanse you. A new heart and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. How joyful it is! And I'm privileged and honored, and by the way, I bring you greetings from the home office of Cincinnati. I'm privileged and honored to work there. What a privilege it is to work with people who are converted all day long. Whatever you ask, it's not too much for them. You never have to say, do this, do that, would you do, get busy and do this. You just say, hey, would you mind doing this? Oh, sure.

Oh, I need this then. Okay. What a joy that is. And expand that to the world tomorrow.

When everybody, everywhere, has that attitude. And it's the attitude of Jesus Christ, because let this mind be in you does not refer to the mental intellect. It does refer to the attitude. Let this attitude, let the way Christ looked on life, be the way you look on life. Let the way Christ looked on his relationship with God and fellow man. Let that be the way you look on your God and your fellow man. The right attitudes are going to be there in the world tomorrow. I can hardly wait. It is an attitude of give, as we read heard this morning, Acts 2028. It's an attitude by love serving one another. Can you not do somebody else in service? That's what it's about. So number three reason I want to be there is because there'll be new attitudes. Number four, there'll be new relationships. For the first time, people could have a relationship with God and Jesus Christ. Matthew 22, when asked what is the most important commandment in the law?

Matthew 22, they were trying to trip him up, except he tripped them up. In verse 36, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? And Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You need to love God fully and thoroughly and dynamically. And the second is just like it. This is the first one. Second is just like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. The whole of the teachings of the law and the whole of the teachings of the of the prophets all lead us, teach us to love God and love our fellow man. That's what it's about.

And when you come into that new relationship with God, you also come into a new relationship with your fellow man. Because if you don't get along with your fellow man, then don't tell me you love God. Because if you don't love man whom you have seen, how can you love God whom you haven't?

And that's a scripture for you, by the way. There will be God's way. We'll be here.

Mankind will learn to be like each other. And go back to Disney World for a minute.

What is one of my favorite rides in Disney World? You know what it is? It's not the roller coaster rides to Thunder Mountain. It's not those roller coaster rides or anything else. It's so exciting. You know what it is? Small world. You know what I like about small world?

And if you haven't been on it, Disneyland, you all get in this little boat, about eight or ten of you, and it takes this little cruise. You go down and they sing, it's a small world after all. And you go down this cruise around this little... And you see all these people from different nations. You see the doing the cha-cha in this land and doing the Parisian kick in this land and doing the skating from this country and all the different costumes. And then as you get to the end of the ride, you see them all doing the same thing. But guess what? They're all in white. They're all the same color. They're all same color clothing. They're all culturally brought together. And isn't that what God's going to do? Isn't His kingdom going to break in pieces and consume all these other kingdoms? Oh, He's not going to change them ethnically, except they become members of His family. But as long as they're physical human beings, they're going to start to come together and unify. Zephaniah 3, 9 says they're all going to speak the same language. They're going to all speak the same language so that they can communicate with each other. What a great time that's going to be in enemies who've hated each other for years. Isaiah 19. There are going to be new relationships there. Isaiah chapter 19 and verse 21. Traditional enemies like the Assyrians, like the Egyptians, and like the Israelis are going to all serve God together. Now, you talk about an awesome time.

Isaiah 19 verse 21. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt. Wouldn't that be good? Maybe we wouldn't have embassies burned. And the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day. And they shall do sacrifice and oblation. Yes, they shall, yes, they shall vow a vow to the Lord and perform it. They'll promise God something and He'll keep it. And the Lord shall smite the Egypt and He shall smite and heal it. They get out of line, He's going to smite them. And they shall return even to the Lord.

And He shall be entreated of them and heal them. When they talk to Him, He's going to heal them.

Verse 23. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria. Two major enemies with Israel in between when they were fighting each other. And there'll be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria. Not so the tanks could roll on it. And the Assyrians shall come into Egypt. And the Egyptian to the Assyrian. And the Assyrians shall serve with the Assyrians. Hey, let's go serve. There's a project down there. They're building a dam. Let's go help. Okay, I'll come and help you.

You talk about a world when people are going to get along new relationships. And it says in verse 24, God writes through Isaiah, in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria. It doesn't mean third importance. It's just saying a third nation. Even a blessing in the midst of them. As you know, Israel tried to buy off Assyria, tried to placate Egypt, tried to keep from being swallowed up by either one of them. And they were their enemies. Now they're going to all be one. And notice what he says. In that day shall Israel be a third with Egypt and Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless. Say, blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, my inheritance.

Talk about new relationships. When they'll come into Jerusalem and take the hold of him that is a Jew, and say, teach us of God because we've heard God is with you. Teach us we want to follow your God. And Jeremiah describes in Jeremiah 31, 12, and 13 the wonderful joy that there's going to be in that coming kingdom. Am I moving this too far forward? It looks a little bit crooked, but I'm again looking out here. I can't tell. All right, so new relationships. Number five. Number five reason I want to be in God's kingdom is new health. New health. When I read in Acts 3 verses 1 to 8, I read about a man who was lame for 40 years before he was healed. Of course, Bostel's caught a lot of flack for healing this man, but nonetheless he was healed.

What happened during those previous 40 years? How many people picked on him when they walked by and said, oh, you're a fake. I'm not going to give you anything as he sat there with his cup in his hand or whatever he did. I'm not going to give you anything. Get up and walk. What's wrong with you? You slouch or whatever. How many things have been said about him? I know when I was in grade school and middle school and high school, very few people wore glasses. I didn't start wearing glasses till I was in grade 11, but I had a friend of mine who wore glasses in junior high school, and everybody teased him and called him four eyes and made him feel bad. How many people were picked on because they had a limp or had a club foot? How many people were put down because of certain infirmities? How many people's lives were impacted negatively because of illnesses, because of sickness, because of what somebody else did to them? The world tomorrow, there's going to be new health.

People are going to be well. Look at Isaiah 33 verse 24. Isaiah 33 verse 24. And the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick. The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. No longer are they going to say, I'm sick. They're not going to be sick anymore.

In Isaiah 35, you'll get down and read how the land is going to be healed. But verse 5, he says, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

You know, how about people who've never seen their family? I remember one blind couple in Canada.

They lived over in London, Ontario. We went and visited them. They were in my area when I served in Canada. And whenever I visited them, and they would ask you what you wanted, I was amazed. They found what you want. I think I'll have, do you want Sprite or do you want Coke? Well, they can't see. I'll have Sprite or whatever. So they went to the refrigerator. They knew where they put somebody put the Sprite. So they could take the Sprite and bring it out to us. It was amazing. And they had a little girl who could see. They couldn't see her. They could only feel her.

What a joy it's going to be when people are healed of all their infirmities, of any infirmity, verse 6. He says, in the lame shall leap like a heart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.

People who can't talk are going to have that tongue unleashed. For in the wilderness shall waters break out in streams in the desert. What a great time that's going to be. In verse 10 says, the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. And they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. You're not going to have any more no-smoking zones because there's not going to be any smoking in the kingdom.

You're not going to have any drug clinics. You're not going to have any EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, because the world is going to be protected. You're going to have clean air to breathe. When I lived in California for a number of years and I'd go out on a visit to outside California, my lungs had a hard time surviving without all the smoke that I was used to breathing. I was actually, my lungs were actually starting to say, you're giving me fresh air for a while, sir?

And I returned to California again to breathe. And some days I can tell you it was almost unbearable.

And even though they got rid of the look of haze, they still had haze. The smog that settled there.

God is going to clean up the cities. There will be cities. They'll rebuild the waste cities. God's going to clean them up. People are going to drink good water, clean water. People aren't going to just throw anything anywhere. When I was a kid, we had oil. What do you do with this oil? I just dig a hole in the ground and dump it in. I thought I could hurt anything. Oh, right. Just goes to the water table and ends up hurting things. We didn't know that. A lot of things have been done to our earth that have hurt people. Pesticides. Now they're finding out that some of these bees are dying.

Hives of bees are dying off because they go out and get pollen from the corn and they come back and die because the corn has absorbed all the pesticides and puts it out again in its blossoms or whatever. And when the bees go out and get it, they're dying. We don't realize how much this world has contributed to the sickness and ill health. We'll cover that coming up in a moment. But once again, how many people's lives have been altered because of sickness and disease? How many people would have been different in their lives without what's happened to them health-wise?

In the kingdom of God, new health. Point number six. Reason why I want to be in God's kingdom. There's going to be a new world. There's going to be a world, as we read, that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. You're going to say, I can put my stock in this world because this is going to be God's world. Isaiah 51 verse 3 tells us it's going to be like the Garden of Eden.

Isaiah 51 and verse 3. For the Lord shall comfort Zion. He will comfort all of her waste places.

He will make her wilderness like Eden. I don't know what Eden looked like, but I imagine since God made it, it must have been pretty spectacular. I've been to Kew Gardens in England, and I've been to some pretty fancy gardens in California. The Arboretum off of Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia. I've been not there. I've been to different gardens that are beautiful. Versailles, the hanging gardens of Versailles. I've been there. But what did the Garden of Eden look like? I have no idea, except I know if God did it. It was beautiful. He said when He creates this world, when He recreates it for us, after all the calamities are going to occur between now and His kingdom, it's going to be beautiful. There's going to be a beautiful world. He said, I'll make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein and thanksgiving and the voice of melody. You'll be there in the midst of it. You'll want to sing.

Wow, this is beautiful. Wow, how great is this? A new world is coming. Joel 2, verse 21.

Joel chapter 2, verse 21. The world itself is going to be new. It's going to be transferred by God into a beautiful place, taking away all the smog and all the rottenness that's there and making it a beautiful place. Joel chapter 2, verse 21. Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things. Don't be afraid, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring. How about the guy who jumped off that one ride so he could see what it was like to pet a tiger? He has to wait for the millennium and you can have your own tiger. You don't have to jump off and get mauled. Now, I am impressed by Christian the Lion, and if you've never seen it, you can look on YouTube, put in Christian the Lion. These two British guys had this cub that they were somebody either abandoned or whatever, and they raised it in their apartment, this lion cub. They exercised it out on this religious retreat area where they allowed them to do it, but it was getting too big to keep it in an apartment. So they put it in a reserve, gave it to a reserve in Africa, and after about a year, they decided to go see how that cub was.

It was now grown up, it was a male, and when they went to ask about where it was in that reserve, the keeper there, he said, oh, it's probably turned wild by now. You'll be in danger. Well, they said we want to see. So they went and they actually stood in there in the area where that lion was, and all of a sudden in that video you see this lion starting to looking down, and it starts to walk, and then it starts to grow faster and faster, and it comes up and it jumps up and it hugs them, wraps its paws around their neck, and puts its head right by their face and hugs them and plays with them, and then it brings its mate that those guys never knew, and the mate stands there and lets them pet it, because those guys cared for that lion.

That lion didn't forget. I think it's amazing what animals have the capability of doing.

It brought tears to my eyes. I mean, you read it, you see it, you can't believe it, and they wrestled with it, and they held on the lion with play with them, paw them, play with them, never scratch them. I had cats on our farm. That's all we had. 13 cats, no cattle, no dogs, no horses, just cats, but for some reason or another we ended up having cats. The one mother cat had lots of litters, and they had lots of litter anyway.

That one mother and some of the others, once I domesticated them, they would never hurt me. And when I'd be petting them, if they wanted me to pet them again, they'd put their claws, they're not their claws, they're paws on me, but they would never scratch me. They would just put their claws out enough to pull my hand back to petting them, but they would never scratch me, because they knew me. You think about what a world it's going to be when all these beautiful animals are going to be tame. That's what God says. It's His world.

And when two men have to carry a cluster of grapes, and you can order a half a grape for breakfast.

I didn't say grapefruit. You don't have to section it. I'll have a half a grape, please.

What a wonderful time that's going to be. God's going to make good things happen. Verse 22, He says, Don't be afraid, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad, then, you children of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the former rain moderately. And isn't that nice? The best sprinkler that you can ever invent is rain.

It gets everything. I had sprinklers when I lawned gets dry. I had to run around the lawn about five different places. I had to move these sprinklers in order to get my whole lawn. I said, God, please send the sprinkler from the sky. And when it rains, it gets everything. Rain and dew season is such a wonderful blessing. He talks about the fig tree bearing its fruit trees bearing their fruit. He talks about, in verse 24, the floors shall be full of wheat and fats, shall overflow with wine and oil. Now will we soar to you the years the locust has eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the pommel worm in verse 26. And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the Lord your God that has dealt wondrously with you and my people shall never be ashamed. In verse 27, and you shall know that I am the Lord in the midst of Israel, that I am the Lord your God and none else in my people shall never be ashamed. Wow! A new world, a wonderful world that God has in store for us. And finally, the seventh reason I want to be there, is there's going to be new life. New life. What will it be like to be changed?

I can remember standing at a cemetery doing a funeral of a lady who was in the church, her husband wasn't, most of her family wasn't. But I just felt particularly inspired as I looked around and saw all those graves and I said, we believe in the resurrection. We believe one day, because Jesus Christ said everybody in their grave are going to hear the trumpet call.

It might not be the first trumpet call, but they're going to be awakened out of their graves.

I said to them, could you imagine what it's going to be like to be standing here in all these graves open? And people pop out of those graves standing up with whatever they had on when they were buried. Some of them would say, you buried me in this?

It's going to be a wonderful time. It's going to be a wonderful time when people are changed to spirit. What will it be like when you are changed? When you come out of the grave not to be in physical clothing anymore, but to be spiritually clothed with honor and glory and righteousness and goodness from God. What a great time that's going to be. 1 Corinthians 15, 50, describes it.

1 Corinthians 15, 50.

You know, at Disney World, their plan is to help all people. That's what they want. They want those 20,000 workers to be able to give and serve and help others. Help others enjoy life. And I watch, sometimes, that I'm waiting for my family coming off one of the rides that maybe I didn't go on, and I look at people coming off those rides, Space Mountain. And I look at the smiles on their faces they come out, and I can almost everyone has a smile. They're happy because people are serving them, looking after them, helping them. In 1 Corinthians 15, 50, we read, Now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does the corruption inherit incorruption. You can't be in the kingdom in this flesh. Behold, I show you a mystery shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And what is it? It's to be like Christ. It's to be changed. We're not going to be looking like some dragon or some elephant or some giraffe. We're going to be changed to spirit.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. Verse 54, So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, this mortal shall put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting, and O grave, where is your victory? Have you lost loved ones lately? I send you my condolences. We lost a very lovely friend who was an ABC student.

I think it was 2005. He was a wonderful man from South Africa. Just died, just before the feast.

We're going to see him again. He won't be corruptible anymore. He's a great guy.

So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Verse 56, The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. When you sin, the wages of sin is death, but not just the first death, that's the second death, too.

Verse 57, But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We will be changed. We will be part of the family of God. It's his desire to bring many sons and daughters to glory. 1 John 3 is the scripture I was mentioning to you. 1 John 3, verses 1 and 2.

1 John 3, verses 1 and 2, we read this, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons or the children of God. The word there is technon. It's not just men. It's technon. It's children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it does not know him. And yet, they recognize there's something different about you. They recognize I know Mr. Wasselkopf's daughter and a couple of other ABC students in 2000 worked at Staples.

And when they went to that store, it was like 198 out of 204 in the whole region.

And after they worked there, it came up to number four. When they visited that area, they found some of those girls working in the cash registers and working in the...they rated them perfect.

You know what the manager of that store said for several years?

Anybody who applies from ABC, accept them. Even though they can't work on Friday night and Saturday, accept them. He recognized there was something different about those students. It wasn't ABC, and it wasn't the law. It wasn't the teaching. It was God in them and God with them that made the difference. People will see a difference. There is a new life that we can have. So he says, the world doesn't know you now because it doesn't know him. But it recognizes there's something different about you. In verse two, Behold, now you are the...we are the sons or children again, children of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. That's a new life, for we shall see him as he is. Philippians 3, 21 says, our bodies are going to be changed, made like his glorious body. A new life to think that you'll be able to help people for eternity, to think you'll never get tired. I'm 71. I get tired from time to time. I try to have good energy, but I still get tired from time to time. What a great thing it'll be to be able to work and never get tired, to be able to serve people for all eternity, to make their day better. And brethren, I really hope at this feast you'll do something to make somebody's day. Did you let them see that you're different as was brought out? That you'll help make a difference, whether it's just by saying thank you, whether it's by being courteous, whether it's by letting somebody in, whether it's by giving a nice tip to somebody because they did a good job for you, whether it's just being complimentary, or whether it's seeing somebody out there in the audience who might say, you know what, that person looks a little lonely. I think next time, and I sit near them the last few days, maybe I'll sit near them next time, I'm going to buy them a little card or a box of candy, a little box of candy and give it to them, say, I just want you to enjoy the feast here. And we do all that with each other. We're learning how to do it for the world tomorrow, too.

Think about it. Think about it. We have a new life, but it's not a new life just for us. And the one thing I love about God's Church, I'm not in the Church, save my own skin. Maybe when I first heard the world tomorrow, I wanted to save my own skin. That's not why I'm here. I'm here because I hope I can help other people save their skin in the world tomorrow. I hope you are, too.

So I want to be in God's Kingdom. I hope you do. I've given you seven reasons. New leaders that are honest and capable, new rules that are based on the law of love from God, new attitudes, a positive outlook, new relationships, write with God and write with fellow man, new health, no more sickness and disease, new world, a better earth, and new life, God's Spirit, and His way of life. But you see, not only do I want to be there, the world's waiting for God, too. One final scripture, Isaiah 25. Isaiah chapter 25.

Isaiah chapter 25 verse 7. He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people. Satan the devil has done his job well as the God of this world. He's deceived the world. He's made them think you go to heaven. He's made them think you become a join the world soul. He's made them think you don't go anywhere. He's made them think you don't have to believe in anybody. Or you can make God in your own image. He's going to destroy that covering cast over all people and that veil that is cast over all the nations. Verse 8. And he, God, will swallow up death and victory. The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will rebuke of His people. He'll take away from off all the earth. For the Lord has spoken it. In verse 9. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God. We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. That's why I want to be in God's kingdom. I hope you do too.