Fiery Furnace of Life

Greetings, everyone. Good to be with you. We really enjoyed being here with the wonderful spirit and atmosphere and attitude of the brethren, just a breath of fresh air to see what can be with regard to brethren dwelling together in the spirit of unity. I would at this time like to also thank all of those who presented the special music for us. A lot of hard work and sacrifice goes into that and the beautiful numbers that we have just heard.

So thanks very much to all of those who have labored in that. And now, Mr. Dobson, I think he deserves a big thank you for all his work and efforts in putting the staff together and all the staff that has worked here. So for Mr. Dobson, let's give him a round. He has exhibited the best communication I've ever had from a festival coordinator, and everything has just gone so beautiful here. The messages of the feast have indelibly stepped upon our minds the urgency of the times in which we live.

This world desperately needs the mountain of God, the government of God, to rule over it. The peoples of this world need to be relieved of its suffering and pain. The whole creation needs to receive the deliverance that will be wrought by God, Jesus Christ, and the saints as they are manifested. And of course, the whole creation yearns for the manifestation of the sons of God. The world desperately needs the God-ordained family structure to be restored. And this world desperately needs to be taught the way of God, the true path to love, joy, and peace.

The Bible definition of the kingdom of God in the book of Romans is, it is a kingdom of love, joy, and peace. This world desperately needs to understand and know who the true God really is and understand the great questions of life. Those seven questions we mentioned and will mention again today in the sermon, the ones we mentioned in the first sermon. The world desperately needs godly leadership. The events of this past year mark a great pivotal point in human history, both in the world and in the Church of God. I don't think that we really grasp the significance at times of the days in which we are living, and also the events that have been transpiring in the Church, especially during the past two decades.

In 2012, we'll even be more revealing than 2011. More trying. In 2012, we know all of the weird prophecies that have been prophesied for the Mayan calendar, and all kinds of false prophets will come out of the woodwork more and more, chaos and confusion on the world scene. The great event on the world scene right now centers on the restructuring of the world's financial system. This coming Sunday, October 23, may go down in history as one of the most important days in the 21st century. On this day, 27 nations, their leaders will be gathering in Europe, trying to solve the economic crisis that exists in Europe, and they will announce a new master plan to try to save Europe, and then, of course, hope and pray that it will work.

I don't know how much praying they will do, but I'm sure they'll be doing a lot of hoping. I have a quote here from U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. I quote, he warns that Europe and the entire world could face cascading default bank runs and catastrophic risk if they don't come up with a plan that will, in essence, save the financial structure there, and of course, you'll have the effect all over the world. The great event this past year in the Church centers on the division of the Church.

The division in a Church reveals hearts, attitudes, and the motivation of people. If you would, turn to 1 Corinthians 11. Brethren, I am determined in my lifetime. I am at that stage of life in which what can anyone do to me? Well, I guess they could kill you or do whatever. But my wife and I have just participated in our, I think, 38th move.

We've been downtown, downtown, upstairs, downstairs. We've lived in the city. We've lived in the country. We've lived just about any place you want to name. And my great passion is to teach and preach the Word of God and to declare the whole counsel of God and let the chips fall where they may. If we are going to believe the Bible, believe God, we have to preach the whole Bible. We can't just choose the passages that we think that people will like, per se.

We hope that all of us love every passage in all of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 15, I don't want 1 Corinthians 11 to 15. Now what? 18. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 18. For first of all, when you come together in the Church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it.

For there must be also heresies or divisions among you, that they which be approved may be made manifest among you. Then Paul goes on to talk about how that they were making the Passover service into a drunken festival in the Church there in Corinth, and he instructs them on that.

The notion that an organization ostensibly has similar doctrine is not the test of whether or not an organization or person is right with God. I mean, you can have intellectual assent to the truth, but internalizing the truth and becoming converted, that's where the rubber meets the road. God hates division. In Proverbs 6 and verse 16, let's notice there, Proverbs 6 and verse 16, brethren, we are going to talk about today the things that we're going to need in our spiritual survival kit to survive another year and be back at the Feast of Tabernacles, wherever God may place his name next year.

In Proverbs 6, 16, these things, six things, Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination to him. One place in the Scriptures that says that God is angry with the wicked every day. Yes, God is a God of love, mercy, long suffering, and we can go through all the qualities and characteristics of God, but God is pure. God is holy. God expects us to be holy, as it says in the Scripture, be you holy, for I am holy.

These six things, thus Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. There are many different ways that you can shed innocent blood. You can shed innocent blood without actually killing the person, per se, in the physical sense, and heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift and running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among the brethren.

So, brethren, I hope that none of us are guilty of these things. It is obvious that Satan has picked up and intensified his attack against the Church of God. Let's go to Revelation 12, verse 9. In Revelation 12, verse 9, Satan, that old serpent, the devil, who is deceiving the whole world. Revelation 12, verse 9, the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world. He was cast out in the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God. The kingdom of our God is coming, but before the kingdom of God comes, Satan is going to really intensify his attack, and especially against the Church of God. Do we understand that? Do we understand how important it is for us to truly come to the point to where we really embrace John 13, 35? Jesus said, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, in that you have love, one for another. And here at the feast I have seen that manifestation, and those of us in the ministry and the leadership in the Church of God are now very encouraged by what we're seeing and how you, brethren, are beginning to respond. And brethren, I will not be negligent to put you in remembrance of these things. You know, Peter writes that in 2 Peter chapter 1, where he says, Although you know these things, I will not be negligent to put you in remembrance of these things. I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of the brethren is cast down, who accuses them before God day and night. And if you want to be an accuser of the brethren, then you want to be an agent of Satan and do his work. And brethren, that's not what we have been called to do. We have been called to be ministers of reconciliation and to be ambassadors for Christ. And you will not find Christ being an accuser of the brethren. You remember that passage there in Jude where it says that even Michael, when contending for the body of Moses with Satan the devil, of course Satan the devil would really like to have had the body of Moses and set up some kind of shrine or whatever where people would worship a man instead of worship God.

That Michael just said, The Lord rebuke you. But somehow people think that they are free to speak evil against dignities in today's world. And of all the magazines that have been produced in recent times, those that take the National Enquirer sort of led the way in this and then one magazine after another giving you the inside scoop on the rich and famous celebrities of this world and all of that. And those kind of magazines and news programs have mushroomed all over the planet in recent times. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. In other words, if they sin, they went before the throne of God and cried out for his mercy. And God is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness when we repent. And by the word of their testimony, their maturia, their witness, their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. Three great keys for overcoming Satan the devil. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them, warden the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knows he has but a short time. Now, whether or not that actual fulfillment has taken place or not, I know that Satan has intensified his attack against the Church of God in each one of us individually, and all of us are being tried and tested, and God indeed is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat. If we're not becoming love as God is love, all of our posturing, posing, preaching, and teaching is in vain. Let's go back now to 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13. We also covered this on the first day, but we're going to go on beyond this, not the first day, but the sermon I gave on the weekly Sabbath. In 1 Corinthians 13, 1 Corinthians 13, and though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, have not charity. If I'm not becoming as God is, and the Bible reveals the qualities and characteristics of God, of His very character and His being, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, if I'm not becoming as God is, I am becoming a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. It's just a loud noise. It has no meaning, though I could speak every language on the face of the earth. I could be interpreter for every nation at the United Nations, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, that's where some people want to focus, but Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8, 1, that knowledge puffs up, charity edifies. And though I have faith so that I can remove mountains and have not charity, if I'm not becoming as God is, I am nothing, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, have not charity. If I'm not becoming as God is, it profits me nothing. Then the apostle Paul gives the qualities and characteristics of charity, of what love really is. How love, how a person who is filled with love really conducts himself, how he behaves, how he thinks. We could all ask ourselves, this could be our one way that we could begin in our renewal and rededication at this feast. I've met several of you who have said this feast, the sermons in this feast have been a wake-up call to me, that I am going to rededicate myself, and I'm really going to stick my nose in the Bible, and I'm going to study, and I'm going to know and know that I know. Charity suffers long.

God is long-suffering and merciful toward each one of us, His kind. Charity envies not.

Charity doesn't want what another person has had, and one of the great difficulties in the Church through the ages and dating all the way back in humankind to the days of Cain and Abel, where Cain killed his brother Abel because he was jealous, because Abel's offering was accepted and Cain's was not. Cain brought a thank offering. He didn't come before God with an offering for sin, a sacrifice. Abel brought the firstlings of the flock, and his offering was accepted before God.

But Cain was so angry that he wasn't number one that he killed his brother. And from that day to the present day, we still have problems with envy. All of mankind has had problems with envy and is one of the greatest marks against us, but it can be overcome.

It envies not. Charity vaults not itself, doesn't try to promote itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not our own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never fails.

If we become as God is, that never fails. God will not fail. God who has promise is faithful, and He will live up to His promises.

But whether there be prophecies, they shall, and that word should be cease, translated. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away because God is going to teach all of the world, as you have heard in sermons, the true way and the knowledge of God will fill the earth as sand fills the seashore.

God has called us to become living sacrifices, to actually live the way that is described here in the short summary of the way that love thinks and the way that love behaves. He has called us to fulfill the two great commandments.

Let's go back there. You may think you know the two great commandments, and I'm sure you can quote them. So let's go to Matthew 22 and verse 36 because what Christ says after He answers the question of, Master, what are the two great commandments, what He says after that should be very sobering to each one of us. In Matthew 22, 32-36, a lawyer, verse 35, trying once again to make Jesus out as someone who is mistaken, misinformed, doesn't really know, trying to trip Him up. Matthew 22, 36, Master, which is a great commandment in the law. And Jesus said unto Him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.

This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Of course, you have to respect yourself. And if God be for you, who can be against you? And there's no point of people going around trying to put down themselves in some kind of fault show of humility. God, who has given His Son for us, wants us to respect ourselves and to love others as we love ourselves. That's what it says here. But then notice what it says, on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets.

It's the same as the 1 Corinthians 13 verses 1 through 3. If you're not doing this, then all the rest is in vain.

And we need to think about these things before we act. All of us. That includes myself and everyone here. In Romans 12, God has called us to be living sacrifices. The book of Romans is the blueprint to oral peace because it has a lot to say about how one is reconciled to God.

In the first chapter of Romans, God takes the Gentiles to task. In the second chapter, He takes the Jews to task. In chapter 3 verse 23, He comes to the conclusion, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Then He begins to show us how that our sins can be remitted and how Jesus Christ has paid the price, and through faith, we can have the slate wiped clean. We go into the watery grave of baptism, crucified with Christ and come up in newness of life to serve Him.

And then from Romans 12 basically to the end of the book, the emphasis is on becoming a living sacrifice. So in Romans 12 and verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind. The mind can only be renewed through the Spirit and Word of God.

And we must go beyond, and we'll pursue this a little more, go beyond intellectual assent to the truth. It must be internalized and then put into practice that you may prove what is at good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according to God as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. We are members one of another. In the human family, we are joined together, and in that family you share genes and chromosomes, genetic code of your parents and ancestors. And everybody is traced back to Adam and Eve.

So in that sense, we could say we're members one of another. You know, in Acts, Paul talks about that he is made of one blood, all nations.

Through the Spirit, the very essence of God dwelling in us, we are all joined together by that essence of God. We are members one of another, but we don't all have the same office. Verse 5, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Then Paul begins to show us how to become living sacrifices. Verse 9, let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another, not slothful or slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not, rejoice with them that do rejoice, weep with them that weep, be of the same mind one toward another, mine not high things but condescend to men of low estate, be not wise in your own conceits, recompense to know man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men if it be possible as much as lies in you live peacefully with all men.

And then this verse, all that we could learn, this one. Dear beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give peace unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. See, here are just some of the insights that Paul gives under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as to how to become living sacrifices. God is looking on our hearts. You may be able to quote the Bible. You may be able to give great sermons, speeches, testimonies, whatever you want to name. But if your heart is not right with God, and if your attitude and your spirit does not reflect what God is, then it's in vain.

God is looking on our hearts. Notice Isaiah 66 and verse 2. Isaiah 66, too. This is the person that God is going to look to and the person he's looking for. So we'll read verse 1 while you're getting there. In Isaiah 66, I don't know. There's just something about when I'm speaking. I got this big, thick companion Bible that just sort of my finger falls on the Scripture. I turn to every Scripture with my left hand, but I know sitting there in the seats it's far more difficult to do as I've been doing there every day. In Isaiah 66 and verse 1, Thus says the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you build unto me? And where is the place of rest? For all these things hath mine hand made, and all these things have been, says the Lord. But to this man will I look. We had a verified sermon by Mr. Neff on meekness and humility, but to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Rather than these are the words of life. They also can be the words of death because the wages of sin is death, and one of the definitions of sin is transgression of the law, in other words, not obeying the word of God. Now let's notice Psalm 51. Psalm 51, the prayer that David prays apparently after his great sins with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. In Psalm 51 and verse 17, you might say, well, what is the greatest sacrifice that I can offer unto God? In 1 Peter 2, verses 5, 6, 7, along and there, we're admonished to offer up spiritual sacrifices. One of the greatest spiritual sacrifices that we can bring before God is the condition of our heart. And as I said, division, accusing, and all of the things that go with that, envy, jealousy, all of those different behaviors reveal the contents of the heart. Oh, everything else might be right. As I said, you might be able to give great sermons, as the world might look at a great sermon or maybe somebody in the church.

Of course, we have seen people who are glib of tongue and people who can give inspiring, emotionally laden kind of sermons. You know, when I taught speech, I taught homiletics at the college. One of the assignments that we had for homiletics class was before the feast. You go to the feast, then you make a report back in the class about which speaker was most effective and why. And invariably, the class would come back, the men would come back, and the minister, who was able to touch the audience emotionally, might tell a story, you know, a tear-jerking story of some kind that really impressed the people, though they may not have learned anything, any greater insight into the Scripture. Yet, that was viewed by the men there most often as the most effective speaker at the feast. In Psalm 51, verse 16, For you desire not sacrifice, else would I give it, talking about the sacrifice of animals.

You delight not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. So he's looking for people who tremble at his word and for a broken contrite spirit. Because of the critical crucial times in which we're living, this feast should be a pivotal experience in your life.

The trumpet is sounded, the handwriting is on the wall. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

He who hath eyes to see, let him see.

It is the wise who will understand and heed the yea-butters.

We have a lot of yea-butters, and the gain-sayers. What will they do? Will they remain that way, or will they be wise, as Daniel talks about?

Let's go to Daniel 12 and verse 1. There's no question that this is an end-time prophecy, because it says, and at the time of the end, and at that time, speaking of the time of the end.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your people.

There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time, and at that time, probably toward the end of the tribulation, and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But ye, O Daniel, shut up the word, seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. The technological advances are so rapid and so fast in today's world that people like me cannot possibly keep up with them, because I'm just not into that, and really if I wasn't, I have no interest really in that. But those who are trying to keep up and have that kind of aptitude or hard press to keep up.

Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood over other two, the one on the side of the bank of the river, the other on that side of the bank of the river, and one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

There are two big signs that are given here. How long shall it be?

And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, He held up his right hand and his left hand into heaven, and swore by him that lives forever, that it shall be for three and a half years, when he shall have accomplished that of Satan the devil, to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

And surely we have seen a tremendous scattering of the Church of God. There are dozens, dozens of organizations that have the label Church of God and who ostensibly have the same basic core teachings. But it's just the basic core teachings in and of itself will not get you there. It's whether or not you are converted, whether or not your heart is right before God, whether or not you really love your neighbor as yourself and love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And I heard, but understood not, then I said, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. Many shall be purified and made white and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. And all of us could ask ourselves, are we among the wise? See, the wise virgins have their lamps filled with oil, oil symbolic of the Holy Spirit. One of the great things that one of the great scriptures of the whole Bible that I try to impress upon the congregations where I pastor, and I mentioned it almost every Sabbath, not every Sabbath, but almost, is John 663. If you haven't memorized John 663, let's do it right now. Let's go to John 663. Because it is true, David talked about in Psalm 119 verses 97 through 105, O how love I lie law, it is ever with me. I am more understanding. I have more wisdom than the ancients because I keep your precepts. And he goes on extolling and praising the Word of God. Your Word is a light under my feet and a lamp under my path. Maybe that's reversed, I don't know, but anyhow, you get the point. In John 663, it is the Spirit that quickens, it makes alive. The words that I speak unto you, I'm sorry, it is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

So here you see the Word of God equated with the Spirit of God. The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. It's called the book of life.

In Revelation 22 and verse 10, we just read there from Daniel that none of the wicked shall understand and only the wise shall understand. In Revelation 22 and verse 10, we want to make sure that we do not fall into this category because there comes a point in time in which the conscience can be seared. And once the conscience is seared and that lifeline between you and God, that lifeline of the Holy Spirit is quenched, there is no way back. In Revelation 22 and verse 10, and he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For the time is at hand, he that is unjust, let him be just unjust still. He that which is filthy, let him be filthy still. See, after a person crosses a certain line and through perhaps even his own human reasoning in which he tries to reason around God and he goes beyond a certain point, there is no way back. We call it the unpardonable sin. Let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still, and behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. So this next year, as we've already mentioned, will really be a time in which the wheat and chaff will be sifted. If you delay getting your spiritual house in order, you may not be at the place where God places his name next year.

So in view of all of these things, what manner of people ought we to be?

Well, we've already seen quite a bit of what manner of people we ought to be from 1 Corinthians 13 and other places, and one of the great challenges in the Church is to close the gap between what we know and what we do. Satan is firing terrorist attacks all around us. Figuratively speaking, he fired great terrorist attacks against us many years ago. Of course, he fired great terrorist attacks against the early Church, and it seemed like the Church might be even wiped out. The Apostle Paul was even out killing Christians before he was converted. The tragedy of the terrorist attack that came upon the Church in recent times, going back into the 90s, is the fact that the people who knew the truth down to their toenails, they had intellectual assent to the truth for sure at one time. But as soon as the false teaching was announced, they gloried in their liberty, and they were lost in their own intelligence, their own human reasoning, trying to use human reasoning as to what God and Christ will accept. This trying to reason around God and speak for God is where so many in the world are at today. I'll tell you a little story about my brother.

He lives in the Mississippi Delta, just north of Greenville. You can get a glimpse of the Mississippi River levee there in his backyard. He's a soybean farmer. He's a mayor for decades in this little town. He's a mayor of the town.

They have a church called Benoit Union, and they have three pastors, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and a Methodist. And they alternate each Sunday.

Now recently, the Presbyterians have started ordaining women, and now one of the ministers at his church, Benoit Union, is a woman. I've met her. Very nice lady.

Someone mentioned, well, the Bible says that a woman should not be a preacher in the church.

He said, well, I don't think God's going to send me to hell to go up there and listen to a woman once a month. So he speaks for God, of what he thinks God will do or not do. Of course, there are many other things in it, but that's just an example of people who try to reason around God and say, think what God would say. People who try to justify homosexuality talk about how God loves everybody, and to be against homosexuality is equated with hate.

So they attempt to speak for God and make their decision on what God accepts apart from His Word.

They make God over in their own image. They assume God's role and decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. God is love. He's not willing that any should perish. But the knowledge of good and evil is God's prerogative, and knowledge is revealed in the pages of the Holy Scriptures.

The Scriptures teach us, if they speak not according to the law and testimony, it is because there is no truth in them. That's straight out of the Bible, Isaiah 8 and verse 20. If they speak not according to the law and testimony, it is because there is no truth in them. See, Christ is not the minister of sin. Please go to Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16. Galatians 2 and verse 16.

One of the things that the churches of this world continually try to emphasize, and if you really understood all of the facets of faith, you could say that it's by faith alone because faith without works is dead, and the simplest definition of faith is to believe God and do what He says. And we understand that you could start at some point keeping the commandments perfectly. This is just theoretical. But even if you could and did, it would not pay for the sins of the past. The wages of sin is death, and only the sacrifice of Christ can pay for those sins.

But Christ will not pay for those sins, and God the Father will not grant you His Spirit if you do not repent. Peter said on the day of Pentecost, they said, "'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' And Peter said, "'Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" In Galatians 2 and verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Even if you could keep the Ten Commandments perfectly, that won't pay for sins in the past. So there is an element of faith. You have to believe and accept the sacrifice of Christ. But if while you seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin. God forbid. Because if you could be justified and remain in your sins, Christ came to save us out of our sins, not in our sins. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. And Paul says, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. So we have to repent. So do we fear and tremble at the word of God and view it with great reverence and respect? And do we understand John 6.63? It is the Spirit that quickens. The flesh profits nothing. The words I speak. They are spirit in their life. One of the most deceitful, destructive things that Satan has done to the youth is to condition them to not value the precious gift of life. Hopefully every young person here understands the preciousness of life and values it highly and desires to live forever.

Life is precious, but in the movies, in the video games, people are blown to smithereens, and it's all part of the game. And in the inner cities of this nation, especially in Chicago, Friday night, a week ago, it would be two weeks ago tomorrow, 20 people were shot in Chicago.

Well, actually 23. Three were shot dead on the spot. 20 others were shot. I don't know how many of those died. It's a regular occurrence in Chicago and some of the major cities of this world.

Satan has dumbed down the minds and hearts of our people to embrace a type of nihilism.

Neolism means nothingness and is wrapped in a cloak of existentialism. Existentialism says you are your own essence designer. You can choose to be whatever you want to be, and whatever is right is what you decide is right. It may not be right for somebody else, but if you decide it's right, it's right for you. Neolism, a philosophy of nothingness, leads to an attitude of, so what? I don't care. If they want to do that, that's their business. No skin off my back. Briefly stated in the vernacular of the day, our society believes that they can do anything they please, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Now, what is the logical fallacy of that thinking? Here is the logical fallacy of that thinking.

It is this, that you then decide what hurts someone else.

If expectant and or pregnant mothers are abusing alcohol or drugs, they make a decision for the unborn that might cause them to be deformed and a wide range of other disabilities. If you choose to smoke in your own house, people say, well, you can't legislate what I do in my own house. Well, so far you can't, and I'm not for that kind of legislation, but I tell you this.

If you do smoke in your own house, your wife and your children, they draw in and are exposed to that secondhand smoke. They are also going to be affected by it, and you make a decision as to what hurts them. Or you may say, well, I don't care if it hurts them.

I'm going to do it anyhow. It is my right, but on the other hand, it is my right to be in a smoke-free environment.

You can get involved in pornography and try, as you will with all your might, to keep it private and try to reason around. It won't hurt anyone else, but you are deceiving yourself.

You get involved in it and addicted to it. It will affect your relationship with the opposite sex. Or it will practically, and in many cases, destroy people.

You know the Apostle Paul lists a number of sins. Let's go there. 1 Corinthians 6.

1 Corinthians 6 and verse 8 will begin. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 8.

The Apostle Paul lists a number of sins that will keep one out of the kingdom of God.

But this list is by no means exhaustive.

1 Corinthians 6 verse 8.

I must start in verse 9. 1 Corinthians 6 and 9. 1 Corinthians 6 and 9. Know, ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.

Notice, effeminate. Now, I guess you could say effeminate is a very subjective kind of term.

What determines if you are effeminate? Sometimes some people might say, well, he's so effeminate or she's so masculine.

As I said, it's quite a subjective thing, but it's right here in the Bible.

One of the things that has happened in our society is with this radical feminism that has dominated now for decades, and more and more of these do-gooder laws that keep children practically from breathing, yet at the same time there's more lawlessness.

It is very difficult for children to have the right role model, and of all the things that you parents can do, that is to model the role. Mothers model the role of femininity.

Fathers model the role of masculinity. Children learn, by example, more than they do by content.

Children practice what you practice and basically become what you become.

To some degree, they talk as you talk. They walk as you walk.

To a large degree, they will also, especially in early times, think as you think.

Then, of course, many other factors enter in and you may wonder, well, what happened? But you just look at that. Nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkers, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Now, this verse 12, in which people have tried to explain away in various ways, but here's what I believe it really means.

All things are lawful unto me.

You can choose to do basically whatever you want to do with regard to human behavior. Nobody can stop you.

If you want to practice some of these sins that Paul lists here, you can do it. Now, in some things, there are laws against, obviously, even civil laws, not to mention or in addition to what the Bible says.

You can choose life or you can choose death.

All things are lawful unto me. I can do it. I can choose to do it.

But all things are not expedient.

That word lawful there is an interesting one. If you want to look it up, the meaning.

All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. And when you engage in these kind of behaviors, you are brought under the power of that, and some of these are addictive.

It's almost impossible to rid yourself of.

So, parents, you have a tremendous job before you.

Now, do we take pleasure in unrighteousness?

Back in 1995, of course, the first sermons were given in 1994.

I was there. We had Alumni Day Homecoming at the college December 25th.

Actually, this is December 24th, Christmas Eve, 1994, in which the pastor general delivered this sermon about okay to play golf on Sabbath and many other things.

About 3,000 people were there.

And some people could not wait to trample on God's Sabbath, to eat unleavened bread, pork, and revel in their new freedom, so-called.

Unless they repent, they will be deceived by the grand delusions that are coming upon the earth.

On the day that the church was divided over alleged unethical behavior, the mood of those who left was festive.

We had people there in Houston who attended both services.

They told me about it, how it went down.

Whereas the mood should have been one of deep sorrow and grief, because of the sufferings it caused in the hearts and minds of thousands of people who claimed to be their brothers and sisters in Christ. Will we ever learn the significance that we are members one of another?

Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12.

And verse 25, That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care, one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. 2 Corinthians 12. Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular.

Satan's attack is now on each one of us individually and specifically, as well as collective.

And just as surely as this nation is under attack, each one of us is under attack.

I know that God is dealing with me right now, and I know equally well that I had better respond positively. And to all young and old, weak and strong, I exhort us all to take heed.

Take heed according to the Word of God. You will recall in the days of Elijah, God reserved unto him a faithful remnant of seven thousand.

Brethren, I believe that you are a part of that remnant, and you understand that you were called to the Church of God. The Church of God is the kingdom of God and embryo. At the resurrection, it will burst forth and will be born into the family of God and inherit the kingdom.

Are we called to the kingdom for such a time as this? Let's go to Esther.

Back in Esther, chapter 4, you remember the young woman, a young Jewish woman who came to be Queen of Persia. She had not been called before the king for quite a long time and appeared before the king and not be beckoned to come on in. It could mean death. A heinous plot was hatched by one named Haman to destroy the Jews because he was jealous. There he goes, jealous in envy once again.

And Esther's uncle came before her and beseeched her to go plead the case of her people, the Jews, before the king.

In Esther, well, I'm not in Esther, in Esther chapter 4, and Esther chapter 4, verse 12.

And they told Amortica Esther's words. What were Esther's words? Look at verse 11.

And they told Amortica Esther's words. Then Amortica commanded to answer Esther, Think not with yourself that you shall escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.

So God's work is going to be done. The question for us, are we the ones who are going to do the work? God can raise up stones to Abraham to do the work, but He's chosen to do the work through us.

And I believe we can do the work, and we will do the work.

But you and your father's house shall be destroyed, and who knows whether you will come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Brethren, I believe we have come to the Church of God for such a time as this.

We have been tried. We've been tested. And we are going to go on and do the work of God.

Satan's strategy has not changed from the time of his rebellion aeons ago to the present time.

Divide and conquer. Destroy the power of the people of God.

Remember what we read from Daniel 12, when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people. That's why we really need to cleave unto God and Christ into one another in the days that lie ahead. God is looking for people who are seeking first the kingdom of God, people who are faithful, people who will put on the whole armor of God, who will be able to stand against the fiery darts of Satan. You know, it says in Ephesians 6, 16, above all, taking the shield of faith whereby you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of Satan. How is that accomplished? Because when you have that shield of faith, you know and you know that you know that no matter what, Satan fires against you. Whatever he brings against you, you can be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved you and gave himself for you. Of God before you, who can be against you? And when you are in the fiery trials of life, he will deliver you. And if you keep that shield of faith up, all of Satan's efforts will fall harmlessly to the ground. Now is the time to renew your zeal and commitment to the way of life that is revealed in the pages of the Bible. I met a lady out in a parking lot after services today. She said that this feast and the various presentations, sermons, and so on that have been given here has renewed her zeal, her energy, her enthusiasm to go home and to really become a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. She didn't quote that scripture, but I added that part in essence. That's what she was saying. Now is the time to embrace what I call the three C's—conviction, commitment, and courage.

The word of God and the Spirit of God convicts us. God presents to us the pearl of great price, His precious truth, the keys to the kingdom, the way to eternal life. He commits that to us.

That word commit means to place in sacred trust. He trusts us with this. It's like putting it in a safety box that we might do at the bank with what we consider to be precious in the material sense. God gives that and places it in sacred trust. He says, go act courageously. To the degree that you're convicted and committed, you will act courageously. See, the word of God and the Spirit of God is what renews that conviction and helps you sustain the commitment so that you will act courageously. So, brother, we ask. Brothers and sisters, we ask, do we really have the vision?

We are involved in the battle of the ages. We're going to restore God's government and culture in the millennium. So, are we totally committed to teaching and living God's way of life? I want to quote, and I'm going to change the words of two quotes from Mount Rushmore. My brother and I visited Mount Rushmore after the feast last year. We went up there to the mountain, and it was a rainy, cold day about a little later than this in October. He'd always, I'd been there before, and he always wanted to see Mount Rushmore. And you go up there, and you look at those four faces glinting in the sun, looking at you. He looked up there about two minutes, and he said, are you ready to go? I said, yeah.

So, up there, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

I want to quote from Roosevelt and Lincoln and change the word America to Church of God. Roosevelt, we here in the Church of God hold in our hands the hope of the world. The fate of the coming years and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed. If we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men, men hope for, dream of, talk about, peace. But as you heard in the chorale presentation, peace can only come from God.

Abraham Lincoln, with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work that we're in.

And, brethren, I hope that we are all committed in this coming year to do just that.

You know, we welcome anyone in the Church of God, the United Church of God, we have an open-door policy that says that anyone who wants to meet with us in peace is welcome to do so.

Now, Jesus Christ was criticized by the Pharisees and the religious ones of his day saying that you company with publicans and with sinners. And Jesus said, I am come to save the lost. We recently had a person to leave our fellowship because he said you have this open-door policy. Once again, you're welcome to fellowship with us as long as you do it in peace, but you cannot have double motives. And God knows our hearts, and he knows the thoughts and intents of our heart, and all about us, and all the works will be made manifest in that day. And we know that day is coming, that day of judgment, and we are now daily standing before the judgment seat of Christ.

And judgment is now on the house of God. So, brethren, I want to leave you with this little essay. It's about a page long, so it'll take me three or four minutes to read it.

And once again, I want to say how much we have enjoyed my wife and I and family being with you here at the feast, and to see the spirit and the attitude that have been exhibited here.

I hope we take this back with us to our homes, and we live it, we nourish it, we cherish it, through the weeks and months and years that lie ahead, and that we have many more great feasts. And one of these days we'll all be called to that place, that place that God has promised for us in the kingdom of God and in the family of God. This is called the fiery furnace of life. When you are in the fiery furnace of life, that is the time to fight the good fight and gain the victory over self completely to accept the bupethings and slanders and misrepresentations of good intentions and good deeds with meekness and patience. That is the time when the spirit of God's love dwelling in us richly will manifest itself in control not only of our words and actions but of our innermost thoughts. If even so much as a bitter feeling against our accusers and maliners arises, it is to be fought and so complete a victory gain over it that every fiber of our beings will be in sweet accord with our Savior's instructions. Love your enemies.

Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, bless and injure not.

Are you tempted to repine, to feel sorry for yourself, to feel disappointed at your lot in life or your experiences by the way? That is the time to remember that all repining, discontent, and disappointments indicate that self-will in you is not so dead as you had hoped. For he who has buried his own will completely in the will of God can know no disappointment, but in every affair of his life he sees by faith divine appointment or supervision and hears the Word of God in all of life's affairs assuring him, all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. It is one of the evidences of reaching the maturity of our elder brother, Jesus Christ, when we are able to take the oppositions of the Great Adversary and of the world and of our flesh patiently, uncomplainingly, and joyfully as a part of the disciplinary action given to us by our all-wise and all-loving Father. Such is the good fight.

From the first battle to the last, we must gain the victory, and with each victory the new will, the Father's will, grows stronger and hope the helmet of salvation, sight of the things the Father has reserved for the faithful grow keener and more urgent, and faith, strength, and endurance greater. And with the first victory come blessings, which are added to after every victory, blessings of rest, peace, joy, and the Holy Spirit, full assurance of faith, as her Father promised. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake, rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. From this standpoint and no other, it is possible to accept with fortitude and resignation whatever test of patience, perseverance, faith, hope, and love that your Father may see fit to permit to come upon you. In this condition, all our experiences will result in blessings, however unjust or difficult they may appear on the surface. It is from this standpoint of victory over self-will unto sanctification of the Spirit through obedience to the truth that all blessings and promises of our Father are ours in the fullest sense.

All things are yours, whether things present or things to come, for you are Christ and Christ is the Father's. This is the degree in Christ that we seek to be approved. We must pray that God will unite our hearts in prayers and, above all, our new mind with His will that we may be wholly, completely sanctified. And the very God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.