Loving God, His Truth, & Way of Life

What am I going to talk about? Let's see. Oh, I did want to say, let's all turn to Psalm 37, 37 for a moment. You know, again, I appreciated the message from Jim, and he talked about Jesus Christ, and you know, Christ was perfect. Christ never sinned. Never! He was tempted in every point as we are, yet He was without sin. So, you know, I find that amazing that He came down here, He dwelt in the flesh. He was a little baby! Can you imagine? Jesus Christ, a baby, changing His diapers. That's what Mary had to do. Joseph, you know, they took care of this little baby, and yet He was perfect. He never sinned. What an example Jesus Christ sets for us. So, He certainly was perfect. There's no doubt about it. There's no question about it. And I'm, you know, I don't know if you realize this, but there's only one other perfect person mentioned in the Bible, and it's mentioned in Psalm 37, verse 7. Mark the perfect man. You notice that? Doesn't it say that? Psalm 37, verse 37, it says, Mark the perfect man. Now, that's the King James, I believe. It says, Mark the blameless man in the new King James. So, I just want to bring that to your attention. I'm joking. There is no other perfect man except Jesus Christ. We are to consider those who are blameless, those who are upright. That's what this verse is saying, you know, because we all stand before God. You know, our example, the way we live our lives, is critical. And we should take note of those who are blameless, those who serve well, those who, you know, who set the right example for us, amongst us. You know, that's a beautiful thing. But that didn't go over as well as it did the last time I used that. You know, it's, I think I was, I was not as smooth this time. All right, anyway, let's get on to this sermon.

Over the years, I've asked myself, what has seen me through the temptations, the trials, the problems, of 45 years in God's church? What is it that has seen me through 34 years in the ministry of Jesus Christ? Perhaps you've asked yourself that as well. What is it that allows some of us to stay faithful, to stay true, to hang in there, to keep on keeping the faith? What is it? Well, I believe it's primarily a love of God, a love of God and a love of His truth, and a love of His way of life. To me, that's the most critical thing. Do we truly love God? Do we love His truth? And do we love His way of life? And if we truly love God, His truth, and His way of life, how could we ever give it up? How could we ever walk away from it? So that's what I want to talk about today. That's the sermon, the title, the love of God, God's truth, and God's way of life. I have no doubt it's God's Spirit that has given me and you a genuine love of God, of God's truth, and God's way of life. It's God's Spirit dwelling in us that allows us to have this true love, this real agape love, this godly love. Brethren, we all need to be empowered by God's Holy Spirit. God's Spirit is what strengthens us. God's Spirit is what allows us to be able to withstand anything that comes our way. If we're yielded to God's Holy Spirit, obviously we have to be yielded to God's Spirit because God's Spirit can be present, but a person can quench it, and it can be dormant for years. It can be dormant for years. I've met people that I think allowed God's Spirit to be dormant for years. It was there, but they weren't stirring it up. They weren't utilizing it. They were in danger of God taking the Spirit away from them. And I'll talk a little bit more about that as I go through the sermon.

I believe love is the key to survival, the kind of love I'm talking about today. Not just survival, but an abundant, beautiful, glorious way of life in the flesh right now. No matter what happens to us, no matter what trials we go through, I've seen this in people. I've seen it in people like you, that they have this kind of love that's so deep and so powerful that they can lose a child. They can have a child die. They can have things happen to their children. Children can stop coming to God's Church. There can be a lot of things, a lot of deep hurts that we can go through and we can endure if that kind of love is in us. I don't get tired of talking about God's love, by the way. God's love is so powerful. It's so important. God is love, so how can we overdo that? I don't know. Maybe if someone, you know, some just don't have the proper understanding. They don't have God's Spirit, and they talk of a kind of love I'm not talking about. I'm talking about a deep, genuine, godly, beautiful love. So it's the Holy Spirit that has dwelled in me since I was 18. I was baptized at age 18. I believe it's God's Spirit dwelling in me that has made all the difference in the world. It is God's Spirit that God has stirred up in me as I've yielded to Him. You know, God's gracious. He works in us in marvelous and wonderful ways if we'll just get out of the way and let Him do the work. So it's God's Spirit that gets the credit.

If I love God, if I love His truth, if I love His way of life, it's because of God's Spirit. It's because of God, not because of me. In me, nothing good dwells. You know, I'm flesh. I'm fleshly. I was kidding about Mark the perfect man. You know, I'm far from perfect. You all know that. You all realize that. You have the same flesh I do. You understand it's hard to be good. Now, that's one of the most profound things I've ever heard anyone say, and it came from my son when he was five years old. I had to correct him, and he said, Dad, it's hard to be good. It's hard to be good. It's not that easy to be good. We have to work at it. We have to yield to God's Spirit to be good, to get out of the way and just let God's Spirit flow and do the right thing, make the right decisions, because we pay a consequence for every decision that we make, whether good or bad. There is a consequence for our decisions. So, brethren, there's perilous times coming in the future. I believe that to be the case. I believe the Bible speaks of perilous times that are coming upon the earth, coming upon all people, and I have no clue when that will be. I don't know if it's going to be in my lifetime. I don't know. I don't know if it'll be in your lifetime, but I do know it's coming, and I do know that we are closer now than we've ever been.

So, it is something to think about. Let's go to 2 Thessalonians. As I ask the question, do you have a genuine love of God, a genuine love of God's truth, and a genuine love of God's way of life? Do you have that kind of genuine love? Are you empowered by God's Holy Spirit? Are you allowing God's Spirit to flow through you, in you, and out of you doing the kind of work that God has called you to do? You know, you, every single one of you.

God's calling all of us to do a marvelous work. We all have a part to play in God's work, and we have to realize it, and we have to live up to it. So, that means we have to set our priorities in such a way that we're going to be able to do that. You're responsible to do that. You have to think about your priorities. What are your priorities? What is going to bring you closest to God, closest to pleasing Him, closest to doing His will? So, in 2 Thessalonians, I borrowed this Bible from Mr. Horchak, because I'm traveling light. I've got my Bible right here.

I've got e-sword on here. I've got Hebrew. I've got Greek. I mean, this works. I don't like to use it when I give a sermon, but I didn't want to carry a heavy Bible. Plus, I end up messing up my Bible. It's falling apart already. The binding's coming off, so I borrowed this one. I'm not used to using it, but let's go to 2 Thessalonians. It's got these tabs that are great, but not if you're not used to using them. All right, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. We're going to go to verse 7. As I said, perilous times are coming. The Bible speaks of a great apostasy to come, a mystery of lawlessness that's already working over 2,000 years ago. You know, Satan is a deceitful being. He's a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he may devour, and he started with Adam and Eve.

So, this mystery of lawlessness that it talks about in verse 7 is real, and it's been working for a long time. It hasn't gone away. It's continuing to work. It will rise again. It's already here if we can see it. Verse 8, and then the lawless one, the antichrist, you know, the false prophet, you know, the beast, they're all tied in together. But this is speaking of the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. Christ is coming back. You can count on that. He's coming back. He's going to destroy this lawless one. It says, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. With all power, with signs, with lying wonders, this great false prophet that the Bible talks about that will deceive many, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish. And why? Why will they perish? Because they did not receive the love of the truth. They didn't love the truth. They didn't love God. They really didn't love God's way of life. That's what's going to get us into trouble in the future. If we don't have this love that I'm talking about today, then we will be deluded. If we happen to be alive at this time, we will be deceived. We will bow before the beast power, before the antichrist, before the lawless one. These are not things that we ought to take lightly. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion because they don't have a love of the truth. You know, God is merciful. He'll send them strong delusion. He will have mercy on them, perhaps it means. Or, you know, what exactly does it mean? Something to think about. He'll send this strong delusion that they shall believe the lie. Now, are these people converted? Do they have God's Holy Spirit in them?

That they may believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who do not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So, these are people that don't really have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. They may be feigning it. They might be coming to church, even. You know, we've had lots of people sit in empty chairs. They come and go, left and right.

He says that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth. They didn't believe the truth. They didn't have the love of God. They didn't have the love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Again, it gets back to priorities.

What are your priorities? But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God, from the beginning, chose you for salvation. So, he's talking to all of us. He says we are chosen, sanctified by the Spirit, and belief in the truth, to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, brethren, stand fast. You are called to stand fast and to hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, may he comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

God will work with you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. He will always do his part, but he has called us to do our part. And we are the firstfruits of God. You know, this is a very small group in the city of Sacramento, and the environs of the Sacramento. There may be some others keeping the Sabbath who have God's Holy Spirit meeting somewhere else today.

I get that. But regardless, there aren't a lot of us who are here worshiping God on his Sabbath day, a day that he has sanctified, that he has set apart, that he has made holy. There aren't many who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, who have a love of the truth, who have that understanding. So, yeah, it's important that you're here today. It's very important that you are here today, and frankly, as often as you can be here, you should be here.

This is a commanded assembly. It's what we're supposed to do as God's people, as God's children, those who love his truth. So it was a love of God, his truth, his way of life that became the guiding force in my life when I was 18. I was still a teenager. It's been the guiding force in my life ever since. Have I been perfectly submissive to God's Spirit? Of course not.

No, I'm flesh. I'm weak. I've sinned. I've fallen short of God's glory, as we all have here. But, brethren, we're all in this together. You know, and that's a beautiful thing as well, that we all have this in common. We're all part of the family of God, human beings now, but one day we shall be glorified Spirit beings if we remain faithful and true and continue to serve and love God and his truth and his way of life and his people.

So, the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us and gives us great power. He gives us great strength. God's Spirit is not the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind and the kind of power that can raise up someone who was in a hospital bed for several weeks or months. You know, I frankly didn't it didn't look like on the outside surface that we would see Jim Tuck up here again.

It didn't look like it to me. I saw Jim. I prayed for Jim. You know, it didn't seem it didn't look like it. I'm so grateful that God saw fit, you know, to raise him up at this time. And, you know, God doesn't do that for everyone. We understand that. I don't know that it makes Jim any better than anyone else. You know, God's the judge. I'm not I'm not going to judge that. But God gets the glory. You know, God gets the credit. God works in us in powerful ways. We just don't know. But as was said, we need to be happy for everyone who does get that blessing.

Others who continue to suffer, we should pray for them. You know, pray for their conditions. Pray that God will be merciful. Pray that He'll raise them up. Pray that He will perform the type of miracle that only He can truly perform. He and His Son, Jesus Christ. So, yes, let's pray for one another. So, you know, God's truth is real. It's real. There's no doubt about it. You know, this is God's Word.

This is His truth. It's real. We can read it. We can believe it. You know, it's up to you whether you believe what this book is all about. I believe this is the written Word of God, this Bible, and this is the electronic Word of God. But it's both. It's still the Word of God. And if we will honor it for what it is, it is the Word of God. And it's something that we can live by. It's our instruction book. It's our manual. Are you studying it? Or have you become lax?

You know, shame on you if you have. You know, God knows. I don't know. I have no clue. But shame on you. Shame on me when I let down, and I've let down. Trust me. You know, it's easy to become weary in well-doing. You know, if you've been in the church as long as I have, and as long as many of you have, it's easy to let down with your prayer. Not pray as fervently, not pray as often, not pray as diligently. It's easy to let down in prayer and in Bible study, in fasting, meditating on the Word of God. This is hard work to be a faithful servant of the living God. It's hard work. God hasn't called us to an easy life. He hasn't called me to get up here and speak smooth things and tell you that you're just dandy exactly the way you are.

No, He's called me to have all of us reach a little bit higher. You know, we should be inspired and motivated. This is the greatest thing on earth. It's the greatest thing not just on earth, but in the universe and throughout eternity. That's how wonderful and precious the truth of God is.

So, you know, if you've become lax, if you've become depressed, if you've become whatever it is, you know, let's get out of that. You know, let's see the truth of God for what it is. Let's see our calling for what it is. And let's expect a little bit more of ourselves. If we've let down—now, some of you may be doing the very best, and you've never let down. And you've stuck to the grindstone faithfully and diligently, much better than I ever have. And that's wonderful, and that's great, and keep doing it. That's all I'm saying. Now, this is a high and a holy calling, not to be minimized in any way, shape, or form. Mr. Tuck talked about putting on the mind of Jesus Christ. You know, if we truly have the mind of Christ, we're going to be just fine, aren't we? You know, he talked about humility. He talked about obedience. He talked about sacrifice. These are all things that we are called to do. We're all called to sacrifice. We're all called to be obedient. We're all called to be humble. We're all called to love each other, love the truth of God, love the word of God, and just work together until Christ returns. You know, that's what we're called to do. This is the family of God in Sacramento. You know, and again, there may be a few others. We're scattered. I get that.

But evidently, this is where God's called you. You're here today. Let's work together as God's people. You know, let's be the very best we can be. You know, God might fill this hall. You might have to get a new hall. I believe God has that power. I believe God could do that. I believe God could open up the gates. You know, he did it for a time back in the 60s. He was calling people left and right. It's the same God. It's the same God. There's no reason why that can't happen again. If it's God's will, if we please Him, who knows what He may do? Let's not limit the Holy One of Israel. Let's not limit Him, and let's not assume that we're all done with the work. You know, let's all wrap it up and be content. You know, let's not have that kind of an attitude. Let's not have that kind of an approach. We frankly don't know for sure what it is God will do. And some of it may be contingent upon what we do as a people. You know, I really sincerely do believe that God will bless us to the degree that we please Him as the United Church of God. I believe that. I think Vic Cubic believes that. You know, and honestly, I've been very, very encouraged. You know, I was in the field for 35 years, about 35 years in the field, as a minister of Jesus Christ. I had my own business for time. You know, I was out of college, what, 11 years at least before I was hired. Yeah, I think it's 11 years. So, you know, I've worked for others. I've had my own business. I've been successful. You know, I've had those kinds of blessings. But, you know, the most important thing to me is that we please God. You know, if I please God, God will bless me. If He's happy with me, if I'm pleasing Him, He's going to bless me. If He's not so happy with me, then He's probably not going to bless me to the same degree. Now, I know, you know, you can you got to be careful with that kind of thinking. I realize that. But on the other, it says He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Now, that doesn't mean we won't have trials. I've had trials. I've had problems. I have two kids that are not in the Church of God. That tears my heart out. My wife as well. You know, they're great kids. I call them kids. They're what, 38 and 35. I believe they'll be back because I believe God loves them more than I do. He loves them more than my wife does. I believe they'll be back.

So, I've rambled on quite a bit, probably. I've got, I'm still on the first page. I got six pages. Sometimes, I think it's better just to, you know, not worry about the notes.

I think sometimes we worry too much about our notes and we don't worry enough about God guiding us, directing us. I mean, I'm hopeful that's what has been happening here as we speak. I know I didn't have a lot of time. So, I believe that God's truth is real. I believe the Bible's real. I believe it's reality. I believe, you know, we can live by it and it'll make a difference. It says in John 17, verse 17, that God's word is truth and that we are sanctified by His truth. You know, you and I are set apart because we believe this Bible. You know, we trust this Bible. We believe it's the word of God. Now, has man messed it up to some degree? A little bit, but God has not allowed much of that. You know, there's enough in here, no matter what translation you use, if God's working with you, you can understand it. You can get it. You know, it's a miracle. It's God's Spirit that works in us. John 15, verse 26, says, when the Helper is come, which I will send unto you from the Father. This is what Christ said. We read it every year at Passover. Every year at Passover, we read this. The Helper's coming. I'm going to send it to you. It's the Spirit of truth. It is the Spirit of truth. It proceeds from the Father. It shall testify of me. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the one and only Savior. Eventually, every knee will bow before our Savior Jesus Christ, before the Father.

I believe that with all my heart, with all my soul, with every ounce of being that I have. I believe that to be true. Satan sometimes tries to throw a thought in there. I don't go there. Resist Satan and he will flee from you. Resist those kinds of thoughts, those doubts. Satan is a master at that. He's the Prince of the power of the air. But I've often thought that God is the King. Satan is the Prince of the power of the air, but God is the King. God's Spirit is everywhere. I can tap into his Spirit. I can be led by his Spirit. And Satan can't touch me if I rely on God. If I put my trust in him, my faith in him, then I do not need to fear a being as powerful as Satan the devil. Draw near to God. He will draw near to you. Resist Satan. He will flee you.

But you have to put God first. You have to love him. You have to love his truth. You have to love his way of life.

I've got six to seven pages here. If anyone wants my notes, all you have to do is email me mark underscore welch at ucg.org. I'll be glad to share all my notes with you. I honestly don't have time to give everything that I had. I actually had seven ways in which you could analyze whether or not you truly love God. Do you love God?

There's seven ways. There could probably be a hundred. I've got seven. I don't know if they're any better than your seven. But if you want them, you're going to have to email me. You're going to have to ask for them. That's all you're going to have to do. And if you don't have a computer, talk to Joe Horchuck and he'll set you up. He will get them for you. I'm not saying you have to have those. I mean, you've listened to a lot of sermons, right? They have this much impact. Most of them. They don't have a lot of impact. One sermon. So, you know, I'm not going to judge anyone if they don't ask for them. You don't have to have them. You know, seriously, if you want them, just let me know. I'll send them to you. If not, no big deal. But I don't have the time to go throw them off. I know we have to drive off to Reno and that takes quite a while. We don't have much time here. I will say this. Being empowered by the Spirit of God and loving and having a deep, abiding love for God, for His truth, for His way of life, they're not independent of each other. They're inseparable. The key is God's Spirit. Are you stirring it up? Are you walking in the Spirit? You know, what are the fruits of God's Spirit? We all know the fruit of God's Spirit, probably. If we've been around very long, if we haven't, we're learning. And that's good. It's in Galatians, chapter 5. So, you know what they are already. I'm going to go to my conclusion. The fruit of God's Spirit, it's love, it's joy. Joy. That's the fruit of God's Spirit, being joyful. You should come here. I think you can tell I'm a joyful person. I love life. I love God's truth. I love His way of life. You know, I'm so grateful to be a part of this church. So there's love, there's joy, there's peace. You know, God gives me peace. This isn't the easiest job in the world, what I'm doing right now. But in large part, I have a lot of peace.

Long suffering. You know, that all goes in there. These are fruits of God's Spirit. Long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, gentleness, self-control. This is what we're to walk in. We're actually to become this. You are to become love. You are to become joy. You are to become peace. You are to become all of this. Kindness, goodness, meekness, self-control. You and I, that's what we're to become. Because we're supposed to be producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. And if we're producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, I don't think it's talking about one or two of them. I think it's talking about all nine of them. And there could be others, I suppose. This was Paul's list. But, you know, it's God's list, too, so I don't want to minimize that at all. You know, God inspired it. So there's nine fruits of God's Holy Spirit. Let's learn to walk in the Spirit. Let's learn to stir the Spirit up in our lives. This is the most important thing on earth. This should be your number one priority. I don't care what you do the rest of the week, but this should be number one.

Should be number one. So God's truth, you know, it's all important. It has been at the center of my life and yours, I would guess, for quite a while. Loving God and His truth is essential if we're to endure the temptations of Satan the devil, if we are to survive the trials of life. God is truly gracious. He's forgiving. And He and His Son will be your partners for life. They've been my partners for my whole life since I was a kid. I didn't grow up in a church. I didn't grow up in the church. I was 18. So God started calling me when I was a young man.

I actually have five children in the family have gone to Ambassador College. My mother started attending after I did. You know, a lot of us, we have our stories, you know, we could tell our stories. And that's a good thing, you know, let's get to know each other better here. You know, if you don't know everyone in this room, well, why not? If you don't know every single person in here fairly well, why not? It should not be a priority. Shouldn't that be something that you are cultivating? That you know everyone here that you have a connection, you have a relationship? It's good. So God is truly gracious. He is forgiving. He and His Son will be partners for your life. They will never leave. They will never forsake you. So always acknowledge God. Always put Him first in your life. He will direct your steps. That's what the Scripture says. He will direct your path. He will direct everything that you do. Learn to love God's truth in His way of life with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your soul, and do it with all of your mind.

And you're going to be just fine. You'll be there when Christ returns. Either if you're alive, you'll be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. If you've died, you'll rise first. We'll all be there together. That's encouraging. That's what it's all about, really, is loving God, learning to obey Him, serve Him, humbly go before Him. He's the one that does the work in us. We were created for good works. We were. That's why we were created. But He's the one that gets the credit. He works in us. You know, Galatians 2.20, Christ lives in me. All right, so let's stir up the Spirit of God. And it's been a pleasure to be here. I've enjoyed the opportunity to speak to all of you today. You know, I've been getting around. I've been to like 20 different churches since last December. Or not 20, 20 different states. A lot more churches than that. So I'm trying to get around. I am an operation manager for ministerial and member services. So I represent all of us, you know, ministry and the membership. You know, we're all in this together. We all work together. So if I can be of any help, please, you've got my email now. I can give you my phone number. Seriously, if you want to reach out to me, I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can. Mr. Horchak, you can certainly reach out to him, his wife. You know, they're fine servants. We appreciate them very much. So anything that we can do as a ministry, Mr. Tuck, you know, he's your regional pastor. So again, you know, we're going to do this together. Appreciate all of you. It's wonderful to be here. I did want to mention that I did have an opportunity to visit Wayne Dunlap and his wife wife. His daughter was over there for lunch and really, really enjoyed that opportunity to see them. And so it's really good. I feel I feel closer to all of you because of being here. And that's why I like to get around to all these churches. You know, I think it's important. Again, God gets all the glory.