“Make it Happen” – our assignments in Millennium and how obstacles will be removed

Steve Corley

• Given in Houston South September 1, 2007 as split sermon
• Expanded and given in Roanoke October 26, 2019 as full sermon
• Given in Kingsport September 18, 2021 (Sabbath before Feast)
• Given in London/Corbin and Knoxville October 14, 2023 (Sabbath after Feast)

The earth is a devastated wreck.  Most of its population has been killed in a huge world war and in the resulting famines and disease epidemics.  The final battle of the war claimed 200 million of those who had survived the earlier carnage.  Much of the surface of the earth is barren, scarred by a combination of nuclear explosions, monster earthquakes and meteor impacts.  Over what is left of the earth there is either tyrannical government or no government.  Among the survivors it is every man for himself. 

Welcome home!

Imagine that that is the world which is your home now.  It is not at all similar to the wonderful utopia depicted in so many millennial prophecies.  But it is the present reality.  Christ has returned to the earth.  He has just given you your office and your assignment.  The millennial prophecies are recited to you – what the world is supposed to be.  That is not how it is.  Your assignment, and the assignment to everyone else coming up in the first resurrection, is to “make it happen.”

What an overwhelming assignment!  But Christ knows what He is doing.  He will not assign responsibilities which cannot be carried out.  In this sermon I would like to show how He will make our millennial assignment possible to accomplish – and how the Fall Holy Days show how He will remove the obstacles in our way.

In Luke 18:18 the rich young ruler addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher” or “Good Master.”  When Jesus asked him why he was using this term, pointing out that only God is good (verse 19), Jesus was obviously testing the man to see whether he realized the implications of his statement – that Jesus was indeed God.  The man was right in calling Jesus “Good Master” although he evidently did not realize what he was saying.  Christ most certainly is the “Good Master.”  He is the Good Boss of all good bosses.  (By the way – an organization totally opposed to God’s way, the Mafia, has a title for the general head over all the different Mafia families.  That title is “il capo di tutti capi” – “the boss of all bosses.”  We can see here that the Mafia is guilty of appropriating a title which rightfully belongs to Christ (as well as in an even greater sense to God the Father, although Christ will be the “Boss of all bosses” on earth until God the Father comes.)

What are the key attributes of a good master – a good boss?  There are many but here I would like to focus on one.  When he gives his employees their assignments, a good boss realizes that a major part of his job is to remove obstacles that stand in the way of their completing these assignments.  For example, he needs to provide his employees the resources that they need.  If you need something to carry out your job, and it is something you do not have the financial authority to authorize on your own, it is your boss’s responsibility to see that you get it.  (Example of an analytical instrument.)  Suppose you need assistance from another department to get your job done.  They have the needed skills.  The people in that department say they cannot help because they are swamped with other responsibilities.  Then it is your boss’s job to go to the manager of that department, explain why help from his people is needed, and have their priorities adjusted so they will have time to give the needed help.  That is what a good boss does. He removes the obstacles in your way.  There are also bad bosses.  Instead of removing obstacles which are in the way of their employees’ getting their jobs done, the bad bosses raise the anxiety level in order to try to make sure that their employees get their jobs done.  But that is a different matter.

What are some of the ways in which Christ will show Himself as the “Good Master” that He indeed is?  What are some of the obstacles in our path He will remove and how do the fall Holy Days portray these?

To get calibrated let us think of what the situation would be if He were to give us such an assignment here and now.  He shows us the millennial prophecies and tells us to “make it happen.”  What could we do to build a utopia as mortal human beings, in a world ruled by Satan through his governments, trying to teach people we do not rule, who have rebellious hearts and who laugh at our instructions?   In a world where much of the earth’s surface is scarred by the misguided works of man?

Well, what about those who historically were given this assignment in a sense, kings who sincerely attempted to end idolatry in their nation and bring back the worship of the True God?  For example, Hezekiah and Josiah?  What was perhaps the biggest problem that they faced in their reforms?  In short, they died.  They could not continue as kings on and on.  Physical human beings can “stay the course” only for a limited number of years.  Both of the good kings Hezekiah and Josiah had evil sons who undid essentially everything that their fathers had done.  But in the Millennium we will not have this problem.  God will give us immortality as members of His Family (cf. Rev. 3:9).  We will be around to finish the assignment – and any others He will give us for eternity.  And in the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, by returning to earth and giving His saints immortality (1 Cor. 15:50-53), Christ will have removed the first major roadblock in our path.

Also, currently we do not have the full day to accomplish the assignments we have been given.  Physical human beings get tired – we have to sleep.  But members of the God Family do not need sleep (Psalm 121:4).  We will have the entire day and night available to carry out what Christ has assigned us to do.

The next obstacle in our way which Christ will remove is Satan, the author of sin.  As long as Satan is ruler of this world (John 14:30), and broadcasts his attitudes to the human mind, there can be no utopia.  A major focus of an entire Holy Day is the removal of Satan (Lev. 16:21, Rev. 20:1-3).  This Holy Day is before the Feast of Tabernacles which typifies the Millennium.  Before the Millennium can begin, the #1 impediment in the way must first be removed (Rev. 20:1-3).  With Satan gone and no longer directly influencing people’s minds, the remaining work in building a utopia can now begin.

But there is another impediment in the way.  How about the human heart?  Even with Satan no longer around to influence people’s minds directly, his attitude will still be living on in their hearts (Jer. 17:9).  They will have learned his ways.  What do people do today?  Often Satan may not even have to influence them directly because his attitudes have already been etched into their heart.  Their heart already has sin written into it.  People with rebellion etched into their heart are not going to cooperate in building a utopia.  The natural, Satan-influenced, rebellious human heart is portrayed as “stony” in Ezekiel 11:19.  What will Christ do to remove this impediment?  He will take out the stony, rebellious heart and replace it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:16-20) – just as we are supposed to be letting Him do to us today.  On this new heart He will write His laws (Jer. 31:33) to form an enthusiastic and cooperative people who will be eager to listen to us during the Millennium – as the Feast of Tabernacles portrays.

What about those who still will not listen and who persist in rebellion?  They could derail utopia for everyone else if not dealt with.  How would we deal with this problem if our assignment were to build utopia now?  We couldn’t.  The rebels, with their enormous number, would overwhelm us and put us out of business.  However, in the Millennium, how will Christ facilitate our job by removing this obstacle?  This is where power over the nations comes in.  On a large scale, He will deal with any organized rebellion with whatever means are necessary (Zech. 14:17-18, Isaiah 66:23-24 – note Hebrew word “pasha” (Strong’s #6586) translated “transgress” can mean more narrowly “rebel” or “revolt”), Ezek. 38:1-39:16).  Nations and governments will have to be dealt with before they are willing to come under Christ’s rule voluntarily and not all will be dealt with at the same time.  On a smaller scale, we will be given power to deal with rebellion in our own areas (Rev. 2:26-27).  Note in the companion Scripture (2 Sam. 23:6-7) David’s similar reference in what amounted to a “rod of iron” in dealing with rebellion.

But there will be no tyrants anywhere in the chain of command in God’s Government.  We will be shepherds.  A good boss does not threaten, and raise the anxiety level of, his employees who are sincerely trying to cooperate.  (Note the examples of how Christ comforted the crowds while saying nothing positive about the proud, rebellious Pharisees.)  Sinners who are sincerely trying to stop sinning – though they may backslide repeatedly – have no business being threatened.  Yes, rebellious attitudes sometimes do show themselves and such attitudes have to be punished.  But the rod of iron which we will have will be used only in love – and as rebellion disappears, the “rod of iron” will be transformed from the shaft of a spear into a shepherd’s iron crook.  God has no need of thugs to teach His people and enforce His laws.   He has no need of those who are power-happy.  God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11).  God is slow to anger (Nehemiah 9:17).  If we do not learn to have this same attitude we will not be there.  If we are power-happy and enjoy throwing our weight around we will not be given power.  James and John had to learn this (Luke 9:52-56), as did Peter (Matt. 26:51-52, John 18:10-11).

What about all the problems with the earth itself?  How about all the wonderful millennial prophecies about how the earth’s surface will be changed and barren areas will be made fertile (e.g. Isaiah 41:18-20)?  I have put this well down the list because it is less important than any of the problems (and solutions) I have talked about up to now.  Christ – and we under Him – could make the earth a utopia without any changes in the earth’s surface or its climate.  The deserts could remain deserts.  The utopia would just not support as many people.  The barren condition of much of the earth would not be an impediment to making a utopia, only a limitation on how big its population could grow.  But Christ will make changes which will allow not only a utopia, but a utopia which can support many more people.  He will want many more in His family.  Why would the earth be so agriculturally productive (e.g. Amos 9:13-15) if it were not to be densely populated?  Why would there otherwise be a reason to produce so much food?  Without a huge population there would not be a market for it.  (Note also Gen. 8:22)

At this point, because the Good Master has removed the barriers in our way, we have been able to carry out His assignment.  The earth is a utopia for the people living there.  But there is still one problem.  What about the other people who lived before the Millennium?  They need to experience utopia also.  We will need to teach them.  But a major obstacle stands in our way – they are dead.  Christ will remove this obstacle too (Ezekiel 37) – and that is the symbolism of the final Holy Day.

We have seen how the Fall Holy Days each reflect different ways in which the Good Master – the Good Boss – will fulfill the role of a Good Boss by removing obstacles in the path of His employees so we will be able to do our job – to make the world a utopia.  He will return to the earth and give us immortality so we can work on and on – as symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets.  He will remove from world rulership the enormous impediment of Satan, as typified by the Day of Atonement.  During the Millennium, represented by the Feast of Tabernacles, He will remove the stony hearts which keep us from teaching people and they will gladly have His laws written in their new hearts.  He will put an end to rebellions.  He will make the earth agriculturally productive to remove an obstacle to making the utopia greater and bigger, with more and more people.  At last He will remove the barrier in the way of extending the utopia to those who have lived and died in the past, as represented in the final Holy Day.

Christ is the Good Boss of all good bosses – or, as the Italians might say, “il Capo Buono di tutti capi buoni.”  Let us follow the words of Paul in Philippians 3:12-14.  Let us be there to work as “good bosses” under Christ in the Kingdom on that day when He tells us to “make it happen.”