My Hero

Well, good afternoon, brethren. Nice to be here with you on this Sabbath day during the Feast of Tabernacles. And wasn't that chorale wonderful? Now, if you'd like to give them applause, I'm going to give you permission to give them a nice hand. We don't normally applaud after sermons or special music except for children, but we can show our appreciation to them and gratitude for all the hard work. And that was beautiful. I'll tell you, that song has some history. My wife was crying when we first came to United in 1990, the Feast of 95.

We went to two sites. We went to the one up in New England, and then we went to the one in Canada. And the one in Canada, in Ottawa, where they were thinking about hiring me, one of the songs that were sung at Special Music was a duet by two ladies from the Toronto area. And they sang a river in Judea. And it was so beautiful. Every time I hear it, my wife, too, makes us think of the time when we first came and became a part of United. So, anyway, thank you very much, Mr. Lacoste, and all the chorale for all the hard work. Also, I want to, my last time to speak to you before I begin my sermon, I want to also want to thank Mr. Dobson and all the staff for their hard work. I want to thank the men who stand out in the parking lot to make sure we can all get in safely and to be there for us. And I want to thank the ushers and all the men who have to lift this monster off the stage every so often, back and forth. And all those who set this up and take it down every day for you and me to enjoy. Thank you very much. It is greatly appreciated. I also want to bring you greetings from the Council of Elders and from the Home Office.

The Council of Elders now, we're trying to meet occasionally via video conference, where we can hook everybody in. You can see everybody on your laptop if you have one, and usually that's how they hook in. And you can see them and they can talk and they can be in their home. The only problem is we have a council member in Italy and a council member in Australia.

So the best time to meet is 4 p.m. in the afternoon, which is like 5 or 6 a.m. in Australia and is like 10 or 11 a.m. p.m. in Italy. So if we go for two hours, it goes to midnight or three hours to 1 a.m. there, and the other one, he's just waking up. So it's easy to see people drinking coffee or having iced tea or whatever, depending on where they are during that particular time. We're working on economic issues, trying to make sure that we keep our budget in line with what the economic trends tend to look at. We'll be talking more about that in October. We also want to evaluate seminars that were done recently, Kingdom of God seminars, and take a look. And we want to make sure we can get the most out of the finances that we have. And so we do appreciate your prayers. We definitely appreciate these Holy Day offerings, which really give a boost to the work.

Also, I wanted to mention to you about the Cincinnati area. They have 180 people there. We talked to our daughter and son-in-law, and they stayed back in Cincinnati this year for some other family reasons. But they are attending the one in Cincinnati. They had 180 people there, and that's only a temporary satellite site. They've had live services almost every day. They've had people locally who've been able to speak, and plus they've done some webcasting.

ABC Ambassador Bible Center, I'll look forward to meeting you over here in the year 2000. This is the site we met on as well. So we'll be happy to see anybody who's interested in just learning about ABC. You don't even have to be going in the near future. You might have a child who's 10 years old. You might want to think about, maybe my child in six years or no, six years. Eight years will be ready to go to ABC. Or maybe you just like to find out about it. You don't have to be young. This year we have one man in his 70s.

We have another man close to 70 and his wife tending ABC. I think the oldest person was 88, and she was from South Africa. And she never fell asleep once. She sat right in the front row. She was a former schoolteacher, and she loved it. So, from 18 to 80, we say she broke the record, I think, at 88.

But anyway, she was there and enjoyed the ABC program. So it's for anybody. This year we have 36 students currently. We would have had 38, except two sisters weren't able to come the first semester for various health reasons. So now that's fixed and taken care of. So now they're going to be able to come second semester.

We have 37 second semester, even though we have two plus 36, because one of the 36 has been attended part-time last year and is finishing up this first semester this year. So we will have 37. The average attendance for ABC throughout the whole 14 years, and we are in our 14th year this year, the average attendance has been 38. So we're right at the average this year.

We're grateful that God has sent some wonderful young people and older people who add kind of a nice rudder to the whole group. But they're very interested in learning about God's way. And I tell them what a joy it is for me to see young people interested in the Bible, interested in learning about God in this day and age.

What a great thing it is. And they're very much interested in serving. I'm very happy with the class this year. I'll look forward to meeting with anybody who's interested who just wants to hear more about Ambassador Bible Center tomorrow at 1215. I think we're ready to begin. A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty high-yoed silver, the Lone Ranger, who with his faithful Indian companion Tonto, led the fight for law and order in the early western United States.

More powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! No, it's a plane! It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.

These two men, these two fictitious characters, were individuals that I looked up to. They were my two favorite heroes. But we'll be seeing some that you might think of as favorite heroes as we go through the list pretty rapidly. But take a look and see if you remember some of these. I loved the Lone Ranger. And what I loved about the Lone Ranger was, he never killed anybody that I saw, but he shot the guns out of their hand.

He may have wounded them. And when he would leave, he did his job, and he would be riding out of time. They'd say, now who is that masked man anyway? And they'd say, well, don't you know? He's the Lone Ranger. I always loved that, because he didn't wait around to get a lot of accolades. Superman is probably the closest illustration that you'll ever find of what we will be like. And in fact, I read a book about Superman, and it talked about a lot of what he's put in there.

He kind of couches it with God, that apparently Superman's father's name was Eli. You know, one of God's name is L. And so there's a lot of intrigue there. When you read the definition of a hero, a hero, according to Merriman Webster, and I got this off the Internet, is a person who is admired for courage or noble qualities. He's an illustrious warrior. He's often pictured as being of divine descent coming from Heaven.

Someone who does something for others without thinking of himself. And he's willing to put himself at risk for others. So those are some of the definitions of hero. Okay, next. We're going to see Batman and Robin. So you see Batman and Robin. Batman's very popular now. Next, we're going to see Captain Marvel and Spider-Man. Next, we're going to see two ladies, Batwoman and Wonder Woman. Then we're going to see two cartoon characters, Popeye the Sailor Man, who would eat his spinach and his bicep would pop up.

And then you also see Mighty Mouse. Now let's look at a few Western heroes, because our world has had a lot of them. The first one we see is Annie Oakley. She was played on television by Gail Davis. Now what's interesting about Annie Oakley, I just found a little clip on her. Annie Oakley became such a good shot when she was such a young girl. She joined a Western show. She ended up marrying the guy who was supposed to be the best shooter at a Western show. She married him, and she used to, as part of her act, shoot the cigarette out of the mouth of her husband.

She used to also shoot a dime out of between, as he held between his two fingers. She was so good, she used to use a mirror and aim backwards and shoot using only the mirror to aim with. She shot so many of the spades and clubs out of playing cards that they came to call a free ticket, one that had already been stamped, had holes in it, as an Annie Oakley.

And the great SOO chief, Sitting Bull, thought so much of her when he was at peace, though. He was a warrior before. But when he went to some of these shows, he saw her shooting. He named her Little Sureshot. Annie Oakley, one of the famous Western characters. Let's look at the next one. Here you see Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes. He was a singing cowboy. Remember Happy Trails to you, with his horse Trigger.

Then the next one we see is Hopalong Cassidy. Does that bring back any memories? And then another one, Gene Autry and his horse Champion. And of course, Gene Autry was also a singing cowboy. He ended up owning the Los Angeles Angels baseball team for a while. Before his death. The next one we see the Magnificent Seven. Remember Yule Brenner? And those seven went down to Mexico to help the people there. And then the next one, on the other side of it, you see Charles Sterrett, the Durango Kid. Now, when I was a boy, like 10 or 11 years old, maybe 9 or 10, my brother Dave and I used to go to a movie in town while my parents visited with my grandmother.

And we would walk to this little movie theater and pay our money to go in. I think it was 12 cents to go to a movie back then. We'd sit, and one of the ones we loved to see was Charles Sterrett playing the Durango Kid. The Durango Kid, even though he has a mask on, was kind of like Lone Ranger. He didn't want people to know his identity, but he worked for good to restore good.

It was always a very famous one of mine. He never let his films be released. His family locked them up in a vault for 30 years or whatever it was. Now you can get them online. I haven't seen any of them yet. But the Durango Kid is a very good film to see if you get a chance to see it. Next, we'll take a look and see the Cisco Kid and Pancho. You may remember him. The heroes. These men came riding in to save people from trouble. And Zorro. We always leave his signature mark of a Z. Flaming Z. Next, we see John Wayne. Now who could leave him out of Western heroes?

Whether it was from True Grit or others he was out there fighting for goodness and righteousness. And then you have also Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke, played by James Arness. And then on the other side, the next slide, you see Clint Eastwood. Tough guy, but usually many times. Tough guy for good. And then you have Kevin Costner, who played Wyatt Earp.

Let's take a look at a few TV and movie heroes. First, we see the Bionic Woman, played by Lindsay Wagner. The Six Million Dollar Man, played by Lee Majors. Two of them, their bodies were altered. So they were able to do things that normal human beings couldn't do. Next, we see two heroes, two dog heroes. Lassie, constantly getting his master out of trouble. And Rin Tin Tin, when you wanted somebody there to help you, you wanted Rin Tin Tin.

There were heroes, the world looking for someone to rescue them from their troubles, from their difficulties, from their woes. Next, we see Charlie's Angels, the original Charlie's Angels. Kelly, Jill, and Sabrina. And next, we see Steven Seagal. You want somebody who can put up a good battle for you? You've got Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris, who's famous for bringing people back from Vietnam POWs. And next, we see Rambo. And, of course, Bond, James Bond, played by Sean Connery. Next, we see Harrison Ford, who played Indiana Jones. And finally, next to finally, on this page, is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He played in Commando and a number of other films where he would go out, tough guy, and win. Next, we see real-life heroes. We see Spartacus. Spartacus, played by Kirk Douglas. Remember, he led the slaves against Rome. Next, when we see real-life heroes, we see two presidents of the United States, George Washington on the right, and Thomas Jefferson on the left, our third president. And the next film we see, the next slide, we see Davy Crockett on the left with his buddy, Buddy Ebsen, that's played by Fess Parker.

And on the right, a picture, a depiction of Daniel Boone. And then we see, the next slide, Winston Churchill, who could say more about somebody who was a hero standing by his country in the time of trouble in World War II, and then Abraham Lincoln, who helped keep this nation together, had such a good reputation called Honest Abe. And then the next, the last one we see, next the last one we see is General Douglas MacArthur, who brought people, who said to the Filipino people, I will return.

And he basically, he and his army staff rescued the Philippines. And then, finally, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who helped lead the parade for equal rights.

And then, on the next page, we see Golda Meir, the next slide, Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher. For some of us, maybe I didn't capture your hero. Some of us had heroes who were dads and moms. Some of us had heroes who were friends. Some of us had heroes who were older brothers or sisters. People that we admired. People who would stand in the gap.

People who would come and help you in time of trouble. This world, next slide, please, the people of this world are looking for heroes. You wonder why so many of these films are important and popular. People are looking for heroes. They're looking for a champion to rescue them from destruction. The next click, yes.

To rescue them from destruction and evil and to bring about a better world, as we heard. The world, not the people. Let's make it clear. When we talk about don't love the world, we're not talking about the people in the world. We're talking about the system of this world. We're talking about the way the world goes. We're not talking about the people in the world because God so loved the world. He didn't love the system, but He loved the people. Love the people. See in them goodness.

See in them potential for the kingdom of God. That's what they are. God made them in His image, too. He wants them to ultimately be in His kingdom, as was brought out. But this world now is in trouble.

This world needs somebody. Look at Europe. Look at the war. Look at Iran and its potential of a nuclear bomb. Look what it wants to do. It wants to create chaos because it wants to bring back the last one, imam, so that they can usher in their view of a kingdom. Our world's in trouble. Israel is saying they're chomping at the bit to go bomb them. And now Turkey and Syria are in trouble.

My family, I'm Syrian. A lot of my family are being killed over there because nobody will do anything. Now Turkey's getting into the fray, and also you have NATO now coming to Turkey's defense if they need to. The hero the world needs next is Jesus Christ. That's the hero the world needs. Many times they don't understand it, but He's the one that they need. Let's look at the next slide. Let's set the stage. This is the worst time the world will ever see just before Jesus Christ returns.

It's the worst time. There can be no worse time than this. Matthew 24. Let's look at the next slide. Matthew 24, or next scripture. Matthew 24, verse 21. Matthew 24, verse 21. If you turn with me in your Bible and read this, it's the time of great trouble. He said, For then shall be great tribulation, great trouble. Notice what it says. Not just any great trouble, the great trouble. Such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, known or ever shall be. When did Jesus Christ say this?

When He was asked by His disciples, what will be the sign of your coming? And of the end of the age, how are we going to know? He says, there's going to come a time of trouble.

So bad that the world has never seen that. And verse 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. Some say saved alive. Not talking about spiritual salvation. You're talking about saving from extinction. But for the elect's sake, because God considers some elect on this earth, those days shall be shortened. Who's going to shorten them? Jesus Christ at His return. Let's look at the next scripture, Isaiah 3, verses 1-7. What kind of leaders has this world had? Isaiah chapter 3. Isaiah chapter 3, and notice verses 1-7. For behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts does take away from Jerusalem, from Judah, the stay and the staff, and the whole stay of bread, and the whole supply.

The mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the prudent, and the ancient. The captain of 50, the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children an ability to be their princes and babes to rule over them. Verse 5, And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and a child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable. And when a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, be our ruler, let this ruin be under your hand. Hey, you've got some clothing, you be our ruler, we don't have anything.

For Jerusalem is ruined, verse 8. Jerusalem is ruined because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes to his glory. So, once again, you have the need for someone to be here to rule. Notice verses 13 to 15. The Lord wants, stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people.

The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof, for you have eaten up his vineyard. You leaders, you've eaten up the vineyard of the Lord. The spoil of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean that you beat my people to pieces and grind the faces of the poor, says the Lord. The kind of rulers that are take, that are get. I don't know if you've seen the movie, Dave. The movie, Dave, was out several years ago about a man who looked enough like the president, who had had a stroke, and they needed a fill-in for the president, so they found this guy. It looked just like the president. They wanted him to just be a dummy to be out there. They tell him what to say, like a puppet in movie moron. And at the end, you know what he said? He said, I ought to care more about you than I do about me. I ought to care more about you than I do about me. Isn't that what a leader's all about? That isn't what we find in the leaders we have in this world. They care more about themselves. Are they really ought for everybody? If we really wanted to bring the deficit down, wouldn't we have a budget? Wouldn't we have a budget? Wouldn't we do everything we possibly could to save money in our country? Wouldn't we be sounding the alarm we're going over a cliff if we keep on spending? We've got to care more about you than they care about themselves. Matthew 20, verse 25. Matthew 20, verse 25. What about the use of authority? Matthew 20, verse 25. Jesus Christ said this. He called them to Him and He said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them. I'm told that Saddam Hussein, when people spoke against him, he would send his henchmen out and they would grab that person, and they would take a pair of pliers and they would grab his tongue and pull it out, and they would cut off his tongue. That's authority upon people, not for people. They that are great exercise authority upon them. Give me a hundred push-ups. Give me 200 push-ups. Stand there on one leg for two hours. That's using authority in a wrong way. That's the type of rulers our world has been used to. Let's look at the next slide. But the true hero who will rescue this world is Jesus Christ. And I say that to emphasize Jesus Christ is going to come back. Jesus Christ is going to come back, and He's going to come back in power. Notice Revelation 11, verse 15, the next slide. Revelation 11, verse 15, we read this.

Notice verse 17, because I didn't quote it here. Of course, the four and twenty elders fell down, which they do every time. He's praised, which is a lot. You read through Revelation 4, you come to appreciate how much these great angels around Jesus Christ and God the Father all the time, how much they think of Him. Because every time one praises, they throw their castor crowns in front of Him and fall down and worship Him. But verse 17, I thought, is very instructive. He says, saying, we give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are and which was, which is to come, because you have taken to you your great power and have reigned. When Jesus Christ comes back this time, He's not coming back as a humble carpenter from Nazareth. When He comes back this time, He's coming back in the power and glory of God, and He's coming back for the people. He's coming back to rescue them. He's coming back to bring them back to Jerusalem, as we heard, when that river can go out. Haggai 2 and verse 7. Next scripture, Haggai 2 and verse 7. You'll note what Haggai writes. Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. But Haggai chapter 2 and verse 7. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. Who is this desire of all nations? They don't even know what they're desiring. They don't know what they want. They do know they want a leader. They do know they want somebody to rescue them. They do know they want someone to bring them out of their predicament. And when they're in the Great Tribulation, they'll be begging somebody to come and help them. But they've been so deceived that even when he comes back, they're going to fight him when he comes back. The nations will fight him, because they've been given a bill of goods telling them and describing perfectly the revelation return of Jesus Christ, except calling that antichrist.

But the desire of all nations shall come, he said, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. Notice Revelation 19 and verse 11. How's he coming back? Does God have spiritual stables in heaven? As you'll notice, there are a lot of horses going to be coming back. Revelation chapter 19. Revelation 19 and verse 11, we read this. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True, only Jesus Christ. And in righteousness he does judge and make war. And it goes on to describe him. And in verse 14, it says, And the armies which were in heaven followed him with white upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Now who are those armies? I would say two possibilities. One, the angels coming down from heaven, plus saints that are going to be resurrected to beat him in the air, which is also called a heaven, not the third heaven, but a first heaven, and to meet him as spirit beings and come back. And maybe he'll bring some white horses for you to ride to.

God is coming back to save this world, and he's coming back with power. His eyes are as a flame of fire, it says. On his head were many crowns. Why does he have many crowns? Because he's king of kings, and he's also Lord of lords. And he had a name that no man knew but he himself. Maybe one day you'll know that too. But Ezekiel 34 shows you what he's going to do when he comes back. He's going to come back and he's going to stop all the wars, all the trouble. You talk about the war to end all war, talk about Armageddon, and then gathering down at Jerusalem. But Ezekiel 34, why is he coming back? This true hero, Jesus Christ. Ezekiel 34, verse 11. Ezekiel 34, verse 11, we read this, For thus says the Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. God is going to go looking for the physical Israelites wherever they've been scattered. His spiritual Israelites are going to be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. At that last trump, they'll be resurrected to meet him. But he's going to go out. He said, I will search for my sheep, seek them out. Verse 12, As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Brethren, there's going to be a cloudy and dark day come on our country. And I hate to even think of it, and my mind won't even go there.

Do you know how many millions of people already are being trafficked, sold into slavery worldwide? It's like big business, something like 13 million people, and more than that, enslaved in our world. People trafficking is one of the biggest businesses.

What will they pay for an American in Egypt or Afghanistan? Or for that matter, some of the other hostile countries over there, Iran and Iraq? What will they pay for an American slave? Probably not much, but they'll still get them.

That's what the Scriptures tell us. God's people will go into captivity, physical peoples, once more. And as they toil in that captivity, and after the Great Tribulation, God gets the world's attention with His heavenly signs. And after those heavenly signs, He begins to deal with this world.

The trumpet plagues begin. That seventh seal is opened with the seven trumpet plagues ending in the return of Jesus Christ. God's going to make them let His people go once again. Jesus Christ is coming back to the rescue.

He's the hero this world desires, but doesn't even recognize and doesn't even know it. Look at verse 13. He said, I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land. I'll feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all their inhabited places of the country. Though they can be down the rivers, you know, river from Judea.

And I will feed them in good pasture, and upon high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in a good fold, and in fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. And I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord. God is going to protect His people. Notice verse 28. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. I am coming back to save them, God says. There are many other scriptures, but I wanted to give you this one. Let's look at the next slide.

Guess what? He's not going to be alone.

Jesus Christ is coming back, but He's going to be met by His saints, who are going to join Him in rescuing this world. Obadiah 21. Obadiah 21.

Notice what Obadiah says. Obadiah comes just before Jonah. Verse 21.

And Saviors, and by the way, the theme of virtually all the minor prophets' books is the day of the Lord, the time of God's intervention in the world affairs, as an overall theme. And notice what He says. And Saviors shall come up on Mount Zion. Sure, God, Jesus Christ, and His angels. But what other Saviors would there be? Saviors to judge the Mount of Esau, and the Kingdom shall be the Lords. That's how it ends. Saviors are going to come up. God's going to have help. He doesn't need help. He could do it all Himself. But God's a team player. God loves to involve other people. Does God need angels to go around the earth and bring Him reports? Does He need seven eyes to go out? He doesn't need seven eyes. He could see everything and know everything. Does He need twenty-four elders to be around His throne to counsel Him? No, He doesn't need that. Does He need carobim to transport His throne? Can He go by Himself? Sure, He could.

But God works with others. And Jesus Christ is going to work with others too, as He restores this earth. Revelation 5, verse 10. This was read already, but I'll just punctuate it. Revelation 5 and verse 10. We read this. Revelation 20, verse 4. I'm not going to quote it. I'll just give you the sense of it. God promises rulership to those saints. Rulership in Revelation 20, verse 4. I will read Revelation 3 and verse 21, because this shows we're going to be assisting Jesus Christ.

In His throne, you're going to be helping Him. To Him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with My Father in His throne. So I'm going to have helpers like My Father has Me there to help Him. Let's look at the next slide. What about the next part of this sermon is about you and Me? Is about you and Me. Jesus Christ is fully capable of doing everything He's going to do, but the question is, are you? Am I? Are we getting ready? Now, again, please do not anthropomorphize God. Anthropomorphism is when you try to make God in your image. You say, well, I'm going to have to learn all those languages? I'm not very good at language. You won't have to worry about it. As a spirit being with the mind of God, totally, completely spirit, everything God tells you one time. Will you have perfect remembrance? Of course. He says, do this one. You'll know that forever. You'll know everything. Quick! You'll be able to pick it up. But this life is a proving ground, a training ground for us to learn now and to acknowledge and to develop as many of these capabilities as we possibly can. And the character that you have now is what carries through with you into the spirit world. But notice what kind of a ruler will you be or what kind of a hero will you be? The essential characteristics of a ruler I found on page 68 and 69 from the Wonderful World Tomorrow book. Remember that booklet to try to give people a picture of the Wonderful World Tomorrow? Here's what it says. If the next three slides can be brought up, thank you. Number, Mr. Armstrong writes, At the same time, God began ensuring efficiency and protection of his world-ruling government by causing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph to be trained during a lifetime in several basic essentials for top personnel in God's government of perfection. First is a right attitude. A right attitude, he said, this is the first and essential. God looks on the heart, the spirit, the attitude, first of all. Now notice the second point. Secondly, they were trained in knowledge of true values. How else could we lead people to true values if we don't even know them, if we've not practiced them ourselves? And thirdly, he says, after that, third point, they were trained in handling people in wise management of people without letting it turn their heads. So let's take a look at these three points briefly. Let's ask ourselves, am I ready to be a hero? Am I ready to be a ruler along with Jesus Christ, the true hero? Am I ready to be there? Let's look at first of all, a right attitude. Psalms 51 and verse 10.

Psalms 51 and verse 10. One of David's chief concerns after he sinned mightily before God. This sin with Bathsheba, he had her husband killed, got him drunk and tried to deceive him. Finally, he had him killed, one of his chief men. Notice what he prays for in Psalms 51 and verse 10 in his prayer of repentance. He says this, Once again, what is your direction in life? Are you headed toward the kingdom of God? Are you headed for the world as we heard? And when people are baptized, you say, what is it, the kingdom of God or the world? Well, no question, kingdom of God.

He wants us to have a right attitude. How do we approach David's prayer created me a right attitude? Secondly, Philippians 2.5, we also heard this scripture, and I don't mind repeating it because it's a powerful scripture. Philippians 2.5, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It's an attitude. Help me to see things the way Christ sees them. Help me to look upon the broad picture. Help me to see the big picture. Help me to see things as they are, to see things truly. Help me to have an attitude that's good and right about it. An attitude that's fixed. I remember sometimes people say when there's trouble, you say, who did this? Who did this? Say, rather than fixing blame, fix the problem. Let's fix the problem, not fix the blame. Well, who did this? Let's fix the problem. Fix the problem. But let this mind be in you. Do you pray that God will help you face each day as Christ prayed, Christ faced each day when He walked this earth? Help me to have the same kind of approach, the same kind of an attitude, same kind of outlook. Isaiah 66, verses 1 and 2, I'm not going to go there, but you know what that says, To this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Here's a person who has an attitude of humility, who's willing to prefer the other person, who's yielded and willing to learn. The last scripture I have on here is 2 Samuel 23, 3. I figure a man after God's own heart probably could give us some pretty good advice. 2 Samuel, chapter 23, verse 3, at the end of his life, here's what he said. 2 Samuel 23, verse 3, some of his last words. He said, the God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spoke to me. Here's what the rock of Israel, Jesus Christ said. Remember that rock that followed them was Christ? He that rules over men. You want to be a ruler? You're going to be a ruler in the kingdom of God, whether you hope you want to be there, not just a doorkeeper. Some people say, well, you know what the scripture is? I'd rather be a doorkeeper.

You're not qualified. You should come here to the feast. All you do is open and close doors. Why am I going to be a doorkeeper in the kingdom of God? He says, I'd rather be a doorkeeper than dwell on the tents of wickedness. He didn't say that's your goal. Our goal is to help people. Now, if you think about it, I don't want to be a ruler. I don't want to be pompous. I don't want to march around. I don't want to be a show-off. That's not what being a leader and ruler is.

A leader and a ruler and a hero is having the power to make a difference. Having the power to make a difference for the sake of the people that you serve. So he said, he that rules over men must be just. He must be fair. He must have that type of an attitude of fairness. Notice what else he says. Fooling in the fear of God. His attitude is, boy, I know where I get my authority from, and I know whom I have to answer to. I know where my authority comes from, and I know to whom I'm going to have to answer.

David's words, fear of God, be just. Have a right attitude. Ask yourself, how's your attitude? I was telling you at the senior citizens seminar, that if you get up out of bed, you know I just get up out of the wrong side of bed. I said, change sides. Start learning to get up on the right side of the bed so you don't get up like a grump. Life is too precious to live in a miserable state.

Do all you can to be uplifting and positive. That'll hold you in good stead. I also found one thing that I do with my children, and I hope parents will do their children.

I try to say yes as much as I can to my children. I say no when it's wrong for them, but I try to say yes as much as I can. I think it's a good thing to do. If every time your children ask you something, no. Now they have to battle through no in order to get that to be yes if what they wanted to do was noble and good. Some people say no just out of hand. No, can't do it. Can't do it. Are you a can't-do person or a can-do? The Apostle Paul said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. And guess where he was when he said that?

In prison. That's an attitude. Develop a can-do attitude. Develop an accommodating attitude. Develop an attitude that says, hey, how can I help you? What can I do to make your day better? And if we get up every day saying, help me just to make one person's day better. Help me to just lift one person today.

Not weight-wise because some of you couldn't lift me. But anyway, you want to lift somebody's spirits by how you are. I've often said there's some people I know and I love them very much. They're great for discussing world affairs, politics, what's going on in society, what's the world news. But I would not want to go to a movie with them because everything in the movie they see, they only see the bad.

In the sound of music, they would even see their nuns in there. They wouldn't hear the beautiful music. Well, look who's singing it. They'd make their comments. They don't like those people. There are some people that are negative by nature and there are many more negative feelings that you can have. Do not let yourself go down that path.

Ask God for help to lift people up instead of drag them down. So that's the first one, right attitude. Second one, second one we see is the knowledge of true values. How else can you lead other people to true values if you don't even know them yourself? Exodus 18 and verse 21. Exodus 18 verse 21. Moses' father-in-law gave him some pretty good advice.

He said this, Moreover, you shall provide out of all the people able men, able men, notice, such as fear God, we already heard that one, men of truth. Have you ever seen and remembered where the, where does the belt of truth go in our armor? Right around our midsection. Right around our midsection. The very core of our being should be truth. Truth. Speak the truth. That's why Jesus said, you know what? A Christian's yes or no is better than swearing on a stack of Bibles, which we shouldn't do anyway. A Christian says yes, his word is good. Christian says no, his word is good.

We need to practice being men and women of truth. Men and women of truth. Hating covetousness. He says, place such over men, over them to be rulers of thousands, hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. So no matter what ruler it is, they needed to know truth. Now, where do we find truth?

Hmm, I think I know the Scripture on that one. John 17, 17, thy word is truth. Hosea 4, 6 tells us that my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. It's not lack of knowledge in general, but it is lack of true knowledge. He said, because you've forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. You did not know my way. You did not study my word. You did not know the truth. We have to study the truth. If you want to be a ruler, help Jesus Christ. Number two point is knowledge of true values. 2 Timothy 2, 15. 2 Timothy 2, 15.

We read the Apostle Paul's exhortation to a young evangelist. We don't know how young he was. He wasn't like 15 or 16 or 21 or 22, but he was still younger than Paul. And Paul's instruction to him was this. Study or do your diligence, as it says, to show yourself approved to God. A workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

See, you can divide the word of truth wrongly. As one man said, well, I was talking to him about smoking. He was in a mental institution. He had written for a visit in Wales. I drove six hours to get there with another one of the students. We were both students at college at that time. I was on the visiting team. Drove over there, and we come to see this guy and ask for a visit. If we walk in, he's got a pack of cigarettes with him. So the subject came up about smoking. So I said, well, so what do you think? He said, well, God smokes. It says, God smoked in his anger.

And so did Rebecca, because it says she lit off her camel.

Camels were cigarettes, for those who don't smoke.

See, that's not rightly dividing the word of truth. Do you know the doctrines of the church? Have you studied those? I have a whole booklet on it. But don't just believe the booklet. Believe the Bible. Study the Bible. Know it. Can you turn and defend your faith? I go through comparative religion class, and I cover what some of the key beliefs are of various religions in the world and Christian religions. And I have students compare them to the Bible. Well, not compare them to each other. Compare them to the Bible. How do they match up? Is this truthful or not? And they're getting very good at being able to knife through and see whether or not this is good or not good in accordance with the Scriptures. Knowing your Bible, studying it, be a workman who rightly divides the word of truth. 2 Timothy 3, verse 7 tells us they're ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3, 7, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge... Why? Well, if I read the Encyclopedia Britannica, I can get a lot of knowledge. But I'm not going to get the truth regarding salvation. I'm not going to get the truth about God, about what I should do with my life, morally. I'm not going to get it. Verses 13 to 17, we read this in 2 Timothy 3, But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them. But don't put a lot of stock in of whom. Put a lot of stock in what? Put your stock in what the Bible says in verse 15.

And that from a child, Timothy, you have known the Holy Scriptures. Teach your children about God. Teach them the meaning of the Ten Commandments. Teach them the meaning of the Holy Days. Don't make them memorize every single word and not know what they mean. Teach your children about God. He said, from a child, you've known the Holy Scriptures. The only Scriptures they had were the Old Testament, which were able to make you wise to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

And verse 16, and all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. You want the truth? It's God's Word. How many places does it say, the Word of the Lord came to be saying? Where the Lord came to be saying? The Word of the Lord came to be saying. It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, complete, thoroughly furnished to all good works, ready to accomplish that which God wants.

And the last Scripture up here in this particular section, I'm not going to quote it to you. I'll just read it to you. I'll just let you write it down. Isaiah 30, verses 20 and 21, talks about, you're going to be there. Somebody's going to be there. The teachers are not going to be removed into a corner. But that they'll be there saying, this is the way. Walk you in it. How are you going to tell people this is the way if you don't know it?

So it's up to us to learn that way now. Let's look at the third point. The third point. And that is, how do you handle people? How do you deal with your children? How did you handle people today? Did you get upset at them? Do you get up mad at them? How do you handle people? Don't let yourself mistreat people.

How do you think abuse comes about? By people who have not been treated right themselves in many cases? And they just pass it on. Instead of stopping it in their own life, they just pass on the abuse. Zechariah 14, verses 16 and 17. Zechariah 14, verses 16 and 17. The peoples of this world are going to be hurting. They will have lost loved ones. They will have lost home and property. They will have lost a lot. And they'll be coming to learn. And verse 16, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, that came to that great battle, everyone that's left shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

But are they going to all of a sudden have a millennial attitude? No, not really. Notice what he says in verse 17. And it shall be that whosoever will not come up of all the families of the earth to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

So God's going to do a little bit of correction here. A little bit of helping their attitudes. No rain on you. No rain. Then how about a plague? That didn't do it. How about if I bring a plague upon you? So they will need loving care. They will need you to be sensitive in bringing them back. Those who've lost loved ones, I can picture us.

Reuniting families. This one was sold into Egypt, and this one was sold into Afghanistan. And you say, I know where your son is. I'll get him for you. I know where your daughter is. I'll get her for you. And I'll bring you all back together. What a joyous time that's going to be. But you have to be sensitive. 1 Corinthians 9, 19, the Apostle Paul set this example for us. He said, For though I be free, 1 Corinthians 9, 19, For though I be from all men, Yet I've made myself servant to all.

That's the attitude. That I might gain the more. To the Jews, I became as a Jew. I tried to understand things as the Jews would understand them. I tried to look at it from their viewpoint. That I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the laws. Those that are under the law. That I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law, I try to look at it from their perspective. He said, But not – I wasn't without the law.

I didn't discount the law of God to do that. But I tried to look at it from their perspective. That I might gain them that are without the law. To the weak. I looked on them as weak. I tried to become – look at it as someone, not look down on them. But I tried to look at them from their weakness.

Remember the disciples? They wanted authority. Remember Mrs. Zebedee? She said, Oh, I baked you a lot of pita bread, and I've given you a lot of shawarma, and I've given you a lot of falafels. And Jesus, don't you remember all the nice things I've done for you? Just one little tiny request. In the kingdom, let John sit on one side and James on the other side. My sons. And Jesus said, Mrs. Zebedee, it's not my job to give that to you. To give them any position. Of course, the other disciples heard about it, and they were mad. Why? Because they were probably angling for the same seats. And then he had to call them together and explain to them, This is not the way you do it. You can't exercise authority upon people. It's got to be for them. Matthew 25. How do you handle people? See, by learning now how to handle people. When it becomes your nature, just to be kind and nice to people. When it comes naturally to you, to help out. To have a pitching... to help and pitch in a hand. Give a helping hand to someone. In Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and the holy angels with Him. Then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations. And He shall separate them as they separate sheep one from another. And He shall set the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the other. And then shall the King say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink, and I was a stranger, you took me in. And I was naked, and you clothed me, and I was sick, and you visited me. And I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see you in prison? When did we see you hungry? When did we see you and feed you, and thirsty, and give you... When did we see you a stranger, and take you in, or naked, or clothed? When did we see you sicker in prison, and come to you? I don't know what you're talking about. When did we do this? Verse 40, And the King shall answer and say to them, Verily I say to you, inasmuch as you have done this, To one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me. Now, when I say two things about it, number one, they didn't realize doing it for the brethren was doing it for him. But number two, it became their way of life to help people so much that they didn't even recognize that they had done anything special. Brethren, we need to have that kind of care and love, one for another and for all peoples. Let's look at the next two slides. Lone Ranger and Superman. Next slide.

Were my two favorite characters. They were the ones that I believed were the heroes that could rescue. But you know what? Number 44. Next slide. The hero who will save this world is Jesus Christ. And in 1 Corinthians 15, it's not on my slide, but 1 Corinthians 15, verse 24 to 28, it says, When Jesus Christ has come back and when He's put all these nations down, then He's going to yield up control to His Father. Now, God the Father is not out of the picture. He just sent Jesus Christ to do this, to straighten this world out and to get it back in order. And when He has subdued all these nations under Him, then He will yield it up, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 24 to 28, to the Father who sent Him. Let's look at the last slide. Romans 8, my last scripture, verses 18 to 21, Romans 8, verses 18 to 21. We read this, For I reckon that the suffering of this present world, present time, or not, sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation, or the creature, waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. The world is waiting for heroes. The world is waiting for Jesus Christ. They don't know it! They're waiting for Him. Verse 20, For the creation was made subject to vanity, subject to disintegration, subject to uselessness. Not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected the same in hope. God has subjected all of us! Hey, you know what? After 70-some years, you die. You die. It's over. And I take it with you. It's gone. People die. Things die. Cars die. Books die. Everything has it beginning and end. That's what He's saying. But He's subjected us to that in hope that we come to recognize that there's something better for us. He says, Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption to the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole world, the whole creation, groans and travails in pain until now. I think there have been only like 286 years of peace on this earth. Since they began keeping records, there have always been people fighting each other.

When's peace going to come when Jesus Christ brings it?

Verse 23, And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we even groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, yes, to wit the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope. We're waiting for that time that God is going to deliver us.

So we can be the kind of heroes this world needs.

Will you be ready to meet the world's desperate need to be rescued and to help their hero, Jesus Christ, lead those rescued people to the wonderful kingdom of God? Last slide, please.

So let's continue to have a wonderful rest of this feast that's grown spiritually.

Let's rejoice until the end of this festival, 2012.