After the Resurrection

Well, good morning, everyone, on this wonderful Feast of Trumpets. This morning, as we were headed for services, my wife says, where are you going? We're headed towards Greenwood. But fortunately, we didn't go that far down that direction, but forgot all about that after we've announced it 14 different times. Well, obviously, suppose that all of you have your plans firmly set for the Feast of Tabernacles. We're very anxious to be there two weeks from now for opening day of the Feast.

It'll be on the island of Sarama in the Baltic, the largest island in the Baltic Sea, where we'll be keeping the Feast for half of the Feast and the other half in one of the oldest cities in Europe, in Tartu, Estonia.

And we have almost 95 or so people who will be coming for the Feast. In fact, the Greybies are here. They'll be there for the Feast of Tabernacles. But we're very anxious about that. One of the highlights of the Feast is that there will be almost an entire congregation from Latvia that will come that's been keeping the Holy Days for two years now. And they still go under the name Baptist Church. It's still listed in the Latvian Baptist Union Association as one of their churches. But they keep the Sabbath and they keep the Holy Days. I think I mentioned that the bishop had come out to visit the pastor of that church, Robert Schultz, who will be at our Feast, and said that, you know, I don't have a problem with Sabbath, Saturday Sabbath, because we Baptists have had that tradition.

But I'm sort of concerned about where this is all going. And that's kind of where the problem is. The church is very, very committed to the Holy Days. Last year they kept a whole series of them, including the Feast of Tabernacles, on the last great day, even though they didn't go anywhere. But this year we've helped them come to keep the Feast with us, which is not that far away. It's only about 90 miles away from where their congregation is to where we'll be keeping the Feast in Tartu, Estonia.

Robert Schultz is their pastor, and we're just anxious to see how this all goes. But they'll have about 20, maybe 20, 20, 21 people who will be coming from Latvia. And then we have people from Sweden, Finland, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Germany, and that's probably it. But we have a very, very nice group that will be coming for the Feast.

Today we're commemorating a number of things. The Feast of Trumpets is first mentioned as a formal Holy Day in the 23rd chapter of the Book of Leviticus as one of the seven annual Sabbaths, as one of the seven feasts of the Lord. And it was a feast that had the blowing of trumpets as we had that shofar, which is phenomenal. It was just beautifully done. I think that was just terrific. It looked as ugly as it sounded. But I mean, it was just really, truly amazing sound that came from the sound of warning, the shofar.

But also, other trumpets were blown on this day, the silver musical trumpets on this day. It was a day of rejoicing. We also know that with trumpets, the symbolism continues into the New Testament with the return of Jesus Christ at the last trumpet. And Jesus Christ will come to rule on this earth. But also, at His return, the dead are raised, and we call this the first resurrection. So we have a lot of wonderful things that we celebrate on this day. It's a transitional day from this world into the next.

The first set of Holy Days that we observed all had to do with events on this earth. This day transitions from this world into the world tomorrow, into eternal life. The hope that we live for as we read about the hope of the resurrection. The hope of the resurrection, or the hope of the resurrection, is eternal life. And that's what we all hope for. Lucky to turn to 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 50, one of the majestic passages that relates to the symbolism of this day as we observe it in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul, in a very grandiose and magnificent way, describes the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 50, now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That's us now. We cannot inherit it. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption, talking about things that decay, fall apart, decompose, no matter whether it's a week before decomposes, or whether it's something that might take ten billion years in the universe to decompose.

Corruption cannot inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, talking about those who have died in the graves. Our sleep will not be forever. But we shall all be changed. In a moment, verse 52, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. That's wonderful. What a wonderful promise. What a wonderful thing to look forward to. The dead in Christ shall rise. We have many among ourselves here who have died whom we are awaiting. I miss Edna Rush, you know who was here among us, not too long ago, her frail little body walking, but having the steadfast spirit. She's gone.

She's asleep. But at this time, she will be raised incorruptible and brought back to eternal life, plus many other people among us that have passed, as we also shall pass. And this day is a day of hope, because what do we want more than anything else than to survive and to live and to live forever? And this is a day that celebrates it. This is a day that it's all about.

But brethren, this day is about much more, much more than just our survival. It's more than just about ourselves. And that's what I want to show you today. The Feast of Trumpets and this date here in the fall had special significance of royalty, of majesty, of coronation.

The ancient kings of Israel were coronated on this day. If a king happened to start his rule in June or March, it wasn't official until coronation day, which was Rosh Hashanah, the Feast of Trumpets. It was that day. And it's very possible that Jesus Christ's first coming occurred on this day. Most likely it was not in December, when it was cold and freezing, even in Jerusalem it gets cold. It's on a high plateau, or the wilderness of Judea. It was at a time when shepherds were tending their flocks in the fields.

And very likely, with the course of priests of that period, what job they did and what evidence we have, the Christ was most likely born in the fall. It could have been right here at the Feast of Trumpets. His first coming would have been at that time. His second coming is symbolized by the sound of trumpets.

So there's a lot of imagery, there's a lot of memorializing, there's a lot of looking forward to the Feast of Trumpets connecting it with Christ's advent, with His coming to this earth. But I have a question.

As I said, this day is about much more than just our resurrection. That's fine and good. But if we just look upon that as, oh, we've made it, I just want to get past that. I want to get to the point of where I can live forever. I've got it made. And that's true. You do have it made. But as the title of my sermon, I always get asked the title of my sermon, although I wasn't hounded for it this time.

It's After the Resurrection, Then What? That's my title, so write that down. What happens after the resurrection? What's next? In the Book of Jude, or the short letter of Jude, he makes this statement. It's actually in connection with putting down and removing the evil that's in this world. And he connects them with false prophets, etc., that were plaguing the church in that time.

He talks about, in Jude, the only one chapter, verse 12, these are spots in your love feasts, talking about certain elements that corrupt the church. While they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. All they care about is themselves. All they can talk about is themselves. They're advancing themselves. Their agenda is all about themselves. It's me, me, me. But they are people who don't produce anything. It says they are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, laid autumn trees without fruit. They're useless.

It's all show, but no go. It's a fruit tree, and it's supposed to be ripening. There's no fruit. It's a cloud when there's a drought, and it's going to just be raining now, but there's no rain. How annoying! How useless! Twice dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. It connects them with the angelic beings, the demons, and their fate. Now, Enoch, verse 14, the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men also, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints. Now this is from the book of Enoch, which you will not find in your Bible. It just did not get canonized for whatever reason, but it's referred to. It comes with ten thousands of his saints, that when Jesus Christ returns, he's going to come with tens of thousands. A very interesting prophecy, talking about the fact that these saints, the resurrected ones, are going to be working together with Christ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. So it seems like there will be a job, there will be a cooperative effort between Christ and those who have been resurrected in setting things straight on the earth. And indeed, at the very beginning, there is going to be a confrontation. It would be confrontation between Jesus Christ and this earth, and it was known as the Battle of Armageddon. But that's not what I'm primarily speaking about today. Because we talk about this as those events leading up to the return of Christ as being very violent, and events that lead to a very, very destructive and violent transition into the New World. Because this world and everything it has, has to be put down. There are four places in the Bible that talk about the fact that Christ, when he comes, is not going to be coming as a babe in weakness or impotence. Christ is going to come with power and strength, which will be needed to get this world straightened out. And there are four places that refer to this in the Old Testament. It begins, and also there are reference to it in three places in the book of Revelation, which no doubt keys off this statement in the book of Psalms. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel, talking about the fact that those who oppose Christ are going to be put down. We can talk a lot about this, and we get excited about the fact that we're going to be smashing people as a rod of iron, and there's going to be a kingdom that's going to say, we can't take it no more. We're going to fix it right now for good. In Revelation 2, this is quoted. Revelation 2, verse 27. This is specifically referring to Christ, but it quotes the psalm. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel. In Revelation 12, verse 5, she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his throne. For reference, again, the fourth reference in Revelation 19, verse 15, is that he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. But wait a minute! Wait a minute! Let's hold things up here. What kind of earth, environment, and just political structure will Christ return to? I mean, exactly what's he going to find here on the earth?

After the Battle of Armageddon, there's not going to be very much. There really isn't. If you read the book of Revelation and read about all the different, first of all, the seals, and then the plagues, and the seven last plagues, they're quite draconian, all encompassing. They destroy people, they destroy the environment, they destroy the entire global structure of the earth. There is no structure left after Christ returns and the Battle of Armageddon. There's nothing. It's going to be like pictures that we have seen of Hiroshima after World War II. Completely flattened, gone, no people, no buildings, maybe just some structures that are just up there, ruins. Or, like the city of Jerusalem, where the Battle of Stalingrad after World War II. It's a huge city of three million people, and it's a very long city that stretches along the Volga River, but it was so damaged in World War II. Ninety percent of it was completely flattened that when American generals came to see it after the Battle of Stalingrad, or after the war, they said, you know, we can never rebuild this city. It's just too far gone. I mean, there's nothing there. They said, let's leave this city as a memorial to what war does for mankind. Well, of course, since the city of Stalingrad has been rebuilt, it's a thriving city, bigger than it ever was. This last January, Bev and I were in Warsaw, Poland, and truly had an experience that really, really was very, very shaking to me because I didn't realize all that had happened to Warsaw, Poland happened to it in World War II. As the city was destroyed three different times in World War II, again, ninety percent of it was flattened and gone. Of course, it's a thriving big city now, and probably richer than it's ever been. But nonetheless, the world that Christ will find when He returns to this earth is going to be just that. It will be a flattened, destroyed city with bare survivors in caves, if any. It will be a real mess. In Isaiah 24, verse 1, I think it's important to read passages like this to kind of see, as we rejoice in our transition to eternity and to immortal life, conditions like this beg the question, well, what do we do about this now? And who's responsible?

Isaiah 24, verse 1, Behold, the Lord makes a promise to the people of God, and the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste. Distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. This is a prophecy of the future, as we know from the book of Isaiah. We read so many of the events that have a dual fulfillment, and this particular damage that takes place in the book of Isaiah is far greater than anything that took place in Judea at that time, or actually in Judea and in the tribes of Israel in the north.

Isaiah 24, verse 3, The land will be entirely emptied and entirely plundered and utterly plundered. The land will be entirely plundered and entirely plundered. The Lord has spoken His word. The earth mourns and fades away, verse 4. The world languishes and fades away the haughty people of the earth languish. It actually has language that far supersedes the initial fulfillment of this prophecy after the days of Isaiah. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore, the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left. We've had this prophecy by read to us many, many different times. I still remember at Ambassador College we went through the book of Isaiah how graphically this was portrayed about conditions that describe the Revelation 16 statement about the seven last plagues.

Few men left. Habitants of the earth are burned. What kind of burning are we talking about? Nuclear. We're talking about an earth that's darkened. Nuclear winter. Who knows? But anyway, it's not going to be much of an earth. It will be an economic, or I should say an environmental disaster. After the Battle of Armageddon, believe me, there's just nothing left. It's all one Hiroshima. And here we are with Christ, ten thousands of His saints. It's interesting that even the number of saints that are brought up, ten thousands of His saints.

And we don't really have much of anything to really rule over. We could be swinging our iron rod, but it's not going to be over much. There's going to have to be a lot of work done in restoring and rebuilding this earth. There's going to have to be the other fulfillments of prophecy take place. There's going to have to be the other fulfillments of prophecy take place as the earth shall blossom, or the desert shall blossom as it arose. Talk about rebuilding, about reconstituting, and reforming this earth.

Not talking about the new heavens and new earth, I'm talking about right after the return of Christ, right after the Battle of Armageddon. If you read Revelation 16, and if you have the New King James Bible, it's interesting how they describe the various last plagues as loathsome sores that affect a lot of people. Just like loathsome sores that affected a lot of people in nuclear wars, in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were a precursor.

There's not been anything like that. There's not been any kind of a nuclear attack since August of 1945 on this planet earth. But it gave us an inkling as to how people can suffer from even a ten kiloton bomb, not to say anything about huge megaton bombs. Loathsome sores. Another heading, if you have the New King James Bible, and they're in bold, so you can see them clearly, the sea turns to blood. Talk about massive environmental damage. Then you have the waters turn to blood. Talk about the remaining freshwater sources on this earth that are undrinkable. Men are scorched. Again, could this be a precursor or premonition of nuclear damage and nuclear effects?

And believe me, we've been working in the Chernobyl area. An accident took place 23 years ago, and the effects are still not really coming. The half-life is just about coming to an end right now, but 23-24 years later you still have the effects of nuclear. That was an accident. You have darkness and pain. That could mean just about anything, but you have this earth that's what? Nuclear winter and pain goes out. Then you have events leading up to the three woes, and it doesn't get any better until the return of Christ. What I'm saying is that this environment and this earth will go through horrible devastation. We see human and environmental damage.

Again, wait, but wait. God has a millennial core set to go. He has a millennial core that is going to be focused and prioritize the reconstruction of this earth. Now we hear about all the things that will take place, and we talk about a millennium that is going to come to this earth. We had those smiling pictures of people looking at this utopian world, like somebody else is going to do it for us, like somebody else is going to be responsible for that.

We just watch. Uh-uh. God is setting up a millennial core to start rebuilding and reconstructing the earth. It's a core that He's working on and building today. It has to do with mental and spiritual preparation for what's ahead. The people that God is looking for, for His millennial core, are people who really do care about others, who have it as an automatic part of their psyche, who are practicing those principles in this lifetime.

How in the world are you going to do them in the world tomorrow if you don't have it built into your psyche, into your own DNA right now, to be doing those things? I think a most interesting passage that, to me, tells it all, and I probably get more excited about it than a lot of people do. I know people have tried to spiritualize it away. But I take a look at it in a very, very literal way, as to our mental and spiritual preparation for a world that is going to be in the way that I just did a very, very meager job in describing.

A world that will be mostly destroyed, an environment that will be mostly wrecked, and probably today's technologies would be impossible to fix. And be like American generals again, saying, we can't fix this. But again, just like Stalingrad, it will be repaired, and it will be the kind of world that God is prophesying it to become. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. Now, yesterday we saw the former American ambassador to the United Nations speaking about what's going on in Iran. It really is frightening. Ahmad Dejad, whatever his name is, I have a hard time pronouncing that.

They do so well on TV. The game that he's playing with the West, while he's building his arsenal of nuclear weapons that he plans to use, and how the window of opportunity for Israel is narrowing down to what to do about it, they're being forced into some kind of a first strike, which who knows what that will lead to. We're really on the verge of some extremely dangerous conditions by some very, very ugly, nasty spirits in this world. But let's take a look now at Matthew 25, this millennial core that is going to be rebuilding the earth.

I find it very interesting that the qualifications and the priorities for people who will be in this first resurrection are these. Matthew 25, verse 31, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. And now we have a vision of resurrections, actually blended into one, into one story about the division of the sheep and the goats.

But we know from other passages that it refers to different times in which people are judged, so to speak, or sentenced in some cases. All the nations, verse 32, will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

He will set the sheep on his right hand and his goats on the left. Here's a division of two different types, two genres. Verse 34, Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And this is talking about the resurrection. This is talking about the trumpet when Christ returns and the dead in Christ are raised.

And we get an indication from this as to what some of the first things that will be discussed. What are some of the priorities? What's important to God? Here's what he's going to say. I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you closed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. These are the people now who are about and have received eternal life.

And that's the first thing that he says to them. You know, you have fed the hungry. You have cared for the sick. You have compassion for those in prison. The righteous might be a little bit dazed here and how they respond will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, and gave you drink, or a stranger and took you in, or closed you? You know, we didn't do that literally to you, Jesus.

The king will answer, verse 40, and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, and as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Okay? Come on in. Welcome to the kingdom. Now, as you see, their first job now is going to be to restore this earth. We need a lot of caring people. We have a lot of compassion for all those that perished, for an environment that's been damaged, for a new earth that has to be repaired, restored, and on its feet again. They will look out over this vast earth and say, we've got to start this project, we've got to start that project.

You know, the people who are going to be part of that are going to have to be willing people. They're not going to be sitting around and waiting for the 24 elders, or the angels to do this job. That's a job for the saints, is to restore this earth and to make it habitable again. And get this Millennial Society off to its start. It's going to be from people that already have a caring heart, who've been doing similar things in this lifetime, if for anything, for practice. For something much greater and much bigger in the world tomorrow.

And the things that we might do, even in expressing care, or the kindness of our voice, or being concerned about somebody else, in what they have or have not, and to help fulfill a need, is vitally important. An important aspect of salvation. Because this Millennial Core is going to require people like this. That first group is going to be the Millennial Core that is going to lead the thrust in rebuilding this earth. Who knows, it may be 10 years, 15 years, I have no idea. I just know this, is that it's not going to be just God snapping his fingers, and all of a sudden you're going to have beautiful Millennial music playing in the background and have a utopia. It's going to have to be something that is built by a lot of caring people.

And that's why he mentions this as very, very first on the list.

He could have said any number of things, you know, how well did you keep the Sabbath? I don't want to put down anything that we cherish in our belief structure.

But we'll have to say that what Christ complements is what people did. And not necessarily what they believed. Even though belief is vital, important, and prime. But what did they do? Now one thing I get as a question sometimes from people who ask about our church, is oftentimes, most of the time people don't really ask what you believe. They couldn't care what you believe, they're afraid to know what you believe. I mean, they just don't want to get into that. But they do want to know what your church does. And what types of things does your church do? Perhaps in the community, perhaps in other forums. It's important to have that component, because it's part of our identity as what we're going to be doing in the world tomorrow. Is serving, helping, rebuilding, and restoring this earth. The flip side of this first interview that God has with the saints is frightening. In Matthew 25, verse 41, Then he will also say to those on his left hand, that's the goats, Depart from you, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. This is very, very powerful.

I mean, this couldn't sound more cutting. These are people who didn't make the cut.

For I was, again, the same issue. I was hungry, and you gave me no food. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and you did not take me in, naked, and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.

You saw these things, you just didn't do them.

And that's the difference between life and death.

I'm not making this up. I'm reading from the Scriptures about a very, very important judgment that will come upon the earth, upon those whom Christ was working with. And they will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, assuredly, I say to You, it is much as You did not to one of these, You did not do it to me. Now, first grouping, He talks about one of these, my brethren. In this particular group, it's to these, more broader.

And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

To me, I find these words to be electrifying. I find these words to be extremely important, as to expressing an important component of our spiritual makeup, our spiritual approach. It's not what you believe. It's how you care, and what you do. It's vitally important.

Because He doesn't say, I know you believed all these things. Welcome to the Kingdom. Now, He brings up an issue of deeds. Caring deeds. Deeds that are an important preparation for the job that's immediately at hand, which is to reconstruct and to rebuild this earth. Let's take a look at the rebuilding of the earth. Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35. Verse 1.

See, we have a contrast here from the world that was completely devastated, destroyed, few men left, nothing around. And now we have the desert rejoicing is blossoming as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall call the glory of the Lord. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. People who are going to be brought up, people who become self-sustaining, people who will start getting up on their own. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, Be strong and do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With the recompense of God, He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. The lame shall leap like the deer, and a tongue of the dumb sing, for water shall burst forth into the wilderness. You have a vision, you have a pole about restoration, about a new earth, about what God really wants.

God is like the American generals.

Well, pardon me, God is the one who thwarted the words of the American generals, who said, It can't be rebuilt. God supports those who rolled their sleeves up and made it work and rebuilt it. I do not in any way think that God is going to just be doing things by fiat. He's made us persons who like to build and like to plan and like to construct and like to be project-oriented. That's not going to stop. You know, one of the most exciting things to me in coming into the church, back in 1964 or so, when I got the first booklets, was the contrast from the vision I had of eternal life in my former church, which was to stare at God for all eternity.

And I knew it was eternity, because if you just have nothing to do, it does seem like eternity. But that there would be a restoration of the world, and it would be done by the saints.

The world would be rebuilt. It wouldn't just be the magic snapping of fingers and bringing it around.

I'm so happy about this. I don't think that this vision has changed among young people, who really do want to make some meaningful changes in the world. And one way is to prepare, to do things now, to be prepared for that moment, when Christ will have this interview with you at the resurrection.

Who did you care for?

There's one person that has been so helpful to me, personally, in helping set up the work that we have done with LifeNets. She was on our board at one time, and she was a professor at IUPUI at the Center on Philanthropy.

And she said one reason she got into the work that she did was because she had been part of so many groups that just stood around and watched. But a lot of people just didn't get involved. And she wrote a book called Caring is Not a Spectator Sport. It's available on Amazon by Dr. Lillia Wagner.

Caring is not a spectator sport. It is something that is a very much important part of you and what you teach your children to care for others, and not just have things for themselves. This church is the right place to come to if you want something to do, because we will have a lot to do. Rebuilding, repairing, restoring will be involved in a world of service. A service in caring for other people is not something that we hold a monopoly on.

I want to tell you a little story here about something that occurred just a few months ago. And it's regarding a poem that I read here in services. I'm one of the Holy Days. I can't remember if it was a year ago or two years ago or three years ago. Time goes by just kind of with a blur. But I posted a poem that I had found on the Internet called Anyway.

Maybe some of you remember it. In fact, I'll conclude my sermon with it. And I had one of my Rotarian mates call me. He said, I was on your website. And she said, I say you've got this poem anyway on there, and you have its author as anonymous. And anonymous is the most famous author in the world. He's everywhere. And she says, I want to let you know that that is not anonymous. That poem, and this woman's Rotarian, she's a professor at Indianapolis University. She's a good friend of ours. She and her husband have had, they have had me over to their home for dinner.

And she said, this poem was written by Dr. Kent Keith. I said, well, who's Dr. Kent Keith? I'd like you to meet him. Okay. He lives in Westfield, Indiana. He lives in the Indianapolis area. In fact, he is the CEO of the Green Leaf Institute that promotes servant leadership. Well, I just about fell through the floor.

Now, I've heard of servant leadership. We've studied it. There's several books on it. We had a number of you young people that have gone to college, that have had servant leadership studies from the Green Leaf organization as part of your curriculum and part of your course study. And she said, he wrote that poem back in 1968. It has been reprinted millions of times. She says, it's not anonymous. So, she says, you better give him credit. Which I did. And I went and found out more about him and what he does.

And didn't realize that we had been talking about servant leadership, you know, even within the church, that it was right here in our backyard, right here in Westfield, Indiana. So, sometime after the feast, I planned to go up there with him and meet Dr. Kent Keith. I'd like to learn more about him. I've looked at some of the things on his website. But, you know, the study of service and being a servant is something that is really, really not just something that, again, we have a corner on the market on.

In fact, I feel like sometimes we're a little bit behind. And we need to catch up to understanding just about how to do things. I'm not saying that we have, you know, been negligent in any way. But there are a lot of people who do care about people. And we have a lot of competition in this country.

Let me say this about the United States. The United States is a phenomenon. There has never been a country like this in history. It truly is the fulfillment of great promises given thousands of years ago. Of being a great nation, not only in the wealth that it has, but also in how it's been a blessing to other nations in the world. We have done humanitarian things for the United States, and as we work in even other countries in the world that are not as poor, but, you know, sort of mid-range, like South Africa and other places.

They marvel that people in the United States, continental United States, could care, would care, and do something about Zambia, or Ghana, or Peru. They said, that is not in our psyche. We don't think in those terms. It is totally outside our scope of just what we do. Those poor wretches, wherever they may be, you know, we feel badly about them.

We certainly wouldn't think about helping in any way. And you Americans do. There's an earthquake in Iran, and the Americans are right there with their Red Cross with the Iranians trying to keep them out because the Iranians hate us. Yet the Americans are right there helping an enemy in a humanitarian way.

So I'm saying the opportunity that we have in this land is amazing. Our sub-theme at the Feast of Tabernacles in Estonia this year is Christ-centered leadership in the world tomorrow. One reason why we chose it is this. You may not believe this, but it's true. The word service, the word service in the Russian language, does not exist in the way that we know it to be. When we say you want to be a servant, do you want to serve? Do you want to help out?

It means one thing to us. It's usually something very pleasant. Can you help serve with the potluck? Can you help serve with a variety show? Can you help serve by taking a meal to somebody? And we know what that means. In the former Soviet republics and in the Soviet Union and Russia itself, the word serve does not exist. The closest definition to it is servitude.

That's what it means, that you're a slave. Do you want to serve? In other words, do you want to be just pushed to do something? And that's exactly what it means. The closest word to service is servitude. Now they have a new word for service. You know what it is? Sedivis. They just start saying it in English. Because when I've gone over, the last couple of times, there's... Dell Computers has an office now in Ukraine, you know, in all these places. And they have a sign up there, Sedivis. It doesn't mean service. It's the English letters.

Because they really cannot define it in their own way because it's not been part of their culture. That means that when you take something in that hasn't been working, they don't just spit at you. They actually will welcome you and say, thank you for bringing it. It's got a two-year warranty. Good. Well, just fine. We'll get you up and running with a smile. Believe me, Bev and I know what it was under the Soviet Union. I mean, service was...it was so laughable that it was just almost a joke to see how people were just grumpy, angry.

They thought they were doing you a big favor to help out with anything. They were incompetent. That was just a mental mode. But there's been no place like the United States that's had a culture of serving and caring for people ever in history.

Perhaps that's an overstatement, but I don't believe so. You take a look at even what happened between the haves and have-nots during the colonial period. And you see what countries, when they went to colonize to actually do something, you take a look at the peoples of the descendants of Abraham that actually did something, that put in railroads, that put in infrastructure. In India today, the railroad system that still runs there was built by the British a long, long time ago. Infrastructure in Uganda, built by the British. Infrastructure in Zimbabwe, built by the British. There was a certain sense of development. There was a certain, in a DNA, a desire to build up and to restore and to make these areas work and build up. Well, we are asked, brethren, since our first job is going to be this, our first job is not going to be given a big iron rod in ruling. I guess we could be given an iron rod to rule, but there would be nothing to rule, because it's going to be all devastation. Our first job is going to be restoration, is going to be rebuilding this earth, is going to be to make it habitable, is going to be to reflect what God is. God is love. God is care. How do we know that we are God-like, or how do we know that Christians? By how we love one another. That's the way it's going to work. And so, after the resurrection, what then? This is what's going to happen. We're going to be on a massive project to restore and to rebuild this world. We're going to have to be first and foremost focused on serving the needs of this earth. We're going to have to be actually, in our minds, demoting ourselves to that of being a servant. I'd like to read in Philippians 2, verse 1, because Jesus Christ is the one that did reflect servant leadership. Obviously, he's a leader. But look at his attitude. Therefore, if there is any consolation, this is Philippians 2, verse 1, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, or fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Verse 4, let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. This was direct Christian living teaching to the church at Ephesus. Be like Christ. And what was Christ like? He wasn't just worried about number one. He was looking out for the interests of others. Interests, in other words, not just survival, but the interests of the advancement of the development of other people. Let this mind, verse 5, be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Jesus Christ was God. There was no question about, you know, his rank position. Someday we're going to become part of that God family, because children. But he made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. He became a servant, became a slave, became one who cared. And his whole life was bent and was focused and revolved around caring for human beings, caring for their health, caring for their salvation, caring for their future. Christ's entire life was a life of care.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. He gave all. He completely gave of himself, completely used himself up for mankind. Therefore, God has also highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every other name.

There we go with the Rod of Iron part of it, okay? I was talking about, you know, the rulership means no question as to who he is. The Rod of Iron does not necessarily mean that he was just bashing people over the heads. But we see someone who came as a servant, who cared for people, who cared for their needs, who built them up. First goal, first coming, that's going to be the second way too, in restoring this earth. There will be no question what government will be on earth. It will be the government of God.

It will be a world of development, coaching, facilitation, bringing about the best. It will be a world of listening, of caring for other people.

This is the job that we should be preparing for in this life. Because that's the first thing we'll be doing in the next life, and that is caring for people.

But, you know, it's not always easy to change. That's not when I get to the poem anyway. It's not always easy to be a servant leader. Because oftentimes people equate leadership with strength, savvy, ability to communicate. But you won't necessarily have, as the very first thing, what kind of a servant is he to describe leadership in this world. And that's why this Greenleaf model of servant leadership has become popular, you might say, or something that's been talked about and taught in university-level classes. In this lifetime it may not always be easy. But then nothing, of course, that's worthwhile is ever easy in life. I heard a quote this last week, If everything is coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane, as far as just having things that will work out for you. But we have a job, and oftentimes those who are servant leaders are not people who are pressed into that service, but people who show the initiative themselves. Of course we have to teach our children that we just don't always have to have everything for you, but that you learn to share, you learn to give, and you learn to put your arm around someone else. I'd like to read this poem by Dr. Kent Keith in concluding my sermon. I think that there's so much in it that reflects a selflessness, an attitude, and the type of spirit that Jesus Christ reflected in Philippians 2. The original title for the poem, which he wrote in 1968, was the Paradoxical Commandments. It talks about the kind of people that we oftentimes have to serve and help. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good that you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. You can see why the poem has been renamed anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and the women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs, but will follow only top dogs. Fight for the few underdogs anyway. When you spend years building, what you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help, but they attack you. If you do, help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the best the world you have anyway. Because remember, it's not between you and them anyway.