Herbert W Armstrong

   I want to ask one question, though, before I launch into the sermon. I've used enough filler time here. I'm not accustomed to speaking very long, so I try to fill in all I can. That's why usually when I preach, they always sing songs with two verses. You ever notice that? Every song they pick when I preach is two verses. Don't ever sing any of the long ones. They want to get out in a hurry and eat early, I guess.

   Anyway, just for the sake of others who are here, how many of you, as far as the feast days, counting Pentecost and Trumpets and Atonement and the first day and last day of Unleavened Bread, which in a total ends up being thirteen days — just the Feast of Tabernacles plus these other days — so how many of you are the feast days the only vacation you get in a whole year? Just the feast? See your hands. I'd say that's at least one-third of all the people here.

   Well, how do you think that makes God feel when He looks down and sees people who work fifty weeks out of the year, and the only vacation time they have, they go off down somewhere and listen to a bunch of preachers for eight days, or thirteen days actually? You think God doesn't appreciate that? God doesn't realize that? You know how long it's taken God to get as many people as we have right here to be willing to keep God's laws and keep God's holy days and follow God's tithing laws? Well, six thousand years. God hadn't had people who've been willing to be conquered by God and obey God and serve God the way they should. So I'll tell you for sure, God looks down at the Feast of Tabernacles time and He is very, very much delighted and pleased and happy and just to see this many people willing to live His way.

   Well, the time's coming that's going to increase. That's my job to tell you about that today.

   Back in Daniel, chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7. Here we've got some millennial verses that I've got "1000" written right across. Verse 13 (Daniel 7:13): "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him."

   So here's the day in history when God Almighty, the Father, in whose hands only the time is — you know, Jesus said back in Matthew when they were talking about the signs of His coming and the end of the age, when he began to show them things that they could look for, he said, "But the times and seasons aren't given into man's hands to know. Man won't know the day and the hour." He said, "They're not even in my hands, but only in the Father's hands."

   So here's that day right here, verse 13. God the Father looks down on this earth and sees that He better do something quick, because look what man's about to do to this globe and human life that God put here. So here he is, the Son of man being brought before God the Father. "And there was given the Son of man dominion, glory, a kingdom" — singular, one world government — "a kingdom that all people, nations and languages" — brown or black, white or yellow, all people, China, Russia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Germany, all nations, all languages — "shall serve him."

   In that singular kingdom, when Christ takes his glory and his dominion and comes ripping down through the skies and takes over this earth — and you celebrated that back on the Feast of Trumpets. You celebrated the bringing of the world back to at-one-ment with God, and now this Feast of Tabernacles pictures that time of God ruling on this earth. "His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away." It's not like world governments that rise and fall, that get toppled, that get overthrown by following one. This is everlasting that will not pass away. "His kingdom, which shall not be destroyed."

   Now verse 18 (Daniel 7:18). He's talking here in the intervening verses about these four human governments pictured like wild animals. It's kind of interesting when Nebuchadnezzar saw human government, it was beautiful, glorious, huge statue of gold and silver. But when God showed Daniel human governments, a bunch of wild animals. So after he showed him these four wild beasts, he says verse 18, "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom."

   There's a lot said in that verse. Maybe you didn't even realize saints were referred to in the Old Testament. But the saints of God are going to take the kingdom. Not going to be easy. You think when God assigns you your five cities and you go charging off in your spirit makeup and arrive in these five cities and you say, "I'm Bill Smith, Elohim," they're gonna say, "Yeah, I'm George Washington," you know? They're not gonna believe you or anything, 'cause you're gonna have to make yourself visible to them in order for them to be able to know that you're really there.

   But what's gonna happen when you go running off to take over your inheritance? You know, there are chapters in your Bible that tell you what it's gonna be like. We're gonna read those too. But notice that says the saints of the Most High are going to have to take the kingdom. Christ is gonna have to take the governments of the world. They're gonna try to fight Christ at his coming. They're gonna have the idea that he is some kind of an invader from Mars. They're gonna have the idea that he's the Antichrist when he really is the Christ.

   So the saints are going to have to take the kingdom and possess the kingdom. That's gonna be a job. You ever wonder why the millennium has to be a thousand years? You know, it never hurt me as much for the millennium to be a thousand years as when my dad died. I stood on his grave and did a funeral and realized I wouldn't see him again for a thousand years 'cause he wasn't in the church. And I got to thinking, "Well, God, why a thousand years? Why do I have to wait so long?" Then you know, when my ninety-two-year-old grandmother died who lived with us and was like another member of our family, I thought, "Now a thousand years before I even get to see them." And no longer than I've lived, it seemed like a long time, but a thousand years — why in the world would God make you wait a thousand years to see your dead loved ones?

   Because it's going to take that long. That's why. A lot of us have the idea that when we're sons of God, we'll just wave our magic wands and we'll have a fairyland all of a sudden. I've got news for you. You better brace yourself, that's not gonna happen. You're gonna have to take the kingdom and you're gonna have to possess the kingdom. They're not gonna come out bowing before you and Allah and, you know, and just say, "Oh, thank God you're here and we could hardly wait for you," and oh no no. I've got news for you. That ain't going to happen. So if you've got the pacifist attitude that a Christian is just a goody-goody, you're gonna have some surprises.

   Now notice verse 21 (Daniel 7:21). Now he's been talking about the little horn with a big mouth, which is kind of a dead giveaway that is. It's a religious power that rules over governments of men. And that same horn has lived and existed longer than any other dynasty. It's kind of interesting that that horn sprang up way back there in the days of the Fourth World Empire and exists all the way down until Christ returns. Now you tell me some dynasty that's been around that long.

   Well, look at verse 21: "The same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them" — the same power that martyred them in the Middle Ages, that martyred them in the 31 ADs on down, the 33s and 50 ADs and 69 ADs. The same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them "until the Ancient of Days came."

   So once Christ intervenes — and they're both Ancient of Days, they're both eternal, they're both ever-living. So here the Ancient of Days is the Messiah returning. So that little horn is going to martyr until the Ancient of Days came, "and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High." It doesn't say you are judged. It says judgment was given to the saints. You're given the job of judging. You're made to judge. You exercise judgment. You're going to be over cities or counties or states or countries. And you're going to be kings and priests. You're going to be judges.

   In the last year I was in Big Sandy teaching at Ambassador College, I had the opportunity — a guy called from the Dallas city colleges and asked if I would come up and give them a talk in their religion classes about Armstrongism. I said, "Yeah, I sure will be glad to," 'cause I'd rather they get it straight from the horse's mouth than from the other ways they seem to get it. But I went up and talked to their religion classes. The college had twenty-three thousand students there.

   Well, a little later on, I got a call from the Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary — that's what it is. I get mixed up at times and want to say what Dr. Dorothy used to say, the "theological cemetery where they bury the truth," but — anyway, it was the Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. That's what it was, in Fort Worth, and they wanted me to come over there, so I was talking about Armstrongism, what they call it anyway.

   And I said, "Well, you know, we understand the purpose of man is to be in the family of God and rule in God's kingdom in the world tomorrow and to take this world and teach them God's ways." He said — one guy raised his hand and I acknowledged him. He said, "Where in the world did you get that idea?" I said, "Well, just out of the Bible." And so I turned over here and I showed him that the apostles are going to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel and man's going to rule, and he kind of scratched his head and then he said, "Well, you know, I've been a Methodist all my life and I never heard that before." Well, you know, it's been there all this time, right there in the scriptures — where it's the best place to hide things like that.

   But anyway, notice what that verse 22 says (Daniel 7:22): "The Ancient of Days came and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High," and notice what this is. This ought to make you quake in your boots. "The time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." It's a matter of time. It's not a matter of whether you and I are here. It's not a matter of whether you and I make it. It's not a matter of whether we're ready. The time's coming and it might be a lot sooner than you think. The time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

   What are you gonna do with it? You know, how are you gonna handle it? Are you ready for that? What if today was the end of man's world and all of a sudden you were sent out over your five cities? Boy, I'm afraid some of us would get Brumley and Iberia and some of these little towns right here close in Missouri. That might be easier. What if you get five cities in India? You're running into a bunch of Hindus over there and you say, "Look, forget about all that. The God of the Christian religion, the God of the Bible is a real God." You say, "Oh yeah, who are you kidding?" They're not going to just bow and automatically submit to your instruction.

   Notice on down in verse 26 (Daniel 7:25-26). Here again he's talking about the little horn with the big mouth in verse 25 and how he's going to think he's changed the law and how he thinks he's juggled and gotten a Roman calendar instead of God's calendar. But in spite of all the efforts of this little horn, verse 26 says, "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end."

   So that little horn is going to be overthrown at the time of the end, and we're going to take away his dominion. We're going to consume and destroy his dominion. "And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven" — not up in heaven, right down here on this earth. You know, man wants to mess up the earth and then escape and get off somewhere else and mess up another place. You're not going to do that. We're going to clean this place up for a thousand years.

   And if you don't think it's in that bad a mess, then you don't really understand the millennium. According to God's judgment, this human earth is going to be in such a bad shape by the time the millennium comes that it's going to take a thousand years just to clean it up. Isn’t gonna be any magic wand waving and all the air is pure, magic wand and all the water is pure, magic wand and all the different religions become Christian uh no, no. Gonna take a thousand years. It's not going to be done just all at once.

   Well, he says here, "The kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions" — all rulers — "are going to serve and obey him." Chinese, Russians, Japanese, Mexicans, Africans, all dominions are going to serve and obey the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

   Now I don't know why we haven't really realized this many times before. You might notice back here in Matthew 19, verse 28. Scan a few verses here in Matthew right quick. Matthew 19, verse 28. Verse 27 (Matthew 19:27-28), Peter says, "Lord, look, we've forsaken all, and we followed you. What are we gonna have therefore?" Then Jesus said to them, "Verily I say to you, you who have followed me in the restoration" or "regeneration, when we begin to restore and regenerate God's creation on this earth, in the restoration or regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, you also" — Peter, James, and John, Matthew — "you're going to sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

   Now don't spiritualize that away. That means just what it says. I don't know who's going to be over America. Sometimes I think you'll have to take a Peter to be over America. Sometimes I think maybe the British would be better off with Peter. I don't know. Somebody's going to need him. Somebody's gonna need John too, and somebody's gonna need a — maybe a tax collector would be better for America like Matthew. He'd probably feel more at home, wouldn't he?

   But anyway, it's kind of fun to speculate on which one of those twelve will be over which tribe, it doesn’t say. But I know, and I know that I know, in spite of all the politicking and all the running for office, in a few years, Peter's gonna be there. Not a Kennedy and not a Carter and not a Nixon and not a giant Texan or somebody, but Peter, James, and John. And all the politicking isn't gonna change it, isn't going to undo it, isn't going to prevent it, because when the time comes for the saints to possess the kingdom, there's no power that's gonna stop it. And the twelve apostles are going to sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

   That's going to be hard for them to do if all twelve tribes are little podunk Judah over in Palestine. Can you imagine that? You won't find prophecies at the end time dated or said at that time picturing all the twelve tribes amalgamated into one little bitty podunk country over in Judah. That's a big farce and a big laugh. If you want to have a good fight, you just send the twelve apostles over there to Palestine and say, "There you go, boys, have at it." They don't know what tribes where. They don't know they're even tribes.

   Now I know there's a couple of other places here in Matthew chapter 8. Matthew 8:11: "And I say to you, many are going to come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens." And that's the way it's always translated in the Greek there in Matthew. The Jews always referred to the coming government of God as the kingdom of the heavens. You know that's the Jews. The book of Matthew was primarily written as the gospel to approach the Jewish people. A lot of people say the original is written in Hebrew.

   But anyway, they were aware. They always expressed — in fact, you can read in the Jewish encyclopedia, they talk about the kingdom of the heavens all the time in there. And they certainly didn't believe in going to heaven. They knew that Christ was coming or a savior or a ruler to the earth.

   But here he says we're going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You can tell them by their name tags, I guess. No, no. Abraham's gonna be Abraham. Isaac's gonna be Isaac. Jacob's gonna be Jacob. You're gonna be stuck with your kisser forever, so you might as well get to liking it. You know, God ain't gonna change your appearance. Nobody recognize you. Thankfully, as you get older, changes though, but maybe not for the better. But you know you're gonna be recognizable. You're gonna be the same person in the kingdom of God. We're not gonna be robots with all one face and a name tag, so everybody will know each other. That verse says you'll sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. That means just what it says. You shouldn't spiritualize it away.

   Notice back in Matthew chapter 11. Matthew 11:12: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens suffers violence." Now how could that ever be? Really what he's trying to get across there is that the only way you get into the kingdom of the heavens is by vigor and energy and dynamics, power. You can't float into the kingdom of God. You're not gonna just accidentally make it. You're not going to just drift into it.

   It's a good thing God is really awakening the church, making us realize we've gone to sleep and we've become slack and lazy, and there's been the Laodicean spirit that's come into people and the cares of the world have choked the word and all the activities on television. You know, whatever you like the best on television is going to be more and more on television and hook you, and you're not going to have time to get ready for God's kingdom. But I'll tell you, God's kingdom is entered by a man of force and vigor and drive and energy. Not accidentally, not just happenstance.

   Noticing again in chapter 12. Matthew 12:25. Here Jesus, knowing the thoughts of the disciples, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. Every city or every house divided against itself shall not stand."

   But, you know there isn't going to be room in God's kingdom for too much variation. You get tired of a world where you go across the county line and, you know, one place you can drink and one you can't, and one you can drink on Sunday and one you can't, and one you can drink till midnight and one you can't, one you can dance in, one you can't, and one you can — you know, it's kind of ridiculous by all the variation.

   God's kingdom isn't gonna be like that. You know, we're not gonna have the hard-shellers over in that area and the soft-shellers over in that area. We're not gonna have the conservatives over here and the liberals over there, the hard-nosers over here, not there over here. That's where the ministers are over there. Anyway, I can guarantee you this: God's kingdom will not be divided against itself. There are going to be basic standards beyond which you're not going to be allowed to practice and have opinion and have your own error. God's kingdom will not be divided, not any city or not any house either, in God's kingdom.

   Chapter 13. Matthew 13. This time verse 43 (Matthew 13:43): "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear? Let him hear. In other words, that isn't meant for someone who isn't converted. That isn't meant for someone whose ears haven't been opened to hear the truth. People won't believe that. You can preach funerals. You can tell people all you want to that man was born to be in the God family. "Blasphemy," they'll say. Well, that's what it says in the Bible. The righteous shall shine forth as the sun. Spiritualize that away. That just means you got an ear-to-ear smile when you think about God? That isn't what it says and that isn't what it means. The righteous are going to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. And if you have ears that hear, you'll hear that.

   Notice back in Daniel chapter 12. Daniel chapter 12. Here again in an end-time setting. Verse 2 says (Daniel 12:2), "Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." So this isn't a universal resurrection of everybody. It's just many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth awake. Some awake to everlasting life. That's the first resurrection. Some awake to shame and everlasting contempt, and that's the third resurrection. But he doesn't say anything in here about the second resurrection. In that verse he's just talking about the first and the third because he doesn't say all, he says many of those that sleep.

   Now notice what happens to the ones who are raised: "And they that be teachers, they that be wise, they that be qualified, they that be Bible-founded enough shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. And they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever."

   I don't think most of us really believe that or really realize that when you go out at night and you see the stars. I wonder what they're all doing out there. What are they for? What's their purpose? Well, at this time, at least, their main purpose is to help you to see when we're sons of God, we're going to shine like the stars. I'm afraid the way some of us study and pray and learn God's word and live God's way of a Christian life, people are gonna get on a mountain with a telescope and just see way off and says, "That guy ain't that the little bitty dim star," and — can you imagine that happening?

   I'll tell you, the Bible says plainly: "They that be wise" — in other words, the more of a teacher you're prepared to be, what decides your reward in God's kingdom anyway? How does God know whether to put you over five little cities or five huge cities or a county or a state or a country? How does God know where to put you? Well, it depends on how much you're prepared, how much you know God's word, how strong a spirit being you're going to be. They that be wise, that be teachers, shine as the brightness. They that turn many to righteousness.

   Now that doesn't mean for you to go out on the street and cram your religion down somebody's throat. God commands you to not cast your pearl before the swine or give what's holy. God tells you to be ready to give an answer when somebody asks. So it isn't contradicting that here. How do you turn many to righteousness? Well, actually, the more involved you are in the work and the more part you have in the work, maybe the more magazines you're helping to send out and the more booklets you're helping to send out and the more of the truth you're helping to get out, they that turn many to righteousness are going to shine as the stars forever and ever.

   Now back in I Corinthians 15. I've always used this in every funeral because people just never imagine what man's purpose is. They never imagine that God is literally going to change humans into sons of God and make them shine like the brightness of the firmament.

   I Corinthians 15:35: "Some man's going to say, 'Well, say, how are the dead raised up? With what body do they come?'" Well, he said that's kind of foolish because look at God's creation. You sow a wheat kernel, comes up grass. You sow an oat kernel, it comes up grass. No matter what kernel you sow, it just comes up a bunch of grass. But then all of a sudden that grass makes a head, and then all of a sudden there are wheat kernels up there. So what does that teach you as a spirit being? Well, ultimately you're going to be the same, you know, just like the wheat kernel ends up being wheat.

   But he says, "That which you sow isn't quickened except it die, and that which you sow, you don't sow the body that shall be." You just sow a wheat kernel, it turns to grass and then comes back to wheat. God gives the wheat kernel its body and the rye and the oat as it pleased God, and to every seed God's given its appropriate body, whether it's corn or whatever.

   Now in the same way with the resurrection, "All flesh is not the same flesh. There's one flesh of men, another of beasts, another fish, and another of birds." You know that verse by itself wipes out evolution. You want to disprove evolution? There's that they did it right there. All flesh is not the same flesh. You can't turn fish flesh into bird flesh, and you can't turn bird flesh into beast's flesh, and you can't turn beast flesh into human flesh either. Your body can. You can eat all those and it just keeps you rebuilt, keeps building new cells in you, but all flesh isn't the same flesh.

   "There are also heavenly bodies and bodies earthly. But the glory of the heavenly is one and the glory of the earthly is another. There's one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, because one star differs from another star in glory." Look what he says: "So also is the resurrection of the dead." So one resurrected saint is going to differ in glory from another resurrected saint. And God has some fairly interesting chapters in the Bible about humans becoming saints.

   Boy, you talk about something to celebrate. Can you imagine how you're going to feel when you finally get rid of that old wretched human carnal nature you've got? When you just take off up in the air and God just zaps you into a spirit being and you leave that chunk of dirt down there on the ground? You think how you're gonna celebrate when that happens? Boy, I'll tell you there are chapters in the Bible written about that.

   Notice back here in Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59:20: "The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob." In other words, to God's people, to God's church, to God's sons-to-be. The Redeemer is going to come to them that turn from transgression. "As for me, this is my covenant with them," so we're the ones in the new covenant right now with God, those who are baptized and having God's law written in their heart and turning from transgression. So God says, "This is my covenant with them: my spirit that's upon you and my words which I've put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed," says the Eternal, "from henceforth and forever."

   And you know that actually suggests that some of our children and some of our grandchildren, we are going to go right on living God's truth, maybe even humanly into the kingdom, into the world of tomorrow. You know, who do you think is going to be the physical examples or the physical leaders — not rulers, they're gonna all be spirit beings. But God says here, the very truth of God, the words of God, the words that He's given through Isaiah are going to not depart out of the mouth of our seed, nor out of the mouth of our seed's seed.

   And chapter 60 shouldn't really begin here because this ties right in with the last two verses above. "Arise, shine, for your light is come, and the glory of the Eternal is risen upon you." You know that's a picture of the exact time when Christ comes back and gives you the command to rise, shine, and all of a sudden instead of a bunch of human beings on the earth waiting for Christ's return, we're going to start going up in the air, in the resurrection, changed to spirit beings shining in glory. Your light has come. The glory of the Eternal is risen upon you. You're Elohim, you're sons of God, you're born of spirit, and you have the glory of God risen on you.

   "For behold," and notice at the time God intervenes and raises the saints, look at the condition of the earth: "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people. But the Eternal shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you." And the "yous" here are the ones referred to in verse 20 and 21 up above, those who turn from transgression, those who are in God's covenant. "The Eternal shall arise upon you." That's the Redeemer coming on those that turn from transgression. "His glory's seen on you." You're Bill Smith Elohim now. "And the Gentiles shall come to your light."

   Now you think we can have all of those dead saints popping up out of the ground in Palestine, popping up out of the ground in Europe and England, popping up out of the ground all over America, and it not even be noticed? People not even be aware of it? Well, I'll tell you according to that verse, "The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings shall come to the brightness of your rising."

   That's actually a picture of what it's going to be like when the sons of God are changed to spirit beings. "Lift up your eyes round about and see. They all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side."

   Well, that's really a good verse. That's an important verse to me. Cause I have a couple of grandchildren. I've got daughters twenty-three and twenty-one and nineteen, and you know, when I think about what if they don't go God's way between now and Christ's return? What if they have to end up in the captivity with Israel? Well, I don't worry. I've got a verse here that tells me your sons shall come from far and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

   And what kind of a God is God anyway? I know my son asked me one time, he said, "Well, you know, when Christ comes back and you ascend up to meet him in the air" — and he's more sure I'm going to make it than I am — but he says, "and you ascend up to meet him in the air. Say, that's great, Dad, but where does that leave me? What are you going to do with me?" I said, "Well, look, when I'm a spirit being, I'll guarantee I can do a lot more for you than I've ever been able to do for you." And as long as you're a mortal physical human, how much can you do for your kids? Not a great deal. But when you're a son of God, born again, a spirit and a spirit being, how much can you do for your kids? You can heal them. You can punish them. You can love them. You can encourage them. Oh yes, that's a great verse. Your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

   "Then you'll see." Now God's saying as if, "Oh look, don't get discouraged. Think about that. You'll really get it here, you'll really understand it." "Then you'll see, then your heart will fear and you'll be enlarged" — your heart will be enlarged. All you've got to do is realize I'm God and the kind of God I am, and you know I'm not going to leave you scattered away from your own kids all through the millennium. Look what kind of a God am I anyway? "See this. Let your heart be enlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto you."

   So apparently in the millennium we're going to get a lot of our power out of the sea. Makes up two-thirds of the earth. Looks like there's enough there. You know, when I mentioned this in college, a student came up who was scientific and said, "Say, you know, they've already found that there's a way of using the hydrogen in the sea to make the best form of power that man could ever have." That's great. According to this verse, we're not going to do it today. We're not going to do it till we're born of God, till we're spirit beings. Then we'll convert the abundance of the sea.

   "And the wealth" — as the word "forces" really is there — "the wealth of the Gentiles." So let those Arabs gather up all the world's money with their oil. Let the Asiatics gather up all the wealth they want. I know what's going to happen to it. It's gonna be brought over to Jerusalem and we're gonna be using it going out from world headquarters. "The wealth of the Gentiles shall come unto you," it says.

   Then it pictures some of it coming: "The multitude of camels shall cover you. The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, they all from Sheba" — which is one of the main words for Arabia — "shall come. They'll bring gold and incense." And imagine this, people of Midian, people of Arabia: "They shall show forth the praises of the Eternal." No more Muslim religion, no more Hinduism, no more Buddhism, no more of man's religions or Satan's religions really. All of a sudden these Arabs and all these others bring all their gold and incense and show forth the praises of the Eternal.

   "All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you. All the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you. They'll come up with acceptance on mine altar." So now all of a sudden God is going to have these people acceptable into His worship, "and I'll glorify the house of my glory."

   And now all of a sudden as if spirit beings are kind of jetting out across space trying their new spirit nature, look what he says. Say, "Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows?" These spirit beings just trying out this new zip and vigor. And so God even has the verse in there, it says, "Who are they? Who is — why was — hey, who is that up there? Who are these that fly here and as doves to their windows and as in the clouds?" And that chapter is full of a lot more of the description of the saints resurrected.

   Let’s come back to one of the Psalms. Psalm 47. Psalm 47 (Psalm 47:1): "Oh, clap your hands, all you people." All, all who — who, what people? "Shout unto God with the voice of triumph." What did they triumph over? Why clap your hands? What's the shout for? "For the Eternal Most High is terrible" — that's bad translation. He's mighty. "He's a great king over all the earth."

   So look at that. That's after Christ is returned, while he's on this earth. In other words, it's another millennial psalm. So here the Eternal is King over all the earth. "He shall subdue the people under us." That's the ones who clap their hands who shout of victory, triumph. Us, those of us who are sons of God, born again spirit beings.

   So when you cast off your old physical mortal, corruptible human body, the psalmist says, "Clap your hands, shout to God with the voice of triumph." Say, "Thank God I made it. Thank God I got rid of that mortal, corruptible, weak human nature. Thank God I'll never be bothered anymore with that human nature that I've soaked up from the devil and the devil's world. Hallelujah, thank God, clap your hands, shout to God." The voice of triumph, the victory.

   You know, many places in the Bible it talks about "sing a new song." You know what that's all about? It's parallel with the victory song of Moses. When they succeeded in getting out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea, God had Moses write one of the first songs, the victory song of Moses. But you know there's going to be a later song of victory that's going to put that one down so small it won't even be imaginable. So anytime you're reading and it talks about singing a new song, you'll see in a minute it's talking about the victory song of the saints who've overcome the mortal human, corruptible, rotten nature they've had.

   "The Eternal is a great king over all the earth. He's going to subdue the people under us. He's going to subdue the nations under our feet." Now that sounds like work, you know. He shall subdue the people and the nations under us, under our feet. "He shall choose our inheritance for us." That might be bad news because you know he ain't going to let you put in a request to say, "Hey, I'd like to go to Miami, Florida and Lakeland, Florida and Tampa, St. Petersburg, and I'd like those five cities down there." God — God's liable to say, "All right, you can have Tucson and Phoenix," and you know, God is going to choose your inheritance for you. He's choosing the inheritance for the twelve apostles. He's choosing the inheritance for anybody. "He shall choose our inheritance for us. The excellency of Jacob, whom he loved."

   "God has gone up with a shout, the Eternal with the sound of a trumpet." So here he's talking about the return of Christ. Most people think he comes in a secret rapture, so the Bible says he comes with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. That's all the noise God can make. They say, "Oh, I see a secret rapture."

   Well, God is not a pacifist, quiet — you know, people think when you go to church it ought to be just dead quiet. I've been in churches where it's just so still and quiet. If you went over and with a big old warm friendly handshake and smile greeted somebody, the priest would probably look over at you like, "Come on there, heathen, what in the world are you disrupting the serenity here? Why we're in the presence of God." But you know he doesn't appreciate laughter and humor and smile and warmth? So some religions have that staid cold. That's not the way God is. God goes up with a shout.

   "Sing praises to God, sing praises." In other words, when you realize what it's going to be like when you triumph and you clap your hands and shout the victory, and when the king over all the earth is subduing people and nations under you, when he's chosen your inheritance, then you ought to sing praises. "Sing praises to our king. God is the king of all the earth" — Russia, China, Egypt, Africa, South America — "sing ye praises with understanding. God reigns over the" — Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Indians — "God reigns over the heathen. God sits upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong to God. He's greatly exalted."

   You might notice in Psalm 75 there's even a psalm written to show what it's going to be like when God gives you your inheritance. That's what Psalm 75 is all about. When God hands you your inheritance, this is the way you ought to be, the attitude, the promise, the confidence God should be able to have in you.

   Psalm 75 (Psalm 75:1): "Unto you, oh God, we do give thanks. Unto you we do give thanks, for that your name is near, your wondrous works declare." In other words, we can tell by what God has foretold and is accomplishing that it isn't long before we're gonna bear God's name. It isn't long before God's name is going to be the God of the world. It isn't long before God's name is going to be the only name of any god in man's existence. "We give you thanks, God, we give you thanks because we can tell by your wondrous works that your name is near."

   "When I shall receive the congregation, I will judge uprightly." God, you can depend on me. You can trust me. I'm not going to misuse the power of the God family. I'm not going to go out heretic, opinionated, hard-headed, stubborn, independent, radical, a rebel insisting on doing things my way. Why, God, when you give me the congregation, I'll judge uprightly. I'll go by your scriptures. I'll go by your Bible.

   "The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved." Look again at the condition of the world when God gives you your inheritance. The earth and all the inhabitants dissolve, and when you're given your inheritance, it's going to be as if you bear up the pillars of the very earth. It's about to just be totally obliterated. The last hope for it, the final hope for it.

   "I said unto the fools, 'Deal not foolishly.' I said to the wicked, 'Don't lift up the horn.'" Watch it, you rebels. You're not gonna put up another human ruler. You're not going to have any overthrow of any government. You're not going to bring on any more new human rulers.

   So here you are with your new job, having inherited your congregation. Can you imagine who's going to conduct Passover in the cities where you are in the millennium? When you go to Passover, do you realize that you say, "Boy, you know, I want to really watch. I want to really drink this in. I want to really understand this because before long I'm going to be responsible for conducting Passover for cities." Who do you think is going to baptize people in your five cities in God's kingdom? Who do you think is going to be their healer?

   I'll tell you, when I read the Bible anymore, I'm aware that God is going to have to prove that you're a son of God just like he had to prove that His Son was really a son of God. You know, many of the miracles that Christ did were just done to prove he was God's Son. As you heard yesterday, the man who was born blind was born blind for the glory of God.

   And I'll tell you this, when God sends you out over cities, you're going to have to go out in love and gentleness and compassion and mercy, as well as power and authority. You're gonna have to go out there. You're gonna be their healer. You'll be their Jehovah Rapha, their healer. You'll be their shield and their buckler. When you're in the family of God, you're going to be the one who has the responsibility of their spiritual leadership.

   So you're gonna have to say to some, "Don't deal foolishly." You're gonna have to say to some, "No, no, no more human rulers, don't lift up your horn. Lift not up your horn on high. Don't speak with a stiff neck." That's what you're saying to these cities you're ruling over. "For promotion comes neither from the east, west, nor south."

   You know he left out a direction. Didn't say a word about north, did he? Well, that's where promotion comes from. That's where God is. God's in the north. God's in the third heaven up there in the northern sky. So don't try to jockey and politic and strive. You're saying to those humans in your realm, "Promotion doesn't come from the east, west or south, comes from the north."

   "God is the judge. God puts down one human king and sets up one of his sons instead." And anybody that tries to resist, "God in God's hand is a cup full of mixture. The dregs thereof, all the wicked, the rebels, the incorrigible people that just persist in their human ways, they'll wring them out and drink them. But I'll declare forever. I'll sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the kings horns" — horns are always symbols of kings — "all the horns of the wicked, I'll cut off. The horns of the righteous will be exalted."

   And you notice even the first part of 76 carries on the same reality. "In Judah, God is known." Not today he isn’t. No way, not today. Saturday's the play day of Judah. Go to the beach. Go fishing, go boating and swimming. Play, fun, pleasure. That's all a Sabbath is. God isn't known in Judah today, but he's going to be when Christ comes back. "His name is great in Israel." It certainly isn't today. Certainly isn't when we don't even have seventy-five to eighty thousand people come to God's feast. God's name is not great in Israel today. It's going to be when — when? Well, look, verse 2: "In Salem" — shortened form for Jerusalem — "also is his tabernacle. And his dwelling place in Zion."

   So sure enough, when God intervenes and Christ comes back and sets up his tabernacle in Jerusalem and his dwelling place on Capitol Hill, Mount Zion, then Judah is going to be knowing God, then God's name will become great in Israel. But not until then.

   Back in the book of Isaiah once again. Isaiah 64 (Isaiah 64:1): "Oh, that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down. That the mountains" — the giant world powers, the two hundred million Asiatic army, the United States of Europe, the United Arab Republic and Israel — "oh God, that you would rend the heavens, come down. The world's governments, empires, that they might flow down at your presence." They're about to wipe all life off this earth. "As the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil. To make your name known to your adversaries that the nations may tremble at your presence." So there's the cry out for God to intervene, that God would intervene.

   In Isaiah 65, you know, the writers of the Bible talk about a second Isaiah because when they read the first chapters of Isaiah, all they read is about a prophesied tribulation and captivity, a prophesied punishment of a rebellious people. But when you get into the second half of Isaiah, all of a sudden most of it's talking about restoration, the kingdom of God, blessings and prosperity and good years. So they just think, "Well, there had to be two Isaiahs." Well, the only way there'd been two Isaiahs if he really did get cut into two when he got martyred.

   But anyway, Isaiah 65, still talking about God's intervention and the kingdom of God. Then he says, "I am sought of them that ask not for me." So God ain't going to wait around in the millennium to have people ask for Him. God is going to force-feed in the millennium. You know, people are going to be compelled to come to know God in the millennium. Whether they like it or not, whether they want to or not, whether they believe in God or not. "I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I said, 'Behold me, behold me' to a nation that was not called by my name." Gentile nations, carnal nations, human nations. Ones that weren't in God's calling in the first place. "I've spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people that walks in a way that wasn't good after their own thoughts. The people that provokes me to anger continually to my face." So finally nations that have never really sought God or known God are going to be turned around and they're gonna be seeking after God.

   You might notice in Isaiah 35. This is the second Isaiah also. Isaiah 35 (Isaiah 35:1): "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them." Now who's "them" here anyway? The wilderness and solitary place glad for them. "The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."

   Now you've heard that verse many times. But who's the "them" that he's talking about in this chapter here anyway? Well, he's literally talking about you and me, the sons of God. And the hope of desert areas, the hope of the wilderness, the hope of solitary places is God's kingdom. Christ returned. The laws of God being enforced on man again. That's the hope of the wilderness and the solitary place. They're going to be glad for God's sons in authority.

   "The desert finally is going to rejoice and blossom when God's sons are ruling in the world. It'll blossom abundantly, the desert. It'll rejoice even with joy and singing." And now instead of the Arabian desert and the African deserts and American deserts, "The glory of Lebanon shall be given to the desert. The excellency of Carmel and Sharon." Look when this happens: "They shall see the glory of the Eternal. The excellency of our God." So that's when he's ruling in the earth, and what are we gonna be doing then when we're sons of God?

   Verse 3: "Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees." That's what God wants you to do. You imagine how terrified humans are going to be by the time the end-time prophecies are over with? When only a tithe of men are left on the face of this earth. When men have laid waste cities with their destructive powers. That's what you're gonna need to do. Strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees. Why, people are going to be so frightened by the time God's sons come into their territories to take over and love them and teach them and bless them that you're gonna have to do verse 3.

   "Say to them of a fearful heart, 'Be strong, don't be terrified. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. God with a recompense. He'll come and save you.'" God isn't going to let man wipe life off this earth. Take courage, be encouraged, be strong, don't be terrified.

   "Then the eyes of the blind are gonna be opened." Both literally and spiritually. You ever known that blessing of healing somebody? I remember a lady I anointed in Chicago one time who had cataracts, going blind. A few days after that she got up, splashed water on her face in the morning and saw something in the corner of her eyes. Said, "What's that?" and just plucked those cataracts off and dropped them in her trash.

   Well, you know, when you had a chance to do that, you know you're going to be doing that. I mean, have we really thought about that? As you go about your day-by-day life, do you realize you're gonna be doing that? What could that do to you if you thought about that every day? If you just thought about what it's going to be like being a son of God. Being a king, or priest, a ruler. For the people's good. Strengthening the weak and confirming the feeble. Saying to the disheartened, "Be strong, don't be terrified." Opening the eyes of the blind, opening the ears of the deaf. Healing the lame. Letting dumb people speak.

   "In the wilderness, waters will break out and streams in the desert. The parched ground is going to become a pool. The thirsty land will be springs of water in the habitation of dragons. The highway is going to be there. It's going to be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean are not going to pass over anymore. It'll be for those, the wayfaring men. No lion will be there. No ravenous beast going up thereon. It'll not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there."

   Look who's there: God's sons, God's born-again spirit being sons, the redeemed. "And the ransomed of the Eternal shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads. They'll obtain joy and gladness. All the sorrow and sighing will flee away." No more room for that. No more of that. That's gone.

   Back in Isaiah once again, maybe you've never read this chapter this way. Isaiah 61. But you can certainly read it this way as a future son of God in God's family. Isaiah 61 (Isaiah 61:1): "The spirit of the Lord Eternal is upon me." In other words, as God has caused you to become one of his sons, then he's going to be with you. He's going to use you. He's going to help you. He's going to set you up in a position "because the Eternal has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. The Eternal has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives."

   Boy, how that's gonna be great. Can you imagine the injustices rendered on some people? It's hard to imagine some people because they steal other people's properties can be put in jail longer than people who kill their own mate. That is ridiculous. Can you show me somewhere in God's laws that if one person — why, if he is so brazen and bold to take somebody else's possessions, his life isn't worth that other person's possessions. Lock him up in a cage like an animal and slip his food through to him in a little hole at the bottom of the cage. Lock that being made in God's image up so he can't steal my television, so he can't steal my car, my TV. Treat them like animals because anybody that would steal —

   How many of us force people to steal? All of our great wealth and waste of money and other people hungry and not having enough to live on. We're going to give an answer for that in this nation. God doesn't have any laws like that against stealing. Put them to work till they pay back double. That'll teach them not to steal. Have them pay back four times if they got rid of what they stole. And if they stole something a man could use to make his living with, make them pay back seven times. But lock people up like animals just for taking material possession? You talk about inhumane. We've got some of the dumbest laws I've ever heard of, some of the most ridiculous judgments. Not going to be any of that in God's kingdom.

   Notice what he's going on to say here: "Proclaim liberty to the captives. Open the prison to those that are bound. Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" — that's the Jubilee year. That's when all these are released, and that's the type of when God's kingdom is set up and all releases take place in the Jubilee — "the day of vengeance of our God, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness. The planting of the Eternal that he might be glorified."

   You know, when you read things like that that God is going to use you to do in the kingdom, can't you say hallelujah? Hallelujah, we're going to get to intervene and stop human government. Stop this corrupt system of human judgment. Stop treating human beings like animals. They have as much potential as in God's family as you do and I do.

   "They shall build the old wastes. They'll raise up the former desolations. They'll repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks. The sons of the aliens shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you" — you and me. You know this is talking about the sons of God, not just the prophecy about the Messiah, but about our future. Because look, it's plural.

   "You'll be named the priests of the Eternal." You know Jesus said we're going to be made kings and priests. Revelation 5:10 says plainly God has redeemed from the earth out of every nation and kindred and people to make kings and priests to reign on the earth. He says in Revelation 2:26-27, if we overcome, he'll allow us power over the nations. We'll have to rebuke them and break like potter's vessels, some of them, till they beat their swords into plowshares.

   So it shows it's gonna take power and effort and time, but "you're going to be named the priests of the Eternal. Men are going to call you the ministers of our God. You're going to eat the riches of" — Japan, Russia, China, Arabia, Europe — "you're gonna eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory, you're gonna boast yourselves. So in the past where we've had shame, you'll have double. For confusion they'll rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they'll possess the double. Everlasting joy shall be unto them, for I, the Eternal, love judgment. I hate robbery for burnt offering. I'll direct their work in truth."

   God will back you. God's with you. God gives you your inheritance. God says, "I will direct their work in truth. I will make an everlasting covenant with them." So maybe when God sends you out, he's gonna have you walk on water. Maybe he's gonna have you heal the lame and raise the dead and restore sight to the blind, and it won't take long in those five cities you have, they'll know you're more than just another human like them. You can say, "Look, I know what that's like. I was a human. I know. I understand your temptations and problems and trouble. Look, all I want you to do is repent when you do wrong, and then I won't even remember you did it."

   You think God's really that way? You ever made a dumb mistake and you ask God and cry out to God and weep and wail to God to forgive you? Then a week and a month and months later you're still going before God weeping and wailing and crying out to Him to forgive you, and you say, "Oh God, I'm sure sorry for what I did." He said, "What's that?" You think that's really true? Does God really mean what he says? You mean he really does remove your sin as far from you as the east is from the west and as far as the heaven is above the earth? Sure, if you repent and you fear God. So I hope you'll be that way when you're a shepherd.

   You know, when you read Psalm 23, do you read that about yourself for the future? Can you ever read that, you know, instead of saying, "The Lord is my shepherd," say "Bill Smith Elohim is my shepherd." Can you do that? And think about whether you're gonna be that kind of a shepherd in God's kingdom or not? Well, you're gonna have to be or you won't be there. God's going to direct our work in truth, and everlasting covenant.

   Verse 9, now again something about our kids: "Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles. And their offspring shall be known among the people." We used to assume if you train up your kids the way they should go, they're bound to be called in this day. You show me that in the scripture. Didn't say that in the scripture. We used to assume if you do a good enough job, your kids will grow up converted. No. Doesn't happen. Doesn't work. Why do we assume that, God didn't say that.

   What does God say? You know, one of the sad things to me is to see people with young people pointing the finger at people with teens. And then when their kids get up to be teens, the finger of some other person with small children is pointed at them, and we never seem to get over condemning those who say, "Boy, if that guy would have done a better job with his kids when they're small, if he'd done as good a job with his kids when they're small as I am, they'd grow up converted." Boy, you are in for a shock, I'll tell you. You are in for a surprise. God does not promise that.

   God says, "Train up a child in the way he should go." The word "train up" means fence in, have them practice, have them experience, have them live it with you. "Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old" — you say, "God, when is that? When, when do you mean there, God?" Well, that's as specific as he gets. And who's to know when it means with yours? He doesn't say — "when they are old, they won't depart from it." Whenever that is.

   But God does say right here: "The seed of those who are called priests and ministers shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring shall be known among the people. All that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Eternal has blessed."

   Psalm 149. You know, I hope — I used to hear that word "hallelujah," and I thought, "Why, if I ever heard vain repetition," you know, that's it. They — you hear choirs and they say "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah," and the "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah," and I didn't know what that meant. I just thought, "Boy, that's vain repetition."

   But you know, anymore when I read chapters like we've read today and I think about what God is going to do in the future, how Egypt and Ethiopia and Etheria are going to all come and serve God, I can just say hallelujah, hallelujah. I read those chapters in Isaiah and I say hallelujah. Hallelujah, isn't that great? That's wonderful. That means "halle" is the word for — the word "praise." Of course "Elujah" is God's name. So when you say hallelujah, you're just saying "praise God."

   Praise God, he's not gonna let this earth be blown into bits. Praise God, He is going to intervene. Praise God, he does have a plan of things. Peter, James, and John ruling maybe fifteen years from now, maybe less. Can you imagine that? You know, fifteen years ago wasn't very long, back in what 1963. It wasn't very long ago. Fifteen years from now in the future.

   I know the time isn't going to go to 2000. That's impossible because your Sabbath day proves that. The very plan of God, the six thousand years and the millennium, the very Feast of Tabernacles disproves that. So I don't care whether things have happened in '72 or not, I don't care whether they happen in '75 or not. I don't care whether they happen in '78 or '81. But we're not gonna be here in 2000. In fact, we're not gonna be here even sooner than that. That's only twenty-two years from now if it went all the way to 2000. It won't because Christ was born in 4 B.C. Apparently creation was in 4004. God does things on time.

   If you think time's just gonna go on and on for centuries, or you're just gonna really be shocked out of your boots in a few years. It's not gonna happen. And I just say hallelujah. Who wants this earth to go on another forty years, another eighty years?

   Now, Psalm 149 (Psalm 149:1). "Hallelujah." That's what that first sentence there means, "Praise ye the Lord. Hallelujah, sing unto the Eternal a new song," a new victory song, a new song of triumph over this human life. "Hallelujah, sing to the Eternal a new song, sing his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. Let them praise his name in the dance. Let them sing praises to him with the timbrel and harp, for the Eternal takes pleasure in his people."

   I'll tell you, God's well pleased when he looks down and sees this many people at the feast, but he's more pleased if you're here spiritually and if you're growing and you're preparing and you're being ready for Christ's return. "The Eternal takes pleasure in his people. The Eternal will beautify the meek with salvation." Hallelujah.

   "Let the saints be joyful in glory." See, when you're in God's family, you're not gonna be stone-faced, sober, puts, deadpan. "Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let the saints sing aloud on their beds." You ever do that?

   Notice back here in Malachi chapter 3. Here's one of my golden favorite verses in the Bible. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 16 (Malachi 3:16): "Then they that feared the Eternal spake often to one another. And the Eternal hearkened and heard. And a book of remembrance was written before the Eternal, for them that feared the Eternal and that thought upon his name."

   You notice that? When you are a person who fears God and speak to one another about God's kingdom and God's family and God's prophecy and God's world tomorrow and God's plan for man and God's hope for the earth, when you fear God and speak often to one another, God hearkens. God hears that. God writes that in the book of remembrance. For those who fear him and think on his name.

   God says, "They'll be mine in the day I make up my special treasure." They're going to be mine. They're going to be special treasure. They're going to be rare jewels. They're gonna be real jewels. "When I make up my special treasure, I'll spare them as a man spares his son that serves him."

   Back in Psalm 149, you ever do that at night, lying there when you can't sleep and thinking about God's kingdom? Even better, thinking about God's kingdom so much you can't sleep. Think about the world tomorrow and Christ's return and the hope for the Mexicans and Africans and Russians and Cubans. "Let the saints be joyful. Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand."

   You see, it's not all easy, it's not all just pacifist goody-goody. There's gonna have to be a sharp two-edged sword. We're gonna have to be willing to go out and chasten people in love for their correction. "Execute vengeance on the heathen, execute punishments on the people." Till they beat their swords into plowshares, till they will listen to God's way, till they will forsake their human ways and Satan's ways. Yes, even when you have the high praises of God in your mouth, a sharp two-edged sword is there to execute vengeance, punishments.

   "To bind their kings with chains." Boy, isn't that gonna be great to free some of this world's countries from their kings? How would you like to go over and bind with chains Idi Amin? Or how about Fidel Castro or somebody like that, you know? How about binding their kings with chains? Do you think that's going to be good? Look what God calls that. "Bind their nobles with fetters of iron to execute upon them" — not what you're gonna execute upon them though, not your own opinion, not your own idea, your own judgment — "to execute upon them the judgment written."

   God's already written the judgment on Babylon. God has already written the judgment on Egypt. God has already written a judgment on Edom. God's already written a judgment on all those powers. But we're going to be used by God to do it. We're gonna execute those punishments. We're gonna bind those kings and nobles. We're gonna execute upon them the judgment written.

   Look what he calls that in verse 9 (Psalm 149:9): "This honor have all his saints." What an honor. That's going to be an honor to free this world. To bring God's government, to bring God's society here, to bring God's kingdom. "This honor have all his saints. Hallelujah." Hallelujah.