Do Not Be a Good Samaritan

During Jesus' lifetime, there were people living in Palestine who were the Samaritans. The Samaritans were Israelites, and the Samaritans kept God's law. They believed in the Pentateuch. That was the core of their religion. They were holy people. They were the right people. They were good people. How many times in life do people think they are right?

They are doing good. They are just what God wants them to be. How many times down through history can we see various religious groups thinking and believing that they are doing things just the right way to fulfill whatever it is they believe in?

Whether it is people like the Egyptians with their false gods, or people like the Church of God that we read of in Laodicea, who believe that they are spiritually strong and spiritually poor, or the people who Jesus Christ said will come to Him at His return and say, Oh Lord, Lord, you are here, you are back. And He said, Who are you? I never knew you. We as humans get things in our heads sometimes that are not accurate. Just as the Samaritans got in their heads some things that weren't quite accurate.

First of all, the Samaritans were not Israelites. They thought they were from some quirky history that they had, nor were they followers of God, though they thought they were through some changes in the law and doctrines that they had sort of concocted. From Smith's Bible Dictionary, it says that the final captivity of Israel by Shalmaneser, the cities of Samaria, were wholly unoccupied. Let's go back over, if you will, with me to 2 Kings 17 and verse 23. And we're going to see how this particular event took place.

You know that the northern kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel, as it were, as opposed to the Kingdom of Judah in the south, this kingdom had lawless leaders under Jeroboam, Reoboam, at that split. Jeroboam really took off and changed things, and they were worshipping up north. Here we find in 2 Corinthians 17 and verse 23, "...until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said so by his servants the prophets." So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

That northern kingdom was removed, and that northern kingdom left a vacuum where there was no population. And then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, from Cutha, from Ava, from Hamath, and from Sepharvium, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel.

And they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. So now you have a new people that actually was from Assyria, or the land that Assyria had conquered, which included Babylon, and they transplanted these people to fill up Samaria, the northern part, north of Jerusalem, the northern part of the land of Palestine.

These people settled in there. In fact, they liked it. In fact, they began to rebel against the king of Assyria. Had some problems there, though. Verse 24, verse 25, At the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So they appealed to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria tried to tell them what the problem was. The problem is, you've moved to an area where the God of that area is not being served. You're not serving that God.

I'm going to send you back one of the priests of Israel to teach you how to worship that God in that area. Then you'll have peace. Verse 28, Then one of the priests whom they carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Now, let's think about this. Why did the Israelites get carted off to Assyria?

Because they weren't obeying God. So they bring one of those priests back. They're going to teach these people how to obey God. Well, he taught them that they should fear the Lord. And they kind of did. Verse 32, So they feared the Lord. And from every class, actually from the lower class, one translation says, from the base people, they appointed for themselves priests of the high places.

Remember those high places that should have been torn down? Now they have priests there who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. They feared the Lord. Verse 33, Oh yes, they feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

These are the Samaritans. Aversion. They were taught the law. They were taught the Pentateuch. They were taught to fear God.

But, hmm, things didn't quite go the way they should have from God's standpoint. In 2 Corinthians 18 and verse 9, it says, Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshiah, that Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, came up against Samaria and besieged it. Now these people have dug in, and they were Assyrians of some sort. But now they're opposing Assyria, and Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, has come up and lays a three-year siege against them. In verse 10, at the end of three years, they took it. And then verse 11, the king of Assyria carried Israel. Get this. Carried Israel away captive to Assyria. I thought Israel was already carried away captive to Assyria. Well, the real Israelites were. But now you have a new group filling in, kind of feeling like Israel. They've got the Pentateuch of Israel. They're almost calling themselves Israelites, and they're doing the same thing, and they get carried away.

As time went on, there was a gap in the history until Judah returned back from Babylonian captivity. And what we find is some of those people wanted to come back with them. Hey, we're kind of like Jews, too. You know, you're going to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem? We'll help you. And what did the Jews say? No way. Nehemiah, no.

And so they opposed the Jews. And Sanballat and others who were Samaritans, they tried to confuse and try to prevent them from building the temple. And so developed a relationship between the Kingdom of Judah, or the Jews, and the Samaritans that would exist down to the day of Jesus Christ, opposing one another. The Samaritans, at about 400 BC, had a defective priest.

A priest who defected. I don't know what you'd call him. Defected. Defective. A priest down in Jerusalem defected because his marriage was not recognized. And he went up to Samaria, and in their capital city of Shechem, built a temple on Mount Gerizim. He built a temple for these guys. So the Samaritans had their own temple, and they worshipped at the temple. And everywhere people were, they would aim towards the temple at Shechem, and they would pray. And then about 130 BC, John Hyrcanus came up and tore down that temple. He and his armies came up and tore it down. Well, they continued to pray towards that spot. They were poor people. They were... their numbers were reducing a little bit, but they were intent that they had the law, they had the old temple spot, and they prayed in that direction. And so it was. When Jesus was on earth, the Samaritans were this group of Israelites. In fact, because some of the Jews would, you know, get cast out or whatever, they would end up going up to Samaria, and the Samaritans would marry in with them. And when it was expedient, they would say, look, we're Jews, too. You know, you know who has been coming up here and married around, so we're kind of all family. We're all Jews, too. They said their father was Jacob or Israel. Wasn't really their Assyrians. Did they have the law of God? Well, kind of. They had the Samaritan Pentateuch. The Samaritan Pentateuch is just like the other Pentateuch. Only a few words were changed. A few dates were changed. The years people lived were changed. A few technical details of the law were changed, so that it worked out real well with what they were worshipping. Other than that, it was just the same. And they had this really, really good Pentateuch. Of course, they only accepted Genesis through Deuteronomy. They didn't accept anything else that was written by the Jews or by the Israelites. By God, actually, through them. So they altered some dates and they altered some aspects of the law to suit their beliefs and customs. But they were comfortable in this, and they were devout, and they were dedicated, and they retained their identity.

You know, Jesus even gives the parable of a good Samaritan. The title of the sermon today is, Don't Be a Good Samaritan.

That's the title. Do not be a good Samaritan.

Jesus gave the parable of what has been called a good Samaritan. A person who helped out. Right? He did a nice deed. And if you couple that concept, where one person from a different class, from a different religion, and from a totally different ethnic background, helps someone else who despises them, Jesus' point was, who would you say was his brother? Makes an excellent point. Before we decide to dive in and say, you know, that has more than what Christ put into it, rather than just answering someone's question about who is your brother, let's not think that doing some deed and masquerading with a false religion or false ideals in a direction that is not what God wants is somehow good. A good Samaritan is dead for all eternity. Right? So don't be a good Samaritan, as we'll see here in just a minute.

There is, incidentally, a club called a Good Sam Club. Anybody ever hear of the Good Sam Club? Okay. Sometimes you'll see an RV, and on the back will be this little red, kind of a happy face guy, and he's got a halo over. That's a good Sam member. Now, I'll tell you a little history. This is their 40th year of being in existence. And what happened was, back in the early 60s in Oregon, a bunch of people up there who had trailers and RVs, you know, these things are always breaking down, always have problems. And so these people up in Oregon, about 130 or 160 of them, tried to help one another when they broke down.

And so they were helping one another. Well, there's a guy over in LA who bought—he was a publisher, and he actually bought a magazine as part of a group of magazines. And one of them was about RVing, and he didn't really know what to do with it, but he kept publishing it. And one day, a letter to the editor came in, and it said, you know, there's this group up here, and you think maybe this could be done on a broader scale. And so the editor sent a little note out there. Any of you think it would be good to have a club like this? And the response was a deluge. Everybody wanted a club where people would help one another. And in his deal, he said, kind of like the Good Samaritan. And so he named it the Good Sam Club. Well, you know, if you pick up an issue of Good Sam magazine or anything to do with the Good Sam Club— which I'm not opposed to, necessarily— funny thing is, in the 15 years that my wife and I have been associated with it on occasion, there's never been one mention of helping anybody.

Not a drop. Not a suggestion. Instead, this idea became the company supplying you or offering you insurance for breakdowns. They will sell you breakdown insurance. They own camping world stores. They will sell you parts. They have service centers there. They will sell you service. And they will advertise all kinds of things for you to buy. But never is the thought ever mentioned, in my humble opinion, from the small amount that I have read, of helping one another. The idea has changed into something else. It's gone somewhere else. And so it could be that you and I are susceptible, as humans, to doing something slightly different than God has in mind for us. So my question today is, are you and I truly doing the work of God? Do you know what the work of God is? Do you know what the will of God is? Or are we just living among those doing the work, and maybe critiquing it at times? We all are pretty good at complaining and critiquing. It's just, I don't know, something that we have in our human nature. But what about it? What is that work? What is the work that Jesus Christ came to do? What did He leave for us to do? How can you know? Today I want to expose the work of God, and encourage all of us not to be a good Samaritan.

Jesus Christ came with a purpose. He came with a mission. He came here with a commission, actually. And we are called to follow Him, but also to assist Him. Sometimes we get a little confused. Sometimes we think we're called to be saved. You're not called to be saved. That's not the purpose of your calling. God will call people to be saved later. By the billions, they will be called to be saved. Today God is calling firstfruits. He is calling workers. He is calling those to support the work that Jesus Christ began on this earth. That includes, obviously, salvation. That includes being a Christian, as we often discuss here at church.

People have accepted Jesus, but rejected His message. They reject the messenger. They accept the messenger, but they reject the message. They change it. They twist it. They come up with something else. They end up like Samaritans. Good Samaritans. Doing good deeds, but kind of have their own set of rules. The book's changed a little bit. Their own little worship things. Their own little identity.

What about you? What about me?

Men take part of the Word of God.

Part of the example. They do something similar, but it's different. And that's why Jesus said to those who say, Lord, Lord, to some of them, I never knew you. I just, I never knew you. Who are you?

In John 1 and verse 1, Jesus is introduced to us by the Apostle John from the very beginning. This is actually the beginning of time, as opposed to the beginning of the physical creation in Genesis 1.1. But in the beginning was the Word.

Why is this term the Word used? Doesn't it make it a little obscure? Why doesn't it say, In the beginning was Jesus, or In the beginning was the Christ?

But it says, In the beginning was the Logos, the Greek word, Logos. And the Logos, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In verse 14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is His name. This is His title. This is what He is about. He's about the Word, the Logos. We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. When Jesus is called the Logos here, what is John meaning? What's he referring to?

Well, we're going to find out today what Jesus came for, and why you and I are called, and what we are to be about. In John 5, John 5, verse 24, Most assuredly I say to you, He who hears my Word, He who hears my Logos, is what the Greek word there is, and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. He was the Word, and whoever heard that Logos, really heard it, really believed it, something was going to happen to them. This is the process of life. He was the light. He was the life and the way. In the fourth chapter of John, we see something curious.

Jesus needed to go through Samaria in verse 4, and in verse 5, He came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey, sat by the well. It was about noon, about the sixth hour. And a woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. So here comes a Samaritan woman. He's up in Samaria, and this woman comes by, and he says, Will you give me a drink?

For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. And then the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, how is it that you, being a Jew, would ask a drink from me, and you, being a teacher, would not talk to a woman? And she continues, Being a Samaritan woman, I'm everything you shouldn't be talking to.

For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. And we understand what's going on here. There are many people that Jesus Christ spoke to during the course of his ministry.

And those individuals, were, were typically given statements that impressed them. And such was the case with this Samaritan woman. I'm going to skip on down. You can answer, you can read the whole story if you like, but I'm going to skip on down to verse 39. There was a time when the disciples had returned. There's a time when Jesus had talked to this woman, and she had become convinced of something. She'd become convinced that he was the Messiah. And verse 39, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified. He told me all that I ever did.

So when the Samaritans had come to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.

And many more believe because of his own word, because of his own logos, because of what he said. Jesus Christ was here teaching. He was here changing what people believed. And here's some Samaritans who believed something else suddenly began to see him as a Messiah. Verse 42, Then they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard him, and we know that this indeed is the Christ, the Savior, of the world. In verse 30 of chapter 5, I'm going to read some verses here in the book of John that are going to show us what the work of God is, what the will of God is, and what our relationship with it is.

Jesus says, I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. Jesus Christ was focused on God the Father. He taught his followers to pray to God the Father. He said what he said was not of his own, but it was what the Father told him to say.

He was the Logos. He was the Word. In chapter 6, in verse 63, Jesus said, It is the Spirit which gives life.

The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.

Spirit and life come through the words from the Logos.

In verse 68, Simon Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Begin to see here how big and how strong and how important the words from God the Father are for humans, for doing the work.

Verse 69, Also, we have come to believe and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, how did that happen? Jesus Christ didn't go around saying, I'm the Messiah! Hello, everybody! I'm the Son of the Messiah! No, he can't went around saying to the disciples, who do they say I am? Who do you say I am?

You know?

Even the King! It wasn't the King, but the procurator of Judea asked him, Are you King of the Jews?

Jesus said, You said I am.

There's a lot that comes through words, and the Spirit of God works in the minds of those who hear the words if God is calling them at this time. But there's something that God the Father wants done, and it involves words. Chapter 7, verse 16. Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me. This didn't come from Jesus. It's God the Father's. If anyone wills to do his will, what is the will of God? If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. In chapter 8, verse 25, we begin to see more as this concept of the word, the Logos, and the word that is spoken grows. Chapter 8, verse 24 says, Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. And then they said to him, Who are you? And Jesus said to them, Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. Just what I have been saying to you.

It's in the words. The Spirit, the truth, and the life that Jesus is, is in the words. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true. And I speak to the world those things which I heard from him. I speak those things which I heard from the Father. They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father, but then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, when you crucify him, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself. But as the Father taught me, I speak those things. When you think of the work of Jesus Christ, you might be thinking of the miracles. You might be thinking of them walking on water, casting out demons, healing people, resurrecting people from the dead.

Was that the work? What was the work? What were the works that God sent him to this earth to do and that he asked us to continue in? We're going to find out more as we continue along.

In verse 43 of chapter 8, Why do you not understand my speech?

Because you are not able to listen to my word. Not everyone by any means can understand or hear the word. Even the Israelites on Mount Sinai didn't want to hear it.

Because you are of your Father, the devil, and the desires of your Father, you want to do.

In verse 47, He who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God. It's important for us to hear, but it's important for us to do something else with those words as well.

In chapter 10 and verse 24, Jesus had not gone verbally preaching that he was the Christ. And here in chapter 10 and verse 24, the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, How long do you keep us in doubt?

We want to know!

How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, if you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.

And Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. What were the works? The healings, the things that the crowds followed Him around with, the things that people in the church today would love to see. Well, this can't be the Church of God because I'm looking for the works. Gotta see the works!

But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. In verse 37 of chapter 10, if I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. Why do the masses follow Jesus around? Because of the miracles. That's why. It says in the Bible, that's why. Because of the loaves of bread, because of the bread, because of the loaves of bread, sometimes, or because of the miracles, because they might catch something, to be healed, to see something. They're very impressed with this. See, they want to see signs, they want to see some magic, not in all cases, but in some. If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works.

Believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I am in him. Do you see how central the works are here? To the mission, I guess you would say, the commission of Jesus Christ, to the success of Him being the Messiah here on earth? It's the core. It's the substance.

What were those works?

In chapter 12 and verse 44, as John continues to build our understanding on this theme, John 12 and verse 44, we're told, then Jesus cried out and said, He who believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me, the Father.

I have come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.

And if anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The Logos that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak. Now do we see how important these words are? These aren't just words that he came up with. God actually gave him a command what I should say and what I should speak. And he was called the word or the Logos because of what God told him to speak. Verse 50, And I know that his command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. Those words are powerful, brethren. Those words contain eternal life. Those are the words that the Father want to get out to mankind.

In chapter 14, in verse 10, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, in the Father in me?

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works.

Here we begin to find out what the works are.

What the works of God, these important works.

The Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

The works themselves. So we go on in verse 12, Most assuredly I say to you, He who believes in me, the works that I do, He will do also, and greater works than these will He do, because I go to my Father. So the works that Jesus did would actually be smaller than the works that His disciples and their followers would eventually do. Have we been called to do greater miracles? Walk on greater lakes of water? Resurrect people from the dead? Could this be what God is talking about?

What about the works? How can someone do greater works than Christ? Not just the same works, but even greater works than Christ. Who has ever done greater miracles?

Well, let's go down to Chapter 14 and verse 24.

He who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father who sent me.

The word, words there, twice, words and word, is logos. This is a very powerful statement that this logos, if you do not love Christ, you don't keep the logos. You don't believe the logos. And the logos which you hear is not Christ. You're not saying, I don't accept you. You're saying, I don't accept the Father because this is what the Father sent me to say.

Chapter 17 now and verse 3.

Chapter 17 and verse 3. Well, let's go, first of all, let's go back to chapter 14 and verse 10. Chapter 14 and verse 10.

Do not believe that I am in the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you as the logos, I do not speak on my authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. And that defines what the works are. The works are the words. The works are the logos. And greater works of words will be done after Jesus than he was able to do himself. Jesus had a limited audience, one individual in the land of Palestine. And yet, and yet, once he died and came back, he was able through 12 disciples who became apostles, and eventually other teachers and other writers to go on and take those works, which were the word, that logos, and begin to spread it. Begin to spread it. Now, in chapter 17 and verse 3, we begin to become included in this.

Chapter 17 and verse 3 says, And this is eternal life, that they may know you. How will they know you? Through the logos, through the words.

This is eternal life. The only true God that they may know you. And Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. I have finished the work which you have given me to do, he said. And that work was to preach the gospel as the logos, the words of life. In verse 7, Now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you.

For I have given to them the words which you have given me. Aha! He has passed along the logos, the words from the Father to the apostles. The church is built on Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone on a foundation of those He gave the words to. The apostles and the prophets. Those who had the testimony of Jesus Christ. The words He gave those to them.

Going on.

I have given to them the words which you have given me. And they have received them, and they have known surely that I came forth from you. And they have believed that you sent me. Verse 14. And I have given them your logos. Your Word. That's what Jesus Christ was sent here to do. This was His work, was to pass along the words from the Father.

I have given them your logos. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. And verse 18. And as you sent me in the world, why did God send Him in the world? To do miracles? No. To preach the Word. To be the logos. As you have sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

So those who have been sent have followed or been commissioned as Jesus Christ. They weren't commissioned to go be crucified for the sins of others. No, they were commissioned for something else, weren't they? No. In verse 20. I do not pray for these alone, just for the disciples. But I also pray for those who will believe in me through their logos. And here you and I are today. Jesus Christ praying for us because we have a work to do. We have a word to get out. A word to spread. You and I have the opportunity to know words of life. But as I said at the beginning, we're not called to just be knowers. We're not called to sit back and feel like, you know, we're getting ready and we're getting ourself ready and come Jesus. No, that's not exactly what we've been called to do, is it? Not exactly at all what we've been called to do. In Matthew 24, there are a couple of statements that I'd like to read to you in closing. Matthew 24, verse 45, we'll begin. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season? This is what Jesus Christ has commissioned the church and the leaders of the church to do. To give food, words, words of life, the bread of life. Jesus is the bread of life. The word of God is the bread.

The logos. That is what we need. That is what mankind needs. Who is faithful? To give them food in due season. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Giving food. Preaching the gospel. Giving the words that Jesus Christ came preaching, which was the gospel of the kingdom of God, which is life.

Remember to Peter, he said, Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I love you. Feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Yes, I love you. Feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Yes, I love you. Feed my sheep.

Notice one of the indicators of when the end of this age takes place is in verse 14 of Matthew 24. And this good news of the kingdom of God shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations. All nations. And then will the end come.

Second Timothy 4, verses 1 through 2. Preach. What does he say? Timothy, preach the logos. Look it up in the Greek. Preach the logos, he says. Preach the logos.

You know, when we go back in time, the church didn't always have opportunities to preach to the world over the last 2,000 years since the death of Christ. The apostles started out strong but quickly were eliminated and annihilated. And the church was annihilated and moved around and fell into obscure times in history, only really to become prominent in the last century. And during the last century, a work that grew very, very small, very slowly, very slowly from a very small beginning, eventually, by the late 1960s, 1970s, was reaching a global audience. Back then, we only had three networks on TV. Just three, ABC, NBC, and CBS. And you could buy time on those three networks and reach everybody watching TV.

There was a time when there were few magazines and lots of people were eager to read and would see your ad in there.

Radio stations were small, and the FCC limited large stations at night. And so you could get on a few Mexican 50,000-watt radio stations that would reach all the way across North America and beam the logos out there. The result was a lot of people, not only in this country, but around the world, heard the truth. A lot, but how many out of six billion? How many out of six billion at the time heard the word? Actually, it was a very small fraction. Very small fraction. And that seemingly went away. And here we are today as the United Church of God. The United Church of God has this very commission to preach the gospel into all the world. And what do we have? Not 250,000 members like we used to have at our peak. We have less than 25,000 members.

And how could that possibly be done?

It was interesting, back in 1998, when my wife and I were in Cincinnati, pastoring there, the home office moved to Cincinnati. And with it, a young man named Peter Eddington. Peter Eddington's an Australian. And I love Peter. Peter is kind of easygoing, Ozzy Guy. And Peter can do more than probably 10 normal humans. Even though he's easygoing, doesn't seem to have anything happening. Peter at the time had two offices. You go in one office, you had video monitors. On one was the feast film being created. Over here, you had some other film being rendered. Over here, you had some other sermon video that was rendering and going to tape. Then you go in his other office, and he had website stuff everywhere. Websites. Websites are going to be big. The internet has got to have a website. It's going to go big. I'm like, Peter, Peter, don't we need a telecast? Thinking like the old days. Don't we need a telecast? In fact, I started telecasts there in Cincinnati. I did a couple other members and our ministers. And we put things on the local air. Didn't get much of any response. But Peter's, you know what? We need to get out there and get... We need to buy, purchase a service where, when somebody looks up the word God, United Church of God website will pop up. Or if they look up faith, our booklet will pop up. So he began investing money like that. And the council was right with him. And the church began to get involved more and more on the internet. Well, make a long story short. Today, if you try this, go look up... Type in Easter. I think we usually hit third. And our booklet about Easter, these other things. Around the world today, anybody can get on the World Wide Web.

And not only see literature, but hear sermons, videos. And now we even have a telecast that's airing, I guess almost constantly, because you can click right on there and listen to it. This really is reaching all nations. It is available in every nation and corner of the earth. And you think, well, not everybody has computers. That's true. You know, on this last trip over to Africa, we have one congregation that lives four hours from the nearest... You call it a bus stop, a van stop, where you can get public transportation. They have to walk four hours through mountains and trees to get to where a vehicle can take them to the nearest town. And so at our Bible study, they didn't show up. Because, you know, they don't have watches. And if they do, they don't really know a lot about what they mean because no one else has watches. So what's that about? So when I say we're starting at 10, ending at 12, and they finish the chores and start walking, and then catch the bus, they get there at 1, just as we're leaving.

It's interesting. When I got home, I got an email from one of them. Okay? Sorry we were late. That won't happen in September when you come back.

We will be there.

Now, how does this person who lives four hours from nowhere get on an Internet service and send me an email? Well, it's because Internet cafes are around the world. Anybody who has a phone line generally can sell time for a few shillings. You can get on there and look around. And we get deluged from all countries. I don't know. Every possible country, I don't know. But some little bitty countries, we get mail from them. Saw your booklets. Been reading your magazine. Can you mail this thing to me? Can you come see me? We get letters in East Africa from Eritrea, from Ethiopia. We get letters from a lot of other countries than that, but those are countries over in our realm. A lot of them. A lot of people are reading everything, and they think, this is good stuff. You know, the logos, the word, is going out. Even though we're small, it is going out in a big, big way.

It is certainly available. Where God will take that in our time, I do not know. But I know this, that we have the most powerful presence, and we are the ones fulfilling the Word of God in the 21st century, just as Jesus Christ began it back in the first century. And it is going out.

In closing, I'd like to read to you Revelation 22, verse 7.

Revelation 22, verse 7.

Actually, I have two verses to read you. Blessed is he who keeps the logos of the teachings of this book.

That's the one that's blessed.

Not the one who's got some twiggy little thing correct. No, the one who's blessed is the one who keeps the words, the logos. For in them are life. These are the words of the Father. The words of the prophecy, but the word prophecy means teaching. The teachings of this book. If a man keeps them, or if a woman keeps them, they are extremely blessed, is what that Greek word means. But what about to you and to me? We need to be doing the work of God. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. And then he said, you are the light of the world.

And he has called us as a body. And he is working through us as a body to do his Father's will, which is the logos to preach the word. To preach that word. Rather than there is salvation, and then there is salvation with works.

We are called to be saved. That's true. But we are called to do the works of the preaching of the logos of God.

There is something in it for you and for me. It says in Daniel 12, verse 3, Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. That's true. Those who follow God in his wisdom, for Jesus Christ is to us wisdom, the Bible says, shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. But it goes on and says, And those who turn many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.

So, brethren, don't be a good Samaritan. Be a good Christian. Be Christ-like. Be Christ-like in your thoughts and your actions, but also in your work. Let's do the work of the Father. Let's continue preaching the logos.