There are No Bad Neighborhoods

Good afternoon, everyone! On this last day of... I almost said I'm loving bread. Last great day.

It's wonderful to see you here. And the first thing I would like to do is to give thanks to God for making this Feast of Tabernacles possible. As you know, about two months ago, we were all up in the air from one extreme of wondering if we will have the Feast of Tabernacles to just exactly how it would turn out. And it turned out real fine. Reports from other festival areas have been very, very good, those who have had full groups, and they've just been very delighted with the sermons and everything that's taken place.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved with the organization of this feast site. As Mr. Martin has said, sometimes you don't want to mention names because you'll leave out probably one of the hardest workers because you saw them so much that you just forget about them because they're so obvious. So I won't list the whole list of people, but I do want to comment about Mr. Martin, about the job that he did on the fly with a moving target and with changes continually, including the last mask change, which on September 30th, the mask matter was to be lifted, but then it was extended.

There were many other matters that also had to be settled. I also want to thank all the different departments that worked. One department that gets left out or isn't noticed so much. In fact, the only time they're noticed if something goes wrong, and that's the people who work with sound, with electronics, with video, and the only time is like, hey, hey, hey, something's not working. No sound, no sound, you know, when people get panicky, but they should be thanked for making things work.

And I thank the men and women who were involved with all the audio-visual presentation and background and audio that was here at the feast. The special music was excellent. I really thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'd like to say that I really particularly enjoyed hearing Mr. de Vilbus sing the music, the song that he did. I have no idea what the title of the song is, but I know it is a New World Symphony. When I was a teenager, my parents bought the record, Dvorak's New World Symphony, and I played it over and over and over again. I love that melody from the New World Symphony, but thank you very much for the music that was performed.

Many others as well here for the whole feast. Bev and I were very happy to be here for the entirety of the feast. Oftentimes, we're at two different places, and we usually have a webcast, a live webcast this year. We decided not to do it. However, we still made a recorded webcast to unify the messages as we did this year. Last night, I was at the home of Mike and Nancy Feike, and we had a 5 p.m.

service to New Zealand. It was 10 o'clock in the morning on the last great day for them, on the eighth day for them, and it was wonderful. We had a little studio set up there on the kitchen table, and we did a Zoom presentation to the 60-plus people who were assembled in Auckland area. I'm not sure if it was totally Auckland, but it was on the northern island in New Zealand. But that was wonderful seeing people that, and then afterwards, some of them came up to the camera, and we had an exchange.

It's just amazing the kind of freedoms that we have and possibilities with electronics as they are today. That was last night. And also, my wife and I, we're very happy to have our son and daughter-in-law and their four children with us. We all stayed together, the eight of us, at the feast, and it's certainly a very memorable time, a time when we will be thinking back about how much we enjoyed being with one another. Also, enjoying the beauty of nature here, we hiked a number of trails here in the Gatlinburg area.

Most memorable one was the one a couple days ago, to Alum, something, Alum Ridge, Alum Valley, or whatever, and it was a good walk. It felt sore for a long time. Also, I wanted to comment about the sermons, which have been very, very inspiring. I have thoroughly been impressed. I wouldn't want to use that word necessarily, but I have just been very pleased with the sermons that have been given, and the message given this morning about the eighth day was one of the best ones I have ever heard.

It was amazing how it weaved in stories, personal examples, and the entire theology of the eighth day. In fact, I don't know what I'm going to talk about this afternoon, to be honest. Where is Mr. Martin? Is he here? Oh, there he is, right there in front of me. You know, it was just really, really inspiring message. The feeling, the content, everything was wonderful, so that was good.

The two passages that encapsulate God's mindset towards humanity are these. Very simple. One's been covered already today, but if you look at them a little bit more closely, we see the depths of God's mind and how he feels about those whom he created in his image, and how he really feels about them. John 3, verse 16. You've heard that before. You see it on bumper stickers everywhere. You see it on signs. In fact, it's on so many things that we don't even think, know what it says, because it just rattles off so very, very quickly. John 3, verse 16. For God so loved the world, loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. We can read through that very, very quickly, but if you examine every single word, we see the mind of God with under the penmanship of the Apostle John. He loved the world. Not a church only. Not a race. Not a family.

He loved the world. He loved all of humanity, and he gave his only Son for that.

That's the centrality of our theology of Jesus Christ, who was God the Father's only begotten Son, who died for us. He loved us so much that he wanted to make eternal life possible in a lasting way that was superior to the angels, of something that could not be dislodged or changed, or there would not be something happened like what happened with the angels. But to make us part of his family, to set us, to make us free moral agents, yet those who would be like God, who says, God cannot lie. Can God lie? God cannot lie. We will not sin because we don't want to sin.

We will become of a nature, of a decision-making ability, of an agency, free moral agency, such as God, his himself. And he's making this available to whoever, whoever. You might as well just say all, who believe in him, that they should not perish, but have everlasting life, salvation. The other passage is in John chapter 7, verse 37, which has been read a number of times. I've got it in my notes a few different times as well. John's chapter 7, in verse 37, records an event that was happening on what's called, on the last day, the great day of the feast, in which Jesus Christ beckons those who hear him, saying, if anyone, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

There was a kind of a water ceremony on this day where water was poured, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. In fact, if you read in John chapter 7, in verse 37, the verses after that, it gives you a little bit of an idea as to what John was reaching for. John chapter 7, in verse 37.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. We'll get into a little bit more about living water here in this sermon. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. But he talks about the Holy Spirit being given to mankind, which it was in great flowing measure, as Joel prophesied on the day of Pentecost in that year, or the year that Jesus Christ died. I came to understanding the rudiments of this day when I was 16 years old. I was listening to the World Tomorrow Program, listen to it night after night. Actually, I was quite of a devout young teenager. I was the head of our youth group in our church. I read my morning and evening prayers from a little black prayer book, and I would say that I had a fear of God as a teenager. That's just a fact.

But when I came to understand the things that I was listening to on the World Tomorrow Program, one time the speaker just offhandedly said, is this the only day of salvation? This was something brand new. He only brought it up two or three nights in a row. Is this the only day of salvation? And he brought up a story about a missionary that was headed to a village in South America to evangelize and baptize. But his car broke down. And during a time when his car broke down, he was laid up for a few days, a few people in the village died. People that were waiting to see this missionary. Would his flat tire, would his car break down, be responsible for their eternal perishing? That was a question that was brought up. Because if he would have gotten to the village, he would have baptized them, then they would have been saved. But now because of his flat tire, they were doomed. So that was a good question. And I thought, I've got a sentence for this article. This sounds very, very good. And in the mail, in three weeks or so, came a Spartan four-page reprint called, Is This the Only Day of Salvation? That article opened my eyes like I could not believe. Because I was wondering about these questions. About all the people who are unsaved in this world. About all these other religions that are not Christian. Religions that are bizarre. Or what about the USSR? Where atheism was the official state of religion. Where people couldn't join a church or be part of a church at all. It wasn't even their fault. My mother grew up in that type of society, even though she came into the church and was baptized before she died.

But what about these people who really couldn't? How is God going to deal with them?

So when this article came, and basically it was Len Martin's sermon. The passages, and of course, the ones, the obvious ones in Revelation 20, but also Ezekiel and other places, really pointed out what will happen and that they will have an opportunity. They were the rest of the dead who now would be arising physically and have their opportunity for salvation. I remember one of my mentors said, don't ever use the word chance. Another had a chance. So this is not poker. Opportunity is the word. Opportunity for salvation.

The understanding that came at this time to me was such that I asked myself first, why do I understand this? I'm just a teenager. Why do I understand it? My priest does not. We had a future of our salvation as being in heaven, but for the rest of the world it was uncertain and unknown what their salvation would be. And heaven, frankly, was a little bit frightening. It was not having a body, not knowing if I'd recognize other people. I said, when I go to heaven, I want to be with people that I know, the people that I associate with here on the ground. And heaven was kind of a place with a lot of lights, no bodies. It was kind of like a spiritual Disneyland. And I said, I don't know if I really want to go there. And then when I really began to learn what the world tomorrow would be, it would be the kingdom of God coming to this earth. I've spoken about that enough. It was so inspiring and so awesome. It put things in place. And I still thank God that I understood it. And you understand it as well. He who has ears to hear, let him hear, meaning understand.

I don't apologize for the fact that I understand it and that others do not. I wish they did, because actually it is quite simple. When I received that article, it was like the Hubble telescope opening the reaches of the universe in a way that hadn't been reached before. Where before we just had a very limited understanding about ourselves and our future, but not really seeing out to the edges of the universe. And now we're beginning to understand more and more the greatness of what God is doing for mankind. This answered questions, as Len Martin brought out, about what's going to happen with somebody who dies, who's not baptized. A child. What about my son, as one lady said, 17 years old, killed in a motorcycle accident. What's his fate? What's his future? Answer is, the meaning of this day is able to provide sensible, logical answers. What about aborted babies? Are they just human tissue? Or are they conceived lives of the beating heart with lungs with a spinal system already set up?

What about all other religions outside the Christianity, Hindus? My wife and I were in India two years ago. We were there during the last part of some type of festival. And you know something? They have millions of gods. Millions of gods. I thought to myself, this is bizarre. This is bizarre. Nothing anywhere near any kind of sensibility. You really can't fix that at all.

What about Hindus? Ancestor worshipers? What about Christians who believe differently from us? Worship on different days? Have a different understanding of Jesus Christ? Will they have the same opportunities that we do? Or is it going to be different for them? What if you were born in North Korea? Let's try some evangelizing there, reaching those people. You can't reach anybody in that hermit kingdom. This was wonderful to receive this booklet or this four-page Spartan reprint.

There are two major reasons why people become atheists. And they're very real to people. Very, very real.

First reason is all the suffering and evil in this world. How can there be a god? How can there be a god with so much suffering and evil in this world? And it's not getting any better. People see it and they say, God's not doing anything about it.

You might... some of us, I'm sure we've seen the movie, most of us here, God is not dead. God is not dead, parts one and part two. Talked about an atheistic professor who was very, very angry and embittered. He was an atheist. And he finally broke him down, one of the people of the class broke him down, to find out that the reason he was an atheist is because when he was a teenager, or he was younger, his mother was dying. And he begged and prayed to God. He begged God to heal her. And she died. He said, there can be no god. God didn't answer my prayers.

And then you take a look at all the evil in the world. Can't God stop it?

Can't God just stop it for a moment? Why do we have to suffer all the evil that we have in this world? That's reason number one. That's big. People see all the evil, they see the suffering, and they say they cannot be a god with conditions as bad as they are. But the other reason, which really plays into the meaning of this day, is how can all these religions make any kind of sense?

And they seem to be thriving. How can so many religions consider themselves to be right? They don't make any sense at all.

What about those who are unsaved? It's a whole area of theology. It's called the eschatology of the unevangelized. And the theologians are investigating that thought, the eschatology, which is the future events of those who are unevangelized. I've looked at what the Catholics have to say, and they have just all kinds of philosophy. Well, maybe if they weren't baptized, but if they didn't know the Lord, but they were kind of prepared to be baptized, maybe somehow God will be good to them. I mean, they have all kinds of strange things about how to fit people in, and how to kind of make God look good, even though they were not baptized, or in other ways, evangelized. But the other is a Calvinistic teaching, Calvinistic teaching, that teaches that certain people are predestined for salvation, and they were predestined before they were born. And mainly, it's the people who were the Calvinists. They were predestined to be saved. And no matter what they did in this lifetime, no matter what their works were, they would be saved. That's their teaching. And it's got to seep into several of the Protestant teachings. What happens to those who were not saved? Very easy. They go to hell. And that's exactly how they put it. In fact, in the Belgic Confession of 1561, which is a doctrinal standard by which many Reformed churches teach, affirm that God delivers and preserves from perdition all whom he, in his eternal and unchangeable counsel of mere goodness, has elected in Christ Jesus our Lord, without respect to their works. It's Article 16. Calvinists believe that God picked those whom he will save and bring with him to heaven before the world was created. God's already pre-picked them. Literally, this is their wording. They also believe that those God does not save will go to hell. John Calvin taught, thought people who were saved would never lose their salvation. That is, to me, very, very strange. Will the rest of humanity just be flushed down some kind of cosmic toilet as those who are predestined live forever and enjoy it? And say, oh yeah, that was my mom. That was my dad. That was my brothers. I'm predestined. They're gone.

You know, what was read this morning to 1 Timothy 2 and verse 4, God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. That was read to us along with the accompanying passage in 2 Peter 3, verse 9. That's God's will. What God really wants is for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. But you know, God's not doing a very good job because it's a big failure. If this was a business, we would say, look, shut this thing down. Shut this God stuff down. It's not working. We have just a very few people here who have come for salvation. Everybody else doesn't want it, is angry with it, it's not worked for centuries, it's just not working. That's the way it is for the world.

Several things were read this morning, some of them from statements doctrinally that we have. In fact, one which I was going to read, but I think I'll just let you read it yourself.

About the last great day, the eighth day, is our last statement by the Council of Elders, which was issued on August 13, 2015. And Mr. Martin actually read most of the words that are in it. And I recommend to really understand what we teach about this day, to take a look at some of the materials that we have on the subject. You can find this doctoral statement, and I really recommend with the influence and with the availability of the Internet, that you go to ucg.org to the members site. ucg.org members. This particular section of the Internet is not searched by, is not searchable. It's intended for members. It includes doctrinal papers and other materials intended for members. Then you go to member resources. Then you go to study papers and look under last great day, eighth day, doctrinal statement, and read this. Also, most of you already have the booklet on God's Holy Day plan, which is excellent in explaining these days, step by step. Plus, if you go to our UCG website, there are many, many blogs that speak about this day. I would say that one that I kind of exerted, some pieces that I feel kind of said it all. I'm not trying to duplicate what Mr. Martin has said, but I would like to read this. The rest of the dead. It is a day when all is made right, the time of true justice.

Because though we take a look at the world right now, it's unjust. People say this. It can't be a God. This is nonsense. But this is a time when all is made right, a time of true justice. The dead, small and great, will stand before God and have the books opened for their understanding.

Billions of humans who never understood the truth will have the opportunity to understand God's purpose for their lives. Billions and billions. Billions and billions will be served, just like the McDonald's slogan. Billions and billions served. We will have billions and billions of people who will rise up who will have their opportunity for salvation. How many people have lived from all time? Estimates range from 20 to 50 billion, and this earth is going to be prepared to receive them during the thousand-year period, and this world will be able to sustain numbers like that. I'll read Revelation 20 again, The Rest of the Dead. I remember in Estonia for the Feast of Tabernacles in 2011. That's the last time that I was in Estonia for the Feast. John Sephorg, the late John Sephorg, gave a sermon entitled, The Rest of the Dead. And we had a number of Ukrainians who came from Ukraine to Estonia for the Feast, and I was the translator for that sermon that day.

And to me, this is one of the most exciting moments of that Feast, because some of them, the fact this group that came, were Holy Day keepers. They had just started keeping the Holy Days a few years before that, but they did not know about the last great day. They didn't know about the eighth day, the meaning of it. And so, as John Sephorg spoke about The Rest of the Dead, and I translated, their eyes got big. They had never heard anything like this. To me, it was an exciting moment of seeing somebody open to the truth and understanding, oh really, really, really?

They were so excited about this marvelous truth. To see a hot moment in somebody else was wonderful. But anyway, Revelation 20, verse 11 through 13, to their works. They were judged. They were not sentenced. People think that they were judged by something they had done previously. No, they were assessed. They were being assessed. They were going through a process of living by the Word of God and then being assessed by it. Being judged in a judgment is not a sentence. A part of judgment is the sentence, but a judgment is not equal to a sentencing, according to their works by the things that were written in the books, in the book of Romans, the book of Galatians, in the book of Genesis. The sea gave up the dead and those who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged. They were assessed, each one, according to his works in a dynamic style. Just as you and I are right now living a judgment period, because judgment is now upon the house of God. This is the period of the eighth day fulfillment for those of us in the church. We are being judged right now. We are being assessed. Judgment is now upon the house of God, and this is the house of God. On the last great day, God will make the greatest injustice to befall man. He will give, he will make right, the greatest injustice to befall a human. He will give them an opportunity for eternal life. He will give life back to those who had it snuffed out in their prime, or before it could ever get started. They will rise to life and know that there is hope.

This is key understanding that gives hope and purpose to a world that sometimes seeks bleak, random, and meaningless. I thank God all the time. I'm so thankful that I know what this is all about. I'm not happy with myself, always, but I'm thankful for understanding what I do.

Apologics, apologetics, apologetics just don't know how to explain it. The best existentialists, religious pundits, philosophers, clerics, scholars simply cannot understand what this day is about. What I'd like to focus on today, the remainder of the time that I have, is to answer the question, how does God really look on you and me and on all of mankind?

In my old church, we had icons that pictured God the Father and Jesus Christ. They had attitudes written all over their faces. God the Father was angry, had a big white beard, and he just looked mean. That was how he looked upon mankind. I saw him every Sunday looking down on us being upset about something. And Jesus Christ kind of looked like he was on drugs. He had a very, very strange look in his eyes. That's the kind of impression that we had of God looking upon mankind. But how does God look upon those who are made in his image right now and for the future? I would like to tell you a story, allow me to tell you a story, about meeting one of the most remarkable people that I have met in my life. Because through her, I learned a lesson about how leadership ought to view those who they rule.

This lady's name is Judy O'Bannon. She was first lady for the state of Indiana from 1997 to 2003. She was a wife of Governor Franco O'Bannon, who died in office in 2003.

I met her through a meeting that was arranged to have her meet one of the most important doctors from Ukraine, who actually blew the whistle on the Chernobyl disaster, because his practice, his service as a pediatrician was about 30 miles away from Chernobyl in the city of Chernihiv.

We still work with him to this very day, almost 30 years later, 25 years later.

We were supposed to go in and talk to her for 15 minutes. That was the time allotted for an interview with Judy O'Bannon. When we got in there, and the way I met this doctor was through another elder in the United Church of God, Morris Fromm, who was also a doctor dealing with thyroid. He was an endocrinologist and dealt with cancer of the thyroid. We had been to Ukraine three times in two years. I just wanted to give you this as background for how we got to talk to Judy O'Bannon. We talked to her for 15 minutes, and as we came into the governor's mansion and sat down and talked to her, we stayed for an hour and a half. She was so enthralled by this doctor, by what the children of Chernobyl had gone through. And I was the translator in that room for him. Later on that afternoon, she asked me if I would accompany her on a trip to Russia with leaders, educators from the city and from the state of Indiana. And I somewhat became her translator on that trip. I took her, along with her bodyguard, into the streets. She liked to talk to random people in the streets, to beggars, to all kinds of people. She wanted to go shopping. I'd tell her, don't get ripped off. She was just an amazing person. But a few months later, after we got back, she called me into her office, called me back to the mansion, and asked if I would help her with a project for an Eagle Scout that wanted to start a wheelchair exchange program. She says, Victor, I think that maybe you can help out with LifeNets, with your church, to help this young man with a wheelchair program that he wants to get going. And so I came there, and the program essence was to have the public deliver wheelchairs that they wanted to donate to certain stores. And they would be responsible to exchange them to people who needed wheelchairs. That's the short story of it. And we chose Lowe's home stores that people could bring wheelchairs to. And I told Judy, I said, there are certain parts of town that are just bad neighborhoods.

She sternly looked at me and said, Victor, there are no bad neighborhoods in Indianapolis. I said, yeah, but you know, Judy, I mean, you wanting to have all these wheelchairs going to these areas that are unsafe, these are not very good. There are no bad neighborhoods in Indianapolis. If people knew, she said, that I looked upon their community as a bad neighborhood, my ability to serve those people would be diminished and doomed. Every area has a potential. And I will never allow anyone to think that their part of town is a bad neighborhood. There are no bad neighborhoods in Indianapolis. There are no bad people in Indianapolis. Well, at first, I thought that was far-fetched. You know, of course, we're good people. There's lots of bad people. I'm not one of the bad people. I'm one of the good people. But she took her role as a public servant very seriously, in that she looked upon all the people in the state as having a potential to rise. She's one of the top first ladies ever.

In fact, I told her, wrote to her just before the feast. I told her I was going to use her example, which I had brought to her in a sermon that I was going to be giving here. She truly is an amazing lady. Those words stuck with me for years, because as I take a look at how God looks at people, it's much the same way. Now, biblically, there are many bad neighborhoods.

Let Martin talk to us about some bad neighborhoods today. Sodom and Gomorrah, bad neighborhood. Sodom and Gomorrah, bad neighborhood. Tired inside, bad neighborhood.

Queen of the South, down in Ethiopia, worked through some bad neighborhoods as well.

But these bad neighborhoods have a future.

Sodom was such a bad neighborhood that when I just looked up, you may want to look this up, too, go on the internet and check Sodom and Gomorrah. This is the first time that I had seen this.

I think it's because of all the hate rules now that they have out there. They have little disclaimers on some of the articles. Sodom and Gomorrah, I said, what were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? That's just what I asked in the main URL line. They said, here it is, but this information should not be given to children, because it is very, very sensitive. The first thing they mentioned about Sodom and Gomorrah, as far as their sins, was not being hospitable. I thought, good night. It's more than that. They finally did get to the other areas, but right now there is so much feeling towards these biblical examples that even they have to protect themselves with language that protects them. These were bad neighborhoods. Jesus Christ, when He sent His—and I'll let you read that yourself—in Luke chapter 10, verse 1 through 16, all those bad areas are listed that will have their day, their day in the period of what's called the judgment. It is so consistent. Jesus Christ sent out 70 disciples, two by two, in preparation for a broader mission to their areas by Himself.

And He said that if they don't receive them in the towns of Corazin, which is about seven miles north of Jerusalem, but it had five different sects of the Jews, there was a lot of resistance to Christ's teaching. In fact, there was just a whole lot of resistance to Christ's teaching in Galilee. Even in his own family, the half-brother James, who wrote the book of James, was not even part of that. He was not a believer in Jesus until the end of Jesus' life. He said in verse 12, I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day, the day of judgment, for Sodom than for that city that rejects their teaching.

Woe to Corazin, verse 13, woe to Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, bad cities, bad neighborhoods, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment of the great white throne judgment. What other kind of judgment will we be talking about? This talks about a future judgment, then for you. And you, Capernaum, right there located at the very top of the Sea of Galilee, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

He who hears me, he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects he who sent me. Luke chapter 11, verse 32, the men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment. Again, he talks about this period of judgment. With this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah. This was their first rung at it. And now someone greater than Jonah is here. They repented, but it was not a long-lasting repentance. Obviously, because the nation of Assyria, Nineveh being the capital, which is Mosul today, attacked the northern 12 tribes, the northern northern ten tribes, and took Israel captive. For as Jonah became assigned to the Ninevites, verse 30, so also the son of man will be to this generation, the queen of the south, verse 31, will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them.

For she came with the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. Probably some other bad neighborhoods that weren't even listed. There were 1650 years in the time of the Garden of Eden to the flood. Lots of bad neighborhoods. Lots of bad neighborhoods. And they were all destroyed. But they will have their opportunity at a future time.

There weren't just bad neighborhoods that Christ lifted up and said they will have their opportunity.

But there were some bad people, too. Christ's time there were bad people. There are bad people right now. And this is where we can learn some things. That all of us can learn some things as we are being judged as to how we look upon people outside of us. And I think this is very important. The first story is the one about tax collector Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19.

The New Testament with Christ was very, very harsh on two classes of people. One was the Pharisees.

Christ didn't have much good to say about the Pharisees because they were the ones who were always shadowing him, criticizing him. No matter what he did, they found fault with what he did. But also, it wasn't that he didn't want to mix with them, they were just always shadowing him and always criticizing and criticizing. Finally, they got to the point where they wanted to kill him and actually were instrumental in the death of Jesus Christ. But the people that Jesus Christ mixed with, that he worked with, were people that outside of his little group, and Pharisees and publicans in particular, a publican is a tax collector, condemned Jesus Christ for that. One of them here is Zacchaeus, a short little guy. Jesus entered in pastor Jericho. Now behold, this is Luke 10, 19, I should say, verse 1, now behold there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd. Short little guy, everybody's around Jesus who was very, very popular, people asking him questions, and here's Zacchaeus kind of running around, through, trying to get through. People probably would push him out of the way too because they didn't like him. Because he was a short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, to see, to see Christ. For he was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked down upon him and said to him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. Get down off that tree. For today I must stay at your house.

What? Zacchaeus, chief tax collector? Corrupt?

So he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, the people around Jesus, they all complained saying, he is gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.

What?

But Zacchaeus, verse 8, stood and said to the Lord, look, Lord, I have half my goods, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold. Of course, yes, he was coming to repentance. But Jesus Christ reached out to him. He was not afraid to go to his house for dinner. He said, Zacchaeus, I'll send you a booklet. You done reading it? Call me. No, he connected with him. When he invited him to his home, he went there and talked to him along with other people. And Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come to this house because he is also a son of Abraham. Hey, we're in it together. We're the same lineage with both Jews, Hebrews. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Wonderful, wonderful story about Zacchaeus. Christ mixed with a shady element in his society and was judged for it several times in the harmony of the Gospels and condemned by the Pharisees who were looking for anything they could find and pin on Christ that they didn't like because they hated him. Their motive was really not that he converted with those people, but the fact that they hated him. They were looking for anything that they could pin on him. Another tax collector. In fact, there are several stories about tax collectors and none of them are good. One called Levi in Luke chapter 5 and verse 27. After these things, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi. Sitting at the tax office, he said to him, follow me. So he left all, rose up, and followed him.

But then here, Levi gave him a great feast in his own house. And there were a number of other tax collectors and others who sat down with them. Christ was not afraid to mix with this group. He probably enjoyed them more than being with some of the righteous people, like the Pharisees who prided themselves in being righteous and answering their sticky questions. He could probably sit down with these tax collectors and probably even have a drink of wine, maybe tell some lighter stories, and spend an enjoyable time with them as he served them. And their scribes and Pharisees complained against his disciples. This is the reaction by these scribes and Pharisees. Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? These are undesirables. We stay away from them. And yet Christ intended and wanted to be with them. He wanted to talk to them. He wanted to engage them in his conversation.

Jesus answered, verse 31, and said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I have another story to tell you. This is my favorite one in the New Testament.

Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman. Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman. This is the story that's related in the fourth chapter of John. First of all, a few side notes about Samaria. Samaria had been formerly the capital of the northern ten tribes. It was somewhat of a diminished city, even in Christ's time. It's not that far north of Jerusalem, really. Probably not more than, I don't know, an hour by car. And so he came, and Samaritans were a different breed of people from the Jews.

And they were kind of in the middle, like an island of a nationality or an ethnic group, right in the middle of the Jews. For one thing, these people were kind of a mixed breed. They were people that were brought in earlier, hundreds of years before that, by the Assyrians who repopulated the northern ten tribes area with the people from their area. These people intermixed with some of the people already there, and they really had a mishmash of a religion. They even had their own Torah. They had their own version of the scriptures. But it was mixed with synchristic Babylonian religion. When Philip went up to Samaria to preach, Simon the Magician came there. This is part of that mystery religion, kind of a mixture of Adam, or Abraham, and the religion of Babylon. They were not liked at all. In fact, as people went north to Galilee, the Jews typically did not go through Samaria. They went around it just to avoid those people. They just really thought this is a bad, bad neighborhood.

Now, he had gone through Samaria. He came into a town in Samaria called Sychar. Near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Several of us have been there to that place and reputable to be that that's the well and that's the place. It's very, very interesting, very interesting history in that area. Jesus was tired from his journey and sat down by the well.

It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman, verse 7, came to draw water, Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? Now, this is a really big no-no. First of all, Christ was a Jew right in the middle of Samaria. He comes to a well, here comes a woman, he starts talking to a woman.

You don't just talk to a woman. Now he's asking her for a drink, a drink of water.

Will you give me a drink? The disciples were not with Jesus at the time. They were in town buying food. The Samaritan woman said to him, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? For the Jews do not associate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's asking you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. He's talking about himself. They really, he'll be doing you a big favor if you asked me to get that for you. He would have, I would have given it to you. The woman said, verse 11, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?

Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank for himself as also his sons and his livestock? Jesus answered, everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, talking about the regular water that was in that well. But whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. The woman replied, verse 15, Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. Very simplistic answer. Christ said, has then told her, verse 16, Go, call your husband and come back. I have no husband, she replied.

Jesus said to her, you're right. You're right that when you say you have no husband, the fact is that you've had five husbands and the man you are now with is not your husband.

What you have said is quite true. She was a bad person. And here Christ is asking her for a drink and he's engaging her in a spiritual discussion. He's not in the synagogue. He's not out there preaching to a crowd. He's talking to this woman at the well who has a checkered history. Five husbands and the man she's with right now is not her husband.

She was challenged nationally. She was a Samaritan, mixture of Babylonish, Syrian, Jewish, with a Jewish religion mixed in with Babylonian. Doctrinally, she was messed up. And her personal life was a mess, absolute train wreck.

And yet this is a person that Jesus Christ started his conversation.

Sir, verse 19, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place that we must worship is in Jerusalem. If any of you get to Israel, you've got to take this trip. You've got to get to Saikar, see this well, see all this, how it really plays out in connection with Jerusalem in the south and Galilee up in the north. The time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Verse 22, you Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know for salvation, is from the Jews. Now Christ is not mixing with her to become part of her, obviously.

He wants nothing from her. He does not want to connect or compromise anything.

He wants to tell her the truth. He wants her to become like him, to adopt what is the truth.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and truth. We often time to just take this sentence out, you know, kind of stand-alone verse, but it's part of a discussion that he had with this woman. The woman then, in verse 25, said, I know the Messiah, called Christ, is coming. I know the Messiah is coming. See, they already had this knowledge, as I explained in my sermon on about the kingdom of God. They knew that there was the desire of all nations coming. Messiah was coming, is coming. And when he comes, this Messiah, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared, verse 26, I, the one speaking to you, I am he. I am the Messiah. This is the first time that Christ reveals his Messiahship in his ministry. It wasn't to a large crowd of people listening to him.

He revealed his Messiahship in Samaria. To a woman who had been married five times, he looked upon her as a child of God, going to the lowest and making these people have value. He revealed himself first to this Samaritan woman.

Another person who is questionable character, not questionable, actually bad character, another bad person, is Rahab. She's in the Hall of Fame with the faithful. That starts off with, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, I mean all these great patriarchs of faith. You go down the list and you come down to Rahab the harlot. She's, like I said, in the Hall of Fame. The word Rahab does not strike a positive note. How many little girls have we named Rahab?

And now born to, you know, the Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Rahab Elise. How wonderful!

That's the name we stay away from. Not only is her name symbolic of something immoral, it's a name that was not edited for all eternity. As one speaker, my son gave a sermon one time about Rahab the harlot. You know, in later editions of the Bible, they could have taken that harlot part out. It's time to end it. Rahab the harlot. Just keep her as Rahab. But no, she's in there as Rahab the harlot. And she was deemed to be one of the faithful. Faithful by her works, by hiding the spies that came when Joshua came into the Promised Land to search it out, and to protect them. And she was saved when Jericho was destroyed.

Not only was Rahab that, she was a Canaanite. She was a Canaanite. She was also in the lineage of Christ.

Jesus Christ's genes had some of Rahab in him. Do you realize how God loves humanity that everyone has a part, everyone who comes to conversion, to repentance? As Rahab obviously did, and I don't have a half of her as Rahab the harlot, as somebody who continued in that, she repented of that.

But she became part of the family of Ruth, David, all the way down to Jesus Christ.

You know, when we come into the kingdom and we had kind of entrance, you know, our entry intake, can you see them interviewing Rahab? What's your name? Rahab? Occupation?

Prostitute? Okay. Nationality? Canaanite? You know, doesn't sound good.

Yet God reached out and reached down to people like this. God is not a leadist.

Another person who has a history, a violent history, and yet one of the chief leaders of Christianity was the Apostle Paul. The point I'm making here is this is the way God looks upon people that he works with, and this is the way God looks upon the future people that he will continue to work with. He loves people. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever comes to him will not perish and have everlasting life. There is a lesson to all this. First Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12. The Apostle Paul talks about his background.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. God put Paul into the ministry. Paul didn't seek the ministry. Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant. The Apostle Paul is the one who knew more about grace than anybody else. The word grace appears 150 times in the Bible. 100, 100 of which are from the Apostle Paul and 50 from the book of Romans alone. He understood grace. He understood forgiveness. He understood being one who took Christians to their death, persecuted them. He's the one who was responsible for the death of Stephen, the first martyr, as he sat there and watched him being stoned. And God used him to raise up Christianity to the Gentile world. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The point of the eighth day, that as the days begin from Passover on up, as you get into the families, you get into people who receive the Holy Spirit and now the world tomorrow, the kingdom of God, you see God includes more and more people. Now we come to the eighth day where billions of people are included. It's a day of inclusion, not a time of exclusion, as Calvinist thinking, which pervades Protestantism today. You know that when Christianity actually on its own began in Acts chapter 10, the leaders at that time didn't have the vision of it as something that would go to the entire world. They felt it was something that would stay within the Jewish faith.

It was necessary to have the Scriptures, which was the Old Testament as we have it now, for the rest of the world. And even when the Apostle Paul went to areas in the Gentile world, he went to the synagogues because that's where he could read from the Scriptures. But there was no real plan to have it go totally worldwide. Well, maybe by the time of the Apostle Paul it did. But here in Acts chapter 10, there's some interesting facts. Somebody try to zip through this a little bit more quickly, but I find this to be a very important story about inclusion.

There was a man in Caesarea who was a Roman centurion. In other words, an officer, an active Roman officer. This is not a retired one who's just kind of sitting back and writing his memoirs. This is an active Roman officer who was responsible for a hundred soldiers in Caesarea.

But he was a devout person. He was a God-ferer. He feared God. This is Acts chapter 10 and verse 2, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day, verse 3, Acts 10, he saw clearly a vision of an angel coming to him saying, Cornelius. He responded by saying, what is it, Lord?

Does your prayers and your alms have come up to me for memorial before God? Now send men to Joppa, which is 35 miles south, currently where the city of Tel Aviv is, and he will tell you what to do.

And so Cornelius took two of his household, along with the officer, another soldier, and they started this trek down 35 miles to Tel Aviv, to Joppa.

The next day on their journey, Peter went up to the housetop to pray. Now Peter was living, or staying, in Joppa. This is the next day. Now it's interesting, the timing. These people were already sent from Caesarea on down before Peter had his vision. God was working this thing through and was going to sink it. He became very hungry. It was about noon. He wanted to eat, but while he was, they made ready, while they were getting lunch together, he fell into a trance. Verse 10, he saw heaven opened in an object like a great sheet, bound at the four corners descending to him and let down to the earth. And it all were four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts creeping things and birds of the air. And the voice said, Peter, kill it and eat it. Peter said, oh, not so. I've never eaten anything common or unclean, not ceremonially pure, or something that didn't fit the food laws of Leviticus 11. The voice spoke to him again the second time and said, what God has cleansed, you must not call common. And this was done three times, and the object was taken up into heaven again. So Peter was scratching his head. He was wondering within himself what this vision meant, verse 17. And behold, the men who Cornelius had sent down were just approaching his house at that time after a 35-mile walk.

And they stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. This is my mission from God. Peter went down to the men who had been sent from Cornelius, those three people that were up there in his gate, front door. Yes, I am he whom you seek. I'm Peter. I'm Simon Peter. For what reason have you come? And they said, verse 22, Cornelius the Centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among the nation of the Jews. Here's a Roman officer. Gentiles could be representing the oppressive government of Rome, except that he was a person that the people had respected. He was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you. And they invited these three to come in and to lodge with him. The next day, Peter went with him and some of the brethren back to Joppa, 35 miles north. You see, is this thing being played out? The following day, well, also on the next day they went with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied them. So there was Peter, the three, and other brethren. So this group walked up to Caesarea. And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them. This is a Roman Centurion and had called together his relatives and close friends.

This was going to be an event. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter lifted him up again and said, stand up, stand up. I myself also am a man.

And he talked with him and he went in and found many who had come together.

And then Peter said to them, now you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. Now you know this is irregular. Us Jews and you Romans to even get together. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. That was the meaning of that vision of these unclean animals coming down and God had cleansing them. Not the food for eating, but that call no man common or unclean. That is what we're doing with the last great day with this wonderful festival. It shows an opening to all mankind, to all races, to all people, to all religions, to people in India. I have a very good friend in Japan. She's our life-ness representative in Japan. She's come to visit us, a wonderful lady.

She's come to church with us, but we do have some doctrinal differences. She's an ancestor worshiper and we're not compatible, but we're very good friends. I hope that someday she sees our truth. She has gone down to Manila in the Philippines and she's helped our people, our church, but at this time yet she is still very much a Gentile in her faith. Then Peter, verse 34, opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. Verse 44, Peter goes to the whole story here. Verse 44, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter because a gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles and this group, the whole household, were baptized. What an event! But, you know, to the others still in Jerusalem, see, Japa is some distance now from Jerusalem. The home office of the church was Jerusalem. You know, heard about this. Meanwhile, back at the ranch here in Jerusalem, verse 11, the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God, similar to what happened on the day of Pentecost to the Jews. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, one of the circumcision contended with him. You better answer for this. What are you doing with these Romans? Baptizing them? You know, we're not supposed to associate with them. Saying, you went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them.

Ate with them. Then Peter explained from the beginning, and talks about his vision, and so forth. And then he goes through this whole story, and then their reaction finally, in verse 18, the people in Jerusalem, when they heard these things, they became silent when they saw the witness of this message, of the door being opened to the Gentiles. They became silent, and they glorified God, saying, then God also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.

God is giving them the same opportunity as He's giving as we've had ourselves. If anyone comes, accept them in this manner. God has worked through Abraham. He's worked through families. He's worked through the church. Now He's reaching out to all mankind. We have got to have the vision of something far bigger than just us. Not be afraid to be out to reach out into the public. We're not going to go anywhere as a church unless we reach out, unless we become more like Jesus Christ and do a work in this manner. There's no partiality. There's no favoritism with God. We've been teaching that in the General Epistles in the book of James. Partiality is sin.

It's the Pharisees are the ones who condemn Christ. They're the ones who want fault with Him. Look at Him! He's healing on the Sabbath day! Totally failing to see the good that Christ was doing. We can't be just people who say, we love humanity. We love humanity. We just don't like people or to be around them. We need to love humanity by loving individual people and to reach out to them. Judgment is now upon the house of God, which was read this morning. The time has come in 1 Peter chapter 4 in verse 17 for judgment to begin at the house of God. We have got to be those people who exhibit that type of spirit of what? Of who? Of Jesus Christ. And if it begins with us first, don't be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God.

The final illustration I have is in which I really like as well is in Luke chapter 18 in verse 9. Luke chapter 18 about the parable of, guess who, the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Another story of a tax collector. But here is the point of that parable, is that it's not about even repentance. So much, well that is one of the lessons. But the lesson that's the most important one is the one spoken of at the very beginning. He spoke this parable, Jesus, to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

That's how the Pharisees were. They were righteous because of all the things that they did, all the little things and extras that they had, all the things that they added, the unwashed hands, they made sure they washed their hands, the utensils and everything. Then he felt really good and despised anybody who didn't do it the way they did. Then the rest of the parable, which is really, in one sense, irrelevant to my story here, that the two men were praying in the temple, the Pharisee and the publican, hearing each other, and the Pharisee was saying, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, and even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess, and the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven.

He knew he was a sinner, but beat his breast. God be merciful. God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, Christ says, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Do we live a life of faith through our works and how we regard others?

Believe me, we have a lot of work to do, billions and billions of people to serve.

People who've been everywhere, have been on everything, people whose lives are a total wreck, and yet God wants to rehabilitate these people.

He's not going to flush them down the toilet.

He's not going to abort them. He wants to give them an opportunity. It's more than just a philosophical, religious, theological argument. It's going to be work on our part to work with people like this.

Are there bad neighborhoods in your mind? Bad nations?

Some nations that are very, very bad, very difficult to work with. Some people in those areas and people we don't want to bother with.

We start practicing right now. We have people that we like to be around and we also have people that are annoying to us.

How well are you known in your neighborhood? Do people know your name? Does your neighbor know your name?

What kind of light are you projecting?

Are there good people and bad people?

Are there people that you regard as being good?

Even teenagers and bad teenagers? You know something? If you tell somebody, and if a teenager, if a teen son finds out or a teen daughter finds out that they are a bad person, how do they act? How do they respond?

Even if they did something wrong, snorted a little bit of cocaine, or did something that was very displeasing to their parents, how are you going to treat them? How are you going to regard them?

How are you going to bring them back?

There's no bad neighborhood. There's no bad teenager.

How do you rate people? If you treat someone like a bad person, they will become a bad person. That's what Judy O'Bannon told me. If I treat a neighborhood as a bad neighborhood, bad region of Indianapolis, it will continue to be a bad region for sure.

But if I can work with it and be a place I can infuse some pride and some reconstruction and some work, we can make something of that area.

So that's the lesson that I really wanted to display here on this last day. We have the lessons, we have the story, we have the explanation of the day, the last day, the last great day, the eighth day, but also it's got to be played out in the way that we treat people and the way we work with other human beings. I'd like to conclude with maybe uncharacteristically with a poem that was sent to me by one of our members in Chicago. He writes poetry and I posted on my website. He posted, he sent me this poem about the eighth day. And I just found it to be inspiring and I think I'll conclude with this. This is from Bill William May in Chicago.

Short poem.

It is over now. The thousand years and his great day is here.

I see them. Parents and grandparents faces so dear. Old friends, teachers, people I worked with through the years.

So good to see them. So many memories. Some happy and yes, some tears.

So much to tell them. So much to share. They didn't know the truth back then. Now they will have the chance to live a new life with purpose in their life again.

There are tears of joy all over the land as people see and hug those they knew.

Surprised they would be on the earth, but now they will be shown a truth that is new.

Jesus is here on the earth with Abraham and Moses and the other saints God called to teach.

They'll be fed and clothed and shown the way to live, the goal to reach.

There will have to be a lot of healing and encouragement given to them.

Their whole lives were filled with lies and pain.

There will be none of that again.