The Power of the God Family's Light Defeats Satan's Power of Darkness

Brethren, today is the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. First day of the Feast. What does this particular day represent in the plan of God? It represents the beginning of the Millennium, doesn't it? But let's look at some overarching context before we get into the main thrusts that I want to cover with you today. We're at the very beginning of the Feast. We're at the very beginning of the Millennium. But just prior to that, we've had the Feast of Trumpets. Trumpets representing the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to rescue His bride from a very dark world. We're happy about that. But you know something, brethren? We have spiritual brothers and sisters, but we're also human beings. And we've got fleshly brothers and sisters out there. The whole world. In a whole world, it needs to be rescued from the darkness that pervades it. The world needs to be rescued from itself. The Day of Atonement pictures the victorious binding of Satan, binding the power of darkness, binding Satan and his demons. And of course, we've got the Feast of Tabernacles, which begins in today representing the beginning of a joyous new chapter in the history of mankind. A joyous new chapter with a time of light. But again, in terms of context, let's turn over to Isaiah 24. In Chicago, we've just started a series where, about once a month, I'll be going through the book of Isaiah. It should take probably about three years doing it that way. Seriously, when I did it in Ann Arbor, Michigan, it took about that long. I think we'll have a cake or something when we're done. But here we see planet Earth. Planet Earth in chaos, dysfunction, hopelessness, misery, death. And we're only going to spend a short time on this because I don't want this sermon to be something that's negative. But we do need to understand context. Isaiah 24, verse 1. Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste. Distorts its service, scatters abroad its inhabitants. As with the people, so with the priest. As with the servant, so with the master. As with the maid, so with her mistress. As with the buyer, so with the seller. As with the lender, so with the borrower. As with the creditor, so with the debtor. So here you've got a series of couplets showing the various ages, or not ages, but various types of people. From one end of the spectrum to another, and you have various categories listed there. Nobody escapes. Nobody escapes. We drop down to verse 5. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws. There's a reason why this is happening. They've changed the ordinance. They've broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few are left. The breaking of God's laws is why this is taking place. And lastly, in verses 19 and 20. The earth is violently broken. The earth is split open. The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut. Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall and not rise again.

So here we see pictured at the end of the age, just prior to the beginning of the millennium, tremendous earthquakes may be resulting in tsunami, volcanic eruption. You know, it wasn't that long ago in March of 2011 where Japan was hit with a magnitude 9 earthquake. Mag 9. In that earthquake, according to Life Science Magazine, an article published in September of 2017, the earth shifted ever so slightly on its axis. That's how powerful that one quake was. It moved the island of Honshu eight feet. It moved the island eight feet. At its epicenter, it moved the Pacific Plate 79 feet.

That's a tremendous earthquake, and that's nothing compared to what the world will see at the end of the age. So that's what's happening on planet earth, getting to the place where people will hardly be able to take a breath of fresh air. In Revelation, we see you've heard on trumpets and other sermons where Christ has got to tell the angels, well, don't destroy any more greenery. And why is that? So if they destroy any more, people won't be able to breathe. Let's turn our attention to Revelation 16. Revelation 16. We're breaking into the middle of the historical context here after Trumpets Numbers 1-7.

Take a look at 1-6. Now, take a look at what we see here. Revelation 16, verse 9. And men were scorched with a great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues. And they didn't repent and give him glory. Didn't repent to the great God who had power over those plagues. The fifth angel poured out his bowl in the throne of the beast, and the kingdom became full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.

They blasphemed the name of God in heaven because of their pains and their sores. It did not repent of their deeds. So as bad as planet Earth is, notice human nature at its ripest here. We drop down to verse 21. A great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since the plague was exceedingly great. Exceedingly great. So here you see, brethren, the state of mankind, unconverted mankind, at the time of the beginning of the millennium. We're rejoicing as Jesus Christ thunders across the heavens, collecting the saints as he goes.

We see that in Matthew 24. As he's collecting the saints, and as Jesus Christ is rejoicing, as all the various ones that have lived as saints and died, Old Testament, New Testament, as Abraham, for example, and Moses, as their resurrected, Christ says, you know, I so love their prayers. I so loved their lives. I so loved working with them. And now, they're back with me.

They're back with me. If we think about it from Christ's perspective and God's perspective, a truly great day. Truly wonderful. But let's take a look at a prophecy in the Old Testament that deals with you. We're not going to get into that negative anymore, but let's take a look at something really very positive. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 60. Here we see the power of the God family of light. The God family of light. Isaiah chapter 60, verse 1. Prophecy about you.

Rise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. God works His power in your life. You know, it's appointed unto all men once to die. That includes all of us. Even if we only die momentarily at the time of the return of Christ, we will die, even if only momentarily, and then be changed. But notice, the great power of God has come.

Notice the description here. Shining, light, in verse 1. Verse 2. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth. We read about some of that in Isaiah 24. And deep darkness the people. We read about that in Revelation 16. But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. So what we're looking at, brethren, here in Isaiah chapter 60 verses 1 through 3, is a prophecy about your resurrection to a being of tremendously beautiful light.

Those of you who like to take notes, here's my theme statement for the sermon. Twelve words. If you get nothing else, please write these twelve words down. The power of the God Family's light defeats Satan's power of darkness. The power of the God Family's light defeats Satan's power of darkness. Now, a little bit of a qualifier.

Satan is defeated prior to the beginning of the millennium. We understand that with Christ's return that we see in trumpets, with the binding of Satan that we see in a day of atonement. But Satan's influence, even though he's locked up, still carries forward.

People who are living from this world into the millennium still have been touched by the dirty, filthy spiritual hands of Satan the devil and his demons. We see in Zechariah chapter 14, I'm not going to turn there, I just refer to Zechariah 14, where not everyone's going to keep the feast at first.

If they don't keep the feast, rain's not going to fall upon them as a nation. So it's not just snap your fingers and everything's okay. Earth is still in a horrible condition. People still have the imprint of Satan all over them. And so what we want to do is we're fighting the residual effects of Satan's power, the darkness of his power, but we are those creatures of light.

So today represents the first part of the millennium. A couple of guiding principles as I was putting my sermon notes together. I'm not going to turn to these scriptures, but in your notes you might want to put guiding principle number one. A statement that Mordecai said to Esther in Esther chapter 4 and verse 14. I'll just read that to you, Esther 4.14.

I'll read part of it where Mordecai says to Esther, Yet who knows whether you've come to the kingdom for such a time as this, that you've come to the kingdom. Brethren, we will be resurrected, as we saw there in Isaiah 60, to the kingdom for such a time as we see there.

That time of tremendous darkness. Don't want that darkness anymore. God doesn't want it. Christ doesn't want it. You don't want it. The people don't want that. And so we've come to the kingdom for that sort of a time to help, to heal. We saints have been prepared by a life of intensive spiritual training for such a time. You have been prepared. You are being prepared. I am. We all are being prepared right now for such a tremendous time. So that's guiding principle number one. Guiding principle number two, I'll read to you in Revelation 5 and verse 10. And it's made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.

Kings and priests. God will position us in those areas. Kings and priests. What does a king do? Well, a king does a lot of things, but let's take a look at one aspect of what a king does over here in Deuteronomy chapter 17.

Deuteronomy chapter 17, verses 18 through 20. Deuteronomy chapter 17, verses 18. Also, it shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book from the one before the priests, the Levites. I know of an individual sitting in this room who is doing a portion of that right now. As we go through the book of Isaiah, she's writing out each verse, and then she puts down her commentary as well. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God. So he's reading this all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes. That his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel. So part of the job of a king is to study and live by the Word of God. You study and live by the Word of God. You are being prepared for the kingdom for such a time as we're looking at in these seven days. And then, of course, the last great day, or the eighth day. So a king studies and lives by the law of God. Let's turn to Malachi 2. What does a priest do?

A priest does, again, many things. We're going to highlight one of the things, one of the main things. Malachi 2.

And verse 7. Malachi 2.7, Malachi 2.7, You know, as I was reviewing my notes yesterday, I couldn't help but think about Ezra 7 and verse 10. Let me read Ezra 7.10 for you. You might want to copy that into your notes. Ezra 7.10.

Ezra. Notice the three words in that verse. To me, always such a beautiful verse, so full of meat. Seek, do, teach.

Seek, do, teach. That's what you're doing. That's what I'm doing. That's what God is preparing us to do. So we can serve, not just at the very first of the millennium, but all the millennium, all the great, the last great day, and beyond whatever God has in mind.

Revelation chapter 19.

Revelation chapter 19.

And verse 7. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

His wife has made herself ready. His wife has sought the law, done the law, teaching the law, walking in the light, examining the light, living by light.

So again, brethren, the power of the God family's light, which you're preparing yourself as you're living your life in Christ right now, you're going to defeat the effects of Satan in the world tomorrow. So let's break this down. Let's drill down into this a little bit. How exactly has God been preparing us for such a day as this? Beginning of the millennium. How's God doing that? First of all, He gives us classwork. Classwork.

Learning spiritual principles of light. Learning spiritual principles of light. Let's take a look at 2 Timothy chapter 3. Here in 2 Timothy chapter 3, we have got, again, the Bible is just so full of meat. And we've come to the Feast of Tabernacles, and hey, I love red meat as much as anybody. I enjoy golf. There used to be a golfer. I don't even know if he's still alive now. He was a small of stature, great player. One day somebody said, how do you play golf so well? You're such a little guy. He said, oh, I love red meat. And they said, Cheech, that's bad for you. He said, I don't know. He said, I look at lions and tigers. They eat red meat. They look at the lions and tigers. And he said, I love red meat. He said, I don't know. He said, I look at lions and tigers. They eat red meat. They look pretty good to me.

Here we have, brethren, in the meat of these three verses, 2 Timothy 3, 15, 16, 17, we've got a sacred process for change that God has given to us. He's given you His Holy Spirit. God gives the Spirit to those who obey Him, Acts 5, 32. He's given you that Spirit to help you unlock these beautiful truths. So let's take a look at the classwork that God has given to us here. Starting here in verse 15, 2 Timothy 3, 15, And that from childhood you've known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. And that from childhood you've known the holy Scriptures. They're holy. They are sacred. They are unique to God. You don't find these principles anyplace else in the world, in no other writings apart from the writings of God. They are holy Scriptures. It says, which are able...

These Scriptures enable us not to do negative things. How many times do we think about enabling as being in a negative thing? But here we see Scriptures unique to God that are a very positive thing. The word able here, enable, comes from the Greek word dynamite. So these words, these sacred Scriptures, are powerful.

They enable us to make us wise for salvation through faith, through the mercy and grace of God. There's not a thing, brethren, you and I do in this life of any consequence. Well, there's nothing we do, period, apart from the grace of God. We don't take a breath without the grace of God.

Verse 16, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

Inspiration of God. And as profitable says here for four things. And here's your formula. Number one, for doctrine. Number two, for reproof. Number three, correction. Number four, instruction and righteousness. There is your formula, God's formula. Now, there's perhaps another way of stating these four things.

Instead of saying doctrine, you could say teaching.

That we're being taught principles of light from God. From Jesus Christ, through the Bible. Instead of the word reproof, we're probably more familiar with the word convicting. That the word of God convicts us of those principles of light.

Correction. No need to change words there. Correction, showing how we walk away from the principles of darkness. For the fourth one, instruction and righteousness. That's fine, but you can also call it discipline training in righteousness. Discipline training in those principles of light.

We move forward to verse 17. That the man of God, or the woman of God, or the young person of God, may be complete, thoroughly equipped. Complete. You know, you look at the word there in the original, it gives the idea of completely fitted out. Paul was no stranger to getting aboard a ship in his day and going from point A to point B to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. And when Paul got on his ship, he realized that the shipmaster, if he knew what he was doing, made provision for all sorts of things. It's easy to make provision for when the weather is fair and the waters are calm. But so many times that would not be the case. So if the captain of the ship knows what he's doing, he has things in his storage area. He has extra whatever they would use for sale back in those days. Extra rope, maybe some extra timber. So if they run into a storm in the middle of wherever, the Mediterranean or wherever, they can affect repairs.

That ship is completely fitted out.

God, through his Spirit, completely fits us out. Why? End of verse 17. That the man of God might be complete, thoroughly equipped, for every good work. Which good works are we talking about? Well, the good works of verse 16. The works of doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness.

That's what the Word of God does. And we are learning by doing classwork right now. Right now. That we can be a help. Let's take a look at a practical example of this in Isaiah chapter 30.

Something you and I are going to be doing in the future.

I'm sure perhaps on this very day, the beginning of the millennium, we'll have opportunity.

Oh, I'm sure it's going to be fun.

I'm sure it's going to be fun, you know, at the beginning of the millennium, when we're working with people who have the mindset we saw there. In Revelation 16. And in the last great day. You know, some of my relatives arise.

Italians and...

No, don't laugh.

Let's not get ugly out there.

But my wife's relatives, those are the ones we've got to watch out for.

The Vikings. Those people, they're resurrected. You've got to watch them really carefully from Word 1. You know, I can say that because she's not in the room right now.

Isaiah 30.

Verse 20.

And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. But your eyes shall see your teachers, your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. Teachers.

Teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. No, because we're kings and we're priests and we're teachers. And we're going to be the ones who are saying the words. We're going to be the ones bringing people and turning them from a way of darkness to a way of light.

One action item for us, brethren, on this particular point. One action item. If you have not laid your foundation the way it should be laid, please do so.

Brick by brick, as carefully and as skillfully as God gives you the power to do, lay your foundation. I thought I had done that early in my life, but I found I hadn't. The God of this age knew I hadn't. And when I wanted to come to a place where I was going to be baptized at the ripe old age of 20, I went for counseling and all of a sudden Satan just... It's like he took a sledgehammer to what I thought was my foundation. And there I was at Ambassador College, getting great grades in my religion classes, and all of a sudden Randy Delosandro, who started keeping the feast at age 16 at home, all of a sudden I couldn't believe, how do I know the Bible's true? How do I know God is really up there? How do I know that? And I had tremendous doubt. And so I went to counsel with a particular individual who I chose back in those days, you can choose who you were counseling with, and I chose a fellow who I thought would really be tough on me. And so I said, Randy, what you need to do is fast.

Fasted. Came back the next week. Mr. Dr. so-and-so. No go. Fast again. Fast again. Well, in Ambassador College back in those days, just eating the normal meals was kind of like fasting.

Had to walk across the street to El Rancho to kind of fortify things a little bit.

Did that for five weeks running. Still no go. He said, Randy, I want you to, this next time, you start, talk to your employer, you start fasting, and you don't stop. Until God helps you get through that. Yeah. And this would be nothing left of me but a hank of hair and tennis shoes.

So first day went by, second day went by, at the end of the third day, God helped. God wanted to bring me to a certain position. 72 hours. Three days. But I finally was able to start really building my foundation brick by brick. Brother, you don't want to be in that situation, especially at the end of the age. Especially when it really matters. So if you've not done that, please do so. Okay, so one of the things that we are doing and preparing us for that day, for such a time as the beginning of the millennium and beyond, we've got our class work, we've also now, a second thing God has is lab work. You know, there's any number of ways that we learn. We can learn theory, we can learn all sorts of principles, but there's something else. God wants us to have hands-on learning experiences. Hands-on training, not just theory. Let's look at Acts 14, verse 22.

Acts 14, 22. Strengthen the souls of the disciples, exerting them to continue into faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Now, I'm addressing a three rooms full of people who know what it's like to go through tribulations. All of us do. All of us have. All of us will continue to go through various tribulations.

But we need to understand something, especially when the tribulation just seems to be crushing us. And especially when the tribulation seems to be something we've been enduring for such a long time.

And to our mind, we think we've learned the lesson, and we've heard in sermons. When you learn the lesson, God moves on. And we think, Boy, I've learned that lesson. Why isn't God moving on? I certainly want to move on. We need to understand our lab work. We need to understand what God has in mind as we go through life's challenges. Let's understand, letter A, that trials have a purpose. Whatever you and I are going through, it has a purpose. And that purpose is so that you and I come to resemble our father and elder brother, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12.

Hebrews 12.

Verse 5. And you have forsaken the exhortation that speaks to you as the sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him, for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.

You are loved.

Sometimes I tease some of the members in the local congregation when they're really going through the trials, and say, God just loves you so much. I say, Mr. Del Sandra, with that, fine. I appreciate that.

Verse 7. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does in chastening? But if you are without chastening, which all have been partakers, then you are illegitimate, not sons. Furthermore, we've had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live? For they, indeed, for a few days chastened us to seem best to them. But here's the point. But he, for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Trials have a purpose. That we come to resemble our father and brother more and more. Verse 11. No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who've been trained by it. Remember those four items. Discipline training in righteousness. Discipline training in being creatures of light. So trials have a purpose. Letter B, in terms of understanding our lab work. God is always in control. God is always in control of the trial. 1 Corinthians 10. You know the Scripture. We're going to turn there. Read the principle. 1 Corinthians 10.

1 Corinthians 10. No temptation is overtaking you, such as is common to man. But God is faithful. He wants us to learn to be faithful. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with a temptation, you'll also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. So we read that verse, and we think that God's not going to attempt us beyond what we're able, and He's going to give us a way of escape. And we sometimes think, and wrongly so, that God is either going to remove the issue or lessen the trial. And sometimes God does that. Sometimes God does that, but not all the time. But the point behind verse 13 here is that our trials drive us closer to God. And as we're driven closer to God, He strengthens us to walk through the trial we're enduring. He strengthens us in terms of the time frame. You know what Paul said about his life? Three times he pleaded, didn't say he asked, three times he pleaded with God to remove the difficulty he was facing. God said, hey, I can do that. Not going to do that. Sure, if I did that, it'd be a tremendous miracle. But you know, it's also miraculous when you've got to walk through life day after day with what you're facing. And day after day, you've got to walk through life realizing your only hope is the grace and the mercy and the power of Almighty God.

So letter B, God is always in control. Letter C, keep the end result in mind during the trial. Keep the end result in mind. Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8 and verse 18.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The glory which shall be revealed in us. The glory we saw in Isaiah chapter 60 verses 1 through 3.

One action item here, brethren. Let us continue to walk with God as He strengthens us, as we...strengthens our faith as we go through these lab tests. I've said before, I've said here in Wisconsin Dells and years past, and I mean it, let's not waste our pain. If we don't learn from it, if we don't grow as a result of having God work with our mind, then we're wasting that pain. We don't want to waste pain. It's too dear. Let's learn from it. Let's profit from it. Let's maximize what we can learn from the pain of life, from the lab work that God gives us.

So God gives us class work. God gives us lab work. God also gives us field application. Field application. Practical application. Hands-on. Practical application with these principles of light.

Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 and 4.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that, that, we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Now Paul was a fellow who knew a lot about trials. You understand that. You know that. You've read the verses talking about how many times he was beaten with rods and shipwrecked and all those things. I meant to look it up, and I forgot. But there's the one section in Scripture where it talks about how he got to the place in life where he felt he was being tried beyond measure. And when you read the passage, it's almost like he despaired of life itself.

Yes, real Christians, converted people, can feel blue. They can get down. Life can really hammer people. You've been hammered. I've been hammered. We know what that feels like. You know? But Paul was the kind of fellow that he always rebounded. He didn't stay in that state. He always went back to looking at the big picture. He always went back to looking at the great God. And that always inspired him, and he began to continue to move forward. Look at verse 3. Blessed be the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. The Father of mercies. The word there means heartfelt compassion.

He's the Father of heartfelt compassion. And it says, we just read, He's the Father of it. It's God's nature. It's His behavior toward us. And we're His kids. He wants us to be people who are compassionate, who have that heartfelt feeling toward one another, who sigh and cry over what the world is going through, what we see other human beings going through. We sigh and we cry. The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. You know, the word comfort here means to encourage. To encourage. Are you an encourager? I think that's one of the greatest traits a person can have. I was fortunate. My mother, when I first started hearing the truth, she didn't care for that one bit. Not one bit. Her dad was a graduate of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. And I started keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and she wondered where this Jewish baby came from. It must be something in dad's jeans. It couldn't be in her jeans.

But later on in life, 1984, I was able to baptize Mom. And that was beautiful. But one thing that one of the great traits my mother taught me was to try to be encouraging to people. And that really helps a great deal. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. There's a reason, brethren, you and I go through what we go through. You know, in the world tomorrow, the day this represents the beginning of the millennium, the people who have started the trek through the last three and a half years, what we call the times of the Gentiles, as they go through that last three and a half years of mankind's history on earth, they go through the great tribulation, they go through the day of the Lord, they can be the most sound-minded, level-headed people in the world. But by the time they've gone through the end of all of that and the beginning of the millennium, they're going to be really hurting. They're going to be probably very dysfunctional. And they don't want somebody to be there who's going to spout theory. They want people who know what it's really like, who've experienced real life. Maybe not that particular aspect, but people who've experienced real trial, heartache, and so forth, so that they can be comforted.

Perhaps the reason you've gone through the things you've gone through, there are any number of thousands of people that you can help who in times past, maybe even millennia past, now we're talking the last great day, as they are resurrected, you can help them, or in the millennium, to be any millennium, people who've gone through similar things that you have, but you went through them successfully. And you can guide them successfully through what God is now working in their lives. So we want to be encouragers. We want to be people who are there. Positive words.

One action item here, brethren. One action item here. When you look into the Scriptures in Acts 4, there's a fellow there by the name of Barnabas. Barnabas was a man who was known, his name meant encourager. On opening night, I made mention that we were here to worship our very special God, that we were here to fellowship with our very special brothers and sisters. I just want to add a little something to that note. I have always enjoyed being with God's people. You do too. That's why you're here. We enjoy the messages, we enjoy worshiping God, but we enjoy one another. One of the things I've always enjoyed is those individuals in the local congregation who just have a talent for being able to come and say the right word at the right time and to be encouraging. Now, some of you have that as it's almost native to you. You don't seem to have to work too hard on that. Others may have to work harder on that. Maybe we're not as encouraging as we'd like to be. What do we do about that? Well, we can go to our great God and say, Father, I want to be more like you. You're an encouraging God. You've sent us your spirit that's called the Comforter. I want to be there to comfort my brothers and sisters in the local church area. So, Father, help me to be more sensitive. Help me to have eyes that really see people's needs. And beyond the surface, because so many times, brethren, people come to services and they have the Sabbath smile and the handshake, and their hearts are breaking. We need to be able to develop relationships with people, which means we're going to have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable so they can be vulnerable back in return. But pray that we be sensible. Pray that we would be knowledgeable. How can we help that specific type of person? Takes wisdom. Takes wisdom. And you know, this is where God has given us such a benefit with His Word, the Bible.

Not long ago, back in the Chicago and Beloit areas, we were going through the seven churches of Revelation. And as I was going through the seven churches, we were going back into history and looking at how God worked for the churches, especially through the Middle Ages, the point I want to make here. Back in the Middle Ages, if you had even a scrap of the Word of God, a scrap of the Bible, you can be tortured, you can be burned at the stake, just for having a little bit of the Bible.

Back in those days, the ministry normally was an older man with a younger man, an older man, mentoring a younger man during the Middle Ages. Many times, those couples, as they would go out to do the work, would have to know two or three languages and have memorized large portions of Scripture. Because they couldn't carry a manuscript, be the death sentence for them, so they would memorize large portions of Scripture. They would go visit the brethren and have basically a Bible recital. And God has given us His Word. We've got it sitting in our laps. You probably have any number of Bibles at home. We've got Bibles on our computers. And God has given us a section of the Bible called Wisdom Literature. We ask God for sensitivity. We ask God for knowledge. But we need to do our part. And part of our part is studying, like the kings would do, studying the Wisdom Literature. Reading over and over the Book of Proverbs, for example.

So, brethren, here we are on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. I asked early at the beginning of the sermon, what does this day picture in God's plan? My point to you is that the power of God's family of light defeats Satan's power of darkness. We've taken a look at the classwork that God is using to train us, the lab work, the field work. Let's dig in. Let's dig in. When the millennium begins, we want to be there front and center. We want to be there to help people. Let's turn back to Revelation 19. Last scripture.

Revelation 19.

Verse 7. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Brethren, let's do just that.