What Are We Apart Of?

Well, good morning, everyone! They say, never go on stage after animals or children. I don't know how I drew this one. My good friend Steve Newtsman scheduled it that way, I guess. It's a hard act to follow a children's choir. That was a very, very nice children's choir. Very, very nice pieces. Thanks to all of the kids and the conductors and the parents to make sure that you've got your music downloaded and kids practiced. And a part of that before coming into the feast this year.

That was very, very nice. Very enjoyable. It's good to be with all of you here in Virginia Beach. This is quite a hall. Very, very nice facility. I see that we have three tiers. Some of us are down in the first heaven and others of you are up in the second heaven.

No one's in the third heaven just yet, and that's probably just as it should be. But we're all aiming for that particular place. But this is quite a nice facility to be in here. So we picked a very nice place here. I hope everything is going well. Mr. Neusman says that it has been well. We just came up from Jekyll Island, as he said. And we have about 420 or so, I believe, on the Sabbath, which was our highest attendance there.

And brethren are good spirits. We had excellent weather down there. Very, very nice balmy weather. The feast is back on Jekyll Island this year. After a year's absence, they had torn down the old convention center. Some of us will remember, having been down there. And they're in the process of building a new one, which is probably a better part of a year from being finished. And we'll see if we go back to Jekyll, we would be in that facility.

And I hope we do go back to Jekyll. Jekyll has a long tradition for us in the church as far as feasts are concerned. But this year, they're meeting on the inland side of the island, on the Jekyll Island Club property. And actually, of all things, it's another temporary facility. It's kind of like a tent that they have up there. But it's a little different type of tent set up.

It's kind of a prefab walls. And then they have a tent-like ceiling in there. And it's a nice facility. The biggest difference between this tent and the old tent down in Jekyll Island is the one they have now has air conditioning. And that makes it a whole lot nicer facility for us there. Meeting on the Jekyll Island Club property is also very nice with all the history of that particular place, as many of you will know from those of you that have been down there over the years.

So it was very nice. I should add something Mr. Neusman neglected, and I do want to correct just a little bit. He neglected to mention that I am still a pastor in the church. I'm still a pastor of two congregations, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

And since we have members from both congregations here, I did want to let them know that I'm still your pastor. At least for another three or more weeks until we sign off and hand off to the next new pastor. And then we'll take up our new responsibilities. But I still pastor those two congregations and have for a long, long time.

So we've been blessed to be able to be in that part of the country. And then we're going to be making a move here after the Feast of Tabernacles. This is our first time to be back in the peninsula of Virginia since 1976. I was thinking about it this morning. We were here in 1976 in Norfolk at that time in a facility. And we never came back, but we enjoyed the time that we were here during that period. That one particular year, we enjoyed it.

And we heard children were much younger at the time, and now they're grown. And now we come back. My wife Debbie and I, the two of us here, we're looking forward to seeing some of the sites once again and facilities in the historic area of this area. I know that even some of those sites have changed a lot since the mid-1970s. So we're looking forward to that. We were looking at one of the brochures in our hotel room as to what you can do in this area.

Of course, there's Jamestown, Yorktown, Williamsburg, and the beach and everything else. Debbie mentioned, well, there's a kind of a Chesapeake Harbor tour that you can take, a boat tour. And she looked at it, and she said it's three hours long. And I got to thinking, only three hours long? We better check and see who the first mate of that ship might be. We don't want to get stranded on some island after just a three-hour tour. You know how that might be. So we may skip that. I don't know.

I have two questions. It's really one to ask you here this morning. What have we been a part of all these years? What is it that we have been a part of all these years in the church? For me, this is number 49, this Feast of Tabernacles. By far, not the longest. We had Leroy Cole stand up down in Jekyll Island. He's been keeping the feast for since 1949. You do the math. But 49 for me and however many it may be for you, what is it that we have been a part of all of these years, and what is this all about? I take those questions because it's an honest and a real question that was asked earlier this year in the midst of the crisis we went through by a long-time adult in the church. Remember? What's this all about? What are we even a part of all these years, all these decades? The Sabbaths, the Feasts, the programs, the work, the church, the episodes, the crises? What's it all about? And what is it that we are a part of all these years? I want to answer that question today in the best way that I can. I will answer it from the Bible because that's the book that does give us the answers that we need to the most important questions that we ask, and these are good questions, and they deserve an answer. I'm going to answer it by going to a story that we all are familiar with. If you will, turn over to Matthew 24, and we'll base ourselves out of Matthew 24.

Beginning in verse 35. Let us begin in verse 36. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. As in the days before the flood, as in the days of Noah. What a story! We all know the story of Noah, don't we? Now let's turn...you can hold your place here if you want, put a marker in Matthew 24. We'll come back to it, but let's turn back to 2 Peter 2.

Let's read what we're told here about Noah in verse 5. Speaking of a prior world, it says, The New Testament has quite a bit to say about Noah. In a few references to Noah, we're told some very interesting things. I think all of us know that it's back in Genesis 6, 7 and 8 that we have the story of Noah. I'm not going to turn back and go through those verses today, except to just refer to them for our benefit, so that we understand and rehearse a little bit about that story. We all remember the story of Noah in the ark, and a flood. The fact that we're told in Genesis 6 that the world had come to a point in a very short period of time where wickedness was so rampant that God began to repent or change his mind, have second thoughts about the course of mankind, and made a determination of judgment upon the human family. But there was one man, Noah, who found grace in the sight of God. There in that Old Testament book of Genesis, of all places, we find grace. We should never forget that. Noah found grace, mercy, the love of God. And God had mercy upon mankind through one man, who we're told here in 2 Peter 2, verse 5, was a preacher of righteousness. Now, think about that for a moment. He was a preacher. He was a teacher. You can call him whatever other... You can call him an evangelist if you want. Call him an apostle if you want. Call him a man of God. Specifically, it calls him a preacher of righteousness. Righteousness, we know, is defined by the law of God. All of your commandments are righteousness, it says. And so, Noah not only was an art builder, but he was a preacher of God's way, as it was known, revealed to them in that age, in that pre-flood world. And so, when we think about these two verses that we've read, Jesus Christ affirmed the story of Noah, and as he said that the days prior to the coming of the Son of Man would be a parallel. We're not living in the days of Noah, but we are living in the days before the coming of the Son of Man. What is it that we should learn from the time of Noah? What can we learn? Well, I think a little bit more than just whether or not, you know, all those animals did get on there, and really, was it a universal flood after all, as some critics might say? And I wonder if that shadowy thing encased in ice on Mount Ararat, as it is called, in Turkey, really is the Ark. Well, whether it is or isn't is really immaterial in the long run. What's most important is what the Bible tells us we should learn from the story of Noah, what Jesus referred to and what Peter tells us here, and one other reference we'll turn to in a little bit. I think those are the most important things for us in our age to learn from the time of Noah. But I think we can go back there and begin to shape some answers to this question of what it is that we've been a part of all these years, and what's this all about? This Church of God experience that we've been a part of.

Let's think about that period of Noah for a moment. Let's think about what we do know from the Scriptures, from Genesis. Let's do a little Imagineering, as they referred to it in the Disney Studios over the decades. Let's do a little Imagining and think about it. We're told that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and we're told that he built an Ark. And we're told that it went on for 120 years. That's a long period of time for us. Now, I recognize the span of life in that period was much larger. Noah lived to be over 900 years of age. But even at that, 120 years is 120 years on earth. And we all recognize that's pretty much far beyond our life age and lifespan for an individual. But think about a 120-year period that it went on. Think about how many generations that would be. At least three to four generations would fit within a 120-year period. As I said, this is Feast No. 49 for me, for some of you longer. Nearly five decades. And I've got a son and I've got grandchildren who are in the church. So there's three generations that are alive at one time, spanning not even a half of 120 years. The point is that there were a lot of things that went on during that 120 years that would have had to have developed around the work of building this art. God said, build an art for the saving of human flesh. And so Noah did it. And there's that famous Bill Cosby routine from my generation that some of you will remember, where Bill Cosby went through this idea of Noah talking to God and getting his marching orders. And he says, a boat, a flood, ride. Well, you and me, Lord, all the way. And he did what God set told him to do. He believed God. He didn't have the full Bible that we have, but he had the Word of God as it came to him in a reform and fashion, and he did what God said to do. He believed God, as it says in Revelation 3 of a part of the church. You have kept my Word. Noah kept his Word, kept God's Word. And he began to build in the middle of nowhere, not on a great body of water like we have around us here in Norfolk Naval Yard, or these waters, or in Philadelphia, or New York, or Boston, or Ireland or in England where they build great ships. No, not in the middle of a desert area, as we see it today, and probably a bit different than then as it is now, but not near a body of water. A man began to lay down a keel and to build an ark. And because of something that had never, ever happened on the earth, a flood of universal dimensions, they'd had rain, but they'd never had that. And so Noah began to do it. Now, I imagine that several generations of people had to have had direct contact under Noah. And a lot of people came into contact with this work of building an ark.

Had to have been. It wasn't a lone project. It was probably a global project at that point, as it would have been looked at, as it drew in people from many regions. Materials would have been gathered from far-flung areas and transported to the site to build that boat. When it got to whatever point they collected all the animals, they had to come from all different regions as well. It's possible that thousands of people, hundreds or even thousands of people were employed on that project.

That's what I imagine. And I imagine that whole families and communities grew and developed in the shadow of that huge boat. And every day, men got up, picked up their box of tools, and trudged off to the work site, to the project, to be a part of the work. And children went to whatever they did, whatever little children did at that time, and teenagers, and young adults. People married, and they raised their children in the shadow of that great boat. And it was a project that drew people to it, and they accomplished things, and they were involved in it. A culture would have developed around the Ark.

People worked for the Ark. Not just for the work, but they worked for the Ark. That was the project. No doubt craftsmen heard about the giant boat being built by this man, this preacher of righteousness. And they traveled there to be a part of something, to be a part of something bigger than their own lives.

They caught a vision of what that boat was about, because they heard the message from a preacher of righteousness, who may have even traveled out to their area and held a meeting, and said, you'd better repent. There's coming a time of judgment. There's going to come a time of tribulation. And this is the way to save yourself, to save all human flesh. And some of them said, I want to be a part of that.

And they came believing Noah. And they left their familiar villages, something totally unheard of in that time, and traveled tens, if not hundreds of miles, to be a part of it. You see, in that world, at that day, people didn't travel like we do today. They didn't leave their village where they grew up. For a man to uproot himself and to move to another village was unheard of in that world.

They didn't do it. But obviously, some did. That's what I can imagine. And they left their home, and they moved. And you can imagine Noah, with his message, traveling far.

People told the story about this man. Did you hear about this guy, Noah? You need to listen to him. He might be onto something. Or others probably said, guy's a crackpot. He's kind of upsetting the order. I'm not quite sure. And they just walked away and tuned him out. But it was a compelling message. Noah did what God told him to do, and he began building. And people heard his preaching, and no doubt were drawn to the project.

I often wonder, how did he pay for it? Was he a multi-millionaire? Or did people just contribute money to see it built? Where did he get all the resources? Because materials had to be purchased. Wages had to be paid. I can imagine an economy was created around that boat. Butchers and bakers and candlestick makers. Retail outlets. No doubt sprang up. Everything that you would need to sustain a community, that we would need today, the same basics would have been a part of that.

All the support. Things weren't all that different back then. Sometimes we think we're real modern in the 21st century. And we are, I guess. But strip away all of our technology, strip away all of our advancements, and we still have the same human nature. We still have the same needs. We have to eat and sleep. We want shelter over our head.

We want it to be loved. We want to be happy. And one of the things that's really a challenge for us in our age to think about the ancient world, and certainly the pre-Flood world, is just to realize they were just human beings. You know, they didn't get up every morning and shadow that boat and walk outside their little house and stretch their arms and say, Wow, it's good to be alive in the pre-Flood world.

They didn't think like that. They didn't know about that world. They were going to be alive in the ancient world, living in ancient times. It's great to be back here. They didn't know what was coming. All they knew was the moment. That's all they had. And when it comes down to it, they had the same thing that we have. I imagine that for 120 years, this was a big thing. And there no doubt were periods where the enthusiasm was strong and there were periods when the enthusiasm for that work waxed cold.

And the work probably faltered. Maybe even came down to a slow pace where only a few maintenance workers were kept going. There may have been times when NOAA had to reorganize the crews. Maybe even hire whole other groups because people got tired of working on this boat. But they didn't think it was going to happen. A flood after 10, 15, 20 years of working on it and listening to NOAA. Maybe 30 years went by and something happened and they got disillusioned.

And the cares of life snatched away the seed that was sown in their mind. And they went back to their life, whatever it was, to that point. And they just got disillusioned. I can well imagine there may have been a time or two when NOAA, in that 120-year period, had to put the Ark back on track.

Because things in the vision, the purpose, got off track. And the diversion, the focus on the work of building that Ark, was not sharp. It was a big project. It was not until the 1880s, they say, that a boat of that size was ever built again. It was three stories high. It was as large as 20 basketball courts, they say. This was a big project. I could well imagine that there may have been a time that some of the workers began to think that I could build a better boat.

This boat won't float. I can build a better boat. I can organize a better system. And they persuaded some of the workers to pick up their tools and to go off a few miles and start working on another boat of their design and of their ideas to get it just right. Just right. So it'll float with the blessing and the grace of God.

I could well imagine that happening, but as we all know, we only read of one boat, one Ark in the story, and how many came to disbelieve in Noah's message saying, there will be no flood. Life in this world will go on just as it always has. The idea of the depths of the earth erupting and rain coming down from months at a time is absurd. It's never happened. It's not going to happen. In Hebrews 11, there's another reference to this episode. In the faith chapter, in verse 7, by faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen.

No one had ever seen rain of that dimension. And Noah had to preach righteousness, a way of life, and build an ark for 120 years in faith. Not yet seen, moved with godly fear because he believed God. Believed what he read or heard and saw. Prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

And so the work progressed and the years ticked by. And year 118 came and 119 and maybe year 119 in 350 days or 355 days. And at some point, we can well imagine, the boat was done and sawing, the hammering ceased. The order was given to bring on the animals and bring in the food and put them all on the boat.

And maybe there were people standing around this boat because it had gone on for so long and things were now beginning to change. The criticisms, the attacks, the disillusionment, and whatever had built up over this period of time among people who had come and gone, worked around it, people who had looked at it and watched it, half believed, never believed, believed in them, disbelieved, came to look. And at some point, there must have been a final message, a final call by this preacher of righteousness.

Repent, save yourselves from this generation, something like that. Believe in the message. And only eight people walked up the plank into the boat. And the door was closed and it was sealed. And maybe it sat there for a day or two, maybe a week, we don't know exactly, and nothing happened. And outside, they could hear the talking and the jeers and the taunts.

And then first drops began to fall. And then a torrent of rain. And then there was a rumbling in the earth and earthquakes, and water started coming up out of the deep. And the boat began to float. And there was a panic on those that were outside, but it was too late. Judgment had come, and only eight had saved themselves at that point in time.

I can well imagine scenes like that. And people who came and went, and growing up over 120 years in the work of God through man, building an ark. And knowing human nature as I know it, and knowing the Bible record as we do, it's not too difficult to go back to what we read here in Matthew 24.

And to realize Jesus knew what he was talking about. That people would be eating and drinking and marrying and giving and marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. And did not know until the flood came and took them all away. Why wouldn't they have known? Why didn't they know? Same reasons people don't know today. They didn't believe. There was deception of all different kinds. There were differing ideas and beliefs about the universe, the world, the creation, God, no God, many gods.

The idea that there was one God, and that he would do something like this, just was as alien as it is today. In their, quote, modern, secular world that we call in our greatness, the pre-flood ancient culture. But Jesus looks at that at all the same. Because Jesus isn't looking at our fancy iPhones and cars and jet planes and rocket ships and the technology that we have.

He doesn't look at that. What Jesus looks at is human nature, the works of the flesh, the works of the spirit, life. And he said it will be the same. People were as distracted then as they can be today. They were as deceived then as people can be deceived today. And Jesus is giving to us a warning. And it's interesting, if you go in verse 40 of Matthew 24, he goes on in two verses here and makes a statement that we've often speculated. What's he talking about here?

What does this mean? We thought that it might mean one taken, one left, taken where well, place of safety. It says in verse 40, two men will be in the field. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken, and the other left. 50-50, 60-40, 90-10, whatever percentage you could draw from this. Don't know that it's exactly 50-50, but one taken, one left. And one removed in some form of salvation, in some type of saving while another is left. What exactly does it mean? I don't know. There's probably a multidimensional meaning here.

But let me share just a speculation. I had a thought that came out of a couple of conversations I've had recently. One of our members in Indianapolis had us over for dinner, and we were talking. And this is a plan, an extended plan in the congregation for a number of years. Our host was telling us that he and his parents are the only three out of their whole family, an extended family, still in the faith, going back to the 60s. And at one time, their family, an extended family, married in two, was quite an extensive part of the church.

And today, he says it's just me and my dad and mom. I was talking to a gentleman down in Jekyll Island. He said that one time a few years ago when he and his clan got together at a feast, there were 81. 81. Today, he says there's less than a handful in the faith. He's still there. He still believes what he believed.

I thought to myself, one take and one left, what percentage will eventually endure to the point where when it's finally said and done, things are sealed up, as it says, eight souls save themselves through righteousness? Ultimately, it comes down to ourselves, doesn't it? And our relationship with God and whether or not we will find grace in God's eyes, just as Noah found, because of righteous living in a world that is just as it was in the days of Noah, in the days prior to the coming of the Son of Man.

He goes on in verse 42. He says, Just keep watch. You don't know when it's going to happen. Just keep watch. And folks, that doesn't mean watch Fox News. But that's okay if you do, whatever your choice is. But watching is a major spiritual dimension in terms of not just watching the world in which we live. And we shouldn't watch and understand events and times. I'm a big proponent of that, but also in the context here and other ways. It's a matter of watching ourselves and watching and making sure that our lives are in the trim and ready in our relationship with God.

We can discern between truth and error, deception and lies, deception and truth at any level and wherever it may come. I want to give you the remaining part of this sermon this morning. I want to give you three keys that I think will help all of us who are living in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Three keys to focus on, to think about here at this feast, at this time, at this point in our development in the family of God.

The work of God, if in, if you will, our own work of building an ark, as such as it is in the work of God today, for the saving of human flesh. Three keys to help us stay the course. Key number one. Wake up. It's time to wake up, folks. Wake up from whatever stupor you are in, whatever sleep you may be in, whatever period of lethargy you might find yourself in, whatever period of denial you might be in, wake up.

Ephesians chapter 5. This is not my command. It's God's command through the Apostle Paul here.

But it is time for us to wake up. In Ephesians 5 and verse 14, Paul writes, and he's quoting out of Isaiah, and he's using it and applying it in his context, and we can apply it in our context and understand it. Therefore, he says, awake you who sleep. Well, who's that? Well, it's been me at times. Has it been you?

It's been very interesting to see the reaction of people since the last Feast of Tabernacles.

It's been gratifying to see some of our members. One lady I know came to me and said, you know, this was my wake-up call. And she woke up, she said.

She's thrown herself into the church. She had never thrown it in before. And she's there every week. And she's involved. And she's caring. And she's loving.

But she admitted, this was a wake-up call for me.

Isaiah didn't exactly point them there, but Paul knew that this was the ultimate meaning.

Measuring and counting the number of our days. Teach us, as the Psalmist said to God, teach me to number my days and to understand where we are, what we're doing, and how we're living, and whether we're actually living in the moment, or in the past, or in some vaguely defined future that is a total disconnect from the reality of God's future.

Are you living in the moment right now and understanding these times, and are you awake?

You know, I turned 60 a few weeks ago, and I can tell you turning 60, at least for me, has a way of really distilling the thoughts.

I don't have time for a lot of other things that I thought I had time for.

When I look at my father, my uncles, and my grandparents, and kind of run the DNA and genetics, I realize, you know, I don't have another 25 years, 50 years.

I know I don't have another 60 years, but I have any stretch of DNA.

And so I don't have time for a lot of things anymore. I don't have time for a lot of foolishness.

I'd rather be a lot more honest and direct with people, recognizing that that's probably, it's always the best policy.

But, you know, even as a minister and as fellow members, all of us, we really do need to be more honest with God.

And we need to be honest with ourselves. And we're, Debbie and I, we're in the process of trying to sell a home, moving here to a new assignment in the church.

Those of us that, those, it's been 21 years since we moved. We've been in the same house for now 21 years.

Now, moving, as you all know, can be a major project. You've got to pack up, you know, whether you're moving around the corner or across town or across the country, it's still the same thing.

I'm married to a German. She's pretty efficient. I'm a pack rat. She's not. We sometimes have clashes as to what we keep.

She just can throw it all out and, you know, just keep what we need. And I think, well, I might need that.

I'll need that. I'll get back. I'll get to that someday. Let's hold on. Hold on here. Nope. It's either use it or lose it.

So we, over, what I'm saying is over the years, I thought we had pared down pretty good and kept a pretty trim house.

But when we started going through the closets in the attic here a few weeks ago, we realized, you know, thinking about we've got to move and what, we're going to move all this stuff.

I realized we've got a lot of stuff we don't need. She says, yeah, I've been telling you that all these years.

So we finally realized, well, we've got enough to have a garage sale.

So over the Labor Day weekend, we set up, we were going to have a garage sale and put the balloons out, the signs out both ends of the neighborhood, ran the ad on Craigslist and did all this and opened up the door and had a garage full of stuff.

And here they came, as they always do for a garage sale. Came looking through what we had.

And you know how it is, here's stuff you've got on the table out there that you've paid good money for over the years.

Hard-earned dollars. And you're selling it for pennies on the dollar, whatever you can get.

I can't believe this. You know, you won't give me ten dollars for this. Not in a garage sale, they won't.

You might, if you're lucky, you've got three in some cases, and they want to go lower.

And stuff started being carried out.

You know what, it was fascinating two days for this sale.

A lot of people came, met neighbors we never knew because they came from the other side of the neighborhood.

You know how it is today, we don't see, we don't know our neighbors.

Oh yeah, I've lived over just two streets over and been by your house many times.

They saw the garage for sale sign out there. Oh, are you moving? Yeah, we're moving. Well, I'm so and so, we got to talking, got names acquainted, and neighbors came and went, strangers came and went.

I had two huge tower speakers that I'd used for years and years, really nice speakers from the 70s.

Walnut veneer, woofers in them, and they were my pride and joy.

And, you know, today, look, it's technology's got, you got something about that size, and it'll put out the same amount of volume and clarity. And so, I really didn't need these speakers, so I grudgingly put them in the sale.

And one guy came and started looking at them, and I think I had $15 on it, knowing I'd have to take a whole lot less.

And he started dickering with me, and finally, you know, after 15 minutes, he kind of, you know, how people do, they walk around, they look at your stuff, and they come back and they look at one.

And, well, what will you take for this? And finally, ten bucks.

And I do in my head, he'd have them on eBay by 9 o'clock that night, and selling them for three times that. That's okay. I was ready to get rid of it.

What was interesting with this fellow is that after I made the sale, loaded the speakers into his SUV, he kept talking. He wouldn't leave.

He started telling us about his business that went bankrupt because his partner stole money. His first wife had divorced him.

The woman he was living with started running around with somebody else.

And after about ten minutes, I had enough lyrics to write a country song.

And then he wanted a glass of water.

And after two days, Debbie and I started telling stories of everybody that came through, and we realized, you know what?

People don't come to garage sale to buy junk. They come because they're lonely.

And they want to talk to people. And it's a lonely world.

And we met people that we never knew before, and they're good people. They're good neighbors.

And they all have a story. And they all have sadness in their life.

That's the biggest benefit. So if you want to meet your neighbors, have a garage sale.

If you need grist for a message or something, have a garage sale.

But you know what? After that, I had to think, what do I really need to be happy? Do I need all this stuff?

That we think we have to have at some point in our life. We buy with our good money, and we wind up either giving it away or selling it for pennies on the dollar.

What do we really need? It was a wake-up call.

Here's what I need. I've come to conclude.

I need the calling of God to His kingdom.

I need to know that God has placed me into the body of Christ to grow toward the resurrection.

And then I need to see that love reflected in the eyes of those that are closest to me.

My wife, my children, my fellow members.

We all need most the love of God.

Shed abroad in our hearts, motivating us to overcome the world, and do the work of God.

That's what we really need. We don't need more stuff.

We don't need the latest and greatest, but we'll bring it in.

And I have to admit, this is my disclaimer, as soon as I get home from this trip, I will be standing in line to get the latest iPhone. Hook up to my iPad and my MacBook.

I do live with technology, sometimes live by technology. You can't live without it.

And in some ways, I don't really want to live without it. It does facilitate a great deal.

And most of all, beyond just keeping in contact and surfing the web, it does facilitate doing the work of God. So I have to know that, as many do, and we all have that to our degree.

But I understand the place of technology. It's not its salvation.

It's not going to change the world, and it's not going to ultimately be the salvation of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Jobs died, the founder and CEO of Apple, and all the magazines and everything, and touting that, and received a great deal of press.

Certainly, Steve Jobs died too young.

And I certainly hope that what he put into the pipeline will continue to bear good fruit for that company and for the lives of many.

One of the things that came out about Steve Jobs was a quote that I'd heard several years ago, back in the 80s, when he was trying to hire a man by the name of John Scully, from Pepsi Cola, Pepsi Company, to become the CEO of Apple. Steve Jobs was hiring him and courting him, wooing him.

There's a famous line that Steve Jobs supposedly asked John Scully, trying to get him to take the job. He said, do you want to sell sugar water to kids, or do you want a chance to change the world?

Well, evidently, John Scully wanted to try to change the world. He took the job. Unfortunately, he ran the company almost into the ground, and Steve Jobs had to come back, and the rest is history.

But Steve Jobs really didn't change the world even himself. He certainly changed the technology world. There's no question about that, but he didn't change the world. No one man is going to change the world.

Those are hyperboles, but they do get us excited at certain times.

But what is it that you want to achieve with your life?

Another digital toy that's faster and better than all the others for only a week?

Or do you want another pair of shoes?

Another trip? What is it you really want?

In Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah was complaining to God about how hard his calling was, and how God had tricked him. This isn't what I signed on for, God. Jeremiah says in the first few verses, you tricked me. These people aren't listening to me. This is more than I thought.

And in verse 5 of Jeremiah 12, God's answer to Jeremiah, he says, If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, how can you contend with horses?

And if in the land of peace in which you trusted they wearied you, how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?

If you have raced with men on foot, and they have worn you out, how are you going to run with the horses when they come?

Unfortunately, we have been running with men, and we contend with each other.

We haven't got to the horses yet.

Do you think we have been through this in rough times?

Do you think we have had challenging times in the Church of God? Yes, we have.

Folks, you haven't seen anything yet.

There will be a day when we think all this was child's play.

All this was real easy.

When the horses come, if this is wearied you, wake up.

We all need to wake up.

Yes, it's unfortunate when we contend with men. But you know, the reality is most people don't see this world as it really is.

We should. And that leads me to point number two.

We struggle against the kingdom of spiritual darkness.

We struggle against the kingdom of spiritual darkness. In one sense, we're already running with the horses.

In a spiritual sense, with what Scripture tells us, we get confused with men and each other and ourselves.

But we're already running against the horses.

T number two is that we struggle against the kingdom of spiritual darkness.

And we should never forget that.

Back in Ephesians, chapter 6. Ephesians, chapter 6 and verse 10.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

Put on the whole armor of God, the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Did Paul mean what he said? And do we understand what he meant? Do we really believe what he wrote? That's the key.

Paul was saying that we think we struggle against men. And far too often we do.

But the reality is, there is a spiritual struggle against the kingdom of darkness that is ongoing.

We've just kept the Day of Atonement. It shows us this world is under the deception until the binding of Satan.

The world is deceived. But God's church, and those that come in the category of what Christ called the elect, are not.

But we really do not have the luxury of letting down our guard against the wiles that Satan uses in his relentless, age-long war against the saints and the people of God.

We are in a struggle. We are in a war. It's a spiritual struggle against the kingdom of darkness. And we can never forget that.

Colossians 1, verse 13 tells us that we've been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

That kingdom doesn't hold sway over us, that kingdom of darkness, that power of darkness that the Scriptures give us ample instruction about. The kingdom of God is not fully here, but we are part of the body of Christ. We have God's Holy Spirit.

And that power is in us to create the fruits of the Spirit, to give us the power to resist sin and to put it out, to overcome it, to make progress, because we're in a spiritual struggle.

It's ongoing. We live in an age that's really fascinated with the works of darkness. Just when I think it's bad, it gets worse.

Our culture is saturated. Halloween has become the largest holiday. It competes with Christmas in terms of retail value to society.

It's a week-long or more, month-long affair. And people are fascinated with that. I used to go trick-or-treating before my mother came into the church, and it was kind of a one-day, one-night affair, such as it was. Wrong then.

But now it's become something far more involved. And our media is so saturated with fascination and output of entertainment that's nothing more than witchcraft, and spiritism, and deception, generated out of the mind of the power of the kingdom of darkness.

And we love it. I hope we don't, although I know some do. Because every time we publish something in our publications to explain that, we always get some mail by people in the church who argue with us.

We want to argue that it's okay. As long as it teaches love. Brotherhood, honesty, courage, it's okay. No, it's not okay. No, it's not. Sorry. I'll never believe that.

It's a ruptured sore on society. Running rivers of pus on society. We need to get far away from it, not let it taint us in the church.

Because we're following a message given by a, quote, preacher of righteousness, and those works have nothing to do with the works of God.

We were making initial looks, in the Cincinnati area, for a new home last month.

The days we were doing it, we walked into some homes. One home had a whole library full of books and DVDs on all the vampire series.

Another home I went into, walked into homes. These are nice new homes. Walked into another home. In every room I walked into, from the furniture, looking down on me were these huge fantasy dragons.

Every time I walked into a room, I looked around and saw a new dragon. I just shaked my head. I couldn't. I don't see that as a part of a home decor. But people do.

The world hurls on toward a moment when the age will come to a climax and Satan's going to pull out all stops to unleash a barrage of forces to attack any effort made to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And the reason is that because that gospel heralds the end of his time of rule in this world, in this age.

The true gospel is a message with clarity that shows the kingdoms of this world will be replaced with the kingdoms of our Lord.

The United Church of God is poised to preach that gospel with an urgency and a clarity to the world.

I have watched for more than 25 years since the death of Herbert Armstrong many efforts to distort, to dispel, to disrupt the preaching of the gospel, the true gospel of the kingdom of God.

I have seen heresy. I have seen fear and ego. Get in the way of the clear voice of the gospel going to the world with conviction.

As God gives us the ability and His grace, we're going to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. And we're going to prepare our people.

As God gives us the ability, it's His work. It's not ours. His power will be supplied to His work of preaching the gospel.

And no human effort is sufficient. There's no human genius. I haven't seen them.

Even Mr. Armstrong admitted at times his own inabilities. As much as was accomplished through him, he would often say, if I just got myself out of the way even more, what more could God have done through me?

I think those were moments of clarity in his own spiritual walk. So no human effort is sufficient.

But we're all called to be a part of a work. We've been called by a work, and we must remain faithful.

We have been part of something for decades that is bigger than the sum of our lives.

We are the products of an ark-building work that God has been constructing during our lives. And it has been His work, not any man's.

One of the things that the recent times have taught me is that so many in the Church of God do not understand how we got here.

To answer the question, what is this all about? What have we been a part of?

So many don't understand that the work of God that we've been a part of, and we sit here today on this day on the Feast of Tabernacles 2011 in this location, you and I doing what we're doing, worshipping God, obeying Him, is because the gospel was preached.

And it began very small, and it grew quite large, and it's been attacked, and it's been whittled down, it's been dispersed.

But what we've been a part of is a work as a result of the gospel being preached.

And God built it as the Word went out. No social program, no college, no summer camp, no educational program built it.

Those came afterwards, and they were an important and are an important part. And I teach at Ambassador Bible Center, and I'm involved in the camp program, and I know their value and support them 200 percent.

But I know that the church that I'm a part of, that have been all these 49 years, did not come into existence because there was a college.

It did not come into existence because there was a summer camp. Those came after the preaching of the gospel.

We should never forget that, and if you are a part of a generation that does not fully grasp that, then I hope you will take the time to educate yourself on that.

All of those are very important for my grandchildren, for your children, for the future of the church, as God gives us the ability to do them, and we will do them.

Because they're important. But in the end, it's your example as a parent, it's my example as a parent and a grandparent, and it's certainly then, in the end, as we all grow to a level of accountability, our own decision to accept the calling of God, the grace of God, to allow ourselves to be, if you will, sealed into a relationship with God.

You and I make that decision, based on the tools that are in front of us and everything else, and ultimately, our relationship with God.

We need to understand that. We cannot forget it. It's such a key.

And there is a spiritual struggle that is ongoing that wants to rip that out of our.

As I said, I've seen... That's one of the things that I've seen with clarity in recent months.

How many of us just don't understand that?

And I truly hope that we can. I truly hope that all of us can, and see clearly through all the other rhetoric, and all the other issues, and all the other people and personalities, to the clear focus of matters such as this, as to what this is, what we've been a part of, and how we got here.

Point number three, key number three.

We must grow in grace and in knowledge. Second Peter chapter three.

Second Peter chapter three.

Verse 17.

You therefore be loved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and forever.

We grow in the grace and the knowledge of all that we are and all that we are a part of, but Peter says it's in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Jesus Christ.

How are you doing with that? Are you growing in grace and in knowledge?

You probably already had the hands raised at this feast. First time, five years, ten years in the feast, thirty, whatever it was.

Let me ask you this.

Have you kept one feast twenty times or thirty times?

Or have you kept twenty feasts or thirty feasts or thirty-five each one growing better than the other because you've grown in understanding?

You've grown in grace and knowledge.

Or have you just kept one feast, which may have been just a vacation thirty times?

And you haven't really grown. That's only a question for you to answer.

Do you learn more each year that you come to the feast? Do you look back over your experiences, your tests and your trials, your successes, and see growth?

Do you learn something new about the Kingdom of God each year at the feast?

The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day Kingdom of God seminar, really, for the people of God.

If we truly keep a feast to the Lord where He chooses and we learn about His Kingdom, it's a seven-day seminar for us.

And I believe God has given us a gift in these days of these Kingdom of God seminars.

Very important to the Church.

Get us focused on the real message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, that is, at the heart and soul of the work of God.

But are you growing in grace and in knowledge?

That's a critical question for us all to consider.

And to make sure that the conversations we have, the fellowship we go through, all that we do each year here, strengthens our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and God the Father, and our place in His Church, in the body of Christ.

We keep a spiritual feast.

As we listen to one another, as we reacquaint ourselves with each other and new people, we go over the same scriptures, we go over them with a deeper understanding this year than we did last year or five years ago.

We get strengthened and encouraged for the months ahead of us.

What are we all about? What have we been a part of all these years?

Well, Jesus also said in that Matthew 24, all of that prophecy, that the times would get to the point that if it were possible, no flesh would be saved alive, except for the elect's sake.

But for the elect's sake, He said, those days will be shortened.

The elect, the people of God.

Part of a work, as it will be, that in a sense will have to be a work that will save human flesh, physically speaking, so that those days would not be cut short. There will be an elect.

Just as there was an ark, and a boat, and a man, eight people, who when they were sealed in, listened to that message of righteousness, were a part of a large work for the saving of human life and animal life.

Christ says, so as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

There are lessons for us to learn to answer those questions from the time of Noah, to understand our responsibility and what is in front of us.

What's this all about? What are we a part of?

Well, we're a part of a work that Christ said would be in existence at the time of the coming of the Son of Man.

That would be a work involved in His salvation of human flesh and ultimately all of the world.

And that's why we've come to this Feast of Tabernacles. That's why we've been faithful. That's what we're a part of.

So, brethren, grab your hammer. Sharpen your saw. Let's get to building. And let's finish this work together.