If You Want to Be a King, Be a Servant

Good to be with you. Greetings from the Cincinnati Home Office and all the people there. It's a wonderful place to work. It's been a bit hectic and exciting over the last year, obviously, but God has been blessing us incredibly. People are stepping up to the plate and doing things that you'd never expect to have to even go through. But it's fun and it's a challenge. It's always wonderful to step out on faith because it's scary because God doesn't do it. You're left hanging out, but He always does it. You have the faith to know He will, but at the same time, the human weakness comes in occasionally and you think about it. I'm having Thomas Ralucro and I'm talking to him. I'm afraid to look under the napkin. I'm afraid the bread will quit multiplying. But it keeps coming in and God has sustained us with enough to do what we need to do. It will always be that. I watched that for many, many years. It's always got to be a work of faith. If it's ever not a work of faith, it'll be us doing it and if we do that, we'll fail. We've got a message today entitled, If You Want to Be a King, Be a Servant. A little less than 2,000 years ago, John 18 records Pilate talking to Jesus. We're going to turn there to John 18. 33. Pilate's asking Jesus if He's the king of the Jews. Verse 33, it says, Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said to Him, Are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus answered Him. Of course, He'd been quiet up to this point pretty much. Do you say this of yourself or did others tell it to you of Me? And Pilate answered, a bit indignant probably, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and chief priest who delivered you to Me, what have you done? And Jesus answered, and He said, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is My kingdom not from here? And then Pilate asked again, Are you the king then? And Jesus answered, You say that I am to this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth and everyone that is of the truth hears My voice. As you and I prepare for our future, we have to ask ourselves, do we hear the voice of our king?

Do we hear and recognize the truth in a world full of lies? Do you truly hear your king?

We should be seeing our inadequacies in being like our Lord, and each of us do, I'm sure. Yet we're told to have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2.5, Let this mind be in you, which is in Christ Jesus. And then again, we're told to become perfect. Even as our Father in heaven is perfect. Very difficult task to do. And of course, we've adopted the phrase Christlike service. We had servant leadership before, but it sounds like that's just for leaders. And really, leadership and Christlike service is for all of us. Not for leaders, whether you're old, whether you're young, whether you're a child, whether you're married, whether you're single. It's for all of us. And it was born to be king of kings.

And if he's the king of kings, that also means that you and I were born to be kings with him and under him. And when we think of kings in this world, we think of beauty, we think of majesty and pomp and circumstances, we think of wealth, we think of power. But Christ came as a suffering servant. That's how he qualified to be our king. And he showed us what we need to be to be kings with him. It's interesting that Michelle and I, in our lives, have had an opportunity to meet a number of kings and queens from Asia and Europe and Africa. And I don't know why he put us in that position. But yet there are so many things that we learned in watching them and how they react and how they do. How they try to help their people. Some do it better than others. And even they, even its royalty, they have to seek help from other people. And they get discouraged in trying to do what they do. And they'll get discouraged at times because people don't always live up to our expectations. We may not live up to our own expectations, even. And we often think life isn't fair or think that it isn't what it should be. And often it isn't, even in the church, sadly. And I know because I've witnessed over 50 years of it firsthand at the very core of the church, being at the various headquarters and knowing all the people involved. But isn't anything that God puts in front of us truly fair? Because He is in control of everything. And He's molding us. Can He be testing our reactions like Job? Can He be testing us, preparing us for a bigger purpose like Joseph?

God has a purpose for you. He has a purpose for me. Exactly what it is, I've never known. I've never really known any of the jobs that I've been asked to do. You can get some training from the standpoint of degrees and things, but nothing prepares you for what God puts you through, except He gives you a spirit and He helps you through it.

And I know the church is discouraged, and some people just walk away. But is the answer walking away or getting upset? Or is it having faith to know that God and Christ are in charge? And having the patience which you have to have. If you have no patience, you truly have no faith, unfortunately. But you have to know that everything God puts you through and has put me through is designed to make us into the beings that He wants us to be for rulership, for kingship.

It's interesting that Michelle and I had a lot of contact with the royal family of Thailand. There was no secret that I favored the royal family there because of the work that they've done.

But it's also interesting that we do this for a good reason. In the inaugural speech of the king, when King Puma Puma was crowned, he made this statement, we will reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people.

He said, we, not I, because he knew it had to be a family thing. His wife would be beside of him, and she would have to rent it, represent the royal family, the children as well.

He recognized it had to reign with righteousness, because only with righteousness can you have justice and can you have peace in your country. And he knew it was for the benefit of his people not to aggrandize himself. You must serve others. It's about service and giving, about sharing, giving honor, what honors do. When Queen Sirik had visited the United States in 1985, and she was there on the campus, I spent a lot of hours with her. She walked around the campus, and she drove around Los Angeles, and Mr. Armstrong couldn't really go with her on some of those things because of his age and inability to walk that far. But I was able to spend just countless hours driving around with her. Her son at that time was having a number of difficulties, and so she talked to me all about the various problems that were happening in his life. And after she told me some of the problems, she asked me a question that I'll never forget and didn't expect. She asked me, how can I raise my son to the good king?

Now, that's not something you expect a 65-year-old queen to ask a 33-year-old man. And it was interesting because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was born July 28, 1952. He was 33 years old the time she asked, I was too much younger than he was.

And yet she asked me, how can I raise my son to be a good king?

What he needed, I knew, was a knowledge of God. He was the firstborn son, born to be a king. But they're also the protectors of the Buddhist faith. And so Christianity wasn't an option for Him as such. But the queen was sincere in asking. She really wanted an answer. And like you do when these things happen, you pray to yourself and you ask God to give you an answer. And I knew He wasn't trying to make a convert with that question. And so I answered this way. I said, Your Majesty, you should raise Him the same way that you were raised.

You see, the king and queen never expected to be king and queen of Thailand.

King Kumbhupan, Adooyadeh, Rama the 9th, of the Shakhri dynasty, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 5, 1927. He was the second born son, not the first born son, and never expected to be king. Queen Siriket was born August 12, 1932. Her father was the great grandson of Rama the 5th, one of the concubines that they had. If you've seen the poem, King and I, that was Rama the 5th. And so she was of royal blood. It was interesting that during her childhood came the Japanese invasion of Thailand and the occupation. And she told me how when she was a little girl, 9, 10, 11 years old, she was the one who had the duty to carry the water from the well in the streams. You've seen the little statues of the pole with the stream down.

And she'd carry that, the buckets of water, into the house for them to wash things, even though she was royalty. And the family had some land, but they weren't very wealthy, even though they were of the royal family. And it was fascinating that she told me about all the servants and things, but all her chores that she had to do. And she also told me about seeing the bombs falling and shrapnel and some people getting hit with it, some people dying. And so she was familiar with death and war and pain and suffering, fear and panic. That's a little girl. She understood hardship, even though she was of the royal lineage. It was interesting, though, because the war ended during her teen years. And Thailand became a free country, a sort of people scrambling around. The government was fairly corrupt, but people were vying for positions and things were happening, and different people had made money during the war, and it was kind of a mess.

But she had got an invitation to the palace. Age 16, Sweet 16, she was invited to a royal ball at the palace. The old prince, the older brother of Pumipan Adooyadeh, and the younger prince were inviting all the eligible ladies and people and a lot of government people to this fabulous ball that they were having at the palace.

And she wanted to go, naturally, kind of a Cinderella story of sorts. And so, she thought of what she needed for this ball and what she wanted. And she went to her father, and she said, Father, can I have a new dress to go to this ball at the palace? So everybody's going to be there, all the wealthy, all the people and stuff. Can I please have a new dress to go to this party at the palace? She was excited. And he told her, he says, and he told her, he says, Seriket, we don't have the money for a new dress for you. And she said, but, Father, you have this land. You have enough land. Can't you sell some of the land and have some money? This is so important. She told me, he said, No, Seriket, he says, if I sold the land, the people that have served us for years will be thrown off the land because the only people with money are those that are corrupt. We have a responsibility for these people that are on the land. And character and responsibility and honor are much more important than a new dress for a ball. You can't have it. And so she looked at him and said, Well, Father, Father, can I please have a new pair of shoes for the ball? And shoes are important to women. Men really wouldn't care so much, but ladies do. But he gave her the same line. He says, No, he says, we don't have money for shoes and we can't sell the land. Character, responsibility, and honor are much more important than a pair of new shoes for a party at the palace. And she begged him, Father, can I at least have taxi money so I can go in a taxi to the party? And her father said, I'm sorry, Seriket, no. Character, honor, and responsibility are more important than taxi to go to a party. And it was interesting because she went to that party in her school uniform, wearing tennis shoes on a bus. And I asked how many of us would have gotten on that bus?

Looks so different from all the people there in their gowns and their formals and all these things.

I know the Kardashian sisters wouldn't have gone. And a bunch of other people probably wouldn't have gone. Would you have gone? Would you be willing to get on the bus to go to something even though you're going to look so different than anyone else? That's why I said to her, raise your son the same way you were raised.

Because her father had taught her character, he had taught her love and concern for other people, the people that other people would discard and consider worthless, people the world would look down on. She was taught to respect. When we think of preparing ourselves, when we think of what our position as kings are to be in the future, we have to be willing to look different. And we are with the days we keep and all the things that we do. We have to have the mind of Christ. We are, like Christ said, born to be a king. And with that, come in a responsibility that's quite different than the way most of the world looks at it. And we can look at it from a point of service and humility. We can look at it from the terms of power and entitlement, which is all too much of what most royal families do in this world. Most royalty are caught up in the luxury and seek the treasures of this world. They seek to build a monument to themselves. That's why we have pyramids in Egypt, because people build monuments to themselves. And people treasure the wrong things. Like Luke 12, where Christ talks about the man who had so much and such a big crop that he couldn't put in his barns. They're full. And so he said, I'll tear these barns down, build bigger barns, and then I can relax and enjoy life. And Christ said that was foolish, because this night your soul may be required of you. And those things don't last. And he says that if we lay up treasure on earth, it rots. If we lay up treasure in heaven, then we're truly rich. Are we becoming rich toward God? Royalty, unfortunately, is spoiled. I've met a lot of those that were. And it's fascinating that the ones who don't think they're going to be a king seem to do the best. Do any of you think you're going to be a king when you were born? I didn't. I didn't even know what was going on. My dad died when I was three and a half. I was a child of a widow. Certainly no royalty in my future. But then the truth of the Bible comes, and we're all a royal blood of a sorts. But we didn't expect it. And God called us to be kings. Humanly, you serve your best when you don't really think you're important. And you are important to God, but our importance is through Him and not through ourselves. And pride often goes with status. I've seen that so many times over my 59 years of life. And then comes a sense of entitlement. And then people tend to quit serving. Turn to 1 Samuel 8, if you would, because Israel sought a king, the first king that Israel had.

And he was actually a good man. That's why God let them pick him, King Saul. But it's not that this was a problem in Israel with Samuel because he was the last judge of Israel. It says in verse 1, it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. Verse 3, his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after money and took bribes and perverted judgment. And the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel under Rama. And they said to him, Behold, you are old and your sons don't walk in your ways. They don't follow God. They aren't honest. They don't have character and honor like you do.

Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

Now I ask you, were they right in coming to Samuel about the problem of his sons? Absolutely. They should have come to Samuel and told him. And his sons were evil because it says on Scripture. And they should have come and told him. But they should have asked this question. They should have said, What does God want us to do about this? How has God planned to solve this problem of succession? Instead, they decided for themselves what they wanted. We have a problem and the problem was real. And this is the solution we want. They didn't ask the solution God wanted. And their solution was, Give us a king to judge us. And of course, we know, verse 7, that God said to Samuel, Harken to the voice of the people. And all that they say, for they have not rejected you, but they've rejected me, that I should reign over them. When you decide for yourself what you're going to do, you've got to be careful that you're not rejecting God. That He should reign over you. And that's what we did at baptism. We went into the grave. We said, I'm giving my life to you to use if you want. And so, he let him have a king. And it was interesting, verse 10, Samuel told all the words of the eternal to the people that ask a king. And he said, This will be the matter of the kingdom that shall reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for himself and for his chariots to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.

He will take your daughters to be confectionaries and cooks and bakers. He will take your fields, verse 14, in your vineyards and your olive yards, even the best, and give them to his servants. Verse 15, He will take a tenth of your seed. 16, He will take your men's servants, your maid servants. He will take a tenth of your seed. And He will cry out in that day. This is what most kings do, is they take.

Tell me what Christ took from anyone He gave.

Is the king that God says is described there in 1 Samuel 8 the king that you would be? Are you sure? Because I've seen many men, respected men, corrupted by power, both within and outside the church, with the entitlement that comes with it. I compare it to Jesus Christ, because He served His entire life. When He started His ministry, He began healing, raising up the lame and the blind, the deaf.

After three and a half years, four days before He's going to be resurrected, mop and be God again.

He does. What does He do? He washes the disciples' feet.

He didn't say, you know what I am now? I'm going to be God in four days, and I don't do this anymore.

I've seen a lot of men who served diligently and hard and washed a lot of feet, and often made sure they were seen doing it, because their motive was to get to a position where they wouldn't have to serve anymore.

And if that's your motive, then you're in trouble, because that's when the sense of entitlement comes. I remember Mr. Armstrong, when we were flying down to the Zealand, Michelle had started flying, and I was stuck in the airplane with the agricultural people who wanted to spray poison in the plane to kill the bugs that we didn't have in the plane. But I always tried to avoid that. It was interesting because Michelle had to go where the luggage was, and she was down there trying to sort it out. Mr. Armstrong at 90 years old saw her down there, and he ran. He didn't run. He walked over as fast as he could do it. Started trying to help her load the luggage.

He didn't need to do that at 90 years old. But I've seen other men who are much younger, well, that's not my job.

They see needs. They don't fill them because it's not their job.

It's always our job to serve and to help. And if we simply desire power now or in the future, then you're serving for the wrong reason.

We haven't learned the lesson of Christlike service, the lesson of foot washing or the feasts.

And when you don't think you're going to be a king, you tend to do the best. When you think that's what you are and you lose your humility, then you fail.

Saul was humble before he became king.

And like so many, power hurt him. And he began to think that he was in charge and that he was doing it. When Samuel didn't show up once to do an offering, he chose for himself to do it. And it's sad.

It's interesting because Christ did everything that his father told him to do.

And he told the disciples once when they wanted to call fire down from heaven. They wanted to correct people and do all these things to make people know who he was. Christ said, you know, could not I call down legions of angels? If I called down legions of angels, my father would give them to me. But how many times in the four gospels do you read about him calling down legions of angels? Zero. Zero. Because that's not why he came. Not to destroy, but to save, to help, and to serve. It wasn't God's will, and therefore that wasn't what he was going to do. Are we learning God's will?

We have to learn from the scriptures what Christ did.

We have to have that mind and his attitude and his motives. And God's Holy Spirit helps you if you're close to Him. If you're praying, you're studying this book, it's a manual that lets you know how to react with people, how to relate, and how to serve. Not just the knowledge itself, the Ten Commandments and things, but how to apply them.

And we have to respect God's authority, not our own, and not take matters into our own hands.

Even Moses, the meekest man on earth, he lost it momentarily. When he was there, and they were out of waters, Israel was murmuring, as they always did, he finally had enough. He stands up on the rock, and he takes his rod, and he strikes the rock, and he says, Do I have to bring water out of this rock? He used the wrong pronoun. It wasn't him. God honored it. He brought water from the rock. But Moses didn't get to enter the Promised Land because he struck the rock. He took something to himself that was God's respect for God's authority. And figuratively, I've seen a lot of people strike the rock in the church in 50 years. Sadly, there have been times I've struck the rock. Thankfully, not as many times as I could have had I not seen the examples of others that I saw in the damage it caused when you do it yourself.

When you do something yourself, you produce an ishmael when you choose how to do it. When you produce an ishmael, you get trouble. You've got to let God do it.

We're all human, and thankfully, God grants repentance. We can come back to him. And the physical price that we pay for some of these things is not permanent. And if we cry out to him and love him and change, then he forgives us.

Our king came and did what no other king on this earth could ever do. He died for us. He came to show us how to be kings through his life, what he lived, what he did. A king with a perfect love for all people.

A king who taught give, not get.

Who taught service, not being served. Who accepted the hatred and attacks without guile.

He was willing to get on a bus, but not to go to a party, but to go to his funeral for you and for me.

That's the king that he wants us to be, willing to die, if that's what it means. And yet we know he's going to come and power and authority when he comes the next time. But he qualified not because he displayed power and authority in the way that most kings do, by conquering other nations and things.

Because 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 shows us how he comes back. In power, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. This time it's going to be loud. It's not going to be a baby and a manger. With the voice of the archangel, the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Some of those that you know and I know will rise at that time. Then we, which are alive and remain, and I'm sure some of us in this room will be here when he comes. Time is almost up. The world is falling apart rapidly. And those who remain will be caught up together with them in the air, to meet the Lord, and so shall we ever be with him.

And it says in verse 18, Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

What you're doing in service now to be a king is so you can rise to meet him, to help serve, and to give. And we're to comfort each other knowing we can join his family. We can be if we prepare as Christ teaches us. But our desire has to be humility and the proper attitude. It cannot be arrogance and pride which all too often rise up. And there will be injustices. There always have been.

And God will allow you to react to those injustices, whether you have the patience and the faith to let him do it his way. Because he's molding us. Because Christ qualified, we get a job and we have an opportunity. And our job is not like others. The job qualifications are not the resume that many of you have prepared. And I prepared over the years where you write down all the good things you did and the good grades you got and how you can you're so wonderful that they should just hire you and pay you lots of money. No, this resume says that I'm a sinner and I've repented and I've given my life to you. And that's how you qualify for this job. Not how good you are. Turn to Matthew 20, if you would.

How many times was Israel and us a spiritual Israel? It says the Israel is the house of God. We learn not the way of the heathen. He always says, don't learn the way of the heathen. He said, don't rule as the Gentiles rule. His disciples were influenced by human nature just as much as we are. And God's way in Satan's world is not the normal. And it's hard to fight upstream. It's hard to go to the party in your uniform and tennis shoes on a bus. Because you're going upstream, you don't look like you'd like to look. You're not accepted in the same way that this world wants you to be accepted. Matthew 20, verse 20, the mother of Zebedee's children, her two sons, were there worshiping and desiring a certain thing of him.

Verse 21, he said to her, what do you want? And she said to him, grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on your right hand, the other on your left in your kingdom.

Oh, what a good place to be. Christ is going to be king and my two sons will be kings right beside you, both sides. Jesus answered and said, you don't know what you're asking. They hadn't counted the costs at that point. They didn't really know what was happening. I mean, all they had seen is the miracles, the water and the wine and the healing and the lame and the death and resurrection of Lazarus and all these wonderful things.

And he asked, are you able to drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? And they said to him, we are able. Of course, they deserted him shortly after that because they weren't able at that time to do it. And they didn't know. And it's really easy to challenge how we can beat these guys. We can do this. We can win. But they didn't know how they would have to do that. And he said to them, yes, you shall drink of my cup, which they did, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand or my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. God has figured out where He wants you in His kingdom. And He's shaping you and molding you to make you fit in that spot. And how can we get upset at how He chooses to make you what you need to be? And then verse 24, the ten heard it, and they were moved with indignation against the two brothers because they liked position too, which is the natural human thing. They didn't have God's Spirit at that time. And Jesus had another learning app for them. He called them to Himself, and He said, you know the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them. They want to be right hand, left hand, in line, ruling. And they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you. Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. That's not what most people in this world want to be. You don't go to college. I haven't seen, you know, academic 101 learn to be a servant. And I'm going to major in serviting. It doesn't work that way. Verse 28, Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. I don't think they understood how you meant that the time He said it.

Are you here to minister to others or to take care of your own desires?

Again, I've seen a lot of people who complain that the world's not fair. The world's not fair to me. I didn't get what I wanted.

That your duty in the church or whatever position you have isn't what it should be. But should we expect fair from others? Now, our job is to make sure we're fair, as fair as we can be, and as honest and honorable as we can be, regardless of how they treat us.

But I don't ever expect it. Some stumble onto the right things, but we didn't stumble onto it. God called east of us, and He opened our minds to see what's ahead for us, to a greater life, a greater purpose than what's here on earth. And for us, the physical beginning is when we accepted Christ as baptism.

And we begin our spiritual journey. When our birth comes when Christ returns, and we become spirit beings with Him, after we've been molded and tested, if we've proven to be like Christ and like God. And again, it's not those who are mighty, but those who are humble. It's here in the sermonette, a contrite spirit.

And God says that directly in Isaiah 66, in old memory scripture, when He says in Isaiah 6, 1, Thus says the Lord, The heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you build to me, and where is the place of my rest? He built it all. He made the universe. What can we offer to Him? And look at what He offers us. You want to be seen by Him? Verse 2 of Isaiah 66, For all those things my hand is made, and all those things have been, says the Eternal, but to this man will I look. He's going to look at you. He wants this. Even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Someone who understands that everything you need is in here. How do we deal with the world? How to work? How to live?

You may not have to give your life literally as Christ did, but you have to be willing to. But you must be fully dedicating your life to God's purpose, His work, willingly to live and practice giving and serving. It's a surrender of your will to His will, your mind to Christ's mind, your way of life to His way of life. And that's what it truly takes to become a king for all eternity.

Returning to my story, you may wonder then how did this young second-born son of the king become king of Thailand when he wasn't supposed to be? And how did this 16-year-old girl who went to the party in her school uniform in tennis shoes on a bus get to be queen? That's an interesting story.

She told me about the war being over.

And Thailand wanted to send an ambassador to Europe. And because it was a constitutional monarchy and not a ruling monarchy, and the government was corrupt, they picked a political appointee to go be the ambassador to Europe.

And it was interesting because the British who had been in Thailand for some time and knew a lot of the people, they said, That man is corrupt. We will not have him. We will not accept him. If you send him, we won't talk to him.

And so they said the man had no honor.

And so they asked, We'd like this man to be the ambassador to Europe. A man named Nahatra Mancal Ashanda Bury. None other than Queen Seriket's father. Because they knew that he had honor and character. They knew he was responsible. They knew that he was respectable and had respect for others.

And so the family moved to Europe. A little Queen Seriket. A little Seriket at that time. Not expecting to be a queen, not expecting anything.

And it was interesting, while they were in Europe, when he was doing his job, the family took a vacation. In the meantime, the young prince, who was second born in Thailand, he asked himself, What can I do to help my people?

And he recognized the war had caused lots of damage in Thailand. And so he went to school to be an engineer, because he knew the country would have to be rebuilt. And he wanted to help rebuild it.

And so he went to Europe to study engineering. Engineering.

During that time, he decided that he was going to go to ski, which is where the Serikets family had gone for their vacation.

And so this young prince saw this beautiful young Thai girl. A girl I'm sure he noticed some years before in her school uniform, but not because she was so pretty, but because she was so underwhelming in the outfit that she wore to the party. But now he saw a beautiful young lady of character and charm. And he fell in love with her. And he asked her to marry him.

In the meantime, back home, his brother, who had been crowned king, decided to take on the government and stop the corruption. So he was poisoned and died.

So they called Phuongapong back to the country. And he was made king. And she became queen.

And they truly have tried to reign with righteousness for the benefit of the Thai people. And it's been a family thing. And people recognize the value of character, and the value of honor and honesty. And the Thais truly love their king and queen. And they probably have more powers at constitutional monarchy than any royal family on earth, because they didn't expect to be king and queen, and they took up a life of service and honor and integrity.

It's interesting that they were prepared by not knowing they were going to be king and queen. That their studies and their heart were with their people, and their character was there. And they were taught how to serve.

God expects us to prepare. Look at us. How much more should we prepare for what God has in store for us?

Because even though we weren't born thinking we'd be kings and queens, we've been given that opportunity. Called specially for that.

And He gives us His Spirit, God does, so we can do it. So we can qualify. But to prepare, we have to know that we'll be kings and priests. We have to know God's law. And the knowledge is important, but the application is more important.

And we have to understand how we are to be from God's point of view, not from man's point of view.

We can't earn what will be given, so it's not about works. It never has been. We're indeed saved by grace. It's a gift of God. But what makes that grace to you? To give you that kingship. To give you eternal life. That's a gift.

What is it about you that allows for you to become part of this family?

Well, if we look at Christ, we can see that's about the heart.

It's interesting, in verse 13, verse 22, I was going to read one verse to you. It says, When He had removed Saul, He raised up David to be their king. To whom He also witnessed and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, to be a man after my own heart, who shall fulfill all my will.

It's about the heart. What are your motives?

Are they pure? That's about the mind. That's why it says, Paul wrote, Let this mind be in you, which is in Christ Jesus. You have to have the mind of Christ to think like He did, not trying to bring damage to your enemies, even if they deserve it, but trying to help them.

That's about humility. Like it says in Numbers 12.3, I'd love for it to say something about me this way. Where it says in parentheses, Now a man and Moses are very meek, above all the men which are on the face of the earth.

I'd like for God to write in His book that you are the most humble person, the most meek person on earth. Humility, not pride. If anyone had a reason to be proud, it would be Moses, raised with Pharaoh's court, fighting the armies in the battles of Pharaoh. If you read Josephus about him being a general in Pharaoh's army, who basically built the empire of Egypt, and who was out in the wilderness raising goats and sheep, herding for 40 years, and then being told to go back and fight the biggest army on earth, that God was going to give them a staff, and he'd go free the slaves, his people.

I'm sure Moses to himself thought, what are you talking about? Because every time we think humanly, you think you need a bigger army, and God says you need a smaller one. You think you need an army, and God says you need a staff. You think you need swords and shields, and God says you use pots and pans, like he did with Gideon.

Because we don't see it the way God does.

God looks at it differently. Moses did.

Because he yielded to God, God worked through him. And even though he struck the rock, and even though these men made mistakes, which we read about, their heart was pure in their mind. It's about building godly, righteous character, so that you are what he is.

You take nothing to the grave with you but your character. That's what comes back up.

People often said to me, you must have been really a good character to work for Mr. Armstrong. And I always say, no, that wasn't it at all. Nobody's foolish enough to do something stupid when the boss is looking. Just like the kid never takes the cookies out of the jar when the parent's standing right there. When the parent's gone, that's when you find out whether you have character or not.

But I learned a lot being around him. And to this day, I try to practice what he taught me through the Scriptures.

And God is about love.

Love God and love your neighbors yourself. On these two, hang all the law and the prophets, as Christ said to us. It does. And love sometimes can be tough love. It's difficult. Sometimes love means you have to correct.

But we examine ourselves, and we have to focus on being like God, being one of His children.

We have to realize when we do the foot washing that it's not a ritual. All too often over the years, it becomes a ritual. You come in, you stand in line, you go through it. In Pasadena, we had a thousand people and trying to get it done in less than two hours was a challenge. You didn't even know whose feet you're washing sometimes. And it became a ritual instead of a way of life. But it has to be a way of life.

One of the reasons I also respect Queen's Circuit so highly is what happened in 1984 when we went to Thailand and Mr. Armstrong had set up a visit with the Queen. And the Queen went to her husband, and she asked him, what should I do? What should I do with Mr. Armstrong when he comes to visit?

And the King said to her, well, why don't you take him to see the projects that he started back in mid-1970s up in Angkang? And Angkang was where the drug lords had taken a tribe over, basically, as they had many of the tribe peoples, and they were growing opium and poppies for the drug trade because that's all they could do for income.

And the King had asked for help from Mr. Armstrong, and so we had brought up some portable buildings and some teachers to teach him how to grow vegetables and plant trees peach dead peach orchards and apple orchards that had been planted through the school.

And the King said to them that, because the Chief of the tribe said, I don't know what we'll do when he asked him not to grow the poppies, and the King took pictures of drug addicts and people from the gutters. So this is what you're doing to people. And the tribal said, well, we don't want to do that, but we'll just die because we have no way to support ourselves. And the drug lords were taking their sons for the army and their daughters for prostitution, sadly. And the King said, no, I'll protect you. I will. You grow the food, I'll buy it. You'll have an income, and I'll protect you when the drug lords come. And he did. There were some wars fought, struggles with them. And there was no road up there, so he couldn't do anything with the food. So he sold it for nothing, basically, to the tribes next to him. And he picked Hong Kong because it was the smallest, weakest, dirtiest place, hardest to get to place you can imagine. And the King was wise, and the fact that he recognized, if you can do it with this place, that all the people that saw it would say, wow, if he can do it for them, he can do it for us. That's how all his projects worked.

And it did. It worked there. And the Queen said to her husband, though, I can't take him up there. It's a hard trip. I mean, it is. You can't even drive there. And the King said, well, he can always say no.

Well, at 90 years old, he didn't say no. He said, no, I'd love to see it.

And so we got on the plane in Bangkok and flew to Chiang Mai. In Chiang Mai, we got in helicopters with the army, and the Queen had a special pink helicopter. And it was interesting. We took the helicopters up to land on the top of this hill. Then we got in a jeep and drove around the cliffs to get down to the village. And it was funny to me because it's only a one-lane highway with just almost a drop like this podium on one side. And my wife was on that side, and she didn't like it, so she was on my lap most of the trip. And Mr. Armstrong was on that side, too, but he was blind in that eye, so he didn't know that he was about to die.

But we got down to the village. Okay. The angels held us up.

And we watched the Queen as she sat there with her people, and she'd get down on her hands and knees with them. And her staff ahead of time had gone up, and they knew what the problems of the people were, and they'd write it in English and staple it to their lapel so that no one else could read it, and they'd be embarrassed. And she worked with them all morning long, so we watched. And then lunchtime came, and they had packed sock lunches for us. So we went to this little spot that they had carved out with some grass and neatly manicured and things, but it was kind of a Tahiti-type thatched hutch with a table under it, two or three of those. We went for lunch, and they brought out the sock lunches. And Mr. Armstrong had his. He opened his bag, and he wasn't sure what he should eat, because they had everything so decorated. The napkin looked like a swan, and the food looked like animals and things, because they carved it all up. So he didn't know what was what, and couldn't really unwrap it, because he couldn't see very well. So the queen reaches over and starts unwrapping it for him. So the surprise of all the ladies-in-waiting and the staff, because the king and queen don't do these things for people. That's not what their function is supposed to be. And so they were surprised at that. But they were more surprised, because my wife had asked one of the ladies-in-waiting where the restroom was. And so she got up, and they told her it was over here. It was kind of a little, small, hollowed-out building that she went to use. It was a little more than an outhouse in some ways. But it was interesting, because she started walking over, and the queen glanced around from Mr. Armstrong and saw my wife walking toward the restroom. And she jumped up immediately, and she ran ahead of my wife. And she said, wait here. And she went in and cleaned the restroom before she'd let my wife go in.

That action really taught me a lot of what foot washing is really about.

Because here's a queen, someone who's stationed is much higher in life than any of us. And she chose to go in and help, and to make sure my wife would be okay. She took her wife's and told her to use this. Don't use this. Don't touch that. Do this. And cleaned it up for her and got it ready.

How many of us do those things for people that aren't important?

Do we see people, everyone, as important? Everyone has the potential to be in the family of God.

And the queen was willing to clean the restroom for my wife.

Your daily life shows your heart, shows your attitude, your mind, your character, and it shows whether you have the love of God.

And you really can't love God unless you love your neighbor.

We know in 1 John 4.20, John writes it very clearly. He writes about love. If a man says he loves God and hates his brother, he's a liar.

We all love God. Do we love our brother? For he that loves not his brother, whom he's seen, how can he love God? Who he hasn't seen. We can kid ourselves, and a lot of people do. I said a lot of people serve and serve hard. And I've learned that motive is more important even than attitude. Because I've seen a lot of people serve hard because they wanted a position. So they wouldn't have to serve anymore.

And it's sad because you have to serve because you want to serve because it's the right thing to do. Not be cutting in it for my wife had nothing to offer the claim, the restaurant. We have nothing to offer Christ because he died for us. But he offered his life for us. We have to develop that love for people to really be like him. Why do I look forward to the feast and all the days that we celebrate? Because I realize how little I can do for people. I yearn to help. I've walked the streets of the cities of this world and seen the lame. Seen children crippled by their parents so they could beg better. And wanting to reach down and heal them and wishing I had the faith that I could just say, rise up and walk and they would do it. But it's not that time. And doing that creates a following, but it often creates a following that's more for health care than for religion.

But to want to teach them. The kings of this world, even the few that want to help, can't help that many. And Queen Serica, she says, I get very tired. We're driving around, she says, you know, I'm so tired sometimes of going up and trying to help and do these things. They need it and I'll keep doing it. But when I die, I want to be like an angel on a cloud. So I don't have to worry about things. She said, my husband, that's not what he wants. He wants to come back as a being that can do something about it, can make changes that actually last.

That's what you and I are about. That's what Christ is about. That's what our job is. So how much can we prepare and do? We have to desire it now. Firmly desire that kingdom to do his work. We have to learn how to serve.

We're close to the end time now. The world's economies are falling apart. The morality of the world is falling apart. Everything that Satan is touching this world is falling apart.

And we're seeing those things happen before our very eyes.

And we need to wake up and get our actions to match our words, to make sure it's not just knowledge from the head, but from the heart. And that we're doing the things that we need to do.

And even with God's Spirit, we can only change ourselves. We can't change anybody else. And I ask God to change me, and you have to ask God to change you.

When I think about change and I think about Christ being here, and people challenging Christ and Christ talking to them, and them saying, well, we have Abraham. We're free.

And God, Christ said to them, if you were like Abraham, you do what Abraham did. If we look back at what Abraham did, we look at all the things that he went through. It's particularly the story with Lot. I always liked that one where Abraham and Lot are there. And Abraham's obviously in charge, and he took his nephew to help raise him. And they both got wealthy. They both had sheep. And they were having a problem with overgrazing, and they needed to separate. And Abraham didn't call Lot up and say, well, I'm in charge. I'm going to take this. You take what's left. He took Lot aside. He said, Lot, we're kinsmen. You know, we need to separate now for the sake of the sheep and the arguments. And, what do you want? What do you want? And Lot looks at the watered plains and the Jordan River and the grass and says, well, I want that. And Abraham says, fine. That's yours. I'll go the other way. And he took the mountains and the hills where there aren't any rivers and streams, really. And you have to have rain and deuceas, and you have to trust God to grow the grass to feed your animals and things. And that's what Abraham took, reliance on him. And I often wonder with Lot when he looks back at his life, and it says, righteous Lot in the New Testament aside, but it also says that Lot was vexed daily. He moved into Sodom and Gomorrah, and he lost his wife as a pillar of salt. He lost most of his children except for two daughters, and he had problems with them.

And you've got to wonder if Lot looked back on his life and he says, I wonder if I should have taken the hills instead of the plains. And we have that opportunity to look at our lives and figure out what we need to do to help.

We're willing to do the things that need to be done. Christ was always pointing to God, doing the will of his Father. He was always thinking about others.

Do we look at man's way and Satan, or do we look at God's way? Do we clean the restroom for others that are below our station? When we see the description of the city of Jerusalem as it comes down with the streets of gold and the gates of Pearl and the onyx and all the precious metals, you've got to wonder what the inside rooms are going to look like, or he's got a house and a room for you.

And you've got to wonder.

And you ask yourself, because it should be humbling, to realize that's what he's prepared for you. Is it worth it? Absolutely. But you have to learn the way of give versus the way of get. We heard that a lot in years past.

Does your life point to God? It does when your actions show that you think and you have love for others.

These days all remind me when we look at the feast and the plan of God, the knowledge of them is wonderful, but it's only mechanical if we don't apply it in our lives and make it part of what God is teaching us to be pure. And our motives have to be pure. And it's not to make a name for ourselves to be something important now. We're not trying to build pyramids so that people will know you were here forever, but we're here to build character and have humility and be like God so that God knows you were here and He'll bring you back. Do you want who you are? Then you have to serve like He did. Matthew 25, 31 shows us the true foot-washing attitude, which will make you visible to God.

Verse 31 says, "...when the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the Holy Angels with Him, then He'll sit upon His throne of His glory, and it's going to be a beautiful, glory throne.

And before Him it says, He says, Do we do that? Verse 37, It has to be second nature, where you do it and you don't think you're doing it. You don't even know you're doing it. It's part of your character. It's part of your answer to a little girl who asks for a dress that knows character and honor and responsibility are more important. Claiming the restroom for someone below your station is more important because they don't understand the health conditions there and might be hurt by it. You do it because of second nature, because you've built the character and the mind of God in you.

And the others who didn't get in, they asked, Well, we would have done that. If we'd have seen you hungry, we'd have fed you. And he said, Well, you didn't do it to anybody else. Again, like John said, how can you say you love me when you don't love your neighbor? How can you say you would have done it to me when you wouldn't do it for your neighbor? Because they didn't. And some of them probably did some things.

I've seen a lot of people, like I said, make sure they show up at the right time and the right place to be seen of men so they can get credit. Unfortunately, it works in this world. It's worked at times in the church, sadly. You don't know the motive until power is taken away. I've seen a lot of people get power and have it taken away. And God tests a lot of people by taking it away to see how you react.

Whether or not you're willing to have the patience and faith. Like David, he was God from the throne for two years with Absalom. Do you let God bring things back? Or do you do it yourself? You have to be able to do it because it's part of your nature and part of your character.

Meekness, a lack of pride. It's usually easier to see wrong than right. Wrong pushes itself forward. Right tends to stay in the background. In our recent trials, a lot of people have come forth to help and serve. I go to visit all the different churches and I see people that didn't ever do anything. All of a sudden, because they have to step forward and do it because the service is needed.

It's not about being seen or they'd have been doing it the last 25-35 years. It's about doing it because it's necessary. The meek let God put them forward. Moses didn't say, do you know who I am? You ever notice Moses? Every time there was a problem with Israel and God wants to destroy somebody, Moses says, no, please don't. Even when Miriam and Emma talked against Moses himself, he's begging God, please take the leprosy away.

Don't do it. He always stood before other people. Moses cried out to God, heal them, help them. If you're going to take them, destroy me too. Jesus Christ always thought of others. Why did he love Moses? Why was David a man after God's own heart?

Why did God hear Daniel? Why did God respond to Peter when he said, silver and gold, have I none? But I'll give you what I have. Rise up and walk. God heard them. Why? Because it wasn't about the self. It's about others. God gave his son. Christ gave his life. Ours has to be a life of service. Romans 12.1, the sacrifice of God, which is exactly what we should do. A living sacrifice to God. Present your bodies a living sacrifice. When Christ comes again, you'll have had to have learned to be a servant, as he did.

Do you want to be a king? Be a servant. Have his love for mankind. It's interesting that Christ fulfilled the first step of God's plan at Passover, so that we can have eternity with him. And you have a chance to have a front row seat when he returns, to help others in humanity, to practice humility and service now, so you can serve and help others later, sharing and giving, encouraging others. It's interesting. Mr. Armstrong, a couple of weeks before he died, asked me to make a promise to him in January of 1986. I was sitting there holding his hand.

He was really weak and couldn't talk very loud, but he grabbed my hand and he said, He says, Promise me you'll rise with me when Christ returns. You'll be able to rise with me. I ask you to make the same promise to yourself, that you'll be there when Christ returns and you'll rise with Him. And each of us can see each other, to serve each other, and to help each other.

And it may be that all we have is a school uniform, spiritually, and all we have is a spiritual pair of tennis shoes. Maybe we're just on a spiritual bus that doesn't seem like much to this world. Will you make the trip? Will you get on the bus? Or will your pride get in the way? And it has to be your way. I pray not, because Jesus Christ made that trip. And when He returns, you and I, if we make that trip, will be kings. If you want to be a king, be a servant.