God's Church Cares for Its Own

In the Roman provinces of the Roman Empire back in the first century, there were essentially two classes. You had a nobility of aristocrats, those who had position, those who had status. They often had wealth that went along with it. And there were some things that those individuals who were the honorable ones received. Things like default that what they said was accurate versus somebody of a lower class would not be believed. So if one of them, say, got into a court situation or an accusation, they could complain about someone else and their word would tend to be taken for that.

Also, the other class, which was the, they called them the Humiliores, or the humble ones, the basic ones, the more lowly. These were ordinary people. They were free people, but they fell through the cracks. Outside the city of Rome, there was nothing really for them. And when you look across the Roman Empire, that empire had been built on capturing, conquering countries, making slaves out of them, building their roads.

People were sort of getting by however they could. And within that system, the the Roman elite or the Roman government tended to favor that upper class. Now, this discrimination between the more honorable ones and the more lowly ones fell right on top of the church as it was forming. Because one of the things with the church and Jesus Christ and the gospel that was being preached was it was different and it was not respected.

It wasn't respected by the Jews. It causes problems, discontent within the Roman Empire, and thus it had the ire of Rome, and consequently the individuals that we know of in the Bible fell into a class of people that really had little or no support.

Agape care for others is core to the gospel. We tend to think of it sort of as a nice thing to do. But when we actually look at the gospel that Jesus Christ taught and who Jesus Christ was, caring for the church, caring for those believers, is actually core to the gospel. He declares it as proof that he was a Messiah. He declares it as proof that we are his disciples when we do that. When we think of the coming kingdom of God, what is Jesus Christ bringing back?

What is he bringing? He's bringing care. He's bringing love. He's bringing concern, not just from him but from everyone that we are supposed to be agents of and teach people to observe. In that millennial reign of Jesus Christ is represented in the Feast of Tabernacles, which we are all about to go observe. And it's consequently represented in every Sabbath that we keep. This rest that reflects the rest that is to come.

Today I want to talk to you about how care for members in God's body is an integral part of the gospel message, the church itself, and of the work that God is doing through you and me. The title of the message today is God's church cares for its own. God's church cares for its own. In the last year or so I've been talking about oneness, that we really focus on this unity that Jesus Christ and God want us to have, this oneness throughout the body. And how is that accomplished?

It's accomplished through loving one another. That's how it's accomplished. Getting rid of self, getting rid of the capital M in me, and flipping it upside down into we. Take the me and put it into we and you have what Jesus called the law and the prophets. Love God with all your heart, soul, and might. Love your neighbor as yourself, and you have the we. That's what we're striving to do. And so we're all working on that. The head of God's church is Jesus Christ, and his work in the gospel that he preached and what he was commissioned to do was to come and care for people and then encourage those people to imitate him.

Let's see this over in Isaiah chapter 61 in verse 1. Here we have the prophecy that that heralded Jesus is coming that he himself read in Isaiah 61 and verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. This is referring to Jesus Christ himself. Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings or the gospel to who? To the poor. That's who he came to bring it to. Was to those who were looked down upon. Those who didn't have some level of self-support, some level of self-exalted and self-directed lives. The poor. He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted.

Poor and broken-hearted can't fix themselves. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who were bound. And when we see the gospel message through that lens and we preach the gospel as it were, we are to embody this message. We are to be agents of it ourselves. Jesus' care for the church models that responsibility then that we each have for one another. Jesus said in John chapter 13 and verse 34, A new commandment I give to you. He's not telling everybody. He's talking here to us. He says, A new commandment I give to you that you agape one another as I have agape you. This is a different kind of love. It's not that societal, you know, I'll, you know, pat you on the back. I'll slap your hand if you slap mine. No, this is reaching down to those who have needs. It has nothing to do with what you can get in return and just loving them. Love one another as I have loved you. It's nothing we could do for Jesus Christ. There's nothing we did to get His love.

He loved us. Therefore, He says, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

And now a proof of our discipleship is in verse 35. By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have this agape love for one another. So we begin to see here that there's more than just an opportunity to love, an opportunity to care. This begins to build into who we are as a church. The way was a term that was put that was given to the church or called the church because it was different. Nobody else was doing this. Society in the Roman, the Judean cultures were not doing this. This way was doing something unique. You know, the very first description of the church when it began on Pentecost and thereafter wasn't about doctrine. Let's go to Acts chapter 2 and notice what the church is noted for. Acts chapter 2, you know, its composition following repentance and baptism comes to us in verse 44.

Now, all who believed were together. Now that's an interesting statement. You think, well, that's, you know, they all had baptism in common there in the church and everything. Oh no, wait a minute. Let's go back to verse 5. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem during this feast, devout men from every nation under heaven. These are the ones who in verse 6 could hear them speak in his own language.

They spoke different languages, different cultures, different peoples from all over the place. And now when we come down here to verse 44, all who believed were together and had all things in common. This is an international body that's unified and it's loving itself.

In verse 45, and they even sold their possessions. You had some who had wealth. You had some who were strangers or travelers, unknown to each other. But they even sold their possessions and goods and divided them into a new world.

And divided them among all as anyone had need. And so continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking of bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. So there was love and there was favor and there was this joining together by which every part was doing its share. And this is important for us to think about. It wasn't just sort of a kind of a one-off situation.

When we then think about the apostles that followed this, what did they teach?

Well, we could see in Romans chapter 12 and verse 13, here the Apostle Paul is talking to the church in Rome.

This is an interesting church.

He talks here about distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Now, there are a lot of things the Bible says we're not supposed to be given to. Not given to wine, you know, not given to strong drink, but we should be given to hospitality. That's almost like an addiction. That's a compulsion from within that you just can't stop.

I am given to being hospitable, to giving, serving, helping, looking out for the needs of others.

In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 1, as we make a broader message here to all of those of God, Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 1 says, let brotherly love, this this philia, this brotherly love, compassion on others, helping others, let it continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers. Now, there's that word again. You know, a stranger back then was just somebody, well, he was probably strange to you that you didn't know him, but he was a church member and he was traveling and they didn't have cars, they didn't have horses, they pretty much had shoes. And when you went somewhere, you know, you could carry some stuff, but you had to eat. You needed protection. You needed some place to stay. You needed a fellow member to talk with, fellowship with. Don't forget to entertain strangers. Verse 2, remember the prisoners as if chained with them. Wow, we tend to forget about prisoners. We don't see them, do we? Jesus said, in prison and you visited me. Sick, you know, and you came.

We don't see the sick here today. We don't see the prisoners. We don't see who's hungry. We don't see who's thirsty. You have to get to know people. We have to actually care and have concern. And so, remember the prisoners as if chained with them. Those who are mistreated, those who are mistreated.

You know, people get mistreated and it's an internal thing and it really weighs on them, but you don't necessarily see it or feel it yourself. Almost saying here, those are mistreated. Feel that yourself since you yourselves are in the body also.

Now we begin, you see, to take this unity and this fellowship, as it were, to a level of not only mental understanding, but physical serving, making sure that everyone has needs.

If we go to Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2, we see this throughout the Bible. I'm just picking up a few places here. Galatians chapter 6, bear one another's burdens. It doesn't say, you know, be concerned for others' burdens or, you know, pray for others' burdens or have sympathy, but bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So we have a law of, say, Rome or the laws of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and we have the law of Christ. Christ's law, again, was to love God and love fellow man. It's to really make that us an hour. You know, you go to the model prayer, there's no me and there's no I. It's all about our and us. And this is how God and Jesus Christ are.

We are part of them and we are sons and daughters with them and they want us to be one with them.

These come through relationships, through sharing, through serving, through helping.

And so he says here, verse 9, and let us not grow weary while doing good.

Now all of us do good. We even have good works programs. We can do good things for people, but we have to be careful that it's not just writing a check or it's not just, you know, sending an email. It's actually one-on-one doing good and not, say, forgetting to do that or growing weary in it. Verse 10, therefore, as we have opportunity, and this is interesting because are there opportunities? How would you know there's an opportunity? People who need usually don't come knocking and say, hey, my life's broken or I'm having this issue or, you know, they're like, I'm gonna make it, you know, I'll get through this on my own. As you see opportunity, sometimes requires, again, a relationship and looking for that opportunity. It's good that we all pour out when we can for something like sign a card and that's important or write a check. That's important too. But as we have opportunity, let us do good to all. And that word to all, then, is not class, it's not race, it's not age, there's no description, it's to all. And so we might feel, well, this group or that level or this age or this situation isn't my comfort zone. Do good to all.

When we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes there are individuals who have friends there, church members there. Maybe they come from a congregation like this that's large, but others come from remote areas, small congregations, where they live scattered like salt around the region that they live in. And they're coming to the feast and they want some relationships, they want some fellowship, they want some brother and sisterhood. And that's a big part of the Feast of Tabernacles. And so we need to come and do good to all. It says in verse 10, especially to those who are of the household of faith. And we do good to all, but especially those who are in the church.

God wants us to care for each other in the church. In 1 John chapter 3 and verse 17, we have one of the apostles, the apostle John, speaking about this very thing. And he says in verse 17, well, let's start in verse 16, by this we know Agape love, because he laid down his life for us. That's huge. That's huge. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Now, when we lay down our lives, it means we interrupt our life like Jesus interrupted His. He was with the Father. He was in glory. And He laid down that glorified life that He could come and serve us. He interrupted that God had experience in the divine for 33 and a half years.

It's important that we also lay down our lives. We pause. And if we're doing something or we're having something, we're planning something, we pause and say, hey, what about others? What do they have? What do the widows have? The poor have? What other families have? What do other people have? These are some of the things that we do. That's why we have summer camps. That's why we have trips. That's why we have young adult activities. But at the same time, we have to, as a church, be looking out for all. And so there's always a time for us to look for opportunity.

Here in 1 John chapter 3, we go on to verse 17. But whoever has this world's good and sees his brother in need. We're talking about a brother now, somebody in the church.

We have some things and we see a brother in need. And shuts up his heart from him.

How does the love of God abide in him? So the point here is that we need to do more than just say, I love you. I'll pray for you. When we have the things that others need, it might be our time.

It might be our encouragement. We all have challenges. We all have pains. We all have issues. We have things that break and fall apart, that need our support. And we are shown to be a very loving part of the kingdom of God, a representative of the kingdom of God. When we come together as individuals privately, as groups, and we demonstrate, and we actually care for one another, indeed. He says here in verse 18, my little children, talking again to the church, let us not love in word or in tongue only, but in deed and in truth. Indeed and in truth.

Now, notice here, and by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. Is there anything more core to salvation than having that agape love? You know, agape love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Agape, joy, peace. I like to take that Iranian-Greek word and use the term harmony. We just heard harmony up here. It was beautiful. It's really, really gorgeous.

There was a time a few years ago when I was doing videos for symphony orchestras, multi-camera shoots for them, and before the symphony orchestra began, had all those pieces, 70 different pieces, all kinds, and they would get down and do what they called a warm-up. And everybody played and they were doing riffs, some were doing sections, hard sections that they were going to have to play. Others were just...it was a mess. It was just an absolute mess. I loved to record it. And it grew louder and louder and just discordant. Just nasty.

And then the lady with the oboe stood up, or actually the first violinist stood up, pointed the oboist, and the oboist played the A note on an oboe. And everybody played the A note together. And it was all different instruments, all kinds of different sounds, maybe even the timpani, the kettle drum played it. I don't know, but everybody played the A note. And it was beautiful. It rose up and then went back down. And so it is. We have the opportunity here to be of the truth, which is loving, actual loving and giving and serving, and then be assured in our hearts as we stand before Jesus Christ in the judgment. That's what it says right here. And this is Apostle John. So this is, again, something that's core to the gospel. Jesus Christ came to preach it to the poor, to help the brokenhearted. It is core to what God's Word teaches, loving. It is core to salvation and it's core to our future. This wonderful world tomorrow we're always talking about. What is that? It's people loving and helping people. And it's led by those who God will bring back from various lands, the 12 tribes, and they will become priests of Him. They will become teachers and others will come and learn from this. Hey, what's this way you guys are living here? It's so good. Teach it to us. Show us how it works. And this is going to spread around the world. When we read in the Bible about various groups of individuals, Jesus said, you'll always have the poor. Remember the poor. You've got widows. You've got orphans. You know, God loves them. You have various people and various challenges. Jesus went around healing sick, people who were stuck. He was helping those that society wasn't and couldn't help.

How the way at that time treated widows was, as far as I can tell, unheard of in the world.

Widows were previously wives. Think for a minute of Ruth, right? Classic example. The book of Ruth read at the time of Pentecost. You have Ruth and Boaz, a type of Jesus Christ in the church. There's all these references. And what was she? She was a foreigner. She was a foreigner. She was a widow. She wasn't some cute young virgin woman. She was a widow that came in hungry and she was trying to live off of gleaning on the land. And look how the story went. She was brought in by Boaz. She was loved. She was cherished, respected, taken care of. These are just classic examples that we see down through time. Outside of a household, back then a widow was on her own. She had lost her household. So was an orphan. When you think about orphans, just go back 100 years, 115 years, to Louisville, Kentucky down here. Big orphanage! And what happened was when children either lost their parents or their parents could not feed them, they could go to this orphanage.

And the photos of the orphans there is just massive. Little kids all the way up through teenagers, boys and girls. The interesting thing was they all had to work. Every one of those kids had to work. Imagine growing up in this big, big old house thing, building, and having to work your way through life. What would that be like? What would that be like? What was it like throughout history, coming from the time of Jesus Christ down through time, to be one who didn't have what you needed in order to survive? In biblical times, people would actually sell themselves or become indentured servants, a type of slave they couldn't provide for themselves and their family. That's how tough life was. They had no protection in Roman society, but the New Testament church quickly organized. Let's go to Acts 6 and verse 1, right after the founding of the church. What is the church doing for widows and those in need? We see right here, Acts 6 and verse 1, now in those days when the number of disciples was multiplying, this church is forming, it's different, it's the way, it's loving, it's giving to each other, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists. There's different mindsets, different cultures here, different peoples, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. They were taking care of themselves. And so the apostles summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it's not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. Therefore, here's a prescription the church set for serving widows. You seek out men, we'll appoint them over business, we'll give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry, and they then chose deacons.

And laid hands on them in verse 6. Deacons and deaconesses. The church has served widows, if you go back in time, way back here. We have a tithe for widows, for poor, for disadvantaged, for those in need, even for Levites and others. We have a tithe called the third tithe. Recently, somebody told me, why doesn't the United Church of God keep third tithe anymore? I said, what are you talking about? Of course we do. We give third tithe. However, there is a personal responsibility as to how you pay in that first and third year of every seven. And that is, depending on the social support your country gives through your own tax dollars that you pay, you may already be paying all of the needs that third tithe would cover, some of the needs that third tithe would cover, or none of the needs. But you need to figure that out. And it's something that God blesses us for. I remember since I've been a kid, third tithe years are always something special. You know, special in two ways. One is, how am I going to get through the year setting aside this tithe, either, like I said, through a combination of the taxation that covers social services, or through a full tenth in that year? Oh, the blessings that came and come out of that each time are just blow away any kind of concern. You just have to look forward to third tithe years. You wish every year came with that kind of blessings. And that's just how God works. So, outside of a household in those days where a widow was not taken care of, here the church has a process, a process. Paul gave Timothy detailed constructions in 1 Timothy chapter 3. I'm sorry, 1 Timothy 5 and verse 3. He says, honor widows who are really widows. Now, we're going to really look at widows here. Honor the ones or help the ones that really are widows. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents, for this is good and acceptable before God. So now we begin to have a system by which widows and those in need are cared for.

It drops down here.

In verse 9, do not let a widow under 60 years be taken into the number unless she has been the wife of one man reported for good works. I mean, you get into some detail here. This is an administration where widows were being taken care of. James doesn't apply a caring for widows as some kind of kindness, rather a test of the genuineness of faith. James chapter 1 and verse 27, he says, pure religion is this. Undefiled religion, uncorrupted religion, not corrupted with some sort of me and self. And if I do this, I'll get that. And I'm playing the games here with God, working the angles. No, pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to serve people who can't help you back. To actually care about people, to visit orphans and widows. That's what they need. They need time. They need relationships. They need a big brother, big sister, a grandpa, a grandma. They need a dad or a mom. To visit them in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the society. Don't drift back into this society, this sort of class mess. So the church's own care for itself was broad. It wasn't just local. It stretched.

When famine struck in Judea, for example, Judea being Jerusalem in particular, there was a need. And imagine that. It'd be like the home office congregation suddenly is out of food. And you think, oh, well that's kind of odd, right? So somebody in Spain decides to send us some stuff.

That's kind of what this was like. You'd think, wow, really, Jerusalem? So what happened was, believe it or not, the members who were all the way out in Macedonia started collecting for the members in Jerusalem. They wanted to do that. People they had never met, people they would never meet. But they were part of the church. Let's notice this in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 10. This isn't related to that famine necessarily, but Galatians chapter 2, when the apostles got together at what we call the sort of the Council of Elders that they had, the ministerial conference. It said, they desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I was also eager to do. So when Paul said there's Gentiles being called, they were sent away with, remember the poor. That just speaks right to the heart of what the church was. Somebody says, well, hey, well, what about the Sabbath and the Holy Days and tithing? I mean, they're in the church. You'd think they would tell them something. Remember the poor.

Wow. And don't eat things sacrificed to idols. That was core, and is core. Now, when we go to Romans 12 or Romans 15 verse 26, we will see this gathering of assistance for those in Jerusalem.

Romans chapter 15 verse 26.

Paul says in verse 25, I'm going to Jerusalem to serve the saints. I'm going to minister. I'm going to bring something to them. Now he says, for it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.

Hmm. Wow. It pleased them indeed, and they are the debtors. So these Gentiles were wanting to help the Jewish congregation in Jerusalem. This just speaks to, again, the heart of the matter of the church taking care of itself and caring for itself. One other I'd like to give, and that is in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 in verse 13. We have this equity that the Bible speaks of.

There's no one greater in the church than another. Men aren't greater than women.

Seniors aren't greater than younger. Slaves aren't greater than owners.

You know, free versus slave. We all are children of God, and we're equal in God's eyes.

And he says here in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 in verse 13, he's talking about here giving, verse 12, for if there is first a willing mind and it is accepted according to what one has and not according to what he does not have, for I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack and that their abundance may also supply your lack, that there may be equality.

So you have here someone with some physical goods who is being taught by someone else with spiritual things, and there is an equality when you have all need physical and all need spiritual. We're in this together. There is no civic structure in Rome that would fill in gaps, that would move resources between peoples of various classes in distant cities or strangers in need, but the church did. Church did, and the church does as a matter of course.

In Romans 12 Paul sees an obligation for this.

Romans chapter 12 verse 10. It's not just a recommendation but an obligation.

Romans 12 10, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, as we read before, but giving honor, in honor giving preference to one another. There goes this any kind of class, any kind of, well, I am different, better, or whatever. The one thing that God's church has as a strength is people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and hopefully people in every nation, tribe, and tongue. That's what we're trying to do, and as you go off to visit various of our feast sites and people move around, we end up with a variety of peoples and cultures and races, and it's wonderful. It is the fabric that will make the first fruits in the kingdom of God from every nation, tribe, and tongue. So here we see in verse 13, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. And now, verse 16, be of the same mind toward one another, the same mind toward one another. We're all different, every one of us, but we should be of the same mind toward one another. Don't set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Remember the two groups that we had? One was the upper class, and the other was the humble class, the commoners. Associate with that, real people, real people with needs.

James talks about this. James was the pastor of the Jerusalem Church, and he saw all kinds of things going on there. He was right in the middle of it. He was a very just man, a very honorable man. He was called James the Just by society. They didn't necessarily like what he believed, but he was a good, strong example of godly character. And he says here in James chapter 2, we'll begin in verse 1, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. Now within the Roman Empire, you had provinces, and those provinces had cities, and some of those cities had, well, they had congregations. And some of those congregations were of that upper strata. God called people from all over, and they talked in the Bible about having the rich had a tough time because they could be sort of self-reliant instead of God-reliant. It was hard to get in the kingdom if you were rich, but the poor also had needs as well. And so James says here, look, don't hold this faith of Jesus Christ, this love with partiality. What is partiality? One definition of partiality is discrimination. If you look up that word, that Greek word, discrimination. Don't discriminate between people by your own sort of, oh, that person is this or that. Unbox everybody. Don't discriminate. Don't be partial.

It says here going on 4 verse 2, if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, fine apparel, well, there's that class. And it definitely existed to a degree. It still does in the church. And there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes. And you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, oh, you sit here in a good place. And you say to the poor man, you stand there or you can sit on the floor. See, then he takes us to task with this. He says, have you not shown partiality among yourselves? Sort of a discrimination, sort of a class judgment, and become judges with evil thoughts. Now, I'm going to stop right here and mention that in this Roman law, a legal classification was the honestioris and the humilioris. These were the classes. Those two classes. One was the honored class and one was the commoners. And in the legal realm, there was teeth in which class you were in. In criminal procedures, the honestioris, the honorable ones, right? They could not just be accused and believed. And even if they were found guilty, they had rights. If one was created a fence that required death, that death could not be painful. Okay? Had to be quick. Now, if you were a commoner, you had nobody on your side in a courtroom. The humilioris had no such protections. They could be tortured to get evidence. You know, if you really want them to be guilty, you torture somebody long enough. They'll sign on the line. They had no right of appeal. They faced brutal public forums, and their executions were intended to be extremely drawn out and painful. I won't go into what those were, but that was just part of society. And these individuals could be strung along roads. Two individuals, just guilty of theft, were crucified beside Jesus Christ.

And little thought was given. Some were taken into the arenas and fed to animals or burned alive, things like that. They were reserved for lower orders. Most Christians were not citizens of the elite. And when you read the New Testament, if you read it sort of through that lens, you're seeing a people who is very vulnerable, doesn't have much in the way of legal rights, and all of the positions with the Roman government, with the Jews, with the high priests, all of those were tight. The church fell outside of those things. And you read of persecution. You see the apostles are killed after Jesus Christ is killed. You'll see the churches themselves are under a lot of persecution. And that continued century after century and down through time as false religions gave no quarter to truth. They punished, they persecuted, and as we go forward in time from where we are now in this little peaceful time we have, we see that happening again in the end time. So when you think of the church, then you have to realize we are a fragile unprotected group that will not be taken care of by society. It's very important that in this time of peace that we develop unity and oneness to see us through the times ahead when the Scriptures say that we will be hated by all nations. Some will be killed. They will be persecuted.

Thankfully, many will go to a place of safety. But we need this bond now. We need to be developing these now. I'm not saying we're not. I don't think that I'm criticizing. I'm re-emphasizing.

This is the time. This is the calling. This is what God has called us to do.

When we think here of these lower classes and we look in James down in verse nine, he says, oh wait a minute, let's go up to verse six. Verse five, listen, my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him? There's a promise we have.

But if we do what he said and that's favor or discriminate, he says, but you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Remember that class that you're kind of kissing up to. Outside, isn't that the ones that oppress you, the ones that have first belief of what they say, and they drag you into court, and there you have no rights?

Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called Jesus Christ?

If you really fulfill the royal law, not the societal law, not the Jewish laws, not those things that everybody was living by in society, if you really fulfill the royal law, according to Scripture, love God, love your fellow man, right, all the way through, if you really fulfill that, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. You do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. So the point here is James is spelling this out, that loving others isn't just a nice optional thing. He's saying that's the law. That's the law. And if we don't do that with each other on a brotherly, sisterly, fatherly, motherly basis, we're breaking the very law that we're supposedly proclaiming. The Feast of Tabernacles, as I mentioned before, involves care so that everyone rejoices.

We stop just for a minute and think about the feast. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 16.

God's command isn't just to rejoice. It isn't to go have a good time at the feast.

It's to see that everyone rejoices. And in order to do that, we have to help them. We have to care and make sure that everyone rejoices. Because he's going to name some here that would otherwise specifically be left out of rejoicing at the feast. And they will be. If we don't care and if we don't find them, they will be left out. Once in a while you'll maybe go to a feast site and maybe it's one of those destination sites and into services. Everybody gets up and the next thing you know, the hall is empty! Where did he go? I don't know, but they're gone.

And here's a widow and there's a couple of kids and here's some other people and they're still sitting in their chairs. It's like, what are they going to do? And you know, that's the time for us to go up and say, hey, want to go with us? We're going to go do something. And you can form some really wonderful lifelong relationships just by doing that. Just by taking an opportunity and inviting someone to join you. Inviting someone to participate. Because he says here in Deuteronomy chapter 16 and verse 14, and you shall... it's talking about Feast of Tabernacles, verse 13, and you shall rejoice in your feast. Oh, that's I. That's me. You shall rejoice in your feast. And we're ready. We're packing, right? I mean, we're making the reservations. Except, he says, you and your son. Oh, okay, now I got to take the me and go to we. So now my son and I. Oh, and your daughter. Okay, well, these are kids. They don't... I mean, that's a different demographic than me. I got to spend time with kids. All right. Your male servant. All right, well, that'll work out. Your female servant. What? I mean, I don't really know women that well. And my servant, she's my servant.

She's got to have a good feast. I've got to serve her. And the Levite, that minister, and the stranger, the guy I don't know, that traveler that, I don't know, came through and he wasn't really responsible. Didn't have things to take care of himself. And the fatherless and the widow who were within your gates, within your village. Wow. That's what the feast is about.

Making it rejoicing with all of those. It's our responsibility. And that portrays the feast. That portrays the millennial reign of Christ and the bride. And that portrays what the Sabbath is about here today, which portrays that. Which portrays the kingdom of God. And that's what the kingdom of God is forever. It's everybody loving and serving one another down through time.

So here we are. We are loving and we are a group that is called to affirm, as Jesus said, that by our oneness, his being sent by the Father is confirmed to society.

And by our oneness, our discipleship with him is confirmed.

These are very, very important. Let's go to John 17 and verse 21 as we wrap this up.

Because as Jesus prayed here, and I know I've shared this scripture with you before, but I love to share this scripture because it's a great goal for us to have. It was his goal right before he died. He shared this. John 17 verse 21. Well, verse 20, I do not pray for these alone then, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Here we have the New Testament, their word. Here we are believing in them.

That, as we believe in them, that they all may be one. All. All ages, demographics, sexes, races, you know, you name it, cultures, nations, and the church, that they all may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, notice, that the world may believe that you sent me. Hmm. This is a responsibility we have to Jesus Christ to show the world that God sent him, because we're reflecting that kingdom of God, that mindset of the kingdom. This raises the stakes, doesn't it? This really puts a responsibility on us.

So, in conclusion, in a society where the poor were invisible and people were not taking care of them, much as today, if you go to 2 Timothy 3 verse 1, the end times, dangerous times will come. People will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money. They're not looking after other people.

That's coming more and more, and we should shine more and more. We should stand out more and more, and we will. So, as the church then embraces, supports widows, supports everyone, where members scattered far away are taken care of, then we are practicing a way, a way of life, we call it, that is different than anything else that exists on this earth.

And we are precursors, then, of a coming generation, a coming future ruling class that will help the world come to live by the agape mindset of caring for one another, both in the millennium, during the second resurrection, and then forever in the kingdom of God.