Some Core Qualities of a Godly Ruler

[Ray Clore] Good morning, brethren. Great to be with you all here today. Wasn't that wonderful? Our God inhabits the praises of His people, and that was just wonderful praise. So thank you very much to the chorale for that.

At the Feast of Tabernacles, we picture the royal family of God ruling in the millennium. We understand we will help bring spiritual salvation to the world by being godly rulers under Jesus Christ. Christ is even now selecting people to accomplish that grand and godly purpose. What kind of person is He seeking? Turn with me, please, to 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2 and verse 9. Peter was writing to Jews primarily scattered abroad, and he was telling them that all people need to be chosen by God to be part of spiritual Israel. So not just Jews, but Jews, non-Jews, people around the world. All of us need to be chosen to be part of that family of God. Let's read in verse 9: "But you are a chosen generation." God performed a miracle so that you could understand what you understand. We can't argue anyone into our system of belief. Perhaps you've tried. It doesn't work. But when God opens a person's mind, it's a marvelous thing. It is a miracle. He chose us. We have to choose Him, too. It's this mutual choice. We are a chosen generation to be part of His royal family.

A royal priesthood. There's a verse that we often talk about in Revelation about being kings and priests. And that, to me, sort of sends almost an artificial bifurcation. Because really, we are royal priests. It is a royal family, a kingly family, which has priestly responsibilities as well. We are a royal priesthood and a holy nation. So we are all sons and daughters of a royal family. Do you realize that we are sons and daughters of privilege? We are. And, you know, I would ask the question, what are we doing with that great honor? What are we doing with that? How are we acting with this great opportunity?

We can think about the British royal family in history. Sometimes these people, they were born to privilege, born to money, and they became scandals. Whereas other people, like Queen Elizabeth II, great example, worked hard, served her people, was a brilliant example in so many good ways. So what are we doing with the fact that our Father has performed a miracle, choose you and me, to be part of His royal family, sons and daughters of privilege? What are we doing with that? Well, we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. In other words, we're supposed to be an upright example to all people everywhere. His own special people. Yes, we are special to God.

Why? Well, one of the reasons why He called us is that "you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). So that's one of the purposes. You know, what is the service of God? Well, there's three P's. You know, there's praise, there's prayer, and there's preaching, right? Easy to remember. And so one thing that we can all do is praise God. We should be praising God and showing forth His praises by our words and our deeds.

So we are called out of darkness into His marvelous light, "who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:10). So ding, ding, ding, Bible scholar alert. I got two of those in my presentation. What was Peter thinking about? When Peter wrote this, what verses was he thinking about? Hold your finger there in 1 Peter. Turn back with me to Hosea. Hosea chapter 1.

God told the prophet Hosea to marry a woman who was not faithful. It was a picture of how God felt with His relationship with ancient Israel. They weren't faithful to Him. And so she had several children, and the children's names were interesting. I'm just going to talk about two of them.

So just briefly back in 1 Peter — you know, "people who were not a people but are now the people of God, had not obtained mercy but have now obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:10). Well, back in Hosea chapter 1 and verse 6: "She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: 'Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away'" (Hosea 1:6).

Lo is the Hebrew that means not or no. Ruhamah is the Hebrew word that means mercy. No mercy. God says, I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.

What were the two major sins of ancient Israel that caused God to have them go into captivity? Religious Jews pretty much have a consensus that it was idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. Idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. Now, the Israelites, they come into the land. They'd come out of Egypt. They had all these ancient Egyptian gods in their mind. They come into Canaan, and they got, you know, Baal, and they got all these kind of different types of gods. And so it's constant temptation to worship like the nations around them. And God mercifully told them, don't do this. This is going to lead you to the wrong thing. You're going to burn your children in the fire. It's going to be terrible. Don't do this.

Decade after decade, year after year. And finally, God had enough. You know, that is sort of scary that, you know, God's merciful, but there’s an end to His mercy. There's an end to His patience. We should not try His patience or His mercy. So God said, I've had enough. No more mercy. And I'm thinking primarily Lo-Ruhamah was about the idolatry, worshiping like other people around them.

Well, that wasn't yet completely. Verse 8: "Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then God said: 'Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God'" (Hosea 1:8-9). In other words, Lo, not. Ammi is my people. For you're not my people. I will not be your God.

What did ancient Israel do? They turned their backs on the sign of being God's people, which is keeping the Sabbath day (Exodus 31). Special covenant. How do we know the Jews are God's people, even though they might not be religious? Ah, because they culturally keep the Sabbath. God had a special covenant. And Israel turned their back on it.

So, Lo-Ruhamah — no mercy. Lo-Ammi — you're not my people. That's what happened to ancient Israel. But Peter, back in 1 Peter, he says, yes, we were not the people of God. We were Lo-Ammi. But we are now God's people. Why? Because we do have the understanding and knowledge that we should keep the Sabbath day holy.

And we had not obtained mercy. We were part of this world system of worshiping any old way you want. And now God says, well, yeah, let's keep My days. "Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing'… But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret" (John 7:2-10).

Jesus himself went up to the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast is a New Testament feast. It's a New Covenant feast. All of God's ways are New Covenant in that sense. Yes, we're a chosen generation. We are a royal priesthood, called by God, a holy nation who once were not a people. We were Lo-Ammi. But we are now Ammi. We were Lo-Ruhamah. And now we have obtained mercy.

So one of the purposes for our calling is to show forth the praises of God. Let's see another purpose. Let's go back to Luke, chapter 19.

In Luke, chapter 19, this is a very famous parable — the parable of the minas. I'll just break into the thought here in verse 17. Some of them are good servants. So good servants that God called, He gave talents. And all of us have talents. All of us are supposed to fit together. All of us are supposed to be joints, you know, as it says in Hebrews. What does a joint do? A joint connects people. We have relationships, as we heard in the first split sermon. We have relationships. We should be helping others in our sphere of influence.

So we get here in Luke 19, verse 17: "And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’" The second came and said, "Master, your mina has earned five minas." He said, likewise, "You also be over five cities" (Luke 19:17-19).

I tell you, in a former life, I worked for the U.S. State Department, and I had to supervise people from time to time. And I tell you, it's pretty much the worst, you know? When you're trying to supervise people, they have all sorts of problems, all sorts of difficulties. Sometimes they show up, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they do good work, sometimes they don't. And so I was so happy when I finally got to the point where I didn’t have to supervise people anymore.

But what does God tell us? He says, yes, yes, we are to help bring salvation to the world. We are to be teachers. And in a way, when we had the privilege of being married and having children, it was wonderful when I was teaching my children with my wife. We tried to have good examples for them and give them opportunities, and we saw them grow and develop. We’re all very proud of them. That kind of supervision is the kind of supervision I think that we will be doing under Jesus Christ in five or ten cities.

We’re going to be caring for these people. We will, in one sense, be fulfilling the mom function in a classic marriage. Jesus is going to be the husband, and we, the Church of God, we’re going to be the mom function — the wife. And what does the mom function do? Well, the mom function takes care of the kids, comforts them, encourages them, teaches them. I think we’re going to get great satisfaction out of that. Great satisfaction.

So one of the purposes of our calling is to be rulers under Jesus Christ over five or ten cities in the world tomorrow, to bring salvation to scared and hurting people. Let’s go to John 10, who is our prime example — Jesus Christ. We need to imitate Him. We look at Him. What did He do? How did He think? How did He speak? How did He act?

John 10, verse 11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). And so we need to be good under-shepherds. A shepherd takes care of the sheep, looks out for them, provides for them, protects them.

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees" (John 10:11-12). The hireling is not invested in the family enterprise.

You see, we are part of a royal family, and the family enterprise is to bring salvation to humanity — to bring eternal life, joy, peace, a better life. Jesus, in fact, said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). That’s part of the family enterprise. But there are some people who aren’t invested in the family enterprise. They’re called hirelings, and they run away. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

Verse 14: "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own" (John 10:14). Do you know your brothers and sisters in the congregation? You know, we had a good exhortation at the beginning of the Feast. We were supposed to get to know five people. I thought it was five people over the Feast. Somebody said, “No, no, no, that’s five people per day.” Well, that’s a lot. Anyway, do we know people? We should get to know people. We should know our brothers and sisters.

"As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:15). Do we lay down our life in prayer, in service, in caring for one another? Do we wait for others to serve us? No — we’ve got to think about these things. We need to be good examples and servants to love our fellowship, to lay down our life for others in prayer and service.

So today, and the rest of the time I have, I want to examine some core qualities of a godly servant’s heart. That’s the title — some core qualities of a godly ruler. Of course, there are very many. Clearly, one foundational quality is continuously choosing to obey the law of love — God’s Ten Commandments, all ten — and teaching others to do so.

Jesus said, "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19).

How are we doing on that? How are we doing on obeying all ten? How are we doing on, if we have opportunities to teach others, are we teaching them kindly? Clearly? How are we doing on that? That’s foundational. We must all have a rock-solid, titanium-clad, firm commitment to obeying God’s Ten Commandments — the law of love — and to be willing and ready to teach others to do so.

I want to talk about three other ones as well. I said there could be very many. One aspect is compassion leading to mercy. As I said, we’re going to be teaching people who will come out of the Great Tribulation — scared, shocked, hurting. They’ll need comfort, compassion leading to mercy when appropriate.

Second point — a nurturing, positive spirit. God wants us as rulers to have a nurturing, positive spirit — not be negative, not be finding fault. “I don’t like that.”

Thirdly — setting a good example. Always setting a good example. Like I said, the world today is in increasing physical and spiritual confusion. The transition to a better world will be difficult. There’s no pixie-dust solution. I’ve been in the church over 50 years, and sometimes I get the impression some people think, “Oh, Jesus returns. Poof! It’s all going to be wonderful just immediately, right away.” You know, some kind of fairy-tale quick change without effort. Oh, it’s not going to be the way it is, folks. There’s going to be a lot of hard work to do. We’re going to be helping clean up, encourage, comfort, teach.

Transition is going to be tough. There’s going to be hard work needed. The survivors will need lots of love, mercy, and kindness. Let’s go back to Isaiah 24.

In Isaiah 24, again, just a little bit about the conditions under which people will be coming out of, and we have to meet them where they are, and they will be hurting and scared and afraid. "Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants" (Isaiah 24:1). So the tectonic plates are going to be moving. There will be earthquakes and volcanoes, all sorts of things going on. And people thought, “Well, this earth, which I thought was stable, you know, it's not stable,” and that's very unsettling. You ever been in an earthquake? It's pretty unsettling.

"The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away; the haughty people of the earth languish" (Isaiah 24:4). Yes, oh yeah, God, He's going to judge these haughty, proud, stubborn, rebellious people. "The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant" (Isaiah 24:5). Ding, ding, ding — second Bible scholar alert. You just read that. What's the everlasting covenant? What are they talking about here? Many times we read stuff, we just read right over it. “I don't understand what that means,” and if you read right over it, you know what your brain does? Kicks it out, doesn't even remember it.

Okay. Everlasting covenant. What are we talking about here? The everlasting covenant, most likely, is the Noahic covenant. God judged the pre-flood world because every thought of the hearts of men was only evil continually. He judged them. He destroyed them by a flood. And so He set His bow in the sky afterwards and said, “I will not destroy the earth again by a flood.” But what did He do? In that same covenant, He confided the administration of justice to human beings — the administration of justice: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed" (Genesis 9:6).

Are we, as a society, as a world, doing that? Are we administering justice? What about Jocelyn Nungari, Rachel Moran, Lakin, Riley, Kate Steinle, so many others? Has there been justice for their murders? No. Will there be? I sort of doubt it. God is not happy with that. Other scriptures — I don't have time to turn to them — say God looks at that and He’s upset that justice is so far from us. We have, as human beings, broken that covenant. We've broken our responsibility to administer justice, especially for the crime of murder.

And this everlasting part — that comes from the Hebrew word olam. Now, olam doesn't mean infinite time like “everlasting” sort of sounds like in English. Olam means an indeterminate length of time depending upon conditions. So an olam covenant is like a long, long, long covenant, but it doesn't necessarily mean infinite time. Some other examples: Aaron and his sons had an everlasting priesthood. Well, are Aaron and his sons still priests? No. What happened? The temple got destroyed, so the conditions changed. They had it for a long time, but they didn’t have it forever like we think of in English.

So whenever you see this word “everlasting” in the Old Testament translated into English, check it. See if it’s olam. If it’s olam, it does not mean infinite time. It means an indeterminate or a very long length of time depending upon certain conditions. So the earth is defiled. That happened under the flood, and at the time of the end, it’s going to happen again. In fact, I think we already are living it. There’s not the kind of justice that God wants. We've broken that Noahic 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 men are left" (Isaiah 24:6). Some people estimate up to 90% of humanity will die before Jesus returns. This is the kind of world that we're going to inherit when we're changed into spirit beings. These people will have lived through this time. They will be scared, hurting. They will need comfort. They will need help.

Isaiah 13 — very quickly a few other verses. "Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth" (Isaiah 13:6-8). How does that happen, ladies? You get a big pain, then it goes away. Then you get another big pain, and it goes away. Those pains get closer and closer and closer. This is what’s going to happen to this world — pain after pain after pain, closer and closer, stronger and stronger, until finally, boom! The Day of the Lord comes.

"Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light" (Isaiah 13:9-10). He’s talking about the sixth seal here. "I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (Isaiah 13:11). Yes, God’s going to enforce justice.

Isaiah 40. But we have to be a bit careful about how we address some of these issues. Sometimes people have said, “We need to work hard to finish the work.” Finish the work? Brethren, God’s not going to stop when Jesus returns. "Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him" (Isaiah 40:10).

No, brethren, we're not going to all retire to that great condo in the sky. It’s just not going to happen. We have a lot of work ahead of us. The work will change. Right now, the work is primarily preaching the gospel and nurturing the flock. In the world tomorrow, it’s going to transition into governing and ruling and nurturing and helping bring salvation to all humanity. "He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young" (Isaiah 40:11). And that will be possible because He will have destroyed the proud, the stubborn, the wicked, the evil out of this world.

So, compassion leading to mercy. We will need to have that as part of our core character. "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (Matthew 9:35). Yes, the kingdom of God is the best summary of the gospel. And the fact that Jesus Christ is our Savior — yes, He paid the penalty for our sins. Yes, that's part of it. But that's not the entirety. The kingdom of God is a political message in a way. Who's the King? Jesus is the King. What are the laws? The Ten Commandments, the law of love. What's the territory? Well, eventually the whole earth. Who are the inhabitants? Eventually, everybody. So it is a political message that includes the fact that Jesus Christ is the King and He is the Savior. And it’s by Him we enter into that kingdom.

So "He healed every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest'" (Matthew 9:35-38). Are you doing that every day? I do. We should do that every day — beseech God for more laborers. Now, God can save by many or by few, but when Jesus says, “Do this,” I think we ought to do it. We need to be emotionally moved by the suffering of others.

We need to be emotionally moved by the weariness when people are having long-term sicknesses, long-term disabilities, maybe long-term unemployment. Do we just say, “Well, you know, that's their fault. They made some bad choices”? They probably did. But are we moved by compassion? Or do we just sort of write people off? God wants us to be emotionally moved when people have trials and difficulties.

Matthew 18 — we need to have compassion toward others. We need to be forgiving of others. This is a very famous story, so I’m just going to briefly summarize. It's the parable of the unforgiving servant, the one who owed a lot of money. The master said, “Wow, this is a lot of money. So we're going to sell this guy and his wife and his kids into slavery and see what money we can get.” So the servant begs the master for forgiveness. What do we see here? We see that our sins can affect other people. Our sins can affect our spouse, our children, our neighbors, our friends. That's one of the horrible things about sin — it doesn't just hurt the sinner. It has this sort of ripple effect.

Well, the man begged the master, and the master said, “Okay, I forgive you.” And then what does this man do? He goes out and starts grabbing the neck of his fellow servant: “You owe me a pittance by comparison.” And he wouldn’t forgive him, even though the servant said, “Give me time, I'll pay you all.” So the other servants went to the master and said, “You know what’s happened over here? Look at this.”

The master was angry. And so he goes to the first servant. He said, “You know what? I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. You should have also had compassion on your fellow servant.” And what did he do to him? He delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. What do we see? Our sins can affect other people around us, but our fate is ours alone. "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses" (Matthew 18:35).

We have to forgive others. We need to teach and model compassion. Have we forgiven others, or do we still carry around grudges? God wants us to be forgiving.

Hebrews 5 — we live in this fleshly frame. And Jesus also shared that frame with us. Hebrews is talking about the high priest, the human high priest, Aaron, because we're supposed to have that compassion since we share the same weaknesses in a way. "For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins" (Hebrews 5:1). What's one of those sacrifices? "The sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:15). That’s one of the sacrifices we, as the spiritual, royal family of God, are to offer — praise, the sacrifice of praise.

"He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness" (Hebrews 5:2). Yes, we can have compassion on others because we are also fleshly and weak. "Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was" (Hebrews 5:3-4). Guess what? You’ve been called, too, just like Aaron was. You’ve been called to be part of the royal priesthood.

I didn’t want to be a… well, let’s put it this way: I wanted to be a nuclear physicist when I was growing up. And then I came to the Church of God and I figured out God doesn’t need people to build bombs. So I ended up in the State Department and tried to be a diplomat — not a very good diplomat. So now, after all these years, I’m a pastor. So, you know, God leads us. We all have our path to follow. But we’ve been called — called to be part of that family, just as Aaron was.

Proverbs 4:18. And so the fact that we share this physical frame and we get sick, we get tired, and sometimes we get off track, and, you know, we do wrong things, we make mistakes, and we’ve got to repent and be humble, acknowledge our mistakes — you know, that’s good for us as human beings. "The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" (Proverbs 4:18). I have learned so much since I was baptized. I knew little. I’ve really grown. Even in the last couple of years, it seems like I’m growing a lot more in understanding. And I think all of us should want that, seek that, desire that — grow toward the light.

"But the way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble" (Proverbs 4:19). You see, the wicked don’t understand the problem. They are, in many ways, ignorant and unaware. We know that our Savior, on the cross, Jesus Christ, prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). They didn’t really understand.

And don’t we know many people? They think getting drunk is a great thing. They go out Saturday night, get drunk, have a horrible headache — terrible thing — and they do the same thing the next week, and the same the week after that. You think, “What’s wrong with these people?” Well, they’re ignorant. The devil has put that veil on their understanding. They don’t understand a lot. And what do we do? Are we going to write them off and say, “Well, too bad for them”? No. Compassion does not mean being permissive of sin. It does mean not giving up on people who stumble.

Do seek kind ways to help enlighten others and point out possible solutions to problems if they're open to input. So many people, they're not open to input — “I'm okay, Jack. Thank you very much.” But if they're open to input, it's a marvelous thing. That's a treasure.

Don't despise the ignorant. We also were at one time ignorant and foolish. Please do not overreact to carelessness in others. We should be known for friendliness and hospitality, not comparing ourselves with others or condemning others. As the doctors supposedly say, if you can do no harm — or if you can't do good — at least do no harm. Do no harm. Work to be a good example, to help show others God's way.

So, brethren, in addition to that foundational commitment to obeying God's law of love, a godly ruler's heart will be full of compassion, leading to mercy when appropriate, because the people coming out of the tribulation will be needing so much kindness, compassion, love, and help.

A second characteristic is having a nurturing, positive spirit. "For thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,' says the Lord God. 'I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment'" (Ezekiel 34:11-16).

We see that we should be, even now, helping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ seek out lost sheep — people who might have been part of our fellowship and, for whatever reason, had trials, difficulties, disappointments, despair. Do you keep in contact with some of these folks? Do they know how to contact you? I find it interesting sometimes when world events happen — some people who sort of know what we believe will call us up: “Hey, what's going on? Time to go to places of safety?” Oh, well. But you know, we should be helping seek out the lost sheep in kindness and in love.

We need to remove impediments to the success of others by providing encouragement and reward for doing right. One of the simplest things that we can do is offer compliments. If someone does something good, say, “You know, that was good. I like what you did.” You point out something good — that's encouraging. People need that.

We need to be showing unconditional love — be constant in love. Of course, love that is not weak or tolerant of sin. "For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody" (Isaiah 51:3). Yes, God will comfort people who need comforting. He will restore a wonderful environment. Notice the actions of a godly servant: comforting others, building a great environment, music, joy, gladness, singing, and an environment of love.

Does your spouse, your child, your parent want to sing and be glad when they see you? Hey, that’d be cool — “Here comes so-and-so!” and people start singing. That would be wonderful — that they appreciate what we’re trying to bring and help them do. We will be helping build a nurturing environment for growth. That’s what God wants. A godly ruler’s heart will have a positive, nurturing spirit, creating and sustaining a wonderful, uplifting, joyful environment.

Thirdly, setting a good example. "The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away" (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Yes, those who are in the ministry, those given the opportunity to teach and preach to God’s people, have a greater responsibility — a greater judgment — to set that good example at all times. "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:5-7).

Yes, God cares for us. He called us. He chose us. He wants us as His royal family, His children. We need to be clothed with humility because it’s not for any real goodness on our part — it’s for the goodness of God and Jesus Christ living in us.

"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now 'If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator" (1 Peter 4:17-19).

Yes, brethren, we are under God’s judgment. He’s measuring us. He wants to know what’s in our heart. How firm are we? And if we suffer and God allows it, just remember: He cares for you. He will never, ever leave you or forsake you. He loves you. He’s forming you. He’s the potter; we’re the clay. Is the clay going to say, “Hey, I don’t really like what you’re doing here. I want something else”? God’s going to say, “No, son, daughter — this is what’s best for you. This is how you’re going to be most happy, most successful for eternity.”

God is seeking us to be good examples to all men now, even if we suffer for it. He’s in the process of selecting reliable, loving rulers for the cities in the world tomorrow.

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me'" (Matthew 18:1-5).

Dropping to verse 10: "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). Yes, there are guardian angels for our children. As our children grow, they should take more control over their own decisions and receive more of the consequences. But when they are little, their guardian angels have direct communication with the Father.

As we get older, brethren, we have to take that responsibility to seek the face of God. How are we doing on that? Are we seeking His blessing, His guidance, His instruction? We need to be doing that. As godly rulers, we will be setting a great, positive example for others.

So let’s summarize. We have been chosen — and you have chosen as well. We’ve been chosen by God to be part of His royal family, the royal priesthood, the ruling family of royal priests that will reign under Jesus Christ in the millennium. Jesus is our King and model. Our Father and Jesus are even now choosing persons who will:

1. Continuously choose to obey God’s law of love, the Ten Commandments — they will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
   
    
2. Have compassion for others, leading to mercy when appropriate.
   
    
3. Have a nurturing, positive spirit.
   
    
4. Always set a good example for others.
   
    

So at this Feast, brethren, let us all work on growing in, developing more, and practicing all the qualities of the greatest of all godly servants — Jesus Christ.