Staying the Course

I'll tell you a little bit about my background. My mother started getting the plain truth when I was three years old. But she would tell us things like, you know, the Sabbath really is on Saturday, as she was driving us to a little Sunday church out in the country in Ohio, northwestern Ohio is where I grew up. So she would tell us, you know, the Sabbath really is Saturday, but it was so convenient to go to this little Methodist church. And my dad wasn't on board. He was not all that religious. He wasn't going to church anywhere. And she had seven children to take care of. So we would go to the little Methodist church. And then we'd come home, and the next morning she'd be cooking some bacon for my dad. And she would tell us, you know, we really don't eat bacon. Because bacon, most of it's pork, you know. And so I didn't grow up eating bacon. My dad did, but I didn't. So it was an interesting background. And then when my sister, who's four years older than I am, when she started going to Ohio State University, she decided she wanted to go to Ambassador College. So she had been picking up the plain truth for years. It had been around the house. She was a studious person, and she was also quite religious. We did go to the Methodist church, and she was probably president of the Youth Fellowship. And I was, I think I was vice president at one point of the Youth Fellowship, my brother, you know, as well. So she became quite interested in what we were teaching as an organization. And so she applied to ambassador. She got accepted. And then my brother, who's two years older than I am, two years younger than my sister that was attending church, now he decided he would go to Ambassador College. So the first Sabbath I believe he ever really kept was at Ambassador College. Because, you know, we weren't really living it. We knew it a little bit, but we weren't really living it at that point. So he went to Ambassador College. Now it's my turn. I'm a senior in high school. And I'm thinking, well, I'll probably go to Ambassador College. You know, my sister and my brother are there. I'll probably go. Well, my brother came home on Christmas break my senior year. And my dad was quizzing him about Ambassador College. And he said, Mike, how many girls have you dated there at Ambassador College? And Mike said, well, I'm not sure, but, you know, 35, 40. My ears perked up. And I thought, that sounds pretty good. You know, I like girls. I thought, yeah, you know, I could enjoy that. And then he said, well, Mike, how many of these girls have you kissed? And Mike said, well, we don't really kiss the girls at Ambassador College. And I thought, hmm, I'm 18 years old. And I'm thinking, wait a minute. Now, I was a good boy, but, you know, 18 years old, I'm thinking, you know, it's not sounding that great to me. I'm not going a thousand miles away from home to a bunch of religious fanatics. I mean, that was my estimation of what I was hearing now. So I switched gears and I started looking elsewhere. And I actually ended up going to Bowling Green State University in Northern Ohio.

And it's a strange thing, though. My sister came home, Carol, came home that summer. And she was very disappointed in me because I'm not going to Ambassador College. And so she asked me, Mark, why aren't you going to Ambassador College? And I said, Carol, and it floors me to this day, I'm still flabbergasted. I'm still dumbfounded. But I looked her in the eye and I said, Carol, I guess I'm just not man enough.

Now, I'm 18 years old. And, you know, that's really perk. That really wounds a person's ego to admit that you're not man enough to go somewhere that maybe you should go. So I'm thinking God was already beginning to work with me to some degree. And I'm thinking maybe, you know, maybe I should have gone to Ambassador College, even though they don't kiss the girls and things. Maybe I should have gone. So I think that prompted me to start looking into the religion. You know, is this something true? Is it something good? Is it something right? Or is it something I can dismiss? And just, you know, enjoy Bowling Green State University. This is 15,000 students, and half of them were girls.

So actually, I came to the point where I realized that, you know, I was more interested in chasing girls than I was in following God.

And so I had to really consider that, and I started watching the telecast, started listening to the broadcast, started getting the Plain Truth magazine myself. I even got, well, wait, that was, might have been a little bit later. But what happened was my brother sent me a plane ticket. He said, come to Ambassador College, you know, check us out, spend a week with us. And he didn't have a lot of money, so that was quite a sacrifice on his part. So that first year, during Christmas break, I went out to Ambassador College, and I really fell in love with the place. It was very wholesome. It seemed like maybe this is the right thing to do. And I think I actually repented of my sins to some degree when I was there at Ambassador College. And when I left, I had a briefcase full of every single booklet that we published. I went to the printing company with my, or printing the print shop with my brother, and he had this old briefcase, and I wanted every booklet. We filled up every single booklet, every reprint article, everything that we published. And I actually started reading this and started studying it. So I'm back at Bowling Green, but I've decided now that I want to go to Ambassador College. So I finished that semester, that quarter, and then I was accepted and went to Ambassador College, and the rest is history. Haven't looked back. And it's been, as I said, a wonderful life. So I'm very grateful for God, for His direction, for His help, for His guidance. He was clearly opening my mind and calling me at age 18.

Now, that doesn't mean I've always done things perfectly. I think I might have mentioned that in the sermon, that, you know, talk to my wife if you have any concerns about whether or not I'm truly perfect. But she will dispel any of that quite quickly, I'm sure.

Well, you know, God has, however, granted me repentance, you know, and that's what I stake my life on, is that, you know, we go to Passover because it's a memorial. It's a renewing of the covenant every year, but actually repentance is a daily thing. You know, God grants repentance as we admit our sins. You know, as we confess our sins before Him, God grants us repentance, and He impuges the righteousness of our Savior Jesus Christ on our behalf. And that's so comforting to know that, to understand that, to believe that, and to live that way. So, you know, I've been thinking over the years about what it is that that keeps us in the Church of God. You know, what, you know, can we kind of dilute it down and try to come up with some principles that really define why people stay in the Church and why some don't? What is it? So, I've thought about it a lot, and the best I can come up with, and there might be something better out there, but the best I can come up with after 47 years in God's Church and 36 years in the ministry. What is seeing me through all these years, and what has seen other people? St. Charles, I know they've been in the Church a long time. There's others here that have been in as long as I have or longer. And so, what is it? Well, I believe it is primarily, and this will tie in with what I had to say yesterday in the sermon, but I believe it's primarily a love of God, a love of His truth, and a love of His way of life. To me, that's critical. That's key. If you really love God, you love His truth, and you love His way of life, why would you ever leave it?

I mean, logically, it makes sense that if you truly love God, you love His truth, and you're completely sold on His way of life, you're not going to walk away from it. You're going to stay faithful. I appreciated the sermon that. Sometimes we do have to stand alone, in a sense, although we have each other. So, from that sense, we're not standing alone, thankfully. We have brethren who believe the same as we do, but when it comes to Satan and his temptations, we do need to stand alone in that sense against him, no matter what. It doesn't matter what the other people are doing. We have to do the right thing. That's what Mr. Phelps was talking about. You do the right thing, no matter what. You do what is pleasing to God and what's good and proper in His sight. So, brethren, do you have a genuine love of God? Do you personally have a genuine love of God? Do you have a genuine love of His truth? Do you have a genuine love of His way of life? Are you completely sold on why you're here today?

Does it go very deeply within you? I've seen a lot of people sitting in chairs that are no longer sitting in chairs. Over 47 years in the Church, I've seen a lot of people come and go. Come and go. Come and go. So, I think these are important questions that we should ask ourselves and we should look deep within ourselves and be as honest as we can.

Do you really love God? Do you love His truth? Do you love His way of life? Will you always stay faithful to Him? Another question is, are you empowered by God's love and His Spirit?

You know, obviously the key is whether or not we have God's Holy Spirit. That's what seals us and keeps us on the right path. God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us. So, are you empowered by God's Spirit and His love to also take that love that we have for God, His truth, and His way of life and learn to love each other? So, that's what I'm really going to talk about. Take it a little bit further than I did yesterday, perhaps. You know, I did talk about becoming love, which is critical. It's important. And if we ever get there, then we have arrived.

But I think this ties in well with what I had to say before.

So, what I'd like to do is go to two... I'd like to talk about two aspects that we should consider regarding the love of God, His truth, and His way of life, and how that relates to learning to love each other. Before I do that, let's go to 2 Thessalonians. And also, you'll see why I determined or came to this conclusion that it is a love of God, His truth, and His way of life that's so important, that's so critical. 2 Thessalonians talks about some perilous times that are going to come upon us in the days ahead. It talks about the Son of Perdition. It talks about the man of sin that's going to come on the scene. It talks about a great apostasy in this chapter of 2 Thessalonians.

It talks about a mystery of lawlessness that was already working back at the time of Paul and Timothy when this was written. Verse 7 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Verse 8. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. So we know when this is going to happen. It's certainly future. It's at the return of Jesus Christ at His coming. There will be a lawless one who will be revealed. Verse 9. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. Now we know in other places it talks about a false prophet that's going to be on the scene, that's going to do lying wonders and miracles and various things such as that. There will be a various things such as that. There will be a beast power. There will be a leader of that of that power who will be a charismatic political leader, most likely it seems.

And it says, verse 10, And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth. Now if we don't have the love of the truth, we're going to be in bad shape in the days ahead. When the perilous times come upon us just before Christ returns, we're going to be tested in this way. Do you really love the truth of God? Are you willing to die for God's truth, God's way of life, for God, and for each other?

So they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Had they had a love of the truth, they would have been saved, but they were lacking this love of the truth. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie. If you don't believe the truth, you're going to believe a lie. That they all may be condemned, who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So if you really love God's way of life and you're totally sold on it, you're not going to have pleasure in unrighteousness.

You may be tempted in some ways, but you're not going to take pleasure in that. It's going to vex your soul. There's a part of you that's going to resist that, you know, resist evil, do that, which is good. You're not going to have pleasure in unrighteousness. It's still going to to cause you concern if you sin. It's going to be problematic for you.

So let's read a little bit further, verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in what? Belief in the truth. Okay, so this truth is so important. You know, God calls us, helps us understand His truth. You know, that's really what brings us here is we begin to see that this is where the truth is. This is where people are understanding, believing, and teaching the truth of God. And also there's salvation, because we're sanctified by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. Once we're baptized, we repent of our sins, we've accepted Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit of God. Verse 14, to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we're to put on Jesus Christ. We're to become unleavened. Christ is to live in us. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught. And it's talking about the commandments, the commandments of God, the things that are revealed in Scripture, the practices that we do as a church, the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. So by the word of God, by the letters of Paul and the epistles that were being written, the Old Testament was there, it was basically canonized at this point, the New Testament was in the process. And that's what He's referring to. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and our God and Father who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace may comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. And God will do that. God will establish us. He will strengthen us. He'll give us the strength that we need to stand alone, to do the right thing, no matter what's happening around us, if we truly depend on Him. If we rely upon Him, He will give us the strength. We need not fear. You know, if we put our trust in God, we have nothing to fear. In fact, there's a scripture, I think it's Matthew chapter 10, 28, it seems that fear not those who can destroy this physical body, but you should fear God who does have your life in the balance. You know, God, He's the one we answer to. So let's talk about two aspects that we should consider regarding the love of God, the love of His truth, the love of His way of life, and then also going on to loving each other. Because you have to put it into action. It's not enough to love the truth, to love God. You got to also love your fellow man. You got to love your brother and your sister in Christ as well as in the world. You know, we're told to love the world as well, in a sense. You know, we don't love the things of the world. We don't love the evil in the world, but we do love all of God's children. And everyone is a child of God, potentially. It's just God hasn't called them all now. You know, we're not certainly not any better. We've just been called now. This is our day of salvation. But their day is coming. And it could be now, and we don't know that. You know, God may begin to draw them, maybe because of the example that you set and the responsibility that you have to show love and concern toward people that may be your neighbors. You know, you just don't know how God may be working with anyone you come in contact with. So, our example is always very important. Right? So, the first aspect is that we all need to allow the love of God, His truth, and His way of life to truly be the guiding force in our lives. It should be the guiding force. When we wake up in the morning, that's what should motivate us throughout the day.

It's something from the time we get up in the morning to the time we get up the next morning. You know, that we are led by this love that we have for God, His truth, and His way of life. It really needs to be the guiding force. It shouldn't be the job. You know, it shouldn't be amassing a fortune. It shouldn't be going out and doing great things. It should be this love of God that we have and His truth and His way of life. Those other things might be just fine, but they shouldn't be number one. They shouldn't be the guiding force. So, let's make sure we have our priorities straight.

So, is this the guiding force in your life, or are you more consumed about other things? You know, do you... does the way you spend your time reflect on what your true motivations really are or, you know, what's really important to you? I mean, we are our time, aren't we? How we live our lives, the choices that we make each day. So, let's let God's love nurture us and guide us to stay on the straight and narrow path day by day, the path that's going to lead us to eternal life. So, humbling ourselves in prayer, obviously, as early as soon as we can in the morning, is a good thing. Get on your knees and ask God for His direction and guidance. Certainly, fasting on a regular basis is something that draws us near to God. It's a powerful spiritual tool. Prayer and fasting. Some things don't happen except by prayer and fasting. So, if you're not praying and fasting on a regular basis, not just on the day of atonement and what is regular to you, you know, that's between you and God. You know, that's a personal choice. But certainly, fasting is a powerful tool and it will help you tremendously in your spiritual walk. If you can take the time, find the time, and just do it. And frankly, that's what it takes. It's just planting it into your busy lives. And it's hard for people that work outside the home, especially. And they're out there every day. The only days, the Sabbath, they're not typically going to fast a lot on the Sabbath. That's a feast day. So, you wouldn't be fasting a whole lot on the Sabbath. Maybe Sunday would be the best day. But, you know, that's the only other day to get other things done. So, it's up to you. It's between you and God. You know, let your heart guide you in those things as God directs you. Matthew 6, verse 33, is a verse that most of us are familiar with. And, you know, if we're not familiar with, we need to get familiar with it. It's plain and simple. I know some people don't like it when old guys like me talk about, well, you all know about Matthew 6.30. Well, no, I don't know about that. Well, then, now you do, because we're talking about it.

Matthew 6.33, we all start somewhere, right? When I was 18, I didn't know much about Matthew 6.33, either. But, I've grown to know more as I applied myself. Matthew 6.33 says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So, that's the guiding force in our lives, to seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first His righteousness. In a way, it's another way of saying, loving God, loving His truth, loving His way of life. Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Continuing education is a major key to growth. In fact, we're going to start a program fairly soon with our ministry of continuing educational units. Our ministry is going to be expected to have certain continuing ed units that they will do. My wife has to do that as an interpreter to stay current. She has to turn in so many CEUs every year to be current.

I believe we have a very educated ministry, a very dedicated ministry. I think we have an awesome ministry. I'm very grateful to serve alongside the ministry. Dedicated men, but it doesn't hurt to have some continuing educational units that we specifically want our ministers to focus upon. Make sure that they're staying up with certain things that we want them to be doing in their congregations and so forth. We already have a lot of material that's online. It's on our ministerial resource site and they'll be able to get a unit, a continuing education unit, for watching a video or listening to an educational presentation by one of our pastors or whatever it is we might be doing. So the same thing is true for our members. You know, continuing education. Read books. Get online. Read online. Whatever it is to educate yourself in God's ways and in the truth of God and in the Bible. These things are important. We should be spending time doing that. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. That's what we do as we try to educate ourselves. We're diligently seeking God. We're wanting to know more about Him. And I'm blown away sometimes when I talk to people about some of their Bible studies that they've done. In fact, I've wanted to have a Bible study symposium. Call it whatever you will. Maybe at the Winter Family Weekend sometime where everyone is invited to bring something special that they've, you know, some project they've done. I mean, I've seen charts. I've seen different things. People get into it. I think it would be pretty neat to go around a big room and everyone has certain things on display. I don't know if we'll ever do that or not, but that's something that I thought would be kind of neat. Where, you know, people who wanted to that have done some special studies, they could share that, make it available to others, give them ideas on what they could do in terms of Bible study. So maybe we'll do that one day.

I did talk to Mr. Myers about it for the Winter Family Weekend sometime, so I am planting a few seeds, and we may make that happen. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, you know, Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, verse 6, it says, But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is. Hebrews 11, verse 6, Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. So it's well worth the time and effort that you put into it, because God will reward you, certainly, and he will bless you. He sees where your heart is, that you're diligently seeking to please him, and to do what you ought to be doing. Now, the word diligently in Strong's Concordance and also in Thayer's shows that this English word is translated from a Greek word that means to search out, to investigate. It means to crave, to scrutinize, to require. This is something that we should be compelled to do as Christians, as God's people. We should be compelled to seek God out, to know God, to know His truth more perfectly. So God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That takes effort. You know, it takes, again, priorities. In John 17, verse 17, John chapter 17, verse 17, here it says, sanctify them through your truth. Your word is truth. So a love of God's truth is so important, and because we're sanctified by the truth, we're set apart by the things that we do. You know, we're here on the Sabbath because we believe this to be truth. This is what God wants us to do. So we're set apart by coming here. This is a holy convocation. Most people aren't doing this. You know, I drove by a lot of farmers. They're out in the fields. Other people are doing their own thing, but we've been sanctified by the truth, and that's why we're here together. The food law set us apart. You know, if you did go out and get pizza last night after sunset, you didn't put pepperoni on it, right? Because you realize, you know, I ate pepperoni for two or three years before I realized it was pork. I didn't know it was. I thought it was beef, and then I came to realize it. But those things set us apart. You know, we seem strange to some degree because we're asking about things. Finally, I realized, I don't know, someone told me that, you shouldn't be eating that. Really? Okay. All right. Then I stopped eating it. I mentioned John 13 verse 35 yesterday about, by this shall all men know. John 13 verse 35, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another.

I believe there are 12 verses in the New Testament that tell us to love one another. 12 times. It's a number of completion. I think that's completion. 12 times. Anyway, it's an important number. 12 disciples, you know, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 verses in the New Testament. Now, I don't know that that's necessarily inspired, but it's just interesting.

All right. So that's the first aspect, is just having that love of God, His truth, and His way of life, and having it be the guiding force from the time you wake up in the morning till the time you go to bed at night and get up the next day. The second part is the love of God, His truth, and His way of life that's going to see you through all the trials and the temptations of life that come upon us. You know, we all have trials and temptations. Now, that happens to every single one of us, and some seem to get hurt, get hit worse than others at various times, but it seems like all of us eventually have something that's pretty significant in our lives that we're tested by or tempted by. But it is this love of His truth and His way of life, love for God and for each other, that will give us also the love that we need to help others through their trials.

So we are truly in this together, so if we know that one person is hurting, then we should be hurting. You know, we should go to God in prayer for them, pray for them, pray for their blessing upon them. Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, we would appreciate that you do pray for the president. Whoever that president is, may God be the one to be involved in selecting that person. You know, just all of us as God's people should be praying fervently that God will be involved in the selection of the next president. It's up to the council, again, 12 men, on the council who will determine who our next president is, but we want God to be in that decision. You know, we want God to guide those 12 men to put a person in that position that will truly lead us the way God would want us to be led. So, again, appreciate your prayers for that.

All right, so that's the second point. It's all about trials and temptations and being able to see, you know, that's going to keep us in the Church of God as well. If we're able to endure those trials and those temptations that come along and we're given the strength that we need, God gives us strength and we can help each other. We can give each other strength. So, it's important to know when someone's going through a trial and then trying to be there for them.

Satan is a great tempter. He doesn't give up on trying to corrupt us, to tempt us to sin. Human nature obviously is easily corrupted. The self becomes corrupt very early in life.

I mean, babies are sweet, but it's not too long before they're also very self-willed.

Well, they're obviously selfish because that's all they know. A child, we wait on them hand and foot. They're so dependent on us. But it's certainly a struggle against Satan the devil who's trying to tempt us to do evil. Our own selfish nature that wants to do evil. We have to fight against this and that can be difficult. There are temptations and trials also that come along. Health trials that sometimes make us question God. Why isn't God intervening? Why isn't He healing me or my wife or my child? And so doubt can enter in.

But God has promised to never leave us and to never forsake us. We've got to believe that promise.

God has promised to never leave us, to never forsake us. So whatever God allows, He's still there for us. And He's going to see us through those trials and those problems.

So God is going to lead us along the way. He's going to lead us into all truth. He's going to guide us into truth. And He's going to help us overcome our trials and our temptations by yielding to His truth in our lives. We talked some yesterday about the fruits of God's Holy Spirit and producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. Obviously, that's very important that we produce the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. That will help us through our trials. You know, if we're joyful people, then that'll help us through our trials. Even though we may be saddened by certain things that are happening, we still have that joy because we know the truth and we know that God's with us and that'll never leave us. Having that patience will help us through the trial. You know, being long-suffering is what the Scripture says too. Being able to suffer long and not give up and continue to be faithful. The peace of mind that comes. You know, God gives us peace. That's another fruit of His Spirit. Having self-control, being kind, being good. All these things will help us deal with our trials immensely. You know, one thing, certainly we need to be aware when Satan is tempting us and when we have sinned. You know, we have to admit that we've sinned. You know, we have to be honest. We have to go to God and ask Him for forgiveness. I mean, that's repentance. You know, when we're grieved. And the best verses that I think are in the Bible about repentance is 2 Corinthians chapter 7. So let's just take a moment to review 2 Corinthians chapter 7 because it shows us the power of repentance in our lives.

Admitting that you sinned, going to God for forgiveness, having a godly sorrow because you've sinned, God then grants us repentance. God's the one that grants us repentance. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, let's go to verse 9 and read this together. Paul says, Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry. And of course, this is the Church of Corinth. You know, the Church of Corinth had some issues. They were allowing sin to go on, a blatant type sin to go on in their midst. They were corrected for that. In fact, the person was put out, but then he repented. He came back. And so apparently, Paul is addressing this issue. He says, Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance. So we're not sorry just because we got caught. We're not sorry because we have to pay a price. But it goes beyond that. We're sorry because we sinned against God. We broke his commandments. We broke his laws. We did something that would be displeasing to God, and that bothers us.

For godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. So a worldly sorrow actually produces death because we haven't truly repented. It has to be a godly sorrow. For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. And those of us who have been in the church, who have God's Holy Spirit, have experienced this many times. We've experienced this many times because we're still sinners. And we've sinned many times, I'm sure, since we were baptized.

For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you. What clearing of yourselves. What indignation. What fear. You know, Satan is the accuser of the brethren. You know, Satan will accuse you before God after he tempts you to sin. Now, that's the kind of being Satan is. Satan will tempt a person to sin and then he'll go rat on you before God. You know, God sees it long before Satan rats on you. But the point I'm making is we need to let this true repentance cleanse us of our sins and help us to have a zeal to want to do better. Now, that's what this is talking about. It says what diligence it produced in you. What clearing of yourselves. What indignation. What fear. What vehement desire. What zeal.

What vindication. You know, when you go through this whole process, you realize that God has vindicated you because you've humbled yourself before him and you've allowed him to work in your life. And that's such a wonderful thing. It says, you know, it's a clearing of the self and you just you feel like you can go on again. You can go on in newness of life, just like when you were baptized. You come out of that watery grave and you are to walk in newness of life. And when God grants repentance, that washes over you. And you are so grateful that God is a forgiving and merciful and loving God and that he grants you that repentance. Because how miserable would we be if we didn't have that repentance? If we didn't have this very thing that it talks about here, how hard life would be, how difficult life would be, how miserable life would be.

So, in all things, you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. And that's what we all need to do as well. We need to fight the good fight. Paul talked about that. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4, we need to fight the good fight, like the Apostle Paul certainly fought the good fight. You know, he was tempted. He was tested. You know, he was shipwrecked. He was stoned. He was beaten. You know, he went through an awful lot for all of us as well, just like Christ did, and that we should be doing for one another. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7.

Paul says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. You know, he was imprisoned a number of times. You know, he was just persecuted. One group of people decided that they would fast until they killed him.

Remember that? They decided that we're going to fast until we've killed Paul. Well, something tells me they broke that promise because Paul lived for years after this incident. So those people who were so determined to kill him, God thwarted them. God did not allow that to happen. But that's how intent they were on killing Paul, taking him out. So he says, I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I've kept the faith. He knew he was going to die before long. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day.

And not the day of Christ appearing is what we're talking about here. When Christ returns, that reward will be given to those who have died in the faith. Those who have died in the faith will come out of their graves first. Those who are alive and remain at the return of Christ, they will be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, and they shall be changed into spirit beings like Christ.

We will be like Christ. So finally, there's laid up for me this crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. And not to me only, but to all who have loved his appearing. You know, the Bible talks about a great multitude, an innumerable multitude. Now, exactly what does that mean? There will be others that will join us in the very last days. There will be people that will turn to God. There are people now who are pretty religious people. You know, they're deceived, but they're good, solid people in a lot of ways. You know, they're dedicated. They read their Bibles. They may even put some of us to shame, you know, how dedicated they are in various ways.

It apparently shows that many of these people will repent, and that when they see the truth, you know, the two witnesses are going to be trumpeting the truth out of Jerusalem for three and a half years. You know, these things are going to go out. And what a, you know, what a future we have in store for us if we're alive at that time.

It'll be interesting to see who in this room will be alive when that happens. I don't know. Anyway, there's this crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only, but also to those who have loved his appearing. There are people who don't fully understand Christ or who he is necessarily, but they read the Bible. They read about Jesus of the Bible, and they believe a good bit of it. So we'll see what God does with them.

So we'll see what God does with them. I'm just going to, I wanted to share one example with you just to let you know that there could be people out there that still haven't repented that will also join us. There was a man in Oklahoma who was in the church a long time ago. He's actually a minister, and he got sideways, crossways, stopped coming to church, went back into the world.

He called me one Passover evening, or no, it wasn't Passover evening, it was a few days before Passover. He called me, and he was crying. He was in tears.

He was broken up. He had been gone from the church for 30 years, and he had gone into the world. He had, you know, done a lot of things. He divorced his wife. I think he was, well, I won't say what all he was into, but he was into some very worldly things.

But he called me, and he certainly sounded repentant. He still had God's Spirit, but he felt that he had quenched the Spirit. But you know, you can look at a fire. You can look at a fire that's died way down. It looks like it's completely out, but there's some embers. There's something underneath there that's still burning.

It's still alive. And if the wind comes along and starts picking up, then before long it can cause problems because it can start fires and be a real problem. I like to start fires in my fireplace. I'm not a pyromaniac. But I do like to... We've got a wood burning fireplace, so almost every morning I get up early, and I light the fire. I do my Bible study in front of the fire.

And it's amazing. God created this. There are lessons to be learned with these fires. Sometimes you think they're totally out, but they're not. And I would have thought this guy probably committed the unpardonable sin. He was never coming back. He begged me to let him come to Passover. And I said, look, I'm not going to tell you you can't come to Passover. It was so close to Passover, and there was no way I could go see him.

But we talked on the phone. He seemed very repentant. He seemed to understand and know what was going on. I said, look, if you believe you need to be here, you need to be here. So he came, and for 10 years he drug himself.

His health was poor. I think there were consequences for his sins. His health was bad. He was all bent over. He used to be tall and robust. He was bent over.

But he drug himself to church, drove an hour every day to come to church for about 10 years. Set an example of faithfulness. So I certainly believe he repented and came back. So there still may be some people out there that will join us in the days ahead. Time will tell. We should never give up on people. God doesn't give up on people. We should not give up on one another. We shouldn't give up on people. Keep praying for them. Keep praying that God will open their minds and their hearts. Continually stir up the Spirit of God that's in you. That's another thing about a fire. You know, you stir it up. It burns more brightly. We need to stir the Spirit of God up within us.

So, brethren, let us strive to make the United Way as close to God's way as possible. You know, I believe strongly in the United Church of God. I've only been in two organizations, the Worldwide Church of God and the United Church of God. I believe God's in this body. Not to say he's not in other bodies. That's between him and them. I'm not the judge of that. All I know is God called me, and this is where I am today. I'm happy to be here, and I want to make the United Way as close to God's way as possible. And if we can do that, then we're going to grow and overcome. I said, you know, I have in my notes, let's not settle for humanly possible.

We don't want this to be as close to God as humanly possible. We want God to be so involved in it that we become a church without spot or wrinkle. Now, again, I think that's going to happen ultimately at Christ's return, but it's like the repentance. You know, if we're repenting, we're clean in God's sight as a church. So, let's consider that. And let's remember that God's truth is all-important. It's been at the center of my life for 47 years. Loving God and his truth is essential if we are to endure the temptations of Satan the devil and if we're to survive the trials of life. God is truly gracious and forgiving, and his Son will truly be partners with us. He and his Son will be partners in our lives. They will never leave us. They will never forsake us. Always acknowledge God and put him and his way first in your life. Both Father and Son will direct your steps. They will bless you along the way. So, learn to love God's truth. Learn to love his way of life and follow him with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul. And do it, brethren. Do it with all your might. So, it's been a wonderful blessing to be here with all of you. I've enjoyed it, so I look forward to spending some time with you now.