Learning How to Love

My wife and I were thrilled when we got an email from the home office that said, we need speakers at the Poconos. The first thing we said was, are you kidding me? The Poconos? We are so there! We answered in a day. We'll go! When we were first married, we didn't really have a honeymoon. My wife got the flu on our honeymoon. That's right, I made her sick. So that feast, the next feast, almost a year later, we came here to the Poconos. And it was right in this area that we had come. And we had eaten at a little restaurant and had breakfast. We still remembered the restaurant. And we heard that the Poconos was coming up. We looked it up. It was still here. 23 years later, it's still here. So we took our kids. We didn't have any kids back then. We took our kids to it. Now they're grown. They're adult. And our kids ate at the same restaurant. It was thrilling. This had been a beautiful feast, a wonderful feast. And now we're at the eighth day. I noticed children crying. I so relate to that. I remember those days. Eight days is tough on a kid. So moms and dads with little kids are just, you know, completely fried.

And I noticed, and we have an opportunity here, as I was listening to the sermonette, Mr. Cordelieu literally just gave my sermon.

We have an oppor- We could go now.

And if I were mature and kind and gentle as I needed to be, I would let you go.

Maybe not. Maybe I have some room to grow. This is the eighth day.

You know, the number eight has quite a significance to the Jewish people.

To them, it represents purification or perfection. And they're not wrong. At creation, God spoke eight executive statements to create the universe as we have it.

I think Chevi Volchev for some of his research for this. Notice in Genesis chapter one in verse three, God said, let there be light. In verse six, he divided the waters from the atmosphere. In verse nine, I know I'm going quick. Get the audio later. He separated the water from the land. Verse 11, he brought forth grass and herbs and the trees. Verse 14, the light was divided day from night. And verse 20, he made the fish and the birds. And verse 24, he made the land animals. And he created this universe with eight executive commands. In second Peter, Peter mentions that God put eight people on the ark, Noah and his family. You will notice that there are eight Beatitudes in Matthew chapter five. The number eight has a very significant meaning to the Jewish people. I was speaking with Mr. Cole, and he mentioned that the number eight actually represents a cube, a cube. And if you think about it, many holy things, many pure things, are made in the form of a cube. For example, the Ark of the Covenant is a rectangular cube. The tabernacle in the wilderness was a cube. You might be thinking, wait a minute, that wasn't a cube, it was a tent. And when we think of a tent, we think of a little, you know, raised roof. No, if you look at a model of it, it was actually a cube. And then the temple in Jerusalem that was built modeled after the tabernacle in the wilderness, also a cube. Read the description of the temple of God in heaven, and it is a rectangular cube. The number eight pictures purity, purification, or perfection. And this day is a day that pictures God completing His perfect plan. This is the day that pictures God fixing it all. And it is a separate festival from the Feast of Tabernacles that we just kept. It's related. It's not the first day, it's the eighth day, so obviously seven days had to come prior. It's related to the Feast of Tabernacles, but it is not the same day, and it does not picture the same thing. A lot of times we talk about the millennium. Like the millennium is the kingdom of God, the millennium is not the kingdom of God. This day pictures the final installment of the kingdom of God. The millennium is when Jesus Christ returns and fixes the earth and prepares the earth for the people of God, all of mankind, to be resurrected, all who have ever lived. This day is a separate festival. Leviticus chapter 23, Mr. Caudillou is a prophet. He predicted I would go here. Leviticus 23 verse 39, also on the 15th day of the seventh month when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days. That's what we just kept. On the first day there should be a rest, a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. Now wait a minute, he just said seven days and then he added one. That's right. Notice that the feast of tabernacles was kept in booths or temporary dwellings. That's what the word tabernacle means. But not the eighth day. They only lived in booths for seven days. And if they lived in the town where the feast was being kept, they actually went home for the eighth day. Probably put clean clothes on and went back to the temple for the eighth day service. Notice in Leviticus 23 in verse 40 it says, take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palms, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall be rejoiced before the Lord for seven days. Down in verse 42 it says, you shall dwell in booths for seven days.

All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. They were not required to dwell in a booth on this day. Now obviously if they were traveling, they most likely stayed in the booth rather than sleep under the stars. But if they were home, they could have gone home that day. And we see in John chapter 8, they in fact did go home on that day. They went home at the end of the seventh day. The eighth day is a distinct holy day, and it pictures something different than the millennium that we just celebrated. Mr. Martin read from Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 13 about the great white throne judgment where men will be judged. He talked about angels being judged, which means that, you know what? Most people aren't being judged right now.

This is not their time of judgment. That comes later. That comes on this day. Maybe we ought to give people a break. Isaiah chapter 65 is written about that time. It's a chapter about the rest of the dead, not the righteous saints. This chapter, Isaiah chapter 65, isn't even about the Jews. There's another chapter in Ezekiel about them. This chapter is about everybody else, the rest of the dead. Let's look at Isaiah chapter 65 in verse 1. I sought by those who did not ask for me. I was sought by those who didn't ask for me. God was sought by people who in the past couldn't have cared less about God. I was found by those who did not seek me. And I said, listen to this, I am here, I am here. And that is a willing response from God to people, an eager response from God to people who previously didn't care. He says, here I am, here I am to a nation that was not called by my name. Dropping down to verse 4. Who sit among the graves and spend the night in tombs.

These are all of the dead people. And who are these people? What is their description? Read on. Who eats swine's flesh and broth of abominable things in their vessels. These are not the Jewish people. These are not the people of God. This is everybody. The rest of the chapter, or the chapter continues on and talks about their punishment, but then a new era is ushered in. And in verse 16, drop down to verse 16. So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth. They will seek the truth in that day. And he who swears on the earth shall swear by God of truth because the former troubles are forgotten. And the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that happened thousands of years earlier will finally be applied to mankind. Reading on. And because they are hidden from my eyes those sins that they committed. Verse 17. For behold I create a new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. This is not an instant day of judgment. They're resurrected and then poof, they're judged. They will have time to make the right decision to come to repentance and to follow God from the heart. And you and I are learning that right now. And in fact we have heard that this entire feast. The other men wouldn't tell you what the theme was that they picked up on. To me it was obvious because almost every single sermon went that direction. Well, like I said, Mr. Cordle, you literally gave my sermon. This will not be instant for those people. They will learn just like you and I are learning right now. In fact it'll be more than a hundred year period. What this day pictures drop down to verse 20. We're still in Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 20. No more shall an infant from their live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die 100 years old, but the sinner, being 100 years old, shall be accursed. Today pictures a time that we look forward to.

It's something that we have to look forward to. It's something that gives us hope. And I have noticed that there is a lot of hope in this group. I don't know you very well because I've lived in Texas for the past 20 years. I'm actually not a Texan, but I have lived there for the past 20 years. And I do say y'all. Mr. Martin caught himself. He said y'all the other day. I say it all the time. And he was correct, by the way. Y'all is singular. It's not a plural word. And all y'all is considered correct grammar in Texas.

Two inches home. It's good to have something to look forward to. Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 18 says, where there is no vision, the people perish. This day pictures so much more than our personal salvation. The Feast of Trumpets. That picture is salvation for the church. This day goes beyond that. This day gives us so much hope because everything that went wrong in our lives gets fixed. What's the biggest thing that goes wrong in everybody's life? Everybody without exception.

The people in their lives. That's what goes wrong. That's the thing that hurts the most, and that's the thing that gets fixed for the most part.

So many sermons we have heard this Feast of Tabernacles have asked the question, are you ready for that time? Are you ready? Are you ready?

We've heard so many sermons that have asked us to learn and to get ready. From the opening night, Mr. Caudillou asked if we were excited to learn, and almost every message has included that theme. Are you ready? Will you learn? Last night, Mr. Martin asked, what are you waiting for? Move forward. Learn. Don't just learn. Put it into practice, he said. Practice what God teaches you in his Word. Practice to be able to teach it. Well, you have to know how to do it in order to teach it. I want to springboard off of that message that he gave last night and ask the question, how do you know if you are learning what God wants you to teach?

How do you know? A lot of us doubt. We think about that and we think, yeah, okay, I can teach my occupation. But, you know, I'm not a great dad, I'm not a great wife, I'm not a great whatever. How am I going to do this? When it's quiet and you're all alone, do you ever ask yourself that question? Yeah, right. God's going to use me to teach his way. The royal law of love? Yeah.

Yes, that's what we're going to talk about today. Is God going to teach you how to open doors?

Last night, Mr. Martin told us to reach higher. God expects us to reach higher. What are we supposed to be learning exactly? Mr. Kubik said it in his sermon.

Do we remember what it is? One word, can you think of it? Mr. Cordel, you said it in the sermonette. Mr. Martin said it last night in his sermon. What is the one thing you have to be able to practice so well that you can teach it? Do you know? Here's our key scripture for the sermon today, Romans chapter 13 and verse 10. Romans chapter 13 and verse 10. This is it. This is the summation of what you and I are supposed to learn.

I hear pages turning, so I'll wait. I want us all to read this together. Romans 13 verse 10. Verse 10, love does no harm to a neighbor. Well, that's a tall order.

Pretty much open mouth, insert foot. No harm to neighbor. Therefore, whenever Paul says, therefore, listen up, because Paul is extremely wordy, Paul starts a point in one chapter, three chapters later, he doesn't get to finish the point until he says, therefore. So you know, when he says, therefore, wow, you can wake back up and zone in because he's making his point. He's bringing everything that he just said, so intelligently, down to one fine point. And here it is. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Everything that we are supposed to learn, everything in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, is summed up in God's character of love. Oh, love. Is this going to be one of those sermons? Those mushy, squishy, lovey, feely sermons? Yeah. Yeah. You bet it is.

But brethren, God doesn't play softball. We're firstfruits. He expects us to be firstfruits. He puts quite a responsibility on us. And as firstfruits, God made it challenging to love.

It's not easy. Or if you're in Texas, it ain't easy.

You know how he made it challenging, brethren? He made everybody different, with different needs. And we have to go out and fulfill those needs, not our needs, their needs. The problem is, we don't even understand their needs.

So how do we love God made it challenging? We're so different from each other. I went into a store while I was here in Pennsylvania. So different from Texas. I walked into the store, not remembering that everything closes down early in the Poconos. My wife said, you know, they might close at seven. You better get in there. And it was three minutes till seven. I walked up to the door. The guy was walking towards the door to lock it. I opened the door and said, you still open? He looked at me, said, you got three minutes. I said, good. I only need three minutes. He looked at me. He said, good. I said, I need this. Another guy behind the counter said, it's on the back wall.

I went back and I got it. I said, I need this too. He said, you just passed it.

Very direct, very blunt, very different from Texas. But you know what? They weren't being rude. Not at all. They appreciated my business. They were just blunt. You got three minutes. Okay, I'll get it done in three minutes. In Texas, they would have been much more cordial. Hey, come on in. We're about to shut down. You better hustle up.

What can I help you find? I'll take you back there right now, because they want me out of that store. They would want me out of the store just as fast as anybody in Pennsylvania. They just would have been cordial before they put their cowboy boot in my rear end.

Not wrong, just different. And God made it challenging to love because He built in differences.

He didn't make it easy. If we were all exactly the same, it wouldn't be so easy. We wouldn't learn anything. But He didn't do that, did He? He made us different. God made it challenging.

And He made it challenging so that we will learn.

Notice what He did with men and women.

Wow! Genesis chapter 1 and verse 27.

So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created Him. So mankind is in the image of God. Great. This ought to be easy. Male and female, He created them. We're both created in the image of God. Both of us have an aspect of God. Neither are wrong. Both are in the image of God. God created mankind, male and female. Different. Yay! Not wrong, not sinful. Hang on to that. Just different. Notice what Paul said about marriage. We're going to skip around here a little bit because Paul's wordy. I'm going to read this from the New Living Translation. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 28. Paul says, and this is Paul's marriage chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and in verse 28 he says, but if you get married it is not a sin. Great! We can get married.

And then he says a couple of things and he skips down. He says, however, those who get married at this time will have troubles.

Really.

Hadn't noticed. Oh, wait.

Paul says I'm trying to spare you some of those problems. Paul wasn't against marriage. He was just saying when you get married, yeah, it's going to be hard. It's going to be difficult because there's differences. And brethren, that's how we learn. If everybody was the same as you, it would be easy and you wouldn't learn. And like Mr. Cordel you said this morning, Mr. Martin said last night, we would get that sense that we're rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. God didn't do that. No, he said we would be different.

There's a hilarious movie. Some people take offense to it. I watch it with a light heart. I thought it was hilarious. Some people think the man was a bigot all the way to the end. I think the woman was the conquering victor in the story. The man just wouldn't admit it. And the movie is My Fair Lady. Some of you youngers have no idea what I'm talking about, so just stick with me. It's a story of a career bachelor, a man who swore he would never be with a woman, even though he was desperately lonely. He couldn't admit it. And he sings this song after this girl that he had worked with and trained to become an aristocrat, a lady in England. And she went to this ball and everybody thought she was royalty and he thought it was such a victory. And then he offended her and she left. And he was crushed by that. And he didn't know what to do, so he did what human nature does. He blamed her. And he sings a hilarious song. His name was Mr. Higgins and Mr. Higgins sings, Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?

And he's talking and sort of halfway singing to his friend, the Colonel. And he says to the Colonel, Would you be slighted if we didn't speak for hours? And the Colonel says, Of course not. Would you be livid if I had a drink or two? The Colonel says, Nonsense. Would you be wounded if I never sent you flowers? Never! Why can't a woman be more like you?

We have so much to learn. Let's look at just a couple of differences between husbands and wives by way of example. These are just examples that God has made us different so that it's challenging to learn to love. It's not supposed to be easy. So let's walk through this minefield that is male-female communication. Women speak differently than men. We can say the same thing and it means something completely different. If you've ever read the book Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerich, you'll know where I'm going with this. Here's an example. A woman says, I have nothing to wear. I have nothing to wear. The husband opens the closet. You've got a closet chock full of nothing to wear.

What she means is, I have nothing new to wear. And every woman knows that. She says, I have nothing to wear to her girlfriends. They go, okay honey, let's go shopping. I have nothing to wear. If a man says, I have nothing to wear, he means I have nothing clean.

I had to turn my underwear inside out just to leave the house. Not wrong, just different. They both said the same thing, did they not? I have nothing to wear. Same exact words, but they meant something completely different. God made us different.

Women, for example, and this is a point of contention between husbands and wives. This is a common reason why people fight. And in fact, this is a flimsy reason, but this is a reason why people divorce. And if you didn't understand what I'm about to say and got divorced, don't worry, I'm not judging you. Today's a new day. Learn today moving forward. Women get historical when they get into an argument. When something hurts their feelings, they become incredibly historical. They bring up a list of past offenses. And men think, how do you even remember that? I don't remember what I had for breakfast on Monday. You remember what I was wearing, that my hair was down like this, like Superman. How do you remember those things?

She brings up things that he did in the past, and he thinks she just won't forgive. She just won't let go. She's mean, maybe even unconverted. I'll make it into the kingdom.

But he's wrong. Gentlemen, you're wrong. That's not what she's doing. God made us different, and you can learn to love. Can you decode? Can you see things from somebody else's point of view? 1 Peter 3 and verse 7. What does she mean when she gets historical? It's not what you think she means. Peter says, husbands likewise dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as the weaker vessel and as being heirs together with the grace of life. Remember when God made man, he made him male and female? From the beginning, different, but not wrong, heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers may not be hindered. Gentlemen, we have an imperative here to understand our wives, and do you know what she's doing when she gets historical? I bet most of us don't. I know this, and I still get caught in this. I understand. My father, one of the greatest gifts my father gave me was he sat me down before I was married, just before I was married, and said, son, I gotta tell you something. She's going to get historical. She's going to bring up a list, and it doesn't mean what you think it means. She's trying to be understood.

You see, women are integrated thinkers. Men are compartmental thinkers.

Laundry lists don't work in compartmental thinkers, unless compartmental thinkers can understand and decode. What does integrated mean? It means that everything is related to everything else, and it's connected by something called an emotion.

And all you have to do is ping that feeling, and every other event in her life that is connected to that feeling comes back. It's related!

Ladies, my sisters, I love you. Men don't think that way.

They're not related in his mind. Oh, they're related. He can see the relation. It's not that men can't correlate things together, but they put things into little boxes, and each one of those events that you bring up is going into a separate box. Now, men only think in one box at a time. When you open five boxes of historical events, he believes by nature in his mind, the way God made him different, not wrong, that he has to litigate every single one of those boxes. I already apologized for that woman!

And that's not what you're doing, is it, ladies?

You don't even care about the boxes. The events are not what you're trying to convey, is it?

Gentlemen, your wives do not live in the past. They live in the now. And they're trying to convey something to you to be understood that's going on now.

Can you learn how to love someone who's different from you?

You see, the one thing that she is trying to convey to you is how you are making her feel now by relating it to things that your simple little mind might pick up from the past when she told you before, when you did this in 1993, when you did this in 2003, when you did this in 2013. It made me feel how I feel now. Gentlemen, put your Sherlock Holmes hat on.

Find out what the feeling is, because it's not natural for her to talk compartmentally.

This is how I'm feeling right now, because her mind is integrated and it all comes rushing back in. And she's sharing it with you to punish you, to bring up the past, and never let it go, because that's what you think. That's what we all think by nature, because we're made different. And you think she's bringing up the past to hurt you. This isn't a marriage sermon. This is a love sermon. I'm just pointing out the fact that God made differences in people to make it challenging that we would strive with all our might to become like Him. Can you decode? Can you decode? I decoded those men when I walked into a Pennsylvania store, and they looked at me and they said, you got three minutes. I knew immediately they wanted my business. They just wanted to go home more. And I understood that. And I hustled to get my items and get out of there. And they made their money and they locked their door on time and they went home on time.

And I had my stuff.

Husbands, when she gets historical on you, try to decode the one point that she's trying to make in the here and now. She's not arguing the past. She's not there. She's here with you, wanting to connect with you, wanting to love you. Oddly enough, what she's doing by being historical is a faint compliment. She's saying, you hurt me. I need you. Will you understand? And that's what Peter told us to do. Lest our prayers be hindered. Wow.

Not wrong, just different. Wives, my sisters, when you get historical on your husbands, and you're trying to show him what hurts your feelings, try to make your point clear. Not with only related stories, but also with direct statements. Men love and understand direct statements. Like, this is what hurts my feelings, Sherlock. Men need nicely wrapped packages. Like, this is bothering me now. Oh, oh, okay. Help each other. Love. Not wrong, just different. Can you learn? Can you decode? Who's right? Who's wrong? There is actually no wrong in that scenario that I just listed. And yet, so many people fight over that issue of her getting historical. And that's just one small example of what you and I will have to deal with in the great white throne. Men, when you are priests in the kingdom of God, will you understand the women who get historical on you? You're now a priest, and you're training thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. I don't know, maybe millions. I'm not good with math.

But it's a lot, okay? And here you are a priest.

And here's all these women getting historical on you. You're going to scold them? Well, you need to let the past go and be forgiving, young lady. Yeah, that's not what I'm doing. You have to learn that now. Think you know everything you need to know? Bet you don't, because I'm just skimming the surface on this. We're flying through this topic. Practice now so that you can do your job in the future. As Mr. Martin said last night, what are you waiting for? Let me give you an example of men that women do not generally understand. This is crushing to women, and if they understood it, it would not be crushing.

Women, men, excuse me, tend to, I know I'm speaking in general terms, but men tend to get quiet and withdraw, don't they? You're having a debate. He thinks you're having an argument, but you're having a debate, and you're trying to connect, ladies, and all of a sudden, he shuts down. I don't want to talk about it anymore. We'll talk later. Yes, I used air quotes. Later, which means we're not touching this one again. Not always. Sometimes he does mean later. And he walks away. Are you walking away? You're thinking, and you're crushed, aren't you? Because if you had done that to him, you would be sending a completely different message to him than he is doing to you. Can you decode? Do you understand that he's male, not female? He's different. You say, I have nothing to wear. You mean, I have nothing new. He says, I have nothing to wear. You check the underwear drawer. Not wrong, just different. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 33. Paul points out the differences. Notice this remarkable statement that the Apostle Paul makes on how men and women are different and should treat each other as though they're different. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 33. Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular, now he's talking to the men, love his own wife as himself.

And let the wife see that she loves her husband. No, it doesn't say that, does it? It says, note it, let the wife see that she respects her husband. Because she already loves him. She's already loving towards him. Love, love, love, love, love.

And God knew that, and Paul knew that when he wrote this. God inspired Paul to tell the ladies to respect him. Why? Because your man lives in a world of honor. Men respect each other. Women connect and love each other. And I love that about women. But do you respect what God created in men? You will notice, go to a Starbucks, and they have these little round tables at Starbucks, and you will see women sitting around those tables face to face, talking. I'm not making fun of you, that's the way God created you, to connect. And it's true.

How many times do you see men do that? Men don't live in that world. We live in a world of honor. Men are shoulder to shoulder. Compadres.

Right? Brothers in arms. We don't get face to face. You come back here and tell me what you're feeling right now.

We don't do that.

What do men do when they get heated? Watch them. Watch two boys on the playground, and they fight each other. Give me the ball! No, it's my ball! No, you cheated! You're a cheater! You're a liar! Boom! What do they do? They walk away from each other. They walk away.

Because if they don't walk away, you know what's going to happen next?

Their heart is in their throat. They're warriors by nature. God made us protectors. We are the protectors. Unfortunately, that aggression doesn't work out so well when it comes to relationships. So we have a mechanism that says, this is my friend. I will not harm my friend. I will calm this baby down because that is the honorable thing to do.

Fifteen minutes later. What do they do? Hey, Joe, I'm sorry. Forget about it. Forget about it. That drives women nuts. No, no, no, no. We have to bring it full. This full emotional circle. We have to talk it out. No, men do not. They're different from you. What is he doing when he's walking away? Well, here's what it feels like to women. And I've asked my wife this. She 100% agrees. This is what it feels like. Since she thinks of love first, respect is not as important to her. And she misses this clue. So she blurts out things to her girlfriend and, you know, some disrespectful phrase. And it seems trivial to both of them. And yet, her husband seemingly overreacts. What a baby! What's his problem? He lives in a different world. In the beginning, God made them male and female. They're different. Things that are not a big deal to women are a big deal to your husband. It's not immaturity, a lack of conversion. It's the way God made him, and he has a need that you don't have. At least he has a far greater need than you have for respect. Because that's the world he lives in. And when you get a little stressed, a little testy, a little grouchy, he feels deflated. And what does he do? Normally, he walks away. Why does he do that? She gets highly offended. It's like her feelings don't matter. Now she can't bring it full circle. And that's all she's trying to do, guys. You need to decode. She is actually not trying to be disrespectful to you. She's trying to connect. I don't have time to go into that. But you deflate. I deflate. She feels like we're rejecting her when we walk away, and that is the opposite thing we're doing. What is really going on? He's doing the honorable thing to cool down. What men don't understand is your woman is actually not... her pulse rate is not up. University of Washington did a study on that. When men and women argue, men's pulse is up in their throat. Women are as calm and cool and collected as they could be. That's normal. They're connecting. They want to connect. So they're actually just trying to bring things to an emotional full circle. And men don't know what their buddies. Never talk to them like this. If they did, they wouldn't be buddies. And here's this precious woman that he loves speaking to him in a disrespectful way. What's the honorable thing to do that he does by nature that he did since he was a child on the playground? Well, let's cool off a little bit. That seems so condescending to a woman when it's actually the honorable thing he's trying to do. Who's wrong? Nobody.

Let me tell you something about that man who's walking away, who you think he doesn't care about your feelings. You actually don't matter as a person to him when he does that. Let me tell you something about him. He is a man of honor. He would die for you in a second. Even the most cowardly among us, by nature, would jump on top of you if there was a shooter and shield your body with his body. It's what we do! I was actually involved in that. No bullets went near my car. I didn't know it wasn't going to go. There was a car. I was coming out of church and a car at the intersection pulled up. Another car pulled in front of him. Men jumped out, pulled the guy in the back car out, started beating the tar out of him right in front of us. The guy who was getting beat up managed to reach into his glove box and get a gun. The other guys jumped back in their car and sped away. Yeah, great. Towards me!

Right down the road, right towards me. While Mr. Hot Tempered, who just had the serious whooping of his life, opens fire right towards my car. I didn't think. I didn't have time to think. I grabbed my wife and threw her down. And I jumped on top of her in the front seat. I didn't even feel anything. There was no anger, no fear, no emotion. I didn't have time.

I just jumped on top of her. No bullets hit my car. We were fine.

Afterward, I was a puddle of goo. At first, I was angry. I went speeding off after the guy. Then, Tammy was like, what are you going to do if you catch him?

He's like, oh yeah, let's go get some food.

Duh. He's a man of honor. He would die for you. And what he's actually doing is the honorable thing in his mind. Can you decode? Women get so offended at that, and they don't understand.

Jesus said that no man has greater love than this, that he would lay down his life for his friend. He would lay down his life for you. You think he doesn't love you. Jesus says no man has greater love. Which is true. He does love you. To her, she's being rejected. To him, he's doing the honorable thing because he loves her. Not wrong, just different. Women, will you learn? Will you decode? When you are in the white throne judgment and you are a priest of God, and you are responsible to teach both men and women, will you understand the men in your group? Will you understand their need for respect? How do you learn that? By practicing it right now. Oh, we have so much to learn. Because it goes so much farther than just men and women. There are so many differences between people in this life. I had the just wonderful opportunity, the blessing, of living in the Islamic world in Amman, Jordan as a teacher.

And immersed myself in that culture, I learned to speak a little bit of Arabic, I learned to eat some really good food, drink some really good coffee. But you know, they have some differences. If I walk down a street and a woman with children pass me by, it's courteous for me to get out of the way and let her have the safer route. Same in Jordan. It's also courteous for me to say, hello, would you like to step over here and avoid the puddle? And if I didn't do that here, I would be rude. And love is not rude. So I should look at life from my point of view and go over to their world. And when I see a woman with children walking down the street, if there's a puddle in between us, I should say, hello, you should go around, I will wait, shouldn't I? Because I shouldn't be rude. And that's according to my way. Only that's rude to her. In fact, I've just insulted her. Because in her culture, men do not talk to other men's wives.

Or I'm calling her an immoral woman by doing it. And buddy, that's rude. Just by saying hello, just by making eye contact and nodding, I am making an overt, immoral gesture. Who's wrong? Just different. There's so many differences. Even here in the United States, I have a friend back in the congregation in Texas. He comes from Detroit, a Hispanic community in Detroit. Women have to walk on the inside of the sidewalk in the Hispanic communities in Detroit. Our women don't have to. They can walk wherever they want to walk. It's rude for us to tell them, you go over here. But in the Hispanic community in Detroit, do you know what it means when she walks on the outside? That she's available. And she's calling her husband or whoever she's with her pimp daddy. And that's what it means. So you don't do that in that community. It's different. And you don't assume that everything that you believe in every opinion that you have is the only opinion. Now, God's word doesn't change. God's word is immutable and unchangeable. And it is for everybody. But God built in differences. Not wrong, just different. So it would be challenging to love, challenging to understand.

Right now, the world looks through a dark glassly. A dark glassly. A glass darkly. You can tell we're almost done. But one day that's pictured in Isaiah 65, a day that pictures today that we read at the beginning of the sermon, they will see clearly and they will need to learn to love according to the law of God. Will you be ready to teach them to love? Do you know how to love?

Will you understand people who are different from you, that are still precious to God? Will you look at them from God's point of view, instead of just your own? Will you strive to understand them so that you can show them the way? In order to do that, you must learn, practice, and grow. In other words, brethren, we have to become something we are not right now. And we need to admit that we are not that right now. At least, not yet, not all the way. I say that out of love to encourage us, not to discourage us.

I believe that because you took the time to come here and spend eight days here to learn when you could have been home, making money, going to school. And I believe that you can succeed because God will help you if you let Him. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6. Philippians 1 and verse 6. Being confident of this very thing that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Mr. Cordel you and Mr. Martin discussed the Laodicean way. And what is that way? It's way that says, I am rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. Another way to put that is everything should be from my point of view. That's the way things ought to be. The way I see it, that's the way it is. And that is Laodicean.

Instead, you need to learn how to love others in the way that they need to be loved. Not in the way that you interpret them or in the way that you need to be loved. That doesn't help them. When my father and mother died, I wrote a eulogy because they learned this lesson that you and I likely still need to learn. I entitled this eulogy, Don't Judge What You Don't Know. I want to read it to you right now.

Quote, a generation in the church is passing, and that is not comforting to me. So many of God's old guard are falling asleep. They were a source of wisdom and counsel, and that was a gift from God. I cherish the ones that we still have with us, but I do not faint from fear or worry because I know the great God that guided them to do faithful things remains on his throne, actively guiding those who still have faith in him.

My hope is that we will all remain and grow more faithful to him, that he will do a great work through us too. One of the greatest lessons that I learned from my dad was not to judge others. Don't judge what you don't know he would teach me. He believed that God created one race of children, the human race. Dad ignored ethnicity, culture, background, income, status, or power. He only saw potential children of God in the faces of the people he met. He and Mom were willing to go to great lengths and suffer personal injury to serve God in mankind.

For example, when I was a baby, Dad and Mom would go into black neighborhoods in North Carolina during the civil rights clashes of the 1960s to counsel and anoint their brethren, who lived there even though it was dangerous to do so. They would sneak in the neighborhoods at night, and when they got close to the house where the brethren lived, they would turn off their car lights and enter the home through the back door. This protected both them and the brethren who lived in the neighborhoods that were hostile towards white people and anyone associated with them.

You know that a man and his wife were not judgmental when they would not take such a risk, or when they would take such a risk, to visit their brethren. One time when I was a young and inexperienced man with no wife and no kids and no real responsibilities, Dad saw me being harsh to a man who missed a payment on a car that I had sold him. Dad lit into me. He scolded me, explaining that I knew nothing of that man's trials and burdens. He had a wife and kids and was in dire need.

I was certainly ashamed of myself, given the teacher that I had grown up with. I should have known better. It's one thing to hear of God's wisdom and love. It's entirely different to put it into practice. I let the debt go, but I gained such a wonderful, rich blessing in return. I finally started to understand the saying, Don't judge what you don't know. That saying comes from a belief that only God is good, and mankind's only purpose is to become his children.

Anything that contradicts that is a waste of time, effort, and thought. There is no racial divide, no debt too large, no insult too deep, no crime too horrific, no loss too great, that can change the fact that God will fix it in the end. We should all be as willing to forgive and release people from their debts that they owe us, as my mom and dad were.

Mom and dad lived their lives with the hope and love of God. They counseled, they preached, they fellowshiped, and even wrote from that perspective. I believe that that wisdom came from God. It was instilled in them over the years because they faithfully and actively put it into practice, the love of God, one day at a time. In retrospect, the greatest gift that a parent can leave their children is to teach them to love God and love God's children, which is all of mankind. The words, Don't judge that you don't know, rings in my ears as I lay my father to rest, reminding me that nothing is more important than the love of God.

It's not enough just to receive God's love, but our response must be to freely give it away. My parents left the judgment to God and to Jesus Christ, who are capable of perfect discernment. You know, for the past three messages, we have talked about the Laodicean attitude, this attitude of, I don't need to learn anything, and I think we've seen today, oh yes, we do.

We have a lot to learn and a long way to go. But you know what? There's another group of people prophesied to be on the earth at Christ's return, and that is the Philadelphian Church of God. They are the people who are faithful and who tremble at God's word. As Mr. Cordel you read, let's go back to Isaiah 66 and verse 2.

Isaiah 66, too. For all those things my hand is made, all those things exist, says the Lord, but the one, this is one, but on this one I will look, sorry, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Brethren, you can be that faithful person. You're supposed to be that faithful person. In fact, God is counting on you to be that faithful person. A person of the Philadelphia spirit. One who learns God's royal law of love. One who practices it every day so that it'll actually be instilled in them and become part of them. So that we, like Mr. Kubik said in his sermon, become love. Your name, fill in the blank, is love.

That doesn't happen just by reading. It has to be done in practice every day.

Then you gain understanding and then you can teach others. Our key scripture today, Romans chapter 13 and verse 10. How well do you do in this? I know I've got a long way to go.

Love does no harm to neighbors. Ask yourself a question. What happens when you open your mouth? When you open your mouth to your spouse, what is their expression on their face?

Are they uplifted or are they deflated? How well do you know love? Today, brethren, is a brand new day. And to me, because we go into this dark winter period where there's a long gap between holy days, it's like starting a new year. It's like starting over fresh. We get to start over fresh again and learn again, not forgetting the lessons from behind, but forgetting the mistakes and moving forward. Love does no harm to neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. This, the eighth day, the number eight, is such a significant number to the Jewish people. It means perfection. And this is the day that pictures when God will make everything perfect. And he has, out of his mercy and kindness, called you and me out of the world into his marvelous light, not to say I'm rich and a crease with goods and in need of nothing, but instead to tremble at his word and read it every day and pray to him every day and every day practice to become a little bit better and learning how to love.