How Should You Appear Before God?

How do you honor someone that you deeply respect? How do you honor them? I want you to think back in your mind to a time that you have been in a situation where there was someone that you deeply respected and you wanted to honor that particular person. I was looking back to the earliest time in my life that I remember I had that desire, that feeling to do that, was I was in third grade. I'm not sure whether it was Mrs. Tuttle's class or whether it was Mrs.

Carlisle's class. After a while, you sort of forget those things, because that was only about ten years ago. But anyway, I think Mrs. Tuttle is where we built that volcano that blew up. But I think it was in the third grade we went to visit the Truman Library, which was brand new, in Independence, Missouri.

Anyway, our teacher, Mrs. Carlisle, told us we were going to get to meet the President. Of course, this was President Truman, who had been out of office for some time. By that time, he was older. I think his term of office was over in 1952. But this may have been in 1959 or somewhere in there, 1958. So it was back in those years.

But she said, now we want you to be on your very best behavior. We thought it was going to be a situation where you're going to have maybe a few kids there, and you get to talk to Mr. Truman. But it wasn't. There were about 1,000 kids there that day, sitting in the auditorium. They would pass the microphone around to different kids to ask questions from the President.

He was very cordial to the kids. But I remember knowing how important this man was in the world. Of course, having lived in Independence, Missouri, and seeing him on the news, walking around Independence. He and his wife would walk around in the evenings and the mornings, and they would always have some footage of him if he did that. I was familiar with him and, again, had great respect for him. But even Mrs. Carlisle really hammered into us how important this was for us to go and to actually get a chance to meet President Truman. Well, how do you honor people?

I've had other occasions where I've honored someone I deeply respected. I'm sure you have as well. Have you ever dishonored anybody in some way, shape, or fashion? Now, don't tell me you haven't. Because I think we all have in some way, in manner, dishonored someone in our more carnal days. Hopefully, we don't do that anymore. But maybe in our carnal days, we did dishonor someone. But, of course, we should remember again how we honored people and how to do that. I want to ask you a question.

Have you ever dishonored God? And maybe a corollary to that is, how do you honor God? How do you honor Him? I would say most of us could say we've never knowingly dishonored God.

We don't go out of our way to do that. To dishonor God, we want to honor Him to the very best of our ability, don't we? We strive to do that in our daily lives.

Because we look in the Bible and we see how serious it is when we do not treat God in an honorable way, in a contemptuous way. The Bible seems to indicate that God says, I honor those who honor Me. That's the way that God says He does things. I honor those who honor Me. Now God has shown a great deal of honor to us, even when we were sinners, by giving His Son Jesus Christ to die for us. We know that He's had that love for us, that deep abiding love for those who are going to be His children.

But God honors those who honor Him. That is an axiom in the Bible. We look in the Bible and we go from cover to cover, basically, and we see what happens. We see at the very beginning of the Bible that Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden of Eden, out of the presence of God, because they weren't of the right frame of mind.

They took, of course, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It says that Adam wasn't deceived. He knew what he was doing. He knew, in fact, he was choosing that way over God. He must have known he was dishonoring God. So they were driven from the garden of Eden, and the access to the Tree of Life was barred from them. Because, again, they were not of the right frame of mind. How about Aaron's two sons?

Aaron's two sons who had come before God. Apparently, they were there, and they offered strange fire. There's some indication that they may have been drinking that day. God struck them down, and they died because they did their duties in a dishonorable way. Again, think about that, brethren. How important these things are as far as God is concerned. How about Ananias and Sapphira? In the New Testament, they were playing the Numbers game.

Remember, they had sold a property and held back the price of it. But they were telling Peter that they were giving the whole thing to the church. Peter said, Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? You know the story of what happened there. Both Ananias and Sapphira were struck down that they died. So, brethren, what I'm trying to say—and we could show this in many ways to the Bible.

I think it would be a really, certainly interesting study to go through for yourself to do this. What we do, brethren, in our lives can have serious consequences, repercussions that can involve life and death. If we do the right thing, it can, of course, provide us with happiness, untold, abundant, and overflowing. And God, of course, blesses mightily. But if we do not do the right thing, of course, then, of course, there can be serious negative repercussions in our lives. Someone, brethren, should know what is appropriate to do in the presence of God. Don't you agree with that? They should know what is appropriate to do in the presence of God, because we could be in trouble.

God might wink at what a little kid might do, but, brethren, when we get a little bit older and we should be more mature, maybe the time eventually comes when the winking is over. It's not cute anymore. It's cute to see a little baby sort of drool, isn't it? But not so cute when you see someone who is an adult drool.

That's not really cute. And God doesn't consider it cute if we do something that dishonors Him, and when, in fact, we should be more mature and realize who were coming before. So, I wanted to talk about in the sermon today, brethren, how should you appear before God at Sabbath services? How should you appear before God at Sabbath services? In ancient times, when Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden, they came up to the door of the Garden of Eden, and apparently they would do this to offer sacrifices and so forth.

That's where Cain and Abel appeared to present their offerings to God. And Cain's was not accepted, but Abel's was accepted. When we come before God on the Sabbath, the Sabbath services are a type of that, of coming before God. And we're all doing it. We're all presenting ourselves before God, you might say, at the door, at the gate of the Garden of Eden. So, on the Sabbath, brethren, we come before God as the priest of old, did also in the service to God. And there were requirements that were placed on the priest. You know, you do a study of that and you see that immediately.

And God was a stickler on those things. And Aaron, of course, never forgot that, of what God intended to be done in his presence and what he intended not to be done in his presence. And, you know, they had to be cleaned physically and they had to be cleaned ceremonially as well before they could appear before them, before God.

They had to be dressed appropriate. In fact, it was told to them what they were to wear and that the garments that they were to wear were to be cleaned. And they couldn't appear before God drinking alcohol, as I've already mentioned. There are other scriptures that actually talk about that, other than Aaron's two boys. And the priest needed to discern right from wrong. It wasn't good enough just to know, you know, what was to be done or not to be done.

You had to have some discernment. And God expects all of those things, brethren, from you, from you and me. Because we're being trained, aren't we, to be kings and priests in the future. And if we do not, again, respect that training God's giving us, we won't be a priest in the future. It just boils down to that. But hopefully, brethren, we have the attitude and desire.

I know we came into the church for that purpose, to make it, to be there. To be there in the future Garden of Eden, when God's kingdom is set up and Jesus Christ returns. The first thing, brethren, to know when we come into the presence of God is this. Is when we come in God's presence, you're standing on holy ground. You remember the occasion in Exodus 3, verse 5? Here Moses was on the back side of the mountain. He was tending his flock.

And he saw this burning bush that didn't burn up. And so he went near this burning bush, and God spoke to him out of the bush. And he said, Moses, remove your sandals. You're standing on holy ground. And that is a message, by the way, that should resound to us today. That when we come to Sabbath services, brethren, we're on holy ground.

And you're on holy time. When that sun goes down on Friday night, it's holy time that begins. And that holy time goes to sundown the next evening. So keep that in mind. You know that when you come to Sabbath services, you're standing on holy ground. And when you're observing the Sabbath, there are certain things that should and should not be done on holy time.

Let's go to Leviticus chapter 23 over here. In Leviticus chapter 23, Moses writes over here about the festivals, as we all are familiar. And it says, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The Feast of the Eternal. Now, again, keep it in mind, brethren. Always, the feasts are not your feasts. They're not the United Church of God's feasts. It's what we do, but they're God's feasts.

And it says, So when we observe the feasts, brethren, keep that in mind, that they're God's feasts. They're not your feasts. It'd be like if I invited you to dinner, to my house, and you started telling me how things are going to be at my house. You see, it doesn't work that way, does it? If I go to your house, it's your house. If you come to my house, it's my house. If you go to God's house, though, it's his house. And we better listen to what he has to say about his house. So, going on here, notice in verse 3, it says, God's Sabbath is, the Lord's day is, in fact, we understand. But the Sabbath day is the Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. So, again, here we see what God says, and it says, You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the eternal and all your dwellings. And, you know, there are many things, of course, out of that one verse we could extrapolate. But the Sabbath is God's day. And so, on God's day, though, we are to have a holy convocation, and we are commanded to keep that convocation. So, that's one of the things we do on the Sabbath. You're here not because you just want to be here, it's because you are commanded to be here.

You know, because God commands us to keep a convocation. In essence, what he's saying, I command you to come to my house.

And stand before me on holy ground, as it were.

But God doesn't want us just to be here, brethren, bodily, and occupying a chair. He wants more than that. Of course, I think we all understand that. He wants more than that. He wants you here. He wants, you know, your entire attention to be here. To focus on what's being said and what's being done. To be observant. Let's go to Hebrews 10 over here. Hebrews 10. Just a few verses over here in what Paul writes. But in Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10 and verse 23, you know, one of the purposes of the church and Sabbath services, and the things we do connected with the church, you know, the purpose of it is to provoke us all to do better, right?

Isn't that why you're here? To sort of provoke us all to do better? To help us to be more motivated? To improve our lives? In fact, club tonight. Isn't that what the purpose of that is? To help us to do better? The women's club and so forth. To help us to do better. To provoke us to good works. And that should be the goal. You want a mission statement, by the way? If we want a mission statement for what we all we do, in fact, it's for that purpose to provoke to good work. But here in chapter 10 and verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope, it says, without wavering, for he who is promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love. So to stir that love up, brethren, as he says here, and good works, for us to do better, all of us to do better in our lives. Not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. Well, do you see the day approaching, brethren? Is it nearer now than it was twenty years ago? You better believe it. It's getting close, I think. But, you know, of course, there should be a sense of urgency in what we're doing. But love, brethren, and good works should be provoked here, right here, in this congregation. What I'm saying should provoke you. You know what Mr. Coaster said should provoke you. Should not only provoke you, but it should provoke us. I think it goes without saying that every thing we say from the pulpit, you know, applies to those that are speaking as well. You know, we all have to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Brethren, we are to worship, as Jesus himself said, when he talked to the Samaritan woman by the well, he said that we should worship God in spirit and in truth.

That word, spirit, by the way, not talking about necessarily just a shiver up and down your spine, as maybe the Pentecostals might think. But, brethren, that spirit, he's talking about, is the right attitude. The right attitude and truth to seek the truth.

And there's a lot of stuff we could put into that word, spirit. And, of course, the Spirit of God leads us to have humility, a sense of humility. It helps us to have, you know, an attitude of submission. It helps us to have a being able to teach, be taught, being able to be led to the truth. That's what, of course, happens when we, in fact, have our minds open.

And, you know, these things, when we are to worship God in spirit and in truth, we're to provoke to love and good works, apply more, even more, when we appear before God. It applies much more when we are here on the Sabbath day before God. So, brethren, how should we come before God on the Sabbath at services?

How should we come before God on the Sabbath at services? Well, we should come, brethren, with what is, I think, certainly the central theme of the whole Bible, the central theme of Jesus' teachings. He said, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. So, the one thing we want to make sure we have, brethren, when we come before God is love. A desire to love. Get the bitterness out. Get your anger over the elections out.

Don't get caught up in the elections, brethren. It makes you angry, doesn't it? Frankly, sometimes I just have to flip the radio off because I get tired of hearing some of the stuff that is said. So, the stones thrown back and forth, you know, at one another among the political set out there. But we should, the Bible, of course, shows that love again is the central thing. We should love God and we should love our brethren. We should love all mankind. But when we're here before God on the Sabbath to love our brethren, to love God and love our brethren. And you know, we see each other more on the Sabbath than at any other time of the week. We can't overcome, quite frankly, if we don't come to services. The reason why is because we need each other. If we didn't need each other, God would never have raised up a church to begin with. If you could be in the Kingdom of God without, you know, the people to your right or the left of you or in front of you or back of you, brethren. God would never raise the church up, but He needed the church to build into us the right kind of character, that holy, righteous character we've talked about. But over in 1 Timothy 3, if you would turn over there to 1 Timothy 3, in verse 15. 1 Timothy 3, verse 15.

You know, Paul had talked about the different roles in the church in 1 Corinthians 3. Then he said this.

He says, But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God. He told you that this is God's house here. You know, as we were mentioning, these are sacred services here. This is holy ground. It's not, of course, when we leave, but it's holy ground when we're here. Now, let's treat it again as the house of God, where God is, where we come to appear before Him on the Sabbath day. And he goes on to say, How you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. So, I think it's certainly true that certain things should be done and certain things should not, absolutely should not be done. So, brethren, the Sabbath services are holy ground and the Sabbath is holy time. So, let's treat it in a holy manner, in the sanctified condition that they're in, and that God is placed here on the Sabbath at this time.

Another thing, brethren, in order to come before God and to come in His presence, brethren, it's important for you and I to do this, to actually think about these things. Pray for God's inspiration of His ministry. Those who are going to get up and lead songs, those who are going to give a sermon at, or a sermon, or a split sermon, or whether you're talking about the prayers themselves, brethren. That everything will be inspired of God. You didn't come here to hear me. You didn't come to hear people talk. At least, I hope you didn't, because you're going to be very disappointed if you came to hear just men talk here on the Sabbath. You came to hear what God has to say, what the church has to say. I know sometimes we forget about what exactly we came to be here for, but that's why we came, to hear what God has to say. I'll tell you, one of the most intimidating things, I think, for any elder, or anyone that stands behind this pulpit, on this podium and behind this lectern, brethren, is that you realize that you are a conduit for God to speak to His people. It's intimidating, really. It makes you want to, you know, frankly, I know when most are ordained, they feel like running away, because they don't want that responsibility. Do you want that responsibility, brethren? I don't think any of us would choose that oven by ourselves, although some would, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be me. I would not have chosen it. I was biding my time, and I think I've told you that. The first time I ever attended church, and I've told you this many times, first time I walked into church, I looked over at, and I knew they were the elders, and I said, I never want to be one of those. Never. I mean, honestly, I just did not want to be one of those. And God wrote it in a book. And He said, well, we'll see about that. And I guess God had a challenge on His hand, and that was what He had in His mind. But I didn't choose this myself. It chose me. God chose me. And I am appreciative of His love, and that we've been able to survive these years. But pray for, brethren, God's inspiration of the ministry, and pray for the brethren, too. Pray for all of your brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, Paul wrote a simple sentence over in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 21, and he said, brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. I ask you to pray for the ministry, brethren. And what needs to be done has to be done. You know, think about the fact, brethren, we have a worldwide work to do. You've got to preach the gospel to the world. That's a pretty big job. We need to be praying for Mr. Kubik. We need to be praying for the council. Praying for the work. Pray for the three presenters on the Beyond Today program. You know, Mr. McNeely and Mr. Myers and Mr. Petty. Be praying for these men, that God will inspire them. You know, there are the point men out there, you might say, and they're God's men. But, brethren, there are men, too. And they're in the front lines right now, and they need our prayers. So pray for God's inspiration. Let's go to Romans 10, I should say. Romans 10 over here. In Romans 10, Romans 10 and verse 14, It says, You know, how do you hear, unless there's something somebody's going to preach to you, is going to teach you?

And it says, So the ministry is not something where, you know, somebody has a dream, and they see PC.

You know, they're spelled out, and they think it means, preach Christ, you know.

And God speaks, and He says, no, I meant plow corn. That's what I meant for you. It's not like that, you know. God is not calling His ministry that way. I didn't have any visions. All I had, personally, myself, is they announced my name and forum at Ambassador College. I didn't know I was even going to go in the ministry, frankly. Hadn't heard. You know, I'd given us some sermonettes when I was at Big Sandy in Ambassador College, but I didn't know I was going to go in the ministry. And Mr. Kelly, in fact, announced it. He was the Dean of Students, and I'll let you know Ron Kelly, but... Ron Kelly announced it, and I was among about 15 other guys who were sent out in the field. Some to Canada, you know, some to the U.S. And they were sending me, and I was very elated, they were going to send me to Oklahoma City. And I lived down in Rollin, Oklahoma, you know, that big metropolis down there on the Cultural Capital, as I call it, of the world. You know, the plumb and poke town. You know, you poke your head out the window and you're plumb out of town home that we lived in. And, you know, the enter and leaving sign was on actually the same sign, you know, you enter and you were leaving as soon as you got into it. But anyway, I was going to be in Oklahoma City. Mr. Kelly came up to me, and I was in the graduation line. I hadn't even received my diploma at Ambassador College. And he said, by the way, you've been transferred. So you're looking at the, I mean, I have been transferred, I was transferred before I actually went into the ministry. I have a lot of minister friends that talk about how they were transferred after being in one area for two years or three years or whatever. Well, I was one that was transferred before I ever got out of the graduation line. So they sent me to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. But it goes on. It says, how shall they preach unless they're sent? And so people get sent to do it. As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. And it says, and they have not all made the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed a report? So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And so God has chosen His servants to present His truth. And it's up to you and me, brethren, to hear what His servants are saying. And to believe. Because it talks about who has believed. Who has believed? Well, brethren, do you believe? Many people didn't believe Jesus Christ. So, brethren, pray for the messages to be given that you hear what you need to hear. Don't pray for you to hear what you want to hear so much, but what you need to hear.

Sometimes I've had people that have said to me, well, you stepped all over my toes today. Well, you know, that's the goal, isn't it? The goal is to step on people's toes and make them realize that they've got to change certain things in their life. The purpose is to rattle people's cages, you know, in a way. Because we're all sort of in a cage, aren't we? To rattle our cage so that we begin to change. So, when you come to services, brethren, bring a notepad with you. Because you might hear something that you need to remember. Certainly, it goes without saying, bring a Bible, unless you have it memorized, you know.

And I guess now you can do the computer thing, if you can do that. And the third thing to bring, brethren, is a ready and willing heart. Ready to hear, ready to listen. And turn to the Scriptures, brethren, and ask yourself, how does this apply to me? That's what makes God's church so great, brethren, and God's people. Is we believe the Bible, and it's something that you do in this 21st century. That's something you live. If you have children, small children, brethren, teach your small children to play quietly.

Give them quiet toys. I don't know if they have Nerf-type stuff or not. Something really quiet. Or books, or whatever it might be, if they're small children. If they're older children, brethren, give them a Bible. Teach them how to know the books of the Bible. To turn in the Bible when the minister is giving the Scriptures. To turn in the Bible to learn the Scriptures. Let's do what Deuteronomy 6 says. Talk about God's way when we go to bed at night, and when we rise up early in the morning. So that our kids grow up and they know the truth. Like with Timothy, Paul said, even from your youth. Timothy, you've known the Scriptures. So, do our people, there are young people, know the Scriptures, brethren. If we are not doing that, brethren, you know what happens to our kids when they get to be teens? Pretty soon they're gone. They're out of here. Because nothing really applies to them. So, hopefully we're embedding in them God's way of life. And that's going to stick with them. Of course, that's up to the individual child, ultimately. They've got to make a decision. We all become eventually adults, don't we? We have to make our minds up. So, pray for God's inspiration of His ministry, and pray for the brethren. And what's said. Also, brethren, when you come before God, come physically, mentally, and spiritually clean. Come physically, mentally, and spiritually clean. In the tabernacle of God, there was what was called the laver. Laver is, of course, the word that we get the word, laboratory, from. But the laver was the place where the priests would go to wash their hands and to clean themselves up in service to God. It was at the entryway of the tabernacle, because they had to come before God, and they had to be clean. The Scriptures show that. And they had to have certain garments on, as I mentioned before. And God wants us, brethren, to come before Him clean, and to be properly groomed in a respectful dress.

We should have our hair combed, and our properly groomed as God's men in the church. Men and teens should wear a suit and a tie. That's what we have instructed our brethren to do for many, many years in the church. Children, not necessarily that, obviously. But I know when our kids got up in eight, nine years of age, we had them wear a tie to begin to get accustomed to that. To get accustomed to how they were supposed to dress, you know, on the Sabbath. Ladies should have proper, modest, feminine dresses or appropriate, nice pantsuit-type clothing. No sweatsuits. Sweatpants, you know, that, of course. You know, if you start wearing sweatpants, you've lost it.

And that's, of course, you've got to be careful to get into that. You know, fellas, if you start getting up in the morning, it's all you wear, you know, sweatpants all the time. You've lost it, too. You need to get out and get some exercise so you can fit in to clothes. You know, you can always get these sweatpants, and they grow, and they grow, and they grow, don't they? And so do you, if you keep expanding. So it's important, you know, again, to teach our little girls as well about modesty and about dress as well.

Brethren, give Jesus Christ and the Father in Heaven the respect, the honor that they deserve, as we would if we were invited before a king or a president. You know, God is much, he deserves much, much more than a president. And yet, how would we treat a president? I'd just say that most of us would dress in our very best dress if we were going to have an audience with a president or a king or anybody on this earth that was a dignitary. But realize that the being you're here to honor today on the Sabbath is the creator of the entire universe. He created you. He deserves, again, that honor and that respect. So come before Him physically, mentally, and spiritually clean. Prepare your mind, brethren, for God's instruction.

Don't be embroiled in the worries, the worries of your life. You know, you've got six days to worry about your life. And what good has it done, by the way? Have you ever worried about something? Did it ever change it? It didn't help, did it? If you're going bald, you still lost the heritage.

Maybe you got used to the idea.

But worry does not help one with. So put all your worries to the side. Get clean, mentally speaking, so you can hear what's being said. Don't let your personal problems bog you down. Don't let it bog you down on the Sabbath. Sometimes we can harbor those problems in our mind. We can think about them. Brethren, ask God's forgiveness and believe that you have it. Believe you have it. When He forgives you, He forgives you. I know we don't forget the things we did wrong. And maybe that's good. We remember. We hopefully won't go back to those things that are contrary to God's way. But, brethren, ask His forgiveness and then realize you got it. God gave it to you.

You don't have to go to Him a half a dozen times on the same sin. You know, humans can be hard of hearing, but God is not. He hears us every time. Also, brethren, when you come to services before God, have a forgiving and outgoing attitude toward others.

Have a forgiving attitude toward others. Don't be wearing your emotions on your cuffs, as they say. I'm sure you've heard that expression. Don't be touchy. The kind of person that's sort of touchy. Well, you don't want to say anything to her or him because he's in a bad mood today. Well, you know what? Satan broadcasts in moods and attitudes. And we want to make sure we don't pick up on that broadcast, on the Sabbath, or any time for that matter. Don't let him get next to you, brethren. But come before God with a forgiving and outgoing attitude toward others. Let's go to Matthew 6 over here. Matthew 6.

Matthew 6 and verse 14. I always try to keep this in mind. If I ever start getting an attitude toward someone, there are some people that annoy me. There's no question about it.

You know, I like long walks, by the way, especially by those people that annoy me.

But it says in verse 14, God's not going to forgive our sin if we do not forgive other people.

So, brethren, make sure again that you forgive. Put it aside, brethren. Lay it aside. Chapter 5 here, chapter 5 and verse 23. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, there, remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift that was before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. So, if we're going to come before God, you see, if we're going to come before God on holy ground, on holy time, let's make sure that we've settled those things.

And let's not create problems for ourselves by having a touchy attitude, but let's be forgiving of other people. Again, don't let your own personal problems cloud your mind. So, brethren, come before God physically, presentable, mentally, and spiritually clean. Another thing, brethren, ask Jesus Christ to live in you more fully today. More fully.

Galatians 2, 20, all of us should have that practically memorized there. What did Paul say? I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but he said that Christ lives in me. Who died for me. Christ died for us, brethren.

And Christ is to live in us. And Jesus himself said, brethren, let your light shine before men. So, brethren, when you come before God on the Sabbath day, on the holy time, brethren, come with the attitude of, again, forgiveness of our re-mention, but come with the attitude of encouragement, encouraging others, helping others.

If somebody is searching for a job and they're having a hard time, encourage that person. Try to show them the importance of having faith. Having faith in God is going to provide a way for them. I know sometimes when you feel like it's been a dearth, you've been looking for something for a long time and you haven't gotten it, then it will never come.

But I always tell people that God knows what our expectations are. There's a scripture that says that your expectations will not be cut off. That God will help you realize whatever it is that you even sometimes don't even know you want inside. That God will give that to you. So be encouraging to people. Find ways to do that, to encourage other people.

If we make all of ourselves that kind of a committee, brethren, individually, to encourage people, to lift people up. Imagine how fast this church would grow. If every last person could be convinced of that importance of doing that, of really encouraging one another. So let Christ live in you by doing that for others. Somebody may be having problems with their marriage. Tell them you're going to pray for them. I'll pray for you.

Encourage them in whatever way you can. Make sure you set an example for them, brethren. And above all, brethren, don't be weary in well-doing. Sometimes some come and they do such a good job for a long time and they give up because the job goes on and on and on in the church, doesn't it? Of course, all of us who were called and have been in the church for a long time, we realize that it has gone longer than we thought it was going to go.

I mean, when I came to the church in the sixties, I thought it would be all wrapped up in the seventies. And when that didn't happen, I thought it would be wrapped up in the eighties. And I think that's the way God's people have always been, going back to the 31 A.D. We've always thought it was going to happen. But, brethren, sooner or later it is going to happen.

We are living in a time of great cataclysm in the world. And realize this, brethren, lest we get weary in well-doing, the way you are living now, at least if it's the right way, is the way you're going to be living for eternity. So how can we get weary in well-doing? And Christ said, remember, those who are going to be saved are those who endure to the end. So let's not get weary about a way of life we're going to be living forever. God doesn't change His character. I think when our character is set, of course, it's going to be much easier for us.

But in the same token, let's look at it from that perspective. Next, brethren, on the Sabbath, ask for God's correction. Ask for God's correction. If you don't feel like you're growing, brethren, you don't feel like you're changing, ask for God's correction. I would ask you also, if you're going to do that, to say to God, but not too much. Only as much as I can handle. Of course, God won't put on you more than what you can handle. Let's go to Jeremiah 10 over here. Jeremiah 10.

God has given us such a great, awesome calling, brethren. And it really is up to us, isn't it, to fulfill that great calling God's given us? And it is a long road, as we said, in fact, giving a sermon on the subject of the way. It's a narrow way. It's a difficult way. It's not easy. You know why? It actually takes us out of our comfort zones.

Jeremiah 10, verse 23, I think it is. But it says, Oh, Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. Do you know that, brethren? The way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. We really don't even know what we need, sometimes. And it says, Oh, Lord, correct me but with justice, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. So you can say, God, please, please don't correct me in your anger.

But you know what? If you go to God and you say, God, correct me and you have a right attitude, he's not going to be upset with you. He's going to give you the correction you need, a gentle kind of correction. You know, David said this, he impored to God, he said, Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there's any wicked way in me.

And lead me in the way everlasting. And we know that in the Bible it says, God chastens every son that he receives. He disciplines the sons he receives. Now that can be the easy way, or it can be the hard way. We've always heard, of course, the old good cop, bad cop type thing. But, brethren, it doesn't have to be the hard way. It seems like some kids are that way, isn't it?

They've got to learn by the hard way. But, brethren, I hope we're not that way. I hope that we can learn just by hearing from what God has to say, and what he teaches us.

Next, brethren, learn to have careful communication with others on the Sabbath. Let your communication be seasoned with salt. Let it be pure. In the world of moral, we're going to have a pure language. Let's make sure that we're at least striving, brethren, to be careful about our communications at Sabbath services. In Isaiah 58, over here, in down in verses 13-14, Isaiah the prophet says this because Israel and Judah had a problem with the Sabbath. And this whole country has a problem with the Sabbath. I hope we don't, brethren. I hope we want to observe the Sabbath. But Isaiah said in verse 13 of Isaiah 58, If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable. So, in other words, we lift it up to the honorable position that it deserves. Again, if we look to the church as the house of God, as a place that is sacred, you know, at least when we're there, that it's special, you know, before God. And make it honorable, and shall honor Him. We're honoring God, as it says here, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Then you will delight yourself in the Lord, the Eternal, and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your Father, the mouth of the Eternal, has spoken. So, brother, let's make sure that we are honoring the Sabbath by our words that we speak, and we're careful about our communication on the Sabbath. Now, don't be afraid to talk on the Sabbath. You know, that would be going into another ditch, wouldn't it? And people tend to do that. They go from one ditch to another. Don't be afraid to talk about non-spiritual things, but talk about things that lead to an understanding of the spiritual, or at least a prophecy, or whatever. You want to talk about news, talk about scriptures, you want to talk about examples of brethren in the church, talk about examples of patriarchs and matriarchs of the Bible. You can talk about all of those things, but don't make your primary talk about physical, nonsensical, mundane things.

Talk about spiritual things. What was the sermon about? What was the sermonette about? And how do we apply these things? You know, how do you apply them? Maybe talk about how you apply them. But stay positive and focus on, brethren, those things that lead to the kingdom of God. We're living in times where the Bible, Paul, says we should be redeeming the times. He talked about how we ought to be speaking in psalms and hymns. In other words, keep things uplifting in the church.

Another thing, brethren, coming before God on the Sabbath, come before God and not judge other brethren. Don't become the resident Pharisee or self-appointed judge, thinking church conversations aren't spiritual enough.

You know, work on thyself. If I can apply some, you know, the old King James, work on thyself. I know I've had people that have told me through the years, well, this church doesn't have enough love. Well, maybe the problem was the person saying it didn't have enough love. You know? Well, this church doesn't have enough, you know, spirituality. Again, maybe the problem is the person who was saying it needed to be more spiritual in what they were doing. Again, don't be the resident Pharisee or judge. You know, the Bible says, judge not, lest you be judge. So don't set yourself up as a judge of other people. Every yardstick we use, brethren, for others, is going to be laid on us, too.

Now, that doesn't mean, brethren, we can't see problems. I mean, we're not, again, dumb sheep so that we can't see problems. But, brethren, a mature-minded person knows where their place is, number one. What their responsibility is, number two, when it's appropriate to say something and when it's appropriate not to say something. There's the discernment part, like the priest had to have.

Judging, by the way, doesn't help anybody else. It's proven to never help anybody else. Now, what will help other people is showing people love. Now, again, it doesn't mean you're brain dead. You don't see that there's a problem, but you're looking for a way to teach.

Whether it's going to be by your example, whether it's going to be by what you say. You know, certainly what you do and what you say are the two biggest and most important things. But love is going to be the best way of reaching someone. Nine times out of ten, brethren, if somebody has a problem in the church, and maybe they're a little obstinate about that problem, you know, the person that's going to reach them is the person that they respect and love the most. So, if you can, you know, garner somebody's respect, and you can show that you really care for them and love them, you can help them.

So, brethren, let's make sure, again, we don't be... We are not judges of other people, but we're helpers of other people. Helpers of their joy in life, the way the ministry is supposed to be.

Let's go over to Matthew 12, Matthew 12.

In Matthew 12, you know, Jesus talked about human relationships a good deal, you know, in what he said.

But in Matthew 12, in verse 35, it says, It says, But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. Let's keep that in mind, brethren, when we come before God's people. What we say, and what we do, how we look upon other people. It says, So, be careful again, your communications with people, be careful again, not to judge other people. Because who are we to judge God's servants? We're all God's servants, aren't we? I didn't call you.

God called you. You're here because God drew you.

You know, what God's ministry wants to do is do the best we can to help you be helpers of your joy, to make sure you're around, you know, to hear the last trumpet.

Because if you're around to hear that last trumpet, you'll be in that resurrection. Brethren, when you come before God again to Sabbath services as well, give to the brethren out of the abundance of the Holy Spirit that is within you. Give to them.

Many organizations, by the way, have elite groups. You know, they're usually in these organizations, like if you go to Harvard, you go to some of the others, they have their clubs within Harvard, and you know, some of the students will do all they can do to be a part of that particular club. Because who gets in those clubs? It's the beautiful people, you know. It's the jocks. It's the golden boys who tend to associate with each other. You know, if you are not in that, it means that you don't have what it takes, you know, in some of these things. If you don't have the abilities, you don't have the looks, maybe in some cases the wealth, and in some of those clubs that they have, then you can't belong.

But God's Church is different. It's the most different organization in the whole face of the earth. All of God's saints are the elite. Everybody. Everyone here. Do the math, you know. Seven billion people, seven and a half billion people on the earth. How many people are in the Church? I mean, you are, you know, not one in a million. I don't know what... I haven't seen the statistic. I would guess, probably... You know, we're getting to the point where it's maybe, you know, into the hundreds of... One in the hundreds of millions, if not one in a billion. At least by the time Jesus Christ returns. But you are special, brother. And there are no cliques. There shouldn't be in the Church of God. I don't want to be in a... you know, some sort of a separate group. I want to be in the Church of God.

In God's Church, everyone is important. Everyone is of value. And you know what, brother? We shouldn't associate on the Sabbath with the same people every week. You know, we shouldn't somehow have it in our mind that, well, I've got to associate with these people over here. Because these are the kind of people I am. No, we're all, brethren, that kind of people. We're all the weak of the world. None of us would get to be in the Harvard Good Clubs, you know. None of us have the royalty. None of us are well endowed, brethren. So, brethren, give what God has given to you out of the abundance of your heart. In Romans 5 verse 5, it says that the Holy Spirit is given unto us, and it's shed abroad in our hearts.

And then, in the form... it comes out, brethren, in the form of good works.

Let that Spirit flow through you, brethren. When Jesus Christ came, He talked about, if any man come to Me... He's thirst... Let him come to Me, and out of his heart, He said, would flow rivers of living water. He's speaking about the Holy Spirit. That's not a trickle, brethren. That's a river. Rivers, in fact, He said in the plural. So, brethren, learn to love fully. Love everybody in the church. Love the youth. Love the elderly. Love everyone. Not just your family or friends. Participate in the body of Jesus Christ. So that you and everyone is going to be benefiting from it. So, brethren, how we approach God in observing His Sabbath service is important to all of us... for our spiritual growth and edification. Let's be careful, brethren, to make sure we are worshiping God in spirit and in truth... and in love, brethren, on His holy Sabbath day. These are the simple ways, brethren, we can properly appear before God on His holy Sabbath.