First Fruits are born to be a King. Sermon by Jim Tuck

Well, happy Sabbath, everyone! Always good to see you. You know, I was thinking about this saying of the summers of Phoenix, and I'd a whole lot rather shovel sunshine than snow.

And I've done both, you know, in terms of snow. I've been in the areas where the snow is up to here. I remember driving through Oregon one time, and you couldn't see anything with just snow on both sides of the road. I have to say, though, that even living in Idaho, that we never had to use change the whole time we lived there. So that was a miracle, a tremendous miracle. Again, it's good to see all of you, and all those are online. We certainly welcome you here today.

You know, Harry and Meghan are pretty big in the news, aren't they? You know, it seems like that Hollywood is, in fact, a great deal involved in that, making sure they're kept before the American people. I think there's a natural desire to sort of, an intrigue, to look into the lives of royalty. How do they live? What is their life like? Of course, Meghan and Harry have sort of become Americans, you know, rather than, you know, be a part of that system over there. And, you know, most Americans don't want a monarchy in this country, but they are, as I said, intrigued by royalty. King Charles was, in fact, molded from the time he was born to become king. And here Charles waited for a long time, and his mother kept on living. And it looked like he might very well have not ascended to the throne, but he did, eventually. Of course, he's now king of England. And, of course, William is next in line, and he also was trained from the time he was born, and his brother Harry as well. And, of course, both of them were born to potentially be king. And that still could happen to Harry, by the way. Things have a way of changing. But, now, what do you think about the fact that Jesus Christ was born of the royal line as well? In fact, on both sides of the family, from Mary's side and as well on Joseph's side. And there is an interesting thing as well that's quite interesting to me, at least, that not only did Jesus qualify to be king, but he also inherited the birthright promises, because he was also connected with a tribe of Joseph who inherited those birthright promises. You know, that's, again, a little part of history that maybe sometime we can cover in a sermon in the future. But he was qualified to be king because of the royal blood that was flowing through his veins. Herod sought to kill Jesus Christ for this reason. He knew that Jesus was, frankly, the only one who qualified to be king. And, you know, the angel warned Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt, and so they did. And so there's this Egyptian connection that's also a part of the history.

But, you know, I want to talk to you today about this fact that the firstfruits of God's church are born to rule with Jesus Christ as kings in the future. You know, do you believe that, brethren? Do you believe that from your heart that that is why you are part of the church today?

You know, some people maybe think, well, God has called me into the church just for salvation, and that is not so. And, you know, that's something we need to realize that God has called us for salvation, but not just for salvation. There's something beyond that, the reasons why God called each of us. I know, brethren, it's lofty for us to think, as members of God's church, that we have this special destiny ahead of us, which is astounding to our minds. You know, all of us come from varied backgrounds, but I would say most of us are fairly from a poor type background. We don't have a... I don't believe we have anybody that was born into rich families. If so, you don't live like it, as far as I can tell.

You know, all of us, of course, come from sort of meager backgrounds. I know, at least in our case, my case, that was the way our life was. But we have this tremendous destiny ahead of us. Now, how does a royal prince prepare to be a king? You know, you're born for that end. How do you prepare to be a king? You know, what do you do? Well, interestingly, what prepares someone for kingship primarily can be summed up in this way. It is doing works of service.

That's basically all it is. Works of service, of course, providing leadership as well. But works of service is the core, the heart and core of all of the training involved with preparing someone to be a king. You know, that's what William and Kate are doing right now. They represent the empire, the British Empire, which is still far flung and around the world, has connections, and they're always doing works of service. And they learn through experience by the experiences they have. They learn, again, how to have wisdom, how to present themselves, how to represent the empire.

And you know, these are the things that we're doing in our daily lives. We may not think of it that way, but that's what we're doing as God's people, those that God has called right now.

That's—and we're preparing for something much bigger than we can even imagine. You know, when Jesus Christ came, he came to disqualify Satan the devil, you know, from the office that he holds, because he is, as II Corinthians 4, 4 says, the God of this world. He is over the world in that sense, and the world out here reflects his personality. You know, I don't know if you ever thought of that way, but the world that we see, you know, as Mr. Fenwick was talking about, television, all of that, you know, and how sometimes television can be very impactful, and it can be a tool of Satan to sway us, to get us off the track.

If we're not careful with television, it can be a good thing, or it can be a curse upon people. And unfortunately, it's become a curse on society, you know, as had most entertainment of this world, not just movies, but music as well, is that way if we're not using wisdom and what we're listening to and allowing into our mind. But Jesus Christ came to disqualify the God of this world, and to qualify himself to be the king of kings of this earth, and he's going to return that way. When Jesus overcame the devil in Matthew chapter 4, and you read that story there, and also Mark 4, and when Jesus said to the devil at the end, he said, get behind me, that disqualified Satan the devil, and that changed everything.

And Jesus Christ qualified to be the king of kings of the Lord of lords. When Jesus returns the second time, he's not going to come. This next time is a lowly lamb. He's going to come as a conquering king who will have all authority and all power upon this earth. And you know, I think we would like to work with him, right? I think I want to be on that side when Jesus Christ returns. Let's go to Isaiah 9, you know, the prophecies actually tell us that, that that's what he was going to do. You know, when Adam and Eve said, and they began to follow their own hearts, their own minds, there in Genesis 3, because Adam had the choice, he could have held fast, and he could have said to the devil, get behind me, I don't have anything to do with you, and God could have made, you know, Adam the king of the world.

He would have performed the duty that Jesus is going to perform, and he could have been the king of kings of the Lord of lords. God could have given him the Holy Spirit, he could have, you know, gone through life, he could have been changed to a spirit being. And all of his progeny could have gone that way as well. But he made the wrong choice, and he went along with the devil, and of course the rest is history.

And so what happened, though, is when once the government of God was upon this earth, when Adam rebelled and followed the devil, the government of God was not on the earth anymore. And it has to be restored, and Jesus came to restore that government. And you know, that government is in the church.

And we need to recognize that fact, and someday it's going to be in the entire world. But let's notice in Isaiah 9 here, Isaiah 9 verse 6, here it says, For unto us a child is born. We all know this verse. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. But notice here, it says, Of the increase of his government, and peace there will be no end.

You know, God's government is going to go on and on, even past the great white throne judgment.

And you know, I know we don't know what's going to happen beyond that, but probably, you know, God's government's going to fill this entire universe. But going on here, it says, it says, Upon the throne of David and over the kingdom. And it says, To order it and to establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever. And it says, The zeal of the eternal host will perform it. He's going to do that. Now, let's go over to Luke chapter 1 over here. And so Jesus had that role as a part of why he came. He did indeed come to rule, to qualify, as I said, to be the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And he did that. But notice when the angel came and gave the announcement to Mary down here in verse 30 of Luke 1, it says, Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have been found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall be called his name Jesus. And he will be great, and he will be called the son of the highest. And it says, And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. Just what it said over in Isaiah. He's going to receive the throne of David. And it says, And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Government of God will go on and on and on. And Jesus Christ, again, will be the king of that government, and the king of kings, certainly on the earth.

But who are going to be the lesser kings? You know, he's the king of kings, it says. Who are those kings? Not going to be the kings of this earth, I can tell you that.

You know, on here in John, when Jesus had gone before a pilot, you know, you have this discussion between Jesus and Pilate.

But here in chapter 18 of John, if you don't know where this is already, but in John 18, in verse 36, let's notice this. Pilate said, Am I a Jew? Verse 35. Your own nation, the chief priesthood, delivered you unto me. What have you done? And Jesus really didn't answer his question, which was a way that oftentimes he taught. But in verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. And Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? And Jesus answered, You say rightly, for I am a king, for this cause I was born. I was born for this reason, Jesus said. And for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. So he said, Look, I was born to be a king. And you know, Jesus alludes to this, not only, you know, in this place, he's not alluding to it here, he's just saying point blank, that's why he came to be a king. But other places, he alludes to why he's there to become a king. And indeed, he was qualified in every way to be the king. In fact, he was the only one that would qualify. He was Jewish, and it says that the suctor would not depart from Judah. So one has to be a Jew in order to be a king, he was qualified that way. And like I said, he received the birthright promises as well, being associated, in fact, with Joseph, the tribe of Joseph. But anyway, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary to be a king.

And you know what? He's a forerunner for you and me, of what we are to be. He set an example as a future king as to what we ought to be doing as God's people. You know, Mr. Finbert was talking about those things of how we need to be, not be spotted by this world, not affected, you know, by this world and this society. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15 over here just to see a few verses with regard to our magnificent calling that God has given to us. You know, Paul made the statement, do you see your calling? Oftentimes we don't see our calling. You know, we don't understand the magnitude of what God has put upon our shoulders. But in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20 here, notice what Paul says. He says, now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. And so he became the first fruits. He's the first of the first fruits, if we can put it that way. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. And it says, as an Adam all die, he was the first Adam, and Jesus was the second. It says, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, but each one in his own order, Christ the first fruit, and afterwards those who are Christ at his coming. That's us, brethren. That's the church in the better resurrection, in the first resurrection. We are first fruits, and of course we now are looking at Pentecost coming very shortly upon us, and Jesus is called the captain of our salvation. And in Hebrews 2 verse 10 it says that he's going to bring many sons into glory. And so there are going to be many going to be brought into a glorious relationship with God in the future who are going to rule with Jesus Christ. Let's go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 over here. Here the apostle Paul, you know, saw these things. He had a magnificent grasp of the plan of God. He was a blessing to the church when Jesus Christ called him on the road to Damascus, and God knew what he was going to do with Paul. Paul was, you know, a genius, frankly, but coupled that with the Holy Spirit and conversion and humility, God used him profoundly. It's all of Tarsus before, but now the apostle Paul, a changed individual. Different altogether. But notice here down in verse 19 of Romans 8, here it says, and I went too far over, for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. You know, this, it's hard to imagine that the universe waits for the birth of the church. It's desirous of that. It's almost like it's creaking, and it's groaning, waiting for the arrival of the sons of God so that responsibilities can be taken, and that, you know, the world can be began, or the universe can fall into under the order of God Almighty, following God's way.

And so this world again, this universe, you know, eagerly awaits the arrival of the sons of God. And it says, for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. It's like when Satan rebelled, God said to the universe, wait. You have to wait until we can reset this, as it were, and we can prepare now for the sons of God to come. And so it was subjected, you know, here, as it says here, not willingly, it was subjected to futility. And it says, because the creation itself will also be delivered from the bondage of corruption. I don't know that we fully understand that, but that's what's going to happen into the glorious liberty of the children of God. You know, what a tremendous words here. I think these few verses here are so much, it's hard for our minds to really grasp it.

You know, when Jesus returns, we will be like him. The Bible says, because we will see him as he is. You know, 1 John 3 verse 2 says that. And God's purpose for calling us is that we help rule with Christ to sort of bring this, the order, bring around order in the entire universe. Of course, we're going to start with earth, right? But we're going to have that responsibility with Jesus Christ to bring order. You know, that's what I said back over in Isaiah that we read, remember, that the government was going to be on his shoulder and it talked about order over there, bringing order. And that's going to happen, brother, astounding as it may sing. And the first fruits will be leaders and rulers when the kingdom of God is set up upon this earth. This is one of the great truths of the Bible. And I attended many Protestant churches. I never heard any of these things. Never heard anybody talk about what we're talking about right now. I didn't hear that until I came into God's church. I began to hear these profound truths. And it is a tremendous truth of the Bible. Now, let's notice in Revelation 3, Revelation chapter 3. You know, it's kind of hard, in fact, to read these verses without the understanding we're talking about right now of why you're called right now in this day, in this time, in this age. And remember, the church is not for everybody. The church is only for the saints. Those called out of the world. The word ecclesia means called out once. You know, that God's people have to be called out of the world. You know, all these different churches that have people that give your heart to the Lord and you know, go up through the aisle and you know, confess before the altar and all that, really have no grasp, no understanding of why the church exists, why it has been, in fact, set up. Why did Christ establish it? And why did He say it would never die? Because it will go on and on and on. In verse 21 of Revelation 3, notice, to him who overcomes, I grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. You know, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and He's going to allow us to sit with Him in His throne. That's what, again, it clearly says. And it says, He who has an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So we need to listen and we need to let that register in our minds. I'm not going to turn to it, but I do want to quote the second chapter here of Revelation in verses 26 and 27, and from the revised version, it says, quote, and He that overcomes and He that keeps my works, or, yeah, my works until the end, to Him will I give authority over the nations. Again, how do you read these verses if you don't understand why you're called?

You're called to be kings. I'm going to give you authority over the nations. Verse 27, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of potter are broken to shivers, as I also have received of my Father. As Jesus Christ receives authority, we're going to receive authority through Jesus Christ in His throne, as He said. Now, let's go to Revelation 20 over here, Revelation 20. But over here in Revelation 20 in verse 4, when we see this verse here, notice it says, in verse 4, I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was committed to them. Who are those people that are sitting on these thrones?

Well, they're the saints who have been resurrected or changed at the return of Christ, and they're going to be sitting on thrones as kings, and they're going to be making judgments. And notice going on here, and it says, then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or His image, or had not worshiped the beast or His image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. There's that word, reigned, which means ruled, with Christ. You know, they will be royalty with Jesus Christ. Over in the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 7 and verse 27, if you want to write that down, I'm going to read it from the Living Bible, but it says, Then all nations under heaven and their power shall be given to the people of God, and they shall rule all things forever, and all rulers shall serve and obey them. So there's going to be, again, kingdoms, no doubt, with kings over them.

You know, Jesus talked about cities where you would have several cities that you would rule over, you know, in the world tomorrow. So since our destiny is to be the rulers in the world tomorrow, God is currently in the process of training us, preparing us for that great job, that great task that we're going to have in that coming kingdom. Like the royals are prepared, we're being prepared as well. And our training, unfortunately, didn't start when we were born. You know, like we all always use that old adage, you know, that you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

No, we, you know, when we were born, you know, furthest thing from, I think anybody's mind was, was here is a future king. Our parents may have loved us and thought that, you know, we were going to be that, you know, very successful in life, but I'm sure that never occurred to them. So we didn't start then, did we? That's not the way it was in our life. You know, but over here in Romans, let's go to Romans, in Romans 15 and verse 14. Romans 15 verse 14.

You know, if we had that kind of head start, maybe we would think differently than we do. But, you know, we weren't, again, set apart, as it were, from birth, but we were set apart at a birth. I'll talk about that in a few minutes. But in verse 14 of Romans, here Paul says here, "...and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is empty." Of course, if indeed Christ has not, you know, risen, then our faith is empty, but He has. And so we have that confidence, you know, that, again, that our future is established because Jesus Christ was that forerunner. Let's go to Colossians. I don't know if that's exactly what I wanted to turn to there, so I, rather than try to think about what it was I was trying to refer to, let's go to the next scripture. But in Colossians 3 here, Colossians chapter 3, in verses 15 through 17, we'll go through that. But it says, "...let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body, and be thankful, and let the word of Christ dwell in you." You know, does Christ's word or God's words dwell in us? Do we ruminate about, you know, the scriptures, about the laws of God, do we ponder it, do we meditate on it? You know, are we doing that as God's people?

And it says, "...in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another." You know, are we of the mental attitude of striving to better ourselves? So much so that we're like vacuum cleaners, as it were, wanting to know the truth. You know, being eager to know the truth.

You know, we can get caught up in this topsy-turvy world where everything else demands our attention.

Well, we need to jettison those things and begin to pay attention to the really important things of life. You know, studying God's words and trying to improve ourselves in preparation to be a king.

You know, are we working to become balanced human beings who are knowledgeable of not just about one thing, but many things? You know, that's one thing that I think Mr. Armstrong, you know, found about, you know, the king of Thailand. He spent quite a bit of time with him and his wife, Queen Surakut. And, you know, one of the things that really impressed me when Mr. Armstrong wrote all, he'd come back, you know, after having been in Thailand, he would talk about all the things the king and the queen were doing. You know, that they were always busy. You know, the king was involved in building dams. He was involved in farming. And I had the opportunity, it's been quite a number of years ago, to go to Thailand myself. And I went up to the palace, I think they call it the Summer Palace in Thailand, and visited the grounds. And it was just so ornate. There were flowers, I mean, all over the place. It was like a garden of Eden.

But it was, these things came from the mind of the king, who had been king for decades and decades.

And, you know, the compound actually, it basically, there were different exhibits there that reflected what was on the mind of the king. And I was impressed by it. You know, they had bamboo there. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. You know, bamboo was like this big a round. And these things were shooting up, you know, 20-30 feet. It was just impressive to look at, you know, what was they were cultivating on that compound in Thailand. But, you know, this is what I was talking about earlier. Preparing to be a king means that we are versatile in our thinking. You know, we're trying to, again, be balanced people. And we are seeking knowledge-wise to understand a wide variety of subjects. You know, think about Solomon, who was one of the, you know, the wisest man that ever lived. Go read about his life, all the things he did. He got off track, certainly, in his life. But he delved into music. He delved into, you know, agriculture. He's delved into, you know, talking about cattle and horses and all kinds of animals, all kinds of projects that he was involved in.

And that's associated with wisdom. You know, obviously we're limited as what we can do, and can't do, but anyway, we need to, again, to broaden our horizons, so to speak.

But it says that we should be teaching and admonishing one another. Verse 16 here of Colossians 3. It says, in Psalms and hymns, in spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. And whatever you do in wordy, do all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through him. You know, that is the kind of mindset, the kind of mentality that we need to have when it comes to the church. They were thinking about God's way. You know, when we go back here and we have lunch, you know, as we will afterwards, or dinner, whatever you want to call it, snacks, you know, we talk about things. You know, you might talk about a car, but it somehow ought to worm its way to a spiritual idea, and that can happen. You know, you talk to people, you converse with them. Our minds need to be, again, spiritual. You know, you don't need to have a position, brethren, to be a leader. You don't have to be a deacon or an elder or a deaconess, you know, in the church. You can be a leader, you know, in your life, in, you know, any position within the church, whether a member or whatever. I've seen sometimes some members that are better leaders than some that have offices, you know, so you don't have to have that title, as it were. But we can take the leadership and do as 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 11 says, it says, therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you are also doing. You know, Paul said, if we're actively doing that, we're taking on the leadership, learning to lead spiritually speaking. Christ intended a different kind of leadership than the world that is out here in the society. The world's kind of leadership, you know, is exclude, it excludes people. God's kind of leadership includes everybody. Everybody's involved. In Matthew 20, Matthew chapter 20, let's go over here to Matthew chapter 20. This is God's kind of leadership, brethren. Matthew 20, down in verse 25, you know, here, notice, and Jesus called them to Himself. You know, He was, of course, you know, talking about some that were wanting to be the greatest in the King of God, and so Jesus was going to set them straight here. And Jesus called them to Himself and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them.

Yet it shall not be so among you. This is not the way the church is going to be, not the way the kingdom's going to be. No, not in the least. And it says, but whoever desired to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desired to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So that's the kind of leadership that God wants from us, brethren. And in preparation as leaders for the world tomorrow, we need to get this idea firmly fixed in our minds. We need to think this way as God's people and practice this way. You know, when it comes to leadership, people go to opposite extremes in their lives. Some want to have a position so they can rule over other people. They can be in charge. Some have a false humility about it. I don't want to lead. I don't want to have that responsibility of leadership. Maybe in some cases it's laziness or lethargy, but they don't want to be a leader. Both ways are wrong.

Both ways really are wrong. We can't have an attitude in the extreme either way. If we say we don't want to lead, what we're saying is we don't want to serve. Think about that. By what Jesus—how He defines leadership. We say we don't want to lead. Now, again, I'm not saying, brethren, that any of us should ever have the attitude, I'm going to be number one.

I don't know if there is a number one in the church, but because Jesus Christ is number one. He's the head of the church. But you know the way people think, sort of the top-down mentality. We have that attitude. That's not the attitude God wants us to have. He doesn't want that at all.

Let's go to Luke 22. Luke 22. Luke 22. So we scoot along here. In verse 24, we'll begin there. Luke 22-24. Go down to verse 30.

In verse 24 here, and notice what it says. It says, now it says, there was also a dispute among them about who would be the greatest. And Jesus, and he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors.

You know, it's like when somebody's a benefactor, it's like, you know, you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back. That's not the kind of leadership God wants in his church. But not so among you, on the contrary, whoever's greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as one who serves. But you are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I bestow upon your kingdom, just as my father bestowed one upon me. And you shall eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and all on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So the apostles have been assigned to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel. And so these things, again, are talking about leadership and rulership in the world tomorrow, and the attitudes that we must have.

You know, there came a time in Jerusalem when the disciples began to multiply greatly, and the Greeks especially were very upset because the widows were not being taken care of.

And so it was decided by the apostles that they should set aside seven individuals, you know, who would wait on tables so that the apostles could, you know, work on the spiritual, you know, the Word of God and, of course, serving, you know, and preaching the gospel and so forth, and as pleased the congregation. And so the office of a deacon was established.

And, you know, it wasn't a very lofty position. You know, the office of a deacon is not a lofty position because the purpose of a deacon is to wait on tables.

I'm sure that people are not going to be fighting to do that, but there were very stringent spiritual, you know, qualifications that a person had to have.

They had to be full of faith. One who was that way and full of the Holy Spirit was Stephen, who later, even at his zealousness, remember, was stolen to death. There was Philip and, of course, others. It became deacons in that time. But the important thing is that Jesus, you know, taught a certain kind of leadership, and so the apostles looked for people that were full of God's Spirit, had faith, and how could he know, how could they know, you know, if they could fulfill the responsibility of a deacon? Because they were already serving. They were already, without somebody asking them to do it, they were already serving people. People are already, again, impressed by these individuals who were set forth to be ordained as deacons. Now, this, again, what Jesus had taught the apostles, and that's what they enacted in the church when the church, again, began to grow and increase. Now, the question is, why should you and I be leaders of all people on this earth in the world tomorrow? Why? Why us? Well, first of all, the reason is we're called.

We're called to that job to have authority. Nobody can just volunteer for it. You know, John 644. No man can come to me, Jesus said, unless the Father draw him. You're here because God wants you to be here. He wouldn't be here if he didn't want you to be here. And so God expects you to rise to the calling that he has given to you. Another reason why we're going to lead in the world tomorrow is because we truly care about people, and we do the will of God now. We're obeying God now in advance. God expects us to battle the world, go through the trials, endure whatever we have to endure for the future, and we don't know what's going to... we're going to have to go through. But we're serving now. We're serving God from the heart, and in the world tomorrow, we're going to do it as well as kings in that time to come.

And you know, we learn on a daily basis. Like I said, I talked about Kate and William. As they go through and they do the serving, they learn. They learn what works and what doesn't work, and we're learning those things as well. You know, Paul's afflictions allowed him to help brethren in their trials. You know, Paul had problems with his eyes. He had to write in giant letters, and that's one of the ways that you could tell something came from Paul if it was in big letters. And so he had that trial. He besought God that God would intervene in health issues that he had because it's very possible that his eyes were runny as well. You know, I don't know if you've ever been up speaking to someone and you've got your eyes are sort of watery. It's kind of hard to even read your notes. I've spoken a time or two when my eyes were watery for some reason, and it's like you look down and it is too much reflection, and it's hard to make words out.

I remember when I spoke at the feast, you know, in Colorado this past year. You know, they put a mat behind the lectern, and it was about this thick. And usually I like a soft mat to stand on when you're speaking an hour, but this time it elevated me higher so that I couldn't see my notes. It was the strangest thing. I don't know how I made it through it, but I did. And I had a little watery eye problem as well. And of course, you know, at the feast you've got more lights on you and all of that, but God allowed me to get through with that. But you know, the experiences that we have help us. It prepares us. It prepares us to serve people now and is preparing for us to serve in the world tomorrow. God doesn't want us to be a kind of leader who runs in the front of the crowd to be the leader. And you know, there's a lot of politicians that are brilliant at doing that.

You know, they're not leading a movement, but they can somehow run to the front of the crowd and everybody thinks, oh, they're leading this thing. That's not the kind of leader God wants in His kingdom. God doesn't want someone who's like that to lead His people now or in the future.

Our reward in the world of our old will be according to our works that we're doing, our works of service we're doing right now. God is judging us. You know, 1 Peter 4, 17. Judgment is begun at the house of God. And the Bible says, we're going to be scarcely saved. So where does it... what's going to happen to the ungodly of the sinner? Well, we understand what's going to happen. That's why we have the great white throne judgment.

But God is merciful and He's going to allow people to be in His kingdom in the future.

In Revelation 22 verse 12, it says, And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every one according to his work. So God is going to reward us when He comes, when He returns. Jesus Christ is going to return, and then we will be given the rewards.

You know, who can serve in the church, brethren? The Bible speaks of those used from diverse backgrounds. When David was called to serve as a king, and he had gone to a school to become a king, he was a shepherd. He'd been a shepherd boy on the side of a hill.

You know, Paul speaks, in fact, about older men and older women, young men and young women serving in different ways in the church. Even if you feel you have very little to offer, brethren, you can serve. God expects something from all of us. He didn't call