We Live Our Lives by the Mercy and Grace of God!

You know, there are times when a pastor wonders what he should be speaking about on any given Sabbath. That really wasn't a problem for me, thinking about what I wanted to say coming back after having open-heart surgery, quadruple bypass. As I was putting my thoughts together, actually even before the surgery and after the surgery, it was very crystal clear as to what I needed to speak about. Augustine once said, people travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.

Now, brethren, that's very true, isn't it? People can take a look at all the majesty of God's creation and just be awestruck with what they see. And yet, when you think about our human bodies and the way God has created us, it is really something to behold. People wonder why we don't see miracles anymore. We are walking miracles, brethren. Walking miracles. My operation took place on Friday, August 28th. Previous Friday, they brought me into the hospital, and I was very fortunate.

If you go in and you've had a heart attack, that's a whole different kind of procedure that they put you through, because your heart's been damaged. I was fortunate. I didn't have a heart attack, and so they were able to take their time.

They were able to run all sorts of tests. I mean, they really checked the oil and kicked the tires. One of the tests that they performed, because they were going to go and do open heart surgery. For lack of a better way of describing it, it was like an ultrasound of my heart. They put the little goo on my chest where my heart is. They started looking around. I was laying on my back, but right about here was the TV monitor. It was angled, and I was able to just look at my own heart. I was talking to the young lady there.

We were there about 20 minutes. I was watching. You know how you've seen Doppler weather on TV? You see all those bright colors? I saw this crimson color. I said, what is that? They said, that's your blood moving from one chamber of your heart to another.

It was just something to behold. I said, what's that little thing there that's moving around? It said, oh, that's the valves in your heart. So I'm there. You don't have any feeling of pain or anything. I'm watching the valves in my heart that were functioning perfectly. I was watching blood flow from one chamber of my heart to another. How can you be an atheist and see something like that? When I got back home, I did some research. You can find this sort of thing on the internet yourself.

But in one square inch of skin on your body, on average, one square inch, you've got 20 blood vessels, you've got 65 muscles, you've got 78 nerves, you've got 78 sensors for heat, 13 sensors for cold, and 160 sensors for pleasure. In one square inch, you've got 650 sweat glands, you've got 1300 nerve endings, and you've got 19,500 cells. Now, I can go on and on, and I can just delude you with all sorts of facts and figures. Let me give you just a few others before I give you the point of my sermon today. Your brain weighs about 3 pounds, but your brain, in 70 years of living, stores 100 trillion bits of information.

Now, to you and I, who knows what that means? I don't know what that means. I've got a computer, but I can't visualize 100 trillion bits of information. But basically, that's the same amount of information that you would store in your brain over a 70-year lifespan. And some of us are 70 years older and older, so we've stored this much in our brains.

It's the equivalent of a half a million full sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica. We're not talking about the internet version, we're not talking about the electronic version. We're talking about the paper version, a half a million sets of the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, which if you were to stack on a stack, it would go up into the air 442 miles.

Your brain stores that, and your brain does that with less power than a 100-watt light bulb. Brethren, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are a tremendous creation by God. And each and every one of us, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the hand of God in our life. Our brain is serviced by 45 miles of nerves. It's an impulse through our body as quick as 325 miles per hour. Our nervous system is so sensitive, we're able to feel pressure on our cheek to one four hundred thousandth of an inch. Or, in other words, they're roughly the way to the bee's wing. We can feel that. Your eyes are capable of seeing a small candle flame from 30 miles away in a clear dark night. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Brethren, one of the things I was impressed with as I went through what I went through over the last several months, and this is the point of my sermon today if you want to write this down, we live our lives by the mercy and grace of God. We live our lives by the mercy and the grace of God. Nobody understands that better than somebody who's going to go through open-heart surgery. And I'm glad I went through that. It's not something I would wish on anybody else, but you know, I needed that. It just reassured me in so many ways, and it caused me to think about a lot of things in some very new ways. I've broken the sermon down into two major points. Number one, we live our physical lives by the mercy and grace of God. We live our physical lives by the mercy and grace of God.

You know, they told me to be at the hospital at 5 30 in the morning. My operation was to be at seven o'clock in the morning. So Mary and I beautifully got there at 5 30. We checked in, and you just kind of sit in the waiting room for a while. Then they call your name. You think, this is it. No more denying reality. You've got to go through this. And you go back into this room probably as large as this, and they've got all these different little cubby holes, and they've got all these patients. They're all being prepped for whatever operations they're going to have.

And so about 6 30, they called me, and they put me in one of those little cubicles. And like I said, they start shaving parts of your body that need to be shaved. They start putting holes anywhere they need to put, you know, the IVs. And I said, at that point, you realize, you know, your faith is in God. Only God is going to get you through this. You can have the best doctor, and I had probably the best doctor, a man who was on 60 Minutes, a man who ran the department.

He was the one who was the head and tongue show there for doing not only open-heart surgery, but heart transplants and things of that nature. I was in the University of Michigan Medical Center, one of the best in the country. But you know, that is meaningless if God doesn't want to take care of you. If God thinks that you're, you know, time for old Dela Sandro to rest and wait for the resurrection.

I don't care what hospital or what doctor you've got, or you have. If God's will is that this is it for you, then this is it for you. On the other hand, you know, my personal feeling was at that point, and is at this point that Randy Dela Sandro is still a work in progress. That we don't know, I came out of that operation, that surgery. It was just God put all these little, you know, those orange barrels we see on the highways, work zone. I was a continuing work zone for God. But again, it was a, that doesn't mean that there wasn't some moments where you begin to think, what in the world's happening to me?

They're gonna put me on that heart-lung machine. You know, when you watch TV and they talk about some new drug, and then they tell you all the possible side effects of that new drug, you think, why would anybody ever even want to take one of those drugs? Yet in my situation, they were pumping meeple all sorts of drugs. I signed off on, I had no idea how many different drugs they were put into my body.

Before I came into the hospital, I was on one prescription. When I left the hospital, I was on nine prescriptions. I'm on five now. But again, this shows you the beauty of what God has created. God is the one who created the science behind all of this. But they can actually go in there and stop your heart, put you on a machine. And then, of course, that's the most, that's the most dangerous thing when you're going through an operation without nature. Because if that machine is not calibrated just right, if it doesn't work just properly, you can have brain damage.

And I say that because if you hear me say some funny things in the future, they go, oh, Mr. D, he's got brain damage! You know, it wasn't that he fell out of bed, or in his head, he was, the poor guy's brain, brain damage. You can have brain damage, or you can have your organs fail. But, you know, the various medications, I was wanting to know what it was I was taking right now. And essentially, when they go in there and they stop your heart, and that heart has stopped for a number of hours, then they've got to kickstart that heart.

And they've got to do something else. They've got to teach that heart how to work again. They've got to teach it how to work just the right way, how many beats, how fast the beats are becoming, the rhythm. And so there's a medication I'm on right now that tells my heart, okay, here's how your heart should beat. Now, all that chemical know-how, people say, well, that's science. No, that's God. God is the one who designed that whole process. mankind has just stumbled onto it. So that's why I say we live our physical lives by the mercy and by the grace of God. Let's turn to Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse 14.

Psalm 119 verse 14, where it says, I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. Yes, brethren, you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God who loves you very deeply. I mean, I don't always understand why God does what he does, but he continues to let that heart of ours and our body function. Let's take a further look at Psalm 139 here. Let me turn over to a reader. I have it read in one portion my notes. Let me read this, starting in verse 1. Psalm 139 verse 1. O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down. They are all acquainted with and are acquainted with all of my ways, but there's not a word on my tongue. But behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You catch me before and behind and before. You've laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. So here you see David basically saying, I didn't just happen. I'm here for a reason. I'm here for a purpose. I'm not an accident. I have value. And brethren before God, you have value. You have value. You don't have value because you're an American. That's not why you've got value. You don't have value because you've got so much money in the bank. You're not of value because you're of a certain race. You're of value because God gave you value. God gave you worth. And apart from God and your life, none of us have any value at all. So understanding that the greatest being who ever has existed and ever will exist takes a personal interest in each and every one of us. That should be very humbling for us. Let's take a look at 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5. Likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders, yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. Be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. So, yes, we should appreciate very deeply the fact that God, that we are breathing, we are existing due to the mercy and grace of God. Verse 6. Therefore, humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Now, none of us feel very exalted right now, right? With our various aches and pains and what have you. And, you know, after you've been through an operation, and most of you probably have been through some kind of operation in your life, right now, for me, there are two things that are still, I'm still tender with. For whatever the reason, getting into a car, my ribs are tender there. I notice I get into a car very slow. I get out of the car very quickly. But getting into a car, I get in rather gingerly. And then moving around the bed at night. You know, because then the ribs have been opened up, and all that goes with that. It's, my ribs are very tender still. So, it's humbling to realize we're not Superman, or we're not Supergirl, or we're not Superwoman. We are just so much red clay. And that's good. And it's good for us to appreciate that it's by the mercy and grace of God that we move. Now, we can, you know, we can find ourselves in situations where we have attitude issues. I'm too old to do what I need to do. Or, I am not rich enough, or I don't have enough money. Or, I'm not smart enough. Or, I'm not good-looking enough. Or, I'm not talented enough. Or, you fill in the blank. Now, all of that, brethren, all those are hindrances to dynamic faith. We are physical structures. We are physical beings. But we always must remember that we exist by the mercy and grace of God. And because we do exist by the mercy and grace of God, that means the mercy and grace of God has been extended to us and will continue to be extended to us. So, we don't need to worry about how old we are, how rich or poor we are, how smart we are or aren't. You know, it's interesting, the other day I was looking into the Internet and I just happened to run across a survey of celebrities. And I just thought this was interesting to me. Because sometimes we want to judge a book by its cover. We want to see some of these celebrities and think, well, dumbbo. And yet, when you take a look at some of these people, they're very bright. Very bright. I take Cindy Crawford as an example. She was going for an engineering degree. She has 154 IQ. That's not a genius, but it's very high. Arnold Schwarzenegger. You wouldn't think Arnold would have that high IQ. 135 for Arnold. Meryl Streep, 143. Madonna, about the same. I can't remember all the various ones. David Duchovny, if you're an old X-Files fan. David Duchovny's IQ is 167. Tommy Lee Jones, IQ of 140 plus. Jodie Foster, IQ of 140 plus. You know, just really sharp, sharp people. But you know what? That doesn't make a difference if you're not plugged into God. Let's take a look at Zechariah 4 and verse 6. We're thinking about our physical lives. And we can all talk about where all of our weaknesses, all the things we don't have, all the things that hinder us and hold us back. But, brethren, we want to think about life that way. We want to think about the fact that by God's mercy and by God's grace, we can overcome. We don't want to let the negativity of Satan run our life.

Zechariah 4 and verse 6. So he answered and said to me, this is the word of the Lord to the rubble belt. Not by might or IQ, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. By my spirit, God isn't finished with you or me yet.

And so we should be humbled by that. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6.

Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6.

Being confident in this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

He who has begun a good work in you. Now, there is a plan of God for all mankind.

But, brethren, God has got a very personal work and plan for you as an individual. You're not just some cog in a machine. You're a part of his family.

He loves you as a beloved member of the family. He cherishes you. Jesus Christ came to die for us.

So as we live our physical lives by the mercy and grace of God, let's never forget the great love that God has for us. Let that be humbling to us that we are so special to the great God. 2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 17.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Our light affliction. We think we're going through all sorts of hell on earth. But what does God say? It's our light affliction. A thousand years from now, when we look back at what we're going through right now, we're not going to think that it was all that big of a deal. Right now, it's a big deal to us because we're weak human beings. But God says, take a step back and look at what I'm doing. It was interesting when I was having the heart ultrasound, the young lady that was performing the ultrasound said, my father-in-law died early in life. He was a religious man. He says, now you're a pastor.

Why is God letting you go through this? You're a man of God. Why doesn't God shield you from this?

And I quoted something that Mark Vreeland said many a number of years ago. Mark was a tremendous young man, died in a church when he was only 44 years of age. And Mark was just a very large figure in the Ann Arbor congregation and to many people around the country who knew him in this region, the young people who knew him since he ran so many of our youth programs.

But when Mark was diagnosed with cancer and he found out he had stage four cancer, they, you know, somebody said, oh, Mark, why you? Your family relies upon you so much and all of us rely upon you so much. And he said, why not me? Why not me? And that's why I said to the young ladies, I said to them, why not me? So what did I know? A minister. Why not me? Look at Jesus Christ, what he went through. Look at the apostles, what they went through. Why not us? As a matter of fact, as a Christian, we were designed for trials like this. Hebrews chapter two, verses nine and ten. Hebrews chapter two, verses nine and ten.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

Notice, by the grace of God, he went through all sorts of horrible trials. He had a target on him, 24-7, 365. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect, through sufferings, through his suffering.

Brother, it's only when we lay hold of this power and wait patiently for God's guidance that we realize what God is doing in our lives. Think on this, brother. Think about, you know, maybe you or I, it's so easy for us to think about our witnesses and what we can't do, and go through life in some regards faithless.

But think about the fact that so many of these wonderful people of God, they had their issues, and God was with them. God showed them his mercy and his grace as they went through their lives.

Moses had a stuttering problem. Elijah suffered from depression, so much so that he was wanting to give up his life. Naomi was a widow. She was by herself. Abraham thought he was too old.

David, some thought, was too young. Timothy may well have had ulcers.

And then you come to Lazarus. What was his problem? He was dead. You don't get much more of a problem than that, you know. Well, what's your, what's your, what's your hand? Well, I'm, I'm dead. You know. Now God in his mercy and grace worked with each and every one of them, even the dead guy, each and every one. So that was point number one. We live our physical lives by the mercy and grace of God. And the corollary to this is point number two. We live our spiritual lives by the mercy and the grace of God. We live our spiritual lives by the mercy and the grace of God. You know, I don't know about what kinds of things you did as a child growing up, what kind of games you used to like to play. I know some of what some of you like to do, but not all of you.

When I was growing up as a kid, a typical suburban kid, you know, in the various seasons, I like to play the various sports. In the wintertime, we would flood our back air with water, make ice rink, and we play ice hockey. If we were inside, we played basketball. In the summertime, spring and summertime, fall, we played baseball outside. And it was always the same. You know, we probably had 15 or so kids in our area. And we would get together in the summertime to play some hardball, some Sandlot hardball. So we'd get all together, and two people would be asked to be the team leader. And so you get the other 13 kids standing out there, and you start picking up the teams. And of course, there's always one guy who's the last to be chosen. But brethren, think on this for a moment. God tapped you on the shoulder. You weren't the last to be chosen. You were the first to be chosen. All the rest of the world out there, they're not having their time to be chosen right now. The brilliant people, the all-William vendor people, all the strong people, the heads of industry, very few of them are being called. That's not to say that we in this room are, you know, have an IQ of about five. It's not to say that at all. I've met some very sharp people in the church, very talented people in the church, and so forth. But God has tapped you on the shoulder to be on His team. Let's take a look at Malachi 3, verse 17. Malachi 3, verse 17.

And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them my jewels, on the day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So God says we are like jewels to Him, like diamonds. Maybe diamonds in the rough to Him.

When you think about a jewel, you know, one of the things I've been doing to gain my strength back is doing some walking. And I can walk in a neighborhood, but to me that's kind of boring, so I go over to the mall. When you go to the mall, there's always somebody interesting to look at as you're walking around the mall. Sometimes you wonder if people know how to dress anymore, or if they wear costumes, it's not even Halloween yet. But I, you know, I think it was Thursday, I got there eight o'clock in the morning, and if you've got people there walking around, and they seem to know one another, they, you know, oh, hi, how you doing? And, well, hi, Hank, how you doing? And you've got all these people who probably had heart attacks walking around the mall for business hours. But, you know, God knows His people. He knows who we are, what we are, that we're not just anybody, we're His jewels. You ever study what it takes to make a diamond?

It's interesting. Now, what are diamonds known for? Diamonds are known for their rarity.

Are you a rare person? You bet you are. How many people are there in a church compared to the billions of people on this planet? You are indeed like a grain of salt. You are indeed a rare one.

Jewels are known for their beauty. One of the things I like doing when I go to the mall to walk is I can look at all these showcases that when other people are there, you know, I don't want the person behind to showcase bugging me, but what can I do for you? Nothing! I'm just looking. But I want to look at rings. I want to look at the rings you've got here. So, you know, I can look at their beauty. God says you are a beautiful creation of His.

Of course, jewels are known for their value.

Brethren, you are a future son. You are a son and daughter of God right now. But in the future, you will be on the God plane after the time of our resurrection. All of those things is what God appreciates about us, our rarity, our beauty, our value. But again, how do you make a diamond? How do you make a diamond? I was studying up on this. To make a diamond, you've got to take carbon dioxide and you've got to have it bury it 100 miles into the earth. 100 miles. Now, as I go through this, I want us to think about the spiritual parallel. So here you've got this carbon dioxide. It's not a diamond yet. It's 100 miles deep into the earth. In other words, it's where the eyes of man can't see. And right now, God's Holy Spirit is in each and every one of you. And the eyes of man can't see that. The second thing you have to have, not only carbon dioxide buried deep into the earth, you have to have heat and lots of it. You have to have 2200 degrees Fahrenheit heat to make a diamond. 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, I get a little uncomfortable when it gets to be 90 degrees outside in the summertime. I'm not built for heat. Some people like to go, you know, oh yes, nice hot day. Well, I lived in the south. I remember people in North Carolina, especially. I remember one person looking at me and snickering, he says, Mr. Del Santo, we understand that up in Michigan in the summertime, it never gets above 78 or 79. And I said, well, yeah. I said, what's wrong with that?

But in North Carolina, it was like, you know, it was in Raleigh there where I lived. Every day, it seemed to be 95 to 105. Every day, it was high humidity. Every day, it was a 33% chance of rain.

I mean, it was the, you just walking out of your house in Raleigh, North Carolina, you're like walking into a greenhouse. People were lovely, but boy, it was hot. I remember one summer there, even in the nighttime, it never got below, we had, I think, a three-week stretch, three weeks, or even at night, it never got below 100 degrees. But here, for a diamond, you have to have 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. So in other words, fiery trials. Have you gone through some fiery trials?

Everyone in this room has gone through some fiery trials, right?

A third thing you need to have a diamond is pressure. That carbon dioxide has to have the pressure of 725,000 pounds per square inch, three quarters of a million pounds per square inch.

And you, as a Christian, you face pressures too, don't you? You've got God working you where the eyes of man can't see. You go through fiery trials. You've got tremendous pressures. And the last thing, by that time, a diamond is formed. But a diamond doesn't do anybody any good if it's still 100 miles deep into the earth. No one even knows it's there.

So God has got to bring it to the surface. So God brings to the surface what you and I are, through our works, through our relying upon the great God, through living our lives spiritually in the mercy and grace of the great God. Let's look at John 6.

John 6. We turn to this so often. John 6, verses 44 and 45. John 6, verses 44 and 45.

Verse 44, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God, all be taught by God. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. And once again, brethren, appreciate that we live our spiritual lives by the mercy and grace of God. Realize we are drawn by the Father. He tapped you on the shoulder. We are taught by the Father. He asks you to come to special opportunities for learning about Him. We have heard the Father. There are billions of people out there who haven't. We have learned from the Father.

And it's all in response to God in our lives.

You know, today people are looking forward to the fact that we're going to have a presidential election in a couple of years. Now, I don't know about you, but when I look at what we're asked to vote for in 2016, this country is in a bad shape if the choices are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

We are in really bad shape if that's the best that we can do.

But you know something that isn't the best you and I can do? Because we are living our lives by the mercy and grace of God. We realize God's got a plan for all mankind. We realize God's got a plan for us as individuals. We don't have to worry about who the next president is going to be, because God is going to put the person He wants in that office. It could be a Republican, it could be a Democrat, it could be an independent, it could be a man, it could be a woman, it could be a white, black. It doesn't make a difference. Because right now I feel very firmly in my heart that we are sailing right into the teeth of prophecy. Right into the teeth of prophecy. And I don't think it, unless this country repents, I don't think you're going to see much change. Things are missing it worse and worse. So by the mercy and grace of God, God teaches us. He teaches us through the scriptures, that book that we've got sitting on our lap that the world wants to get rid of, wants to do away with. God teaches us through our experiences. He helps us to understand various things in life as we go through life. As we interact with other Christians, God helps us understand things as well. Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 18. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 18. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 18. But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he pleased. So again, that God who tapped you on the shoulder and said, you know what?

I'm forming a team. Not everybody can be on this team. Only select individuals can be on my team, but I'm tapping you on the shoulder. I want you on my team. And because of what I see in you, you've got a special something that you fill a very nice niche in my body. And I want you to be there because of the niche that you fill. All believers, whether they have spectacular gifts or quieter gifts, are placed right where God wants us. What kind of a gift do you have? Do you have a spectacular gift? Do you have a quiet gift? You've got gifts. God gave you gifts. We are one body with many parts because God designed it that way. One body, many parts. And God didn't call you just to stay home and listen to sermons on the Internet or watch things on TV. You all understand that. You all come to service. I'm preaching to the choir here. But what you need to do is to teach other people and take the message to them. I think we've been too successful with the Internet.

Remember when you first came to most of us? Remember when you first started coming to church years ago? I remember when I first started writing for literature back in the mid-1960s. I would write for... I'd read a booklet of ours of the Worldwide Church of God. And I'd see in that booklet they had mentioned other booklets. There might be nine or ten of them. And I'd write for all nine or ten booklets. And true to form, I would get maybe two of those six or eight weeks later.

And so I kept track of the ones I wasn't getting. Even back then, it was an organized little kid. Which one's heaven I got yet? And it was just such a slow process, agonizingly slow. You know, you write off a letter, then weeks later you get, you know, a dribble or a drab of what you asked for. Sometimes you almost forgot what... why you asked for that particular one. Because you probably learned by reading other things what that booklet told you. But now you go to ucg.org or members.ucg.org or feast.ucg.org. You go to feast.ucg.org, you've got all sermons from past feasts, all of our sites, that go back several years. You go to members.ucg.org, you've got 12 or 14,000 sermons. You go to ucg.org, you've got all of our literature, every last piece of literature. Some stuff is not even in print anymore. And if that's not enough for you, you can go to Herbert Armstrong's website and you can look at all the booklets Mr. Armstrong wrote back in the day. And it's all right there right now. And sometimes I think we wonder why we're not having growth in the church. I think we've got a lot of people out there in the world who are listening to our... reading our material, listening to what we... we've got... we've got whole Bible studies and church services people can attend online. But they don't know the value of getting here together and being with their brothers and sisters in the faith. You know that. I'm preaching to the choir here. We've been called to do a tremendous work. Let's take a look at Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 starting in verse 11 and going through verse 16.

Delete Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. And he himself gave some to the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. He gave this. You know, our gifts are Christ-centered.

Your gifts, whatever those gifts are, are Christ-centered. It is Christ and Christ alone who's given you those gifts. I didn't give them to you. The person sitting next to you didn't give them to you. Christ gave those to you. And he gave those to you so that you can do something. Verse 12. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Now this is not just the job of the ministry, although it is the ministry's job, but it's all of our jobs. We all have been equipped. We all have the work of serving. We all need to edify one another. Verse 13. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

As I've said on so many occasions, I think verse 13 is the essence of what Christianity is all about.

That we grow in unity with God the Father and our brothers and sisters.

That we grow in the knowledge of the Son of God. The things that are really important to be mature.

And maturity is growing to the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ.

Not the local minister or the local member who's really growing and so forth. No. Our yardstick is Jesus Christ. Verse 14. That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. We want to sidestep what man has to say.

But speaking the truth in love may grow from all things into Him who is the Head of Jesus Christ.

We've gone through our share of trials in the Church. We've gone through our share of separations and divisions. The one thing that keeps us straight and narrow is remembering that Christ is the Head. He is the one we follow.

Next week I'll be here.

One of the things I want to talk about today is Halloween.

You can go to any number of churches and they'll denounce Halloween.

But then they'll have Halloween parties for little kids.

Or the members of the Church will send their kids out trick-or-treating and this and that.

I want to take a look at why it is we do what we do.

So many times I think our people feel rocked back on their heels because we're different than the rest of society. Sure we are, and I'm glad we are. But when you take a good look at what they believe, I went to the website of the church we used to attend, the worldwide Church of God. Now it's called Grace Communion International. They've got a little blurb there as to why they keep Christmas and Easter. We're going to go through that next Sabbath. Because when they talk about how they express it, and then they want to look down their nose at us, when people say things to the effect that, well, I'm only going to do what Jesus Christ did. Well, hey, He kept the Sabbath. He kept the Holy Days. Or I'm only going to follow those things after the death of Jesus Christ. After Christ died there in Matthew 28, what did He say? Do whatever I've commanded you.

Do what you've seen me do. Observe what you've seen me do. He wasn't keeping Christmas and Easter after his death. He never told anybody to do that sort of thing. But we're going to go through that. And I think, like I gave the six or seven sermons a couple of years ago as to why they felt they couldn't need to keep Sabbath, we'll take a look at the Holy Days as well. Verse 16, Ephesians 4, 16, talking about us as the body, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies. You're a part of this local congregation because you supply something. According to the effect of working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

So we have to ask ourselves, you know, am I, as your pastor, doing what I need to be doing? And you need to ask yourself, are you as a member doing what you need to be doing?

It says every believer supplies something.

You know? Every member should profit from what we are supplying. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7.

Brother, what God has called us, he's tapped us on the shoulder. He's called us to do a work.

And there is an eternal weight of responsibility upon each and every one of us.

Minister or member, we have an eternal weight of responsibility.

And of course, we can fulfill that responsibility because we live spiritually by the mercy and grace of God. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

The manifestation. God wants whatever gifts he's given you to be seen openly, publicly. Not to be hidden gifts, or to not go out and bury the one.

The gift as the one fell again.

But the manifestation, and your gifts should be manifest, they should be shown, they should be worked with. People should know what your gifts are.

For the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

To be manifested to the church, that the church may grow, to be manifested to the world, that you can benefit those people around you.

In that same chapter, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 11.

1 Corinthians 12, 11.

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills.

Distributing to each one individually as he wills.

So again, the Father is saying, you know, I've called you because I know you.

Like David said, you know, God knows us from the time we were in the womb.

He knows us from the time that we've come out of the womb. He knows what our gifts are. He knows what he's given to us.

And he says, I want you to use those gifts.

Okay, let's begin to wind down here. Let's go to Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20.

I'll quote this again next week, but in different terms.

Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20.

It says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

So we are to make disciples of all the nations, not just the United States, all the nations.

Verse 20. Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.

What did Christ command us?

He is now dead. He is resurrected. We are now in a new covenant era.

And Jesus Christ says, teach them to observe all things.

That Paul commands?

Well, yes, that's true. There's people in the world who want to say, well, you know, Paul has more authority than Christ. I just never got that understanding. I just never understood that particular philosophy.

Jesus Christ is our Savior. He's God.

When He speaks, we listen.

Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And, lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age.

So Christ says, you know, there's things you need to do, and you need to follow my example in doing it.

And, brethren, that's something that I think each and every one of us takes very seriously.

So, brethren, Augustine once said, He said, People travel to wander at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass themselves by without wandering.

Brethren, you and I live our lives by the mercy and grace of God. We live our physical lives by the mercy and grace of God. We live our spiritual lives by the mercy and grace of God.

In conclusion, two last scriptures.

Let's go to Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis chapter 1.

There's much for us to contemplate about our physical and our spiritual bodies and the work that we are to do.

Let's not only contemplate these things, but also give God glory, give God honor and respect that's due Him, the all that is due Him. Let us rededicate ourselves to being the creation that He originally intended us to be.

Notice what God originally intended for us as mankind. Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 through 28.

Genesis chapter 1 verse 26.

Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let them have dominion.

So from the very beginning, from the very first chapter of Genesis, God wants us to realize that we are made in His image.

No small thing. He's tapped us on the shoulder. He's tapped you in the face. He's tapped you on the shoulder. He wants you on His team. He wants you to be a son or a daughter of God in all of its fullness.

And He wants you to be able to rule.

And to be able to rule, you've got to learn some things, and I have to learn some things so it can rule properly and lovingly with wisdom.

And so God does give us many times a lot of heartache in our life, a lot of trial in our life, so that you and I can understand the human condition.

So you and I can understand, by our being compassionate and our being merciful, just as our Father has been merciful to us and shown us grace, we need to show mercy and grace toward those around us, especially those who hurt us. Jesus Christ said about those who are crucifying Him, Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing.

Verse 27. So God created man in His own image, an image of God. He created Him male and female. He created them.

Different lessons for us to learn.

Our makeup as human beings, whether we be male or female, teaches a whole host of lessons.

Verse 28. Then God blessed Him, and God said, Then be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion.

So God wants us to have a fruitful life. He wants us to grow. He wants us to be able to rule.

So overall, we see the same in it. There are kinds of things over and over in this short section of Scripture here, these three verses.

The God wants us to be just like Him.

He wants us to rule just like Him.

And we're now in a training course to learn those things. Last Scripture for today, Romans chapter 5.

Romans chapter 5 verses 1 and 2.

This has become one of my favorite verses, section of Scriptures right here.

Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you and I don't have peace, then what does that say about a relationship with God?

God doesn't have the issue. We've got the issue. If we don't have peace, it's because we need to be closer to God.

Peace doesn't mean that we don't have trials in life.

Jesus Christ said, you know, my peace I give to you.

And when did Christ say that? It was hours before He was going to be tortured.

So it's not a matter of having no trials, and that's when we have peace. No, it's a matter of understanding our relationship with the great God.

Romans chapter 5 verse 2. Through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. Into this grace in which we stand.

It's relatively easy when you're being wheeled into a room where they're going to stop your heart and put you on a machine that's going to take over your bodily functions for you. It's really easy to appreciate the fact that we stand in the grace of God.

It's really very simple to know that by God's hand we either live or die. So, brethren, as I was thinking about this prior to my surgery after my surgery, I thought this would be the thing I need to discuss with the congregations that I love.

My brothers and sisters in the faith that we live our lives physically and spiritually by the grace and the mercy of God.